Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
123 Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Finance the contact that has been made by the Revenue Commissioners with the social security authorities in other states to clarify the number of persons resident here who are receiving pensions from those states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33306/12]
View answer124 Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Finance the contact the Revenue Commissioners have made with HMRC to ensure that those who are in receipt of occupational pensions from the UK, but are resident here and assessable on that income here in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 of Ireland-UK double taxation treaty, are tax compliant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33307/12]
View answer125 Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Finance the level of tax due to the State which has not been collected in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 due to the failure to correctly assess Irish income tax occupational and social security pensions paid to Irish residents in view of the fact that census 2011 advised that there are 114,948 persons aged 60 and over who had lived in the UK before moving here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33308/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 123 to 125, inclusive, together.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that taxpayers are required, under the self-assessment tax system, to supply details each year of foreign-sourced pensions, both Social Security and Occupational, to Revenue. Taxpayers, however, are not required to separately identify the country of origin of pension income on tax returns and in the time available, the Commissioners are unable to provide up-to-date details of the number of taxpayers returning foreign-sourced pensions. The following details are the position as at January 2012, for the tax year 2009, in relation to the number of cases reporting a pension. This is the latest date for which figures are readily available.
|
Year |
State Welfare pensions |
Other foreign pensions |
Total |
|
2009 |
10,646 |
10,889 |
21,535 |
I am further informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they are not in a position to provide an estimate of the amount of income tax that is not being collected on UK-sourced pensions. However the Commissioners advise that the figure of 114,948 quoted by the Deputy is not a reliable indicator of the scale of possible non-declaration. A significant number of these people may not have any entitlement to a UK pension, or such entitlement may be small.
In this context, it should be noted that the rates of UK Social Security pensions are small when compared to the general tax exemption from income tax granted to those aged 65 or over in this State, viz. where their annual income is less than €18,000 for single or widowed persons and less than €36,000 for married persons or those in a civil partnership.
The question of information from other jurisdictions is affected by other countries Data Protection Laws, and in general can only arise in the context of Double Taxation Treaties. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they seek information from other tax administrations, under Treaty provisions, about foreign-sourced pensions paid to Irish resident individuals where they are dealing with specific cases. The Commissioners are aware that there are data exchange arrangements in place between the Department of Social Protection and their UK counterparts and they are exploring with the Department of Social Protection (DSP) the usefulness for tax purposes of information available to them, and the possibility of gaining access to such information having regard to Data Protection law and other legal provisions.
