asked the Minister for Finance if he will give due consideration to the imposition of income tax on compulsory Sunday overtime earnings of CIE drivers, more especially where these earnings derive from trips to areas within the Six Counties.
11.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tax on Overtime.
10.
asked the Minister for Finance if, in view of the major contributions made by employees of the ESB and the Department of Posts and Telegraphs to the national economy in restoring services quickly in dangerous and adverse conditions after the recent storms, he will refund the income tax charged on the overtime earnings of these men.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together.
All remuneration, whether consisting of basic earnings or overtime earnings, is chargeable to income tax in the ordinary way. The exclusion of any particular type of earnings from the tax charge would create undesirable anomalies and complicate an already very complex tax code. It could also lead to pressure to have various other classes of earnings granted similar exemption. I do not therefore propose to introduce legislation to provide exemption on the lines suggested by the Deputies.