Vol. 491 No. 6
157 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Finance the charges or taxation levied by the Government in relation to the opening of a bank or credit card account; if he will exempt old age pensioners from this charge or tax in the interests of their security; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12742/98]
There are no Government charges levied in relation to opening a bank account. However, there are a number of stamp duty charges on financial instruments.
Section 17 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1981 imposes a stamp duty charge in respect of credit cards and charge cards. Duty at £15 per annum is charged on these cards and the yield from this charge in 1997 was £9.1 milllion.
Section 203 of the Finance Act, 1992, introduced a stamp duty charge on ATM cards. Duty at £5 per annum, per ATM card is charged and the yield from this charge in 1997 was £7.5 million. ATM cards which have not been used during the taxable period or ATM cards issued in respect of a deposit account where the average daily balance did not exceed £10, do not attract the £5 annual charge.
The charge to stamp duty on credit cards, charge cards and ATM cards is levied on financial institutions. However, these institutions are entitled to, and usually do, pass on this stamp duty charge to their customers.
The holders of chequing accounts pay a seven pence stamp duty charge in respect of every cheque drawn on an account within the State. These stamp duty charges were introduced to allow greater scope for reducing overall levels of direct taxation on employment and the revenue received makes an important contribution towards funding the Government's policies. Consequently, I do not have any plans at this stage to broaden the existing exemptions from these stamp duty charges.
