asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider remitting income tax in the case of pensioners who are in receipt of an amount of disability benefit which, together with their pension, now makes them liable to income tax assessment.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pensioners' Income Tax.
21.
Disability benefit payable under the Social Welfare Acts is not regarded as income for the purposes of income tax. Where, however, the recipient exercises an option to receive as an alternative an invalidity pension that pension, in common with pensions generally, is chargeable to tax.
Can the Minister say if those in receipt of retirement pensions are in the same position as those in receipt of disability benefit in that they too are liable for tax?
That is so, but in those cases the recipients have the option of reverting.
Did the Minister for Social Welfare make that clear to those people when they were invited to apply for this facility? Would the Minister not agree that it is an extremely mean sort of idea that people who are unable to work or who have been invited to retire, either because of illness, because they have reached retirement age or for some other reason, should be now asked to pay income tax whereas if they had remained on the other benefit to which they were entitled, the cost to the State would have been much more and they would not have been asked to pay income tax?
I do not agree with that at all. As the Deputy knows, the receipt of either an invalidity pension or a retirement pension as against disability benefit has certain advantages and that is why people will opt for it. As I have said already, it is open to such persons to opt back to disability benefit if they so wish.
Question No. 22.
Would the Minister not agree that the only reason people would opt for invalidity or retirement pension is that it saves them having to travel to a labour exchange or to a doctor's surgery. Would he not agree that it was mean to announce this after the arrangements had been made to allow people to opt back?
As long as the people have the option I have mentioned, there is not much substance in the Deputy's complaint.
Have they the option to opt back for unemployment benefit?
For disability benefit?
No, for unemployment benefit?
Is the Deputy referring to retirement pensions?
Can they opt back for unemployment benefit?
Yes.
They have the option of opting out of retirement pension. I am not sure about the unemployment benefit.
Would it be possible for the Minister's Department to ascertain the extra administrative costs involved in having these people back on unemployment benefit? Would he not agree that the benefits to be gained by taking income tax from these people would be more than offset by the high administrative costs of issuing them either with disability or unemployment benefit? This would be a worthwhile exercise because, no doubt, the administrative costs involved would be much higher than the gains from income tax.
Of course.
I know that the cost of exempting pensions generally from income tax would be very substantial.
Could the Minister mention a figure?
I repeat that the people concerned have an option and in those circumstances the procedure is fair enough. They can weigh the benefits of the one against the other and decide which suits them best personally.
Can they go back on the unemployment benefit?
Yes.
I have answered that already.
The Minister has not answered it.
I have answered already to the best of my ability.
Deputy Tully has answered me.
I have answered the question. Why, then, is the Deputy asking it again?
Because I was asked this question as recently as Sunday last.
I am calling Question No. 22.
The Minister will not give me an answer.
I did answer but maybe the Deputy was not listening to me.