Vol. 504 No. 7
190 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Finance if he will review the decision to tax, as income, money paid to FCÁ members in respect of their activities such as summer camps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12575/99]
It is a general principle of taxation that, as far as possible, income from all sources should be subject to taxation. In line with this principle, earnings arising from participation in FCA activities and summer camps are reckonable as income for tax purposes in the same way as income from all other sources. Treating such earnings as income for tax purposes is essentially a matter of equity.
I could not therefore agree to the introduction of additional tax reliefs or exemptions for a particular group of taxpayers such as FCA personnel. It must also be recognised that such a provision would undoubtedly generate cognate demands for similar treatment from other groups, for example part-time firemen, which in equity would be very hard to resist. Such expansion would greatly increase the cost of what is proposed.
A tax relief of this nature would clearly result in a narrowing of the tax base which would be contrary to Government policy. The focus of Government policy in relation to income tax, as set out in the Government's policy programme, An Action Programme for the Millennium, is to reduce the burden of personal taxation in order to reward effort and provide an incentive to take up employment. FCA members in common with all other taxpayers have benefited from the implementation of this programme to date, and will continue to do so in the future.
