Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 May 2004
151 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that injured children awarded money by the courts pay DIRT on the interest on the capital sum that is invested on their behalf by the courts, even when their income is below the threshold for paying tax, and that they are not entitled to a refund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12475/04]
View answer152 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Finance if he intends to change the situation whereby injured children awarded money by the courts pay DIRT on the interest on the capital sum that is invested on their behalf and are not entitled to a refund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12476/04]
View answer153 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Finance if he has received a letter from a person (details supplied) with regard to a DIRT anomaly regarding minors; the actions he will take to rectify this anomaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12478/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 151 to 153, inclusive, together.
I confirm that I have received correspondence about the case referred to in Question No. 153. I have been informed by the Revenue Commissioners that Part 8 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for the levying of deposit interest retention tax on certain interest paid or credited on deposits held with banks, building societies and certain other financial institutions. Subject to certain statutory exceptions, financial institutions are required to deduct the tax from interest paid or credited in respect of the income on deposit.
An individual's entitlement to the repayment of DIRT is limited to circumstances in which he or she, or his or her spouse, is either aged 65 years or over at any time during the tax year or permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity from maintaining himself or herself, or became so incapacitated, at any time during the tax year; and circumstances in which his or her income, inclusive of the deposit interest, is below the appropriate income exemption limit for tax purposes. A partial refund may be due to an individual in the first of the circumstances I have mentioned if his or her income, inclusive of the deposit interest, does not greatly exceed the appropriate income exemption limit. There is no automatic entitlement to minors for a refund of DIRT, even if a minor's income is under the relevant income thresholds for tax purposes.
I would like to outline additional provisions that apply to awards made for personal injuries. Section 189 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides that certain income, including deposit interest, arising to individuals including minors from the investment of compensation payment awarded by the courts, or under an out-of court settlement, in respect of a personal injuries claim is exempt from tax under certain conditions: as a result of personal injuries, the individual must be permanently and totally incapacitated by reason of mental and physical injury from maintaining himself or herself and the income from the investment of the compensation awarded must be the sole or main income of the individual.
An injured minor who, as a result of personal injuries, is not permanently and totally incapacitated by reason of mental and physical injury from maintaining himself or herself does not have a statutory entitlement to the repayment of DIRT deducted from the investment of compensation awarded, even if his or her income is below the income threshold for tax purposes. DIRT is applied on a wide basis and there are few repayment situations. I have no plans to extend the present DIRT repayment rules to cover the cases referred in the questions.
