Written Answers Nos. 147 - 164
147. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance the number of properties that are estimated to have an outstanding liability in respect of the household charge in 2012 and to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54014/13]
View answer148. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners intend to launch a compliance campaign for those with outstanding payments due of the household charge; the amount they intend to spend on this campaign; if they will ensure that before the launch of any such campaign that all efforts have been made to reconcile the list of those who have paid the charge with their property tax record to ensure that persons do not receive unnecessary and alarming contacts from the Revenue in the event of any such campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54015/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 147 and 148 together.
Information about Household Charge payments up to 30 June 2013 is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and I understand he is replying to the Deputy separately.
Section 156 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides that where the Household Charge for 2012 had not been paid by 1 July 2013 the arrears amount is increased to €200 and is regarded as Local Property Tax (LPT). I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the €200 arrears can be paid by property owners using any of the payment methods that are currently available for paying LPT. I understand that to date about €1.79m has been paid directly to Revenue in respect of almost 9,000 properties.
I am further advised that an extensive data matching exercise has been undertaken by Revenue since it received details from the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) of those properties where the Household Charge has been paid or, in respect of which a waiver or exemption from the charge has been granted. Revenue has confirmed that the vast majority of data from the LGMA’s Household Charge Register has already been matched with its Local Property Tax Register and that the necessary work to finalise this process is ongoing.
Revenue has informed me that the Household Charge payment has been matched to over 1.2 million properties on the LPT Register. It will not be possible to fully match all Household Charge payments to the LPT Register. The main difficulty is where different people paid the Household Charge and the LPT for the same property. The Household Charge registration process only captured details of the person who paid the Household Charge, and where someone other than the owner paid the Household Charge the owner’s details are not on the Household Charge Register. In addition where a property has multiple owners, if different owners paid the Household Charge and the LPT, the Registers may not match. These mis-matches arise particularly in the case of properties with non-unique addresses.
I strongly recommend property owners to check their LPT record online at www.revenue.ie with their Property ID and PIN. If Revenue’s LPT record shows that there is €200 LPT/ Household Charge arrears but they have paid their Household Charge, they should send Revenue a copy of the receipt for the Household Charge and Revenue will remove the charge from the LPT record. If they have paid it and they do not have a receipt they should contact their Local Authority or the LGMA for a receipt and send a copy to Revenue. In this way anybody who has paid their Household Charge can ensure that Revenue’s records are corrected.
As outlined above, unpaid Household Charge at 1 July 2013 became a €200 LPT liability. This was due for payment on that date and interest on unpaid LPT/ Household Charge arrears continues to accrue. Revenue advises me that the amount will be capped at €200 if paid before they formally launch their LPT/Household Charge compliance campaign. However, if it is not paid in line with that campaign, interest will be charged; for example, if the outstanding Household Charge is paid on 30 April 2014, the amount payable will be €213.
Revenue will begin a compliance campaign on LPT/Household Charge arrears in the first quarter of 2014 and they intend to make property owners aware of this on the Revenue website, in press releases, through interviews with Revenue spokespeople on local and national media, and if necessary, through formal media advertising. Alongside this public awareness campaign, Revenue will also contact potential non-compliant property owners directly regarding their obligations.
At this stage, the 2012 Household Charge has been paid for over 1.2 million properties and LPT for 2013 has been paid for over 1.6 million properties. The Revenue Commissioners have a duty, in the interests of fairness and equity to those who are compliant, to take effective follow-up action to recover the tax from the non-compliant. Revenue will pursue unpaid 2013 LPT liability for the relatively small proportion of properties still outstanding and will also pursue the outstanding LPT/ Household Charge arrears.
Further information on Household Charge arrears is available in the LPT Frequently Asked Questions section of the Revenue website.
149. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Finance the additional yield to the Exchequer if the 0.25% rate for houses valued at more than €1 million was increased to 0.35% for the local property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54025/13]
View answerThe 0.25% rate of Local Property Tax (LPT) only applies to the portion over €1m of any property valued in excess of €1m. The first €1m in value is taxed at the 0.18% rate. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that, as work is on-going to refine the Local Property Tax Register and data on LPT, and as LPT Returns continue to be filed, it would be premature at this time to present a reliable estimate for increasing the 0.25% rate to 0.35%. However, the Commissioners advise me that the additional yield would perhaps be of the order of €1m to €2 m. The Government has committed to maintaining the LPT rates of 0.18% and 0.25% for the lifetime of this Government.
