asked the Minister for Finance if he will state if he is aware that on a group of five volumes of a certain library published by an English paper and offered for sale at the price of 7/6 for the said group Customs duty to an amount of £1 1s. 2d. has been demanded; if this is the correct duty payable; if so, under what section of what Finance or other Act does it arise; what is the unit of charge, and on what value has it in such case been levied; and how has the said value been arrived at.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Duties on Imported Books.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will state if he is aware that an English paper has offered for sale an encyclopaedia in three sets of three volumes each and that a purchaser on receipt of the first set was charged and paid duty of the amount of 2/6; that on the second set duty of 2/9 was charged and paid; that on the third set the sum of 6/3 was demanded, but payment of the said sum was not made and the set was accordingly returned to England; and that on the same third set being reforwarded to the same purchaser the sum of 9/- duty was demanded but again refused; and if the Minister will state how these varying charges were calculated.
I propose to take questions Nos. 16 and 17 together. Books, printed in English and bound in leather or in an imitation of leather, which are not novels, are liable under reference No. 15 of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1932, to an ad valorem duty of 30 per cent (full) or 20 per cent. (preferential). When books subject to this duty are imported in connection with the advertisement schemes of certain British newspapers the value taken for the purpose of assessing Customs duties is not the cash payment made by the recipient but is a figure fixed by the Revenue Commissioners and is usually based on the statement of the newspaper concerned as to the price of the book if sold in the open market. The Revenue Commissioners derive their power to fix the value for assessment of duty on books from Section 44 of the Finance Act, 1932. In the absence of more detailed particulars it is not possible to verify the correctness of the assessment to duty of the importations mentioned in the questions, but if the Deputy furnishes me with further information I shall have the matter investigated.