asked the Minister for Finance the total VAT receipts of the Revenue Commissioners from the Irish newspaper industry; and the proportion of total VAT receipts which this figure represents.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - VAT Receipts.
3.
Returns made by taxpayers for value-added tax purposes give only the total turnover from all activities carried on by them and the appropriate tax. A return by a newsagent does not distinguish the tax liability on sales of newspapers from the liability on other goods. It is not possible, therefore, to state the tax receipts from sales of Irish newspapers or the proportion of these receipts to the total.
4.
asked the Minister for Finance the proportion of VAT receipts from the Irish newspaper industry arising from the sale of daily newspapers.
It would be contrary to secrecy obligations in relation to the affairs of taxpayers to disclose any information about the liability of a small group of companies. For that reason the Revenue Commissioners may not and I therefore cannot supply the information requested by the Deputy.
5.
asked the Minister for Finance the amount of money which accrued to the Exchequer from VAT on electricity charges for the last financial year.
There are practical difficulties in furnishing the information sought by the the Deputy for the following reasons:
(1) The VAT returns furnished to the Revenue Commissioners by the Electricity Supply Board state the total tax from sales of electricity and of appliances and from contract work and installation and repair services carried out by the board. Receipts from electricity sales are not shown separately;
(2) In the case of traders registered for VAT the tax invoiced to them by the board is deductible from their own tax liability on their sales of goods or services. As the tax paid by the board to the Revenue Commissioners includes these deductible amounts it represents the gross figure which is not the amount that ultimately accrues to the Exchequer;
(3) In the financial period April 1st to December 31st, 1974, the ESB paid to the Revenue Commissioners a total of £1,971,119 in respect of VAT and, in the calendar year 1974, a total of £2,334,653 but, as I have explained, these are gross figures which include VAT borne by traders registered for VAT, and also the VAT in respect of sales of appliances, contract work and so on. In addition, where the ESB themselves incur VAT on purchases, the amount involved would be deducted by the board from their VAT payments to the Revenue Commissioners.
Would the Minister explain why the ESB continue to charge VAT on the fixed charge element on ESB bills in view of the fact that the fixed charge seems to relate to the capital cost of installation of equipment, in many cases equipment installed long before VAT was introduced?
I am not aware of the reasons or in a position to argue the case with the Deputy but the Deputy will appreciate that this tax has been so charged since the introduction of VAT.
Would the Minister not agree that the element of the bill on which VAT is charged was in relation to costs incurred long before the introduction of VAT? One would assume that the ESB had paid for the installation and committed their capital outlay to these installations, including I take it receivers and things of that nature. That would not seem to be equitably chargeable at any rate.
The fixed charge is, in practice, a fixed rent. What it is called does not change its essential nature. It is a rent for the use of equipment and as such is a service and is liable to VAT.
(Dublin Central): Would the Minister consider giving any concession to the private consumer as regards the removal of VAT? At least part of it should be removed from the bill due to the extraordinary rise in ESB charges over the last few months.
Sin ceist eile.
(Dublin Central): The Minister is ignoring this.