I move amendment No. 5 :
In page 12, subsection (7), line 11, to add " provided that this shall not apply to annual subscriptions or membership fees to the club ".
The purpose of the amendment, which I move, in the absence of Deputy FitzGerald, is to remove from the scope of the Bill any club membership fess. There is not much I can say on it at the moment until we hear what the Minister has to say.
The equivalent provision in relation to turnover tax is contained in section 36 (5) of the Finance Act, 1965. Under that provision membership subscriptions are not regarded as taxable and it would be proposed to take a similar view in regard to value-added tax because the provision is the same. Before a club subscription could be regarded as taxable it would have to exclude all right to proprietorship and to be solely in respect of a prospective taxable service. It is a possibility—I do not know how limited that possibility would be—that if we had a restriction of the type proposed here it could foster a growth of pseudo-clubs in which payments could be described as membership fees but, in reality, would be for services. It is possible this amendment in that way would lead to abuse. The practice in relation to turnover tax will also operate in relation to value-added tax. I think that is what Deputy FitzGerald had in mind.
If we do not amend it, club subscriptions will not be taxed?
That is correct. They would be treated in the same way as they are at the moment in relation to turnover tax.
And we would still have the right to take care of pseudo-clubs?
We would—as we have under the existing subsection.
I can see the difficulty of providing for it and we would hope the Revenue Commissioners would confine their activities——
The Deputy need have as little fear of the Revenue Commissioners' performance as he had in relation to the turnover tax.
In other words they would guarantee the State every penny due to it.
Not that I propose to speak on the section but may I ask whether we are allowed to discuss the section after the amendment has been disposed of as we are in the Dáil? I merely wish to clarify the procedure.
That is so.
