Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Nov 1990

Vol. 403 No. 3

Written Answers. - Tax Exemption.

Richard Bruton

Question:

48 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance whether he has considered establishing a procedure for waiving the deduction of DIRT tax from the interest paid to accounts of persons who have been certified as eligible for age exemption from income tax, by their tax office, on account of their low income, in view of the delays that many low income pensioners are experiencing in receiving refunds under the present system.

Minister for Finance (Mr. A. Reynolds)

I have no plans to introduce a scheme along the lines suggested by the Deputy. I would point out that there is a number of investment options to which deposit interest retention tax does not apply: interest from credit unions, and interest and bonus on three savings schemes operated by An Post, national instalment savings, savings certificates and savings bonds. By switching to one or a combination of these, persons in the circumstances mentioned by the Deputy can minimise the impact of retention tax in their case.

As regards the making of refunds, I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they are not aware of undue delays at present in processing claims for refunds of deposit interest retention tax. They have introduced a series of measures to ensure that refunds of deposit interest retention tax are made as quickly as possible. First, a special simplified system was introduced in respect of such refunds in 1986-87. Secondly, an advertising campaign was undertaken in the press and on radio last April in order to draw attention to the circumstances in which an individual is entitled to a refund. This campaign was very successful and resulted in an appreciable increase in the number of claims for refunds received. Finally, the commissioners will, from this year onwards, be maintaining a computerised record of all taxpayers who qualify for a refund in the year so that those taxpayers will, in future, be issued automatically with a claim form in advance of the end of the tax year in order to facilitiate the following year's claim.

If, of course, the Deputy is aware of specific cases where delays have occurred, I will have them investigated on receipt of the necessary details.