Michael Creed
Question:202 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) in County Cork is entitled to arrears of tax relief on private pension contributions. [30539/01]
Written Answers. - Tax Reliefs.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the relevant inspector of taxes has no record of having received a claim from the taxpayer in question for tax relief on his private pension contributions. The inspector does not, therefore, have enough information to determine whether or not the taxpayer may be entitled to arrears of tax in respect of such contributions.
Generally speaking, a taxpayer is entitled to claim tax relief on private pension contributions provided he or she is not in pensionable employment. If this is the position, the taxpayer should forward a copy of his retirement annuity contract to his inspector, together with written confirmation from his employer that his employment is not pensionable. The inspector will then be in a position to determine whether he may be due tax relief on his contributions.
Sean Fleming
Question:203 Mr. Fleming asked the Minister for Finance if the roll-over relief in the Finance Act, 2001 was extended in respect of farmers whose land is acquired by compulsory purchase order for roadway purposes; if the Act includes the situation where the proceeds from the land sale can be reinvested in non-farming assets. [30540/01]
Roll-over relief for capital gains tax purposes has been available since the 1995 Finance Act in respect of farmland acquired under a compulsory purchase order for road construction or road widening purposes.
To qualify for this relief, the assets disposed of and the assets acquired must be within the same class. There are two classes of assets. Class 1 is concerned with the assets of a trade, including farming – broadly plant or machinery, land and buildings, not being trading stock, and goodwill. Class 2 is concerned with land and buildings which are not assets of a trade. Consequently, where a farmer disposes of farmland used in the farmer's trade of farming under a CPO, an asset falling within Class 1 is being disposed of and therefore to qualify for the relief the proceeds must be invested in assets also falling within Class 1, that is, fixed assets of any trade, not necessarily the farming trade.
Section 95 of the Finance Act, 2001, extended this CGT relief to all land and also extended the time frame within which replacement assets must be acquired for the relief to be available.