Vol. 571 No. 3
109 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Finance the position in regard to the film tax break section 481; if his Department has plans to amend or remove section 481; if so, if his attention has been drawn to the grave implications the removal of this tax break will have for the film industry here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21672/03]
112 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if section 481 will be retained after December 2004 in order to save the film industry. [21723/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 112 together.
Tax relief for the film industry was first introduced in 1984 under the business expansion scheme and has continued in various forms for the past 19 years. This makes it one of the longest running sector specific tax reliefs in the economy and has seen an Exchequer contribution in terms of tax forgone of the order of some €265 million in the past ten years alone. It should be noted that this relief has continued over time against a backdrop of the widening of the tax base and the reduction of rates generally. In budget 2003, I referred to the generally accepted principle that such reliefs narrow the tax base and that a widened tax base is the price that must be paid to retain the current low tax rates. Consequently, all tax reliefs must be subject to ongoing review. In that context, I announced in the budget that a number of these reliefs across a range of sectors, including film relief, would not be extended beyond 31 December 2004.
