Vol. 453 No. 4
41 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Finance the amount of VAT paid by charities in each of the years 1990 to 1994; the number of charities which paid more in VAT than they received in Exchequer grants in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9647/95]
The information requested by the Deputy is not available. Charities are not entitled to be registered for VAT purposes; accordingly, they do not make returns to the Revenue Commissioners which would enable such statistics to be compiled.
The VAT treatment of charities is, in fact, a direct consequence of European Union VAT law. The sixth VAT Directive, to which Irish law must conform, provides that most charitable activities are exempt from VAT: this means that bodies engaged in such activities do not charge VAT on the services that they provide but, as a necessary corollary, they are not entitled to recover the tax borne on the goods and services which they purchase in the course of these activities. Generally speaking, VAT can be recovered only by VAT-registered businesses.