The most recent LPT data published by the Revenue Commissioners shows that 0.2% of properties have been valued for LPT purposes in excess of €1m, and that 0.2% of liable persons have valued their properties in excess of €1m. The Revenue data is available at: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/lpt/lpt-stats-11-2013.pdf.
150. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance his plans to discuss with his colleagues in Europe the phasing out of the €500 denomination note due to its popularity among those associated with criminal activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54031/13]
View answer151. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance if there has been any analysis with his Department, National Treasury Management Agency or Central Bank regarding the Merrill Lynch suggestion that the Euro Group abandon the €500 denomination note, give owners a month to exchange them, with justification for sums of more than €10,000, and then use the proceeds from the rest of those left in circulation to fund the recapitalisation of eurozone banks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54032/13]
View answer152. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance if he or anyone in his Department, the National Treasury Management Agency or the Central Bank raised the Merrill Lynch suggestion that the Euro Group abandon the €500 denomination note, give owners a month to exchange them for other lower denomination notes, with justification for sums of more than €10,000, and then use the proceeds from the rest of those left in circulation to fund the recapitalisation of eurozone banks, with officials in the ECB, ESM, eurozone countries or Commission officials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54033/13]
View answer153. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance if he is concerned that €327 billion of the €918 billion of euro notes in circulation are €500 notes; and that the vast majority of these are used for criminal activity due to their convenience; if he will raise this issue in Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54034/13]
View answer154. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance the number of €500 notes that have been issued by the Irish Central Bank; the number currently in circulation here; if Irish banks handle these notes; if he is concerned that if they do they are more than likely the result of criminal activity; if he has any plans to phase out their use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54035/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 150 and 154, inclusive, together.
Under the Treaty on European Union, the ECB has the exclusive right to authorise the issue of euro banknotes.
Earlier this year, a number of MEPs wrote to the President of the ECB requesting his support for the withdrawal of the €500 banknote. The President's reply to the MEPs noted that the reasons that originally led to the decision to have €500 banknotes in circulation were still valid. Before the changeover to euro cash in January 2002, six of the euro area countries – Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – had national banknotes worth between €200 and €500. At the end of June 2013, the share of €200 and €500 banknotes in total circulation was 36%.
Mr Draghi's reply to the MEPs also explained that the share of the total circulation value of the high denomination euro banknotes has been quite stable since 2009; it is not much different from the recorded shares of some of the highest denominations of the former currencies of the countries mentioned above.
The President of the ECB also noted that ECB studies indicated that only about 15% of high-denomination banknotes are used for transaction purposes. Consequently, it is not likely that a large share of the €500 (and €200) banknotes in circulation is being used for criminal transactions. Neither does it seem likely that withdrawing the €500 banknote from circulation would contribute to reducing such activities. Whilst it is impossible to know precisely to what extent and for what reasons people are hoarding banknotes, there is evidence that the €500 banknotes fulfil a role in the provision of cash to the public in times of high uncertainty.
Since the introduction of the euro in 2002 the Central Bank of Ireland has issued in excess of 1million €500 banknotes.
As euro banknotes circulate throughout the Eurozone, it is Net Issuance, rather than circulation, that is calculated on a national level. Net Issuance is a calculation of notes delivered less notes destroyed, less stocks. It does not take into account factors such as migration of notes within the eurozone. The Net Issuance of €500 banknotes in Ireland is 112,278 banknotes, with a value of
€56,139,000 as at 12 December 2013.
The Deputy also refers to a suggestion by Merrill Lynch that the €500 banknote be discontinued with the proceeds being used to recapitialise Eurozone banks. This suggestion has not been examined by the Department of Finance, the Central Bank or the National Treasury Management Agency; nor has it been raised with the institutions referred to by the Deputy.
155. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Finance if he will clearly provide details of the tax breaks for home owners who carry out renovations to their homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54076/13]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, I announced the Home Renovation Incentive in the recent Budget. This scheme will run from 25 October 2013 to 31 December 2015 and provides for tax relief for homeowners by way of a tax credit at 13.5% of qualifying expenditure incurred on repair, renovation or improvement work carried out on a principal private residence. Qualifying expenditure is expenditure subject to the 13.5% VAT rate. The work must cost a minimum of €5,000 (inclusive of VAT) which would attract a credit of €595. Where the cost of the work exceeds €30,000 (exclusive of VAT) a maximum credit of €4,050 will apply. The credit is payable over the two years following the year in which the work is carried out. Works carried out between 25 October 2013 and 31 December 2013 will be considered to have taken place in 2014 for the purposes of awarding the tax credit.
Homeowners must be Local Property Tax compliant on all properties they own in order to qualify under the Incentive, while building contractors must be tax compliant in order to carry out works. The scheme will be administered through Revenue’s online systems. Contractors will be required to inform Revenue in advance of details of works to be carried and will also be required to notify Revenue in relation to any payments received in respect of the works. Homeowners will be able to view the information provided to Revenue by the contractor through the Revenue electronic systems and will also claim the relief through those systems.
The type of work covered includes extensions, garages, attic conversions, supply and fitting of kitchens, bathrooms and built in wardrobes, water treatment units, landscaping, window fitting, plumbing, tiling, rewiring and plastering.
Items such as furniture, white goods and carpets are not covered as well as work which is subject to VAT at 23%. Further information is available on the Revenue website at http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/hri/hri-general-faqs.html .
156. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a national car test incurs VAT at the standard rate of 23%; his views that given that the NCT is required by law it might be more appropriate for a reduced rate of VAT to be applied; if he will consider a reduction to this effect; if he will provide in tabular form the value to the Exchequer of the NCT; the amounts gathered in VAT annually for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54180/13]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that fees for car testing under the National Car Testing regime are liable to VAT at the standard rate, currently 23%. This information is available on the Revenue website and in addition, the website of Applus+ Car Testing Service Ltd states that both the full test fee and the re-test are inclusive of VAT. The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply. The EU VAT Directive does not allow a reduced VAT rate to apply to the supply of car testing services. The charge to VAT applies regardless of whether or not a service is required by legislation.
With regard to the amount of VAT collected on NCT car tests, as the information furnished on VAT returns does not require the yield for a particular sector or sub-sector of economic activity to be identified, the amount of VAT collected on NCT car tests cannot be identified by Revenue.
157. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Finance the number of hotels that are currently under the control of National Asset Management Agency; the name of each of these hotels on a county basis in a tabular form; the amount of full time and part time employees in each of these hotels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54207/13]
View answerNAMA’s role in relation to hotels and other property and assets securing its loans is, like a bank, that of a secured lender. NAMA does not own or control such properties or assets. NAMA advises that it holds security over a total of 108 operating hotels or 13% of the 835 hotels currently operating in Ireland. A breakdown of these hotels by geographic region is set out below. NAMA is subject to similar legal requirements as other lenders that preclude it from disclosing further detail relating to its debtors and their properties. Other than properties that have been enforced, all of which are listed on NAMA’s website (www.nama.ie ) and which are managed by the appointed receivers/administrators, properties including hotels continue to be managed by their existing owners or their professional managers/agents. NAMA, in line with its legislative remit, takes a very close interest in their efficient management and sale with the view to maximum loan repayment in order to protect the position of the taxpayer.
NAMA is directly supporting 15,000 jobs in Ireland in trading businesses linked to its loans. These jobs are in sectors including property, hotel and leisure, retail, healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture.
|
Region |
Number of Hotels (Number of Operating Hotels) |
|
Dublin |
31 |
|
Leinster (excluding Dublin) |
29 |
|
Munster |
29 |
|
Connaught |
15 |
|
Ulster |
4 |
158. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Finance in the event of the 2013 single farm payments and disadvantaged area payments for this year not being paid during the calendar year and subsequently being paid in 2014, if it is allowed to account for these payments as an accrual in the 2013 tax return, presuming the tax payer is making returns based on calendar year accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54209/13]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the position with regard to the single payment is as follows: Income from a trade is normally calculated on an earnings basis for an accounting period to which accounts are made up. For simplicity, Revenue allows the single farm payment to be accounted for on either of the following basis:
Receipts Basis.
The single payment may be recognised as a receipt pertaining to the date the cheque is issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Example 1
Accounts are made up to September annually. The single payment for the year 2013, if paid on say 20th December 2013, will form a receipt of the year ended 30th September, 2014 (the 2014 tax year). If however it is not paid until say 10th January 2014, it will still form a receipt of the year ended 30th September 2014 (the 2014 tax year)
Example 2
Accounts are made up to December annually. The single payment for the year 2013, if paid on say 20th December 2013, will form a receipt of the year ended 31st December 2013 (the 2013 tax year). If however it is not paid until say 10th January 2014, it will form a receipt of the year ended 31st December 2014 (the 2014 tax year). There will therefore be no single payment recognised in the tax year 2013
Annual Basis.
The single payment may be recognised as a receipt accrued over the year (January to December) in respect of which it was paid.
Example 1
Accounts are made up to September annually. The single payment for the year 2013, regardless of when it is paid, will form a receipt 9/12 of which will fall into the year ended 30th September 2013 (2013 tax year) and 3/12 of which will fall into the year 30th September, 2014 (2014 tax year).
Example 2
Accounts are made up to December annually. The single payment for the year 2013, regardless of when it is paid, will form a receipt for year ended 31 December 2013 (2013 tax year)
Revenue will accept either the Receipts Basis or the Annual Basis, provided taxpayers apply the basis consistently, commencing in the year 2005 when the payments were introduced (or on commencement of farming) and there is no significant loss of revenue over that which would arise if the accounts were prepared on a full earnings basis. Where the use of the Receipts Basis would result in no single payment being recognised in a 12 month basis period (e.g. where the issue of the single payment cheque is delayed until after the year-end), the returns of that and subsequent periods may be submitted on the Annual Basis. Revenue reserves the right to carry out reviews if persons change the basis on which their accounts are prepared.
Taxpayers who submit accounts on an earnings basis are not permitted to change their system of accounting to either of the simplified systems, Receipts Basis or Annual Basis.
159. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if the pension levy is tax-deductible for those working in the public service. [54224/13]
View answerI assume that the Deputy is referring to the pension-related deduction (PRD) which was legislated for in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. Public servants, who are members of public service pension schemes, entitled to a benefit under such a scheme or receive payment in lieu of membership of such a scheme, are liable to pay the PRD. The PRD is deductible as an expense in calculating the amount of earnings assessable to income tax under Schedule E for the tax year in which it is paid. However, similar to contributions made towards occupational pension schemes, it is not deductible for Universal Social Charge or Pay Related Social Insurance purposes.
160. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Finance his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding payment of the property tax. [54225/13]
View answerI am informed by Revenue that in accordance with the Finance Local Property Tax Act 2012 (as amended), LPT for 2014 is payable on or before 1 January 2014. I am also advised that liable persons wishing to pay their 2014 LPT by cheque could do so by attaching the payment to their LPT1A Payment Instruction and returning it to Revenue by 7 November 2013. Alternatively, they could send the cheque separate to the LPT1A Payment Instruction on or before 1 January 2014.
Liable persons are also afforded the opportunity to pay their 2014 liability by Single Debit Authority (SDA), which is like an electronic cheque. SDA is a safe, cheap and user friendly method of paying LPT and it also provides liable persons with an extended payment date to 21 March 2014.
Because SDA is an online replica of a cheque that operates in exactly the same way as a ‘traditional’ cheque, it would not make sense from an IT development perspective to provide a ‘tick box’ system as a confirmation method for manual cheque payments.
Revenue has also confirmed to me that SDA is one of the preferred payment methods being used by taxpayers to meet 2014 LPT obligations and there is no demand to develop a ‘tick box’ solution along the lines suggested.
In regard to debit/credit card payments, as I have previously informed the House in respect of 2014 LPT payment options, any property owner who chose to pay in this manner was given an extended filing deadline to 29 November (from 7 November). However Revenue clearly indicated that such transactions would be processed immediately because that is the nature of card payments and Revenue has no discretion in this regard. Revenue has been very consistent in this message and the issue has been covered extensively on its website and in all public pronouncements and media releases.
In regard to the specific instance to which the Deputy refers, from the details supplied there seems to be a misunderstanding on how credit/debit card transactions differ from SDA. Finally, Revenue is most anxious to investigate the circumstances of the call to which the person in question refers. All of The LPT agents are trained to a very high standard and all calls are recorded as part of the quality assurance process. If the Deputy provides Revenue with details of the date and approximate time the call was made to the LPT Helpline, the phone number used to make the call, and the name address of the person in question, its operatives will identify the agent in question and will ensure the quality issue is fully addressed.
161. Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Finance when he expects the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 to pass all Stages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54226/13]
View answerThe Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 was published in July last. Following publication the EU Commission had to be notified under the Technical Standard Directive and a three month standstill period ensued. That standstill period is now ended. Second stage has been provisionally scheduled for Thursday 16th January 2014. The scheduling of committee and subsequent stages is a matter for the Oireachtas.
162. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the local property tax in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54248/13]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that for Local Property Tax (LPT) purposes, the liability date for 2014, in accordance with the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended), is 1 November 2013. On that basis, the owner of a residential property on 1 November 2013 is responsible for paying the tax for 2014. If an owner sells a residential property after 1 November 2013, he/she remains liable to pay the LPT due on the property for 2014, even if it is sold before the end of 2013. The Act places a number of obligations on property vendors. For example, before the completion of a sale the vendor should submit all outstanding LPT Returns, pay all outstanding LPT, and self-correct any Return where there has been an under-declaration of value. The vendor must also provide the purchaser with details of the valuation band declared on the 2013 return and the basis for arriving at the valuation. Finally, the vendor must provide LPT ‘clearance’ to the purchaser confirming that there are no outstanding LPT liabilities or filing requirements. This information is available to the vendor via the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie .
In the case raised by the Deputy, I am advised that the existing LPT legislation does not provide for a waiver facility in respect of LPT in these circumstances.
163. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Finance if a site (details supplied) in County Kildare could be made available for general community use, in view of the fact that it is zoned community and leisure but currently in the ownership of the National Asset Management Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54295/13]
View answerThe sale of property is a matter for the Board of NAMA, which is guided by its independent commercial mandate under the NAMA Act and the overriding requirement to maximise the realised value of assets securing its loans and the return to the Irish taxpayer. NAMA has been established as a fully commercial agency to operate under the direction of a Board of Directors by the NAMA Act. Section 221 of the NAMA Act, makes it an offence to communicate with NAMA with the intention of influencing the making of a decision in relation to the performance of its functions. As Minister for Finance, other than through formal binding directions to NAMA issued under Section 14 of the NAMA Act, I do not intervene in the commercial decisions of NAMA’s business and I would consider it inappropriate to do so.
If the Deputy wishes to raise a particular query with NAMA it can do so directly through the Agency’s dedicated email address for TDs and Senators, oir@nama.ie , which is in place to facilitate queries on constituency-related matters.
164. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if all the banks have met the terms of the Mercer report; when he will be in a position to outline in detail the actions taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54326/13]
View answerAs I stated in earlier replies to Parliamentary Questions on this matter I can confirm that the three State supported banks responded with their individual strategies, designed to achieve the required savings, by the due date of 30 April as requested by the Government in response to the Mercer Report. I was not prescriptive in how this was to be achieved respecting their differing State ownership and investment and paths to profitability. I have reviewed the letters submitted and in light of the various industrial relations developments since then I now am satisfied that the banks will deliver remuneration cost savings of 6% to 10%. The Bank of Ireland proposal focused on changes to the defined benefit pension scheme that will affect all staff who are members of this scheme and as the deputy will be aware an agreement has now been reached with the IBOA in this regard. The AIB proposal included the closure of the defined benefit scheme to future accrual along with other changes including an increase in working hours which were agreed with the IBOA in July. The ptsb proposal centred on the wind-up of the defined benefit pension scheme for all staff who were members of this scheme and this has now been completed.
For clarity senior management in the banks have made the following contributions; in the case of Bank of Ireland the proposed pension changes affect all staff in the BSPF scheme including the Chief Executive. In the case of AIB reductions in pay and benefits of higher earners ranging from 7.5% to 15% were implemented in the second half of 2012 and it also should be noted that the members of the AIB Leadership Team all joined the bank since 2008 and receive reduced pension contributions from their predecessors. In the case of ptsb all senior management, joined the bank since 2008 and are on lower remuneration levels than their predecessors.
