asked the Minister for Finance the rate of tax paid by building societies to the Revenue Commissioners at present; and the total amount paid by them in the past ten years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Building Societies' Tax Payments.
12.
The profits made by building societies in the course of their operations are chargeable to income tax in the normal way at the rate prescribed by the annual Finance Act. They are, however, exempted by statute from corporation profits tax.
As regards the amount distributed as interest to investors in building societies all the Irish societies have voluntarily entered into an administrative arrangement with the Revenue Commissioners under which income tax in respect of these amounts is paid on a basis which secures that the society will pay income tax on the distributions partly at the standard rate and partly at an agreed composite rate and which is designed to produce the same amount of tax as if there had been no arrangement.
The information sought in the second part of the question will take some time to be compiled from the records. If the Deputy will repeat the question in a week's time, I hope to have available the figure for which he has asked.