Michael Noonan
Question:24 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the concerns of credit unions at the moment; and the assurance, if any, he can give that they will not be adversely affected.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Written Answers. - Credit Unions.
I have received a number of representations on behalf of Credit Unions expressing various concerns which they have about provisions in the 1992 Finance Act. In response to these representations I met with a delegation from the Irish League of Credit Unions on 23 October.
Essentially, the Credit Unions have concerns about three specific provisions in the Act namely; the automatic reporting of interest payments, the automatic returns in respect of payments for services and the obligation on PAYE directors to make a return of income without being served with notices to do so.
The Deputy will be aware that the Revenue Commissioners have just issued a Statement of Practice on the implementation of the new reporting provisions which clarifies the position and, on foot of the discretion afforded to them by the Act, alleviates certain obligations. The Statement of Practice deals directly with the first two of the concerns I have just mentioned. It indicates that automatic reporting of interest payments will only be required in respect of an amount in excess of £500 a year. I understand that this will remove almost all of the obligations on Credit Unions to report interest paid or credited.
The Statement of Practice also prescribes a threshold of £3,000 for the automatic returns in respect of payments for services. This should greatly reduce the amount of information that the Credit Unions would be obliged to include in those returns.
The other provision of the Act which the Credit Unions brought to my notice was that which obliges PAYE directors to make a timely return of income without being served with notices to do so. Voluntary unpaid directors of Credit Unions or other companies established for social, cultural, charitable etc., purposes were not the primary target of this provision. The Revenue Commissioners will be clarifying the position in relation to this type of director in due course. I would point out that submission of the first of these returns of income is not due until January 1994.