Written Answers Nos. 195-209
195. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he will advise on the last known date of a review on the charitable status of the Dublin Cemeteries Committee by the Revenue Commissioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45005/14]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality it cannot comment on the tax affairs of individual bodies.
However, Revenue has informed me that in order to avail of a charitable tax exemption, a body or trust must be established for charitable purposes only and must apply all of its income in that regard.
Revenue has also confirmed to me that it has procedures in place to ensure that charitable exemption is only granted to bodies/trusts that meet the necessary criteria. Furthermore, bodies/trusts that are granted such exemptions are subject to periodic reviews to ensure that they continue to comply with the required criteria.
196. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the process of applying for a refund of excise duty on fuel; if this payment still exists for disabled drivers; and if there has been any change to this rebate scheme in budget 2015. [45039/14]
View answerIn April 2013 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the excise relief element of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme is incompatible with the EU Energy Tax Directive. My Department has informed the European Commission of my intention to remove the excise relief element of the Scheme at the end of 2014 and replace it with a fuel grant in 2015. The European Commission has raised no objections.
To give effect to this I signed a statutory instrument in March of this year (S.I. 139 of 2014) with the effect that Regulation 16 of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations (S.I. 353 of 1994) would be revoked as of 1 January 2015. As such, members of the Scheme may claim excise relief on any fuel used up to 31 December 2014.
From 1 January 2015, current and prospective members of the Scheme will be eligible for a fuel grant in respect of fuel used during the year. At this time, I intend to maintain the current practice of paying the sum a year in arrears, so that the first payment of the fuel grant would take place on 1 January 2016.
I have instructed my officials to design the new grant in such a way to provide as seamless a transition as possible between the excise relief on fuel element and the new fuel grant so that members of the Scheme will not be at a loss in the transition.
Officials from my Department are continuing to engage with other Departments and the Revenue Commissioners in order to put in place the legislative, administrative and financing changes necessary for the operation of the fuel grant. I intend to notify members of the Scheme of the details of the new fuel grant as soon as all the details are finalised.
197. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if the reduction in public service hours by the Revenue Commissioners is a temporary measure or more permanent (details supplied). [45041/14]
View answerFrom the week commencing Monday 17th November 2014, Revenue's 1890 Stamp Duty phone service has been reduced to a Tuesday to Thursday, 10am to 1pm, service. The revised service hours form part of an overall review of customer service to Stamp Duty customers and follows on from Revenue's engagement with the primary users of the phone service, namely, the legal profession. The changes to the service were signalled to the Law Society of Ireland following a number of meetings with the Society on customer service matters in general. In addition, and as normal practice, a bulletin setting out the changes issued to both the Society and legal practices.
I am assured by the Revenue Commissioners that the provision of a quality customer service to Stamp Duty customers is a key corporate priority for Revenue. Revenue is committed to ensuring that their service to customers is suitably tailored to meet demand levels and that a range of speedy and efficient information and contact channels for customers is available. Revenue is also committed to ensuring that the delivery of their customer service is as cost effective as possible for the Exchequer, having regard to the resources available and the need to balance the deployment of resources between service provision and the further key corporate priority of tackling non-compliance with tax and duty obligations. In recent years, despite budgetary and resource constraints, Revenue has improved the delivery of customer services through the availability of on-line services and, in so far as Stamp Duty is concerned, Revenue's e-Stamping system is now used by thousands of customers to conduct their business with Revenue.
As with any modern service provider, the Deputy will appreciate that good business practice requires Revenue to constantly review its customer service delivery to ensure that there is the correct balance across all contact channels to suit demand levels and changing customer preferences. Accordingly, the opening hours of Revenue's public offices and telephone services are subject to ongoing review in order to most effectively meet the peaks and troughs of customer demand levels.
I would add that as part of the review just mentioned Revenue is planning a suite of enhancements to improve service delivery, for example, improving navigation and search facilities on Revenue's website in relation to the main stamp duty queries currently being made by solicitors and others. In addition, Stamp Duty customers will have the option of sending e-mail queries to two new Stamp duty e-mail addresses based on the query type. This will facilitate a faster response time by Revenue to such queries. The review of customer service is an overall initiative to reduce the yearly number of 1890 calls (currently over 25,000 per year) and, in particular, to eliminate unnecessary calls, in order to allow for better targeting of scarce resources to facilitate an increased focus on compliance matters.
The opening hours of Revenue's 1890 Stamp Duty phone service will continue to be kept under review, having regard to demand for the service and the need to balance the deployment of resources across the range of Stamp Duty customer service and compliance functions.
198. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Finance if he will amend the regulations for the single person child carer credit such that if the tax credit is not taken up or used by the primary claimant before the end of the tax year, the tax credit may be transferred to the secondary claimant without the need for the primary claimant to provide written permission to the Revenue Commissioners for the transfer of the tax credit to the secondary claimant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45067/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Single Person Child Carer Credit is, in the first instance, only available to the primary carer of the child. Agreement as to who will be the primary carer of a child is a matter for the parents or guardians.
In circumstances where the primary carer cannot utilise the credit for example, because of insufficient taxable income - the primary carer may relinquish the credit and a secondary claimant may claim it. The requirement for a primary claimant to relinquish the credit before a claim from a secondary claimant can be considered is necessary, as in the first instance, only one credit is available in respect of a qualifying child or children.
There are many reasons why a primary carer may not wish to relinquish the credit. Only they can gauge whether their income would be of a sufficient amount over the course of a tax year to be able to utilise the credit. An individual may wish to retain the credit in the expectation that they may find employment during the year, for example. In addition, taxpayers are entitled to review their tax affairs over a four year look back period, and depending on circumstances, an individual might wish to retain the credit in order to offset any tax liability that might arise as a result of a review of their income tax liabilities in any of the years concerned.
I have considered the possible automatic transfer of the credit in cases where a primary carer refuses to relinquish it. However, there are many reasons why this would not be feasible, including logistical, data protection and constitutional concerns.
199. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 244 of 21 October 2014, if the details provided to the local tax office in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny are sufficient to enable the payment of the tax refund; and if he will expedite the matter. [45115/14]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the details supplied by the named individual are sufficient to enable a tax refund to be made to that person. I am further informed that a refund was recently made to the named individual.
200. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Finance his views on a proposal (details supplied) to help to encourage the banks to pass on variable interest rate reductions to mortgage holders; the other options open to them in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45126/14]
View answerOn the issue more generally, the lending institutions in Ireland - including those in which the State has a shareholding - are independent commercial entities. I have no statutory role in relation to regulated financial institutions passing on the European Central Bank interest rate change or in relation to the mortgage interest rates charged. It is a commercial matter for each institution concerned. It is not appropriate for me, as Minister for Finance, to comment on or become involved in the details of the accounts of mortgage holders.
The Central Bank has responsibility for the regulation and supervision of financial institutions in terms of consumer protection and prudential requirements and for ensuring ongoing compliance with applicable statutory obligations. The Central Bank has no statutory role in the setting of interest rates by financial institutions, apart from the interest rate cap imposed on the credit union sector in accordance with the provisions of the Credit Union Act, 1997 and the requirement to be notified of penalty or surcharge interest imposed in respect of arrears.
The mortgage interest rates that financial institutions operating in Ireland charge to customers are determined as a result of a commercial decision by the institutions concerned. This interest rate is determined taking into account a broad range of factors, including European Central Bank base rates, deposit rates, market funding costs, the competitive environment and an institution's overall funding.
As I said in a reply to a Parliamentary Question (45225/14) today, a previous Deputy Governor indicated that, within its existing powers and through the use of persuasion, the Central Bank would continue to engage with specific lenders which appear to have standard variable rates set disproportionate to their cost of funds and this is a course of action I expect the Central Bank to continually appraise.
As part of the Central Bank's work on mortgage arrears, lenders were asked to consider all avenues to help customers in arrears, including interest rate reductions.
With regard to the specific taxation proposal, careful consideration would need to be given to the possibility that charging a higher corporation tax rate in respect of interest income above a certain rate could significantly distort the competitive balance against domestic lenders in favour of lenders operating cross border and not liable to tax in the State. In addition, practical difficulties around implementation of any such scheme would also have to be carefully considered.
201. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Finance if a person who is currently unemployed and may have savings can avail of the home renovation incentive scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45152/14]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, I introduced the Home Renovation Incentive in Finance (No. 2) Act 2013. The aim of the incentive is to support tax compliant building contractors by moving activity out of the shadow economy into the legitimate economy. I have also extended the scheme in the recent Budget to include owners of rental properties who are subject to income tax.
The incentive provides tax relief for homeowners/landlords by way of a tax credit at 13.5% of qualifying expenditure incurred on repair, renovation or improvement work carried out on a qualifying residence. In order to qualify for the tax credit, the works must be carried out by legitimate contractors and the homeowner/landlord must also be property tax compliant. A minimum of €4,405 excluding VAT must be spent on qualifying works. This threshold can be reached over a number of jobs. Relief is available on qualifying expenditure up to a maximum of €30,000, excluding VAT.
The scheme is administered through Revenue's online systems. Contractors are required to inform Revenue in advance of details of works to be carried out and are also required to notify Revenue in relation to any payments received in respect of the works. Homeowners/landlords are able to view the information provided to Revenue by the contractor through the Revenue electronic systems and to claim the relief through those systems.
The HRI is designed to be set against income tax and I have no plans to extend this initiative to individuals who have no tax liability. However, the tax credit is being provided over a period of two years in order to assist those with low incomes. In addition, unused credits may be carried forward to future years.
It is worth noting that the SEAI operates the Better Energy Homes Scheme where cash grants are provided for qualifying works. The SEAI also install energy efficiency measures at no cost to qualifying individuals under the Warmer Homes Scheme. Further information on these schemes is available on the SEAI website, www.seai.ie.
202. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons considered for tax purposes to be sub-contractors in the State for each of the past five years; and if he will provide a breakdown of these figures into sectors. [45172/14]
View answerI am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the practice of sub-contracting operates in a number of sectors. Data on the overall numbers, however, is not available as a sub-contractor will not generally describe him/herself as such when registering with Revenue.
However, three specific sectors are covered by the Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) regime, namely, construction, forestry and meat processing. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the number of sub-contractors in the State in these sectors for the past five years is set out in the table below. For years 2010 and 2011 the figures represent the number of active registrations. The electronic Relevant Contracts Tax system went live in 2012 and the information provided from 2012 onwards relates to the number of active sub-contractors who received a payment that falls within the RCT regime. The reason for the large variation in the numbers before 2012 is that a significant amount of work was done to update the RCT register upon the introduction of the electronic Relevant Contracts Tax system.
A small number of sub-contractors in construction, forestry and meat processing operate in more than one of these sectors so an element of estimation has been applied to the percentages shown. The data is not available to provide a breakdown prior to 2012. In addition, for the construction sector, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the numbers engaged in the various building trades.
|
Year |
No. of Sub-contractors |
Construction |
Forestry |
Meat Processing |
|
2010 |
96,240 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
2011 |
98,309 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
2012 |
44,178 |
97.42% |
1.49% |
1.09% |
|
2013 |
46,431 |
97.54% |
1.45% |
1.01% |
|
2014 to 16/11/2014 |
48,355 |
97.49% |
1.49% |
1.02% |
203. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Finance if he will introduce legislation capping mortgage interest at 2% above the European Central Bank rate in order to alleviate the extreme pressures on homeowners. [45225/14]
View answerFirstly, I must confirm to the Deputy that the lending institutions in Ireland - including those in which the State has a shareholding - are independent commercial entities. I have no statutory role in relation to mortgage interest rates charged. It is a commercial matter for each institution concerned. It is not appropriate for me, as Minister for Finance, to comment on or become involved in the details of the accounts of mortgage holders.
The Central Bank has responsibility for the regulation and supervision of financial institutions in terms of consumer protection and prudential requirements and for ensuring ongoing compliance with applicable statutory obligations. The Central Bank has no statutory role in the setting of interest rates by financial institutions, apart from the interest rate cap imposed on the credit union sector in accordance with the provisions of the Credit Union Act, 1997 and the requirement to be notified of penalty or surcharge interest imposed in respect of arrears.
The mortgage interest rates that financial institutions operating in Ireland charge to customers are determined as a result of a commercial decision by the institutions concerned. This interest rate is determined taking into account a broad range of factors, including European Central Bank base rates, deposit rates, market funding costs, the competitive environment and an institution's overall funding.
As I stated in a previous Parliamentary Question, a previous Deputy Governor indicated that, within its existing powers and through the use of persuasion, the Central Bank would continue to engage with specific lenders which appear to have standard variable rates set disproportionate to their cost of funds and this is a course of action I expect the Central Bank to continually appraise.
As part of the Central Bank's work on mortgage arrears, lenders were asked to consider all avenues to help customers in arrears, including interest rate reductions.
204. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance if the local property tax account in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be adjusted to reflect the fact that he is the owner of one property; the reason the amount is being deducted from them and the purpose of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45307/14]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that there have been ongoing discussions with the person in question in respect of arrears of Household Charge (HHC) and more recently in respect of Local Property Tax (LPT).
In regard to HHC, the Deputy will be aware that Section 156 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act (as amended) increased any outstanding liabilities on 1 July 2013 to €200 and transferred responsibility for collection of the arrears from the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) to Revenue. As part of the handover process, the LGMA provided Revenue with a list of property owners who had not paid the charge up to that point.
In April 2014 Revenue wrote to the property owners included on the LGMA list requesting payment of the outstanding liabilities and warning of debt collection/enforcement action, including mandatory deduction from salaries and pensions, in circumstances of continued non-