Olivia Mitchell
Question:192 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance if Ireland has a dual taxation agreement with France for the purposes of capital gains tax. [30770/03]
Written Answers. - Tax Code.
A double taxation agreement between Ireland and France has been in force since 1966. However, because capital gains tax was not introduced in Ireland until 1975, it is not covered by the agreement. Therefore, where French tax and Irish tax arise on the same gain, principally in the case of a disposal of French immovable property by an Irish resident person, the French tax on the gain may be deducted as an expense for the purpose of calculating Irish capital gains tax, but may not be credited directly against the Irish tax.
Given that the existing agreement is almost 40 years old, it should be acknowledged that there are many issues that need to be addressed in any future agreement. Revenue have had first round negotiations on a new treaty with the French authorities and no dates for further discussions have yet been fixed. Consequently, it is difficult to predict when the negotiations will be concluded but it is the intention that capital gains tax will come within the scope of any new agreement.