Vol. 576 No. 6
19 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance his estimate of the cost of patent relief; the number of outstanding patents in respect of which this relief is claimed; and the number of persons who are benefiting from the relief. [30114/03]
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that returns of income from patents are not captured in such a way as to provide a basis for compiling the information sought by the Deputy. Patent income is aggregated in the Revenue Commissioners' records with other forms of income and could not be distinguished without conducting an extensive investigation of those records.
There are difficulties in providing costs for some reliefs mainly due to the simplification of the tax returns process and the resulting aggregated nature of the information gathered. My Department is working closely with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to consider mechanisms to enhance the level of information captured in respect of tax reliefs to facilitate work on evaluation and review. In addressing this requirement, I am, of course, conscious of the need to balance the needs of the Exchequer with the desire to minimise as far as possible the administrative burden on taxpayers in general and on the business community.
