Jim O'Keeffe
Question:76 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance if he will exempt charities from VAT and other taxes or reimburse them directly the amounts involved. [18556/04]
View answerWednesday, 23 June 2004
Questions (78)
Written answers
I should explain that charities and non-profit groups are exempt from VAT under the EU Sixth VAT Directive. This means that they do not charge VAT on their services and cannot recover VAT incurred on goods and services that they purchase. Essentially only VAT-registered businesses which charge VAT are able to recover VAT. Nor have I any plans, in the circumstances, to provide for reimbursement. The cost of such a refund would be expensive and could not be justified in view of the considerable and generous tax reliefs and other Exchequer funding already provided to the charitable sector.
The tax code currently provides exemption for charities from income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, deposit interest retention tax, capital acquisitions tax, stamp duty, probate tax and dividend withholding tax. In the Finance Act 2001, I provided for a new scheme of tax relief for donations to charities. This is a generous scheme which, I understand, has already been of significant benefit to the charitable sector.
Question No. 77 answered with QuestionNo. 29.