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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 10 May 1939

Vol. 75 No. 16

Financial Resolutions. - Resolution No. 3—Income-Tax.

Seán MacEntee

Mr. MacEntee

I move:—

(1) That sub-section (1) of Section 18 of the Finance Act, 1920, shall be construed and have effect as if the words "two hundred and twenty pounds" were substituted therein for the words "two hundred and twenty-five pounds," and the said sub-section (1) as amended by sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932), shall be construed and have effect as if the words "one hundred and twenty pounds" were substituted for the words "one hundred and twenty-five pounds."

(2) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).

This is the Resolution which makes the reduction I have already mentioned in the personal allowances.

James Matthew Dillon

Mr. Dillon

What is the amount of the reduction?

Seán MacEntee

Mr. MacEntee

From £125 to £120 in the case of a single person, and from £225 to £220 in the case of a married man. The reduction will be more than counterbalanced by the increase in the earned income relief so far as those with earned incomes are concerned.

Richard James Mulcahy

General Mulcahy

On the face of it, this means a kind of poll-tax of £1 7s. 6d. on a definite number of people. Can the Minister give us the number?

Richard James Mulcahy

General Mulcahy

One would imagine that where the Minister was imposing a poll-tax of £1 7s. 6d. on a definite number of people he would take steps to find out how many people were going to be involved. He has suggested that the relief he is proposing in respect of earned incomes will, more or less, wipe this imposition out, so far as people with earned incomes are concerned. Will the Minister give the House one single case, worked out in figures, to substantiate his statement on that point?

Seán MacEntee

Mr. MacEntee

Yes. A single man with an income of £150, all earned, is free of tax at the present moment. That position will continue because of the increase in the earned income relief which is being granted as an offset to the reduction in the personal allowances. In the case of a married man with an income of £270, all earned, at the present moment his total allowances, including the earned income relief, come to £270. Under the proposals which I outlined to-day a married man with an income of £275, all earned, will be free of tax for the reason that his total allowances in respect of earned income and personal allowances will come to £275.

Richard James Mulcahy

General Mulcahy

The Minister's arithmetic is too simple for me as an answer to the question that I put to him.

Question put.
The Committee divided:—Tá, 65; Níl, 34.

Tá

  • Aiken, Frank.
  • Allen, Denis.
  • Bartley, Gerald.
  • Beegan, Patrick.
  • Boland, Gerald.
  • Bourke, Dan.
  • Brady, Brian.
  • Brady, Seán.
  • Breathnach, Cormac.
  • Breslin, Cormac.
  • Briscoe, Robert.
  • Carty, Frank.
  • Childers, Erskine H.
  • Corish, Richard.
  • Corry, Martin J.
  • Crowley, Fred Hugh.
  • Crowley, Tadgh.
  • Derrig, Thomas.
  • De Valera, Eamon.
  • Everett, James.
  • Flynn, John.
  • Flynn, Stephen.
  • Fogarty, Andrew.
  • Friel, John.
  • Fuller, Stephen.
  • Gorry, Patrick J.
  • Harris, Thomas.
  • Hickey, James.
  • Hogan, Daniel.
  • Humphreys, Francis.
  • Hurley, Jeremiah.
  • Kelly, James P.
  • Kelly, Thomas.
  • Kennedy, Michael J.
  • Keyes, Michael.
  • Kissane, Eamon.
  • Lemass, Seán F.
  • Little, Patrick J.
  • Loughman, Francis.
  • Lynch, James B.
  • McDevitt, Henry A.
  • MacEntee, Seán.
  • Maguire, Ben.
  • Meaney, Cornelius.
  • Moran, Michael.
  • Morrissey, Michael.
  • Mullen, Thomas.
  • Munnelly, John.
  • Murphy, Timothy J.
  • O Briain, Donnchadh.
  • O'Grady, Seán.
  • O'Loghlen, Peter J.
  • O'Reilly, Matthew.
  • O'Rourke, Daniel.
  • O'Sullivan, Ted.
  • Pattison, James P.
  • Ryan, James.
  • Ryan, Robert.
  • Sheridan, Michael.
  • Smith, Patrick.
  • Traynor, Oscar.
  • Victory, James.
  • Walsh, Laurence J.
  • Walsh, Richard.
  • Ward, Conn.

Níl

  • Belton, Patrick.
  • Bennett, George C.
  • Benson, Ernest E.
  • Brasier, Brooke.
  • Brennan, Michael.
  • Broderick, William J.
  • Daly, Patrick.
  • Dillon, James M.
  • Dockrell, Henry M.
  • Doyle, Peadar S.
  • Giles, Patrick.
  • Gorey, Denis J.
  • Hannigan, Joseph.
  • Hughes, James.
  • Keating, John.
  • Linehan, Timothy.
  • McFadden, Michael Og.
  • Browne, Patrick.
  • Burke, Patrick.
  • Coburn, James.
  • Cogan, Patrick.
  • Cosgrave, William T.
  • Costello, John A.
  • McGovern, Patrick.
  • McMenamin, Daniel.
  • Mongan, Joseph W.
  • Morrissey, Daniel.
  • Mulcahy, Richard.
  • Nally, Martin.
  • O'Higgins, Thomas F.
  • O'Neill, Eamonn.
  • O'Sullivan, John M.
  • Rogers, Patrick J.
  • Ryan, Jeremiah.
Tellers:—Tá: Deputies Little and Smith; Níl: Deputies Doyle and Bennett.
Question declared carried.
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