I move amendment No. 91:
In page 73, paragraph (a), line 24, to delete "section 4(2C)(i)" and substitute "section 4(2C)(a)".
This is a technical drafting amendment to correct a previous error.
SECTION 74.
Amendment agreed to.
Section 74, as amended, agreed to.
NEW SECTION.
Acting Chairman
Amendments Nos. 92 and 99 are related and may be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.
I move amendment No. 92:
In page 74, before section 75, to insert the following new section:
"75.—Section 8 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (3)—
(a) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):
‘(a) a farmer, for whose supply in any continuous period of twelve months of—
(i) agricultural services, other than insemination services, stock-minding or stock-rearing, the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £20,000, or
(ii) goods of the type specified in paragraph (xia) of the Sixth Schedule to persons who are not engaged in supplying those goods in the course or furtherance of business, the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £40,000, or
(iii) services and goods specified in subparagraph (i) and (ii), the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £20,000,',
and
(b) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (i) in the proviso to the subsection:
‘(ia) where a farmer supplies services or goods of the kind specified in paragraph (a)(i) or (a)(ii), subparagraph (i) of this proviso shall be deemed to apply to those supplies, notwithstanding that the provisions of that subparagraph do not otherwise apply to supplies by a farmer;'.".
This amends section 8 of the Value-Added Tax Act which defines a taxable person for the purposes of VAT. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that all retailers of horticultural produce whose annual sales exceed the £40,000 VAT registration threshold are liable for VAT on those sales. In addition, as part of an overall package for this sector, I propose to reduce the VAT rate on such produce — cut flowers, ornamental plants, bulbs etc. — from 21 per cent to 12.5 per cent, the reduced rating being an option in EU VAT law. This initiative, taken as a whole, will remove or significantly reduce tax-based distortions of competition between registered and unregistered traders. It is consistent with the An Bord Glas strategy for the development of this sector.
This is a re-enactment.
Amendment agreed to.