asked the Minister for Finance if he will refund the VAT which was charged on an environmental aid for a disabled person (details supplied) in Waterford in line with the spirit of the special exemption introduced in the January Budget for the International Year of the Disabled.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - VAT Refund for Disabled.
2.
The scheme announced in the January budget provided for exemption from VAT in respect of certain specified goods specially designed for the disabled. It is not possible under these provisions to refund the tax incurred by the person the subject of the question. The Revenue Commissioners have, however, been examining the existing arrangements and their proposals are at present under consideration in my Department.
It will be appreciated that practical difficulties arise in the provision of relief in respect of certain categories of goods which are not identifiable in themselves as being designed specifically for disabled persons. Nevertheless, I intend to have an appropriate repayment scheme in operation by the end of the year which will apply to qualifying purchases and importations made on or after 1 March 1981.
Would the Minister agree that the practical difficulties in instances such as this could be readily overcome by reference to the disabled person? Would he further agree that it is possible to have such reference from suitable experts available through both the Minister for Health and the Minister for Finance? I am sorry that it is not possible to go ahead with this now but I hope that in his review the Minister will consider this case. It is sad that this should occur.
As of now, under the scheme previously introduced there is a zero rating for clearly indentifiable items used by or associated with the disabled. That includes items such as invalid carriages, artificial limbs and orthopaedic appliances. It will be possible to provide relief in this case or in similar cases only where the purchase of equipment can be examined by reference to the actual disability of the person making the purchase. In this case quite sophisticated environmental equipment of an electronic and mechanical nature was purchased. It did not come under the general scheme of the zero-rating exemption. I assure the Deputy that an examination of the expenditure incurred and a repayment arrangement for qualified purchases and importations made on or after 1 March will be carried out. It would require a ministerial order. That is currently being considered. The Deputy may rest assured that in the case concerned it may be possible to refund the VAT expended. In future it would require examination of each case on its merits in respect of particular equipment bought.
A final supplementary.
The Minister is not making it clear to the House why zero rating in this and other similar cases cannot be applied once the items are for the use of the disabled. He refers to a scheme introduced subsequently. The Minister at that time disagreed with some of the stringent conditions attached, thus enabling other disabled people to benefit. Why can he not now see to it that a similar condition is applied rather than reviewing and considering the possibility of a ministerial order? Will he stop waffling and say that this can be done? It can be done under the terms of the scheme, no matter what advice he has been getting.
In the January 1981 budget the scheme announced by the Deputy——
That is the one I was referring to——
In that scheme——
——that I insisted cover cases of this nature.
——the zero rating was introduced, which we all welcomed warmly.
Of course. Do not let bureaucracy interfere.
It was stated clearly that they had to be items which were identified clearly as associated with or used by the disabled. Therefore, the Revenue Commissioners' interpretation of the scheme as announced related to items such as invalid carriages, artificial limbs, orthopaedic appliances and so on. In this instance the person purchased sophisticated electronic and mechanical equipment operated by signals such as blowing into tubes which performed tasks such as drawing curtains, turning on and off a television set, room heater and so on and enabling the person to speak on the telephone. The equipment was necessarily of an environmental nature but such was the nature of the equipment that the Revenue Commissioners are proposing now to introduce a scheme whereby in similar cases, including this case, the identifiable item will be examined directly and then a refund will be made if it is identified clearly that the sophisticated equipment relates to the disabled person. Otherwise, as the Deputy is aware, there could be very considerable difficulties regarding zero VAT rating for sophisticated equipment which somebody might buy for other purposes. The original scheme which we all welcome can be amended to cater for disabled persons generally with the necessary safeguards.
Ceist 3.
Would the Minister——
The Chair is moving on to Question No. 3.