Vol. 439 No. 7
34 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue from the taxation of unemployment benefit, pay-related benefit and disability benefit in a full tax year; the total tax take from farmers in a full year; his views on these figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The yield from making unemployment benefit, pay related benefit and disability benefit reckonable as income for tax purposes is estimated at approximately £50 million in a full year. The yield from the taxation of farming profits of full-time and part-time farmers is estimated at £52 million in 1993 and £56 million in 1994. Income tax on farming profits is collected with Schedule D tax generally and the figures given are to some extent estimated. The figures are the tax paid by full-time farmers together with estimated tax paid by trader-farmers on their farming profits.
The figures do not include the PAYE tax paid on employment income earned by farmers or their spouses. Such tax is included in the overall collection of PAYE and is not distinguishable until after the income tax returns submitted by farmers have been analysed. An analysis of the returns for the income tax year 1990-91, the latest available, indicates that some £33 million in tax was paid by farmers, including trader-farmers, or their spouses, under the PAYE system for that year.
It should be noted that the actual yield, from making the above mentioned short term social welfare benefits reckonable as income for tax purposes, arises from the taxation of an additional portion of income of a very large number of taxpayers. If the social welfare benefit is the only source of income of the recipient and the recipient's spouse in the tax year, than the income tax exemption limits will generally ensure that no tax will fall to be paid.
