asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that a charge of 4d. per copy is payable in respect of the Employee's Guide to P.A.Y.E. while the Employer's Guide to P.A.Y.E. is supplied free of charge; and if he will arrange that the Employer's Guide to P.A.Y.E. will also be supplied to applicants free of charge.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Employee's Guide to P.A.Y.E.
6.
It is the practice to make a nominal charge for Government publications of an informative nature such as the Employee's Guide to Pay As You Earn.
No charge is made for the Employer's Guide to Pay As You Earn which is an official instruction book issued to employers registered under the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960, and which sets out the statutory duties and obligations imposed on them by those regulations.
In view of the fact that the employee, in order to gain the information, must pay for it, why should the same not apply to the employer?
The employer is in a different position. The employer is acting as an agent for the Revenue Commissioners in this matter—a non-paid agent, I may say. Therefore, the instructions will issue to them free— instructions how to do their job.
The employee will have to pay income tax including his share of the cost of supplying the employer with the information and why should the employer not be compelled to pay his own part?
It is a different matter. It is the difference between information and instructions.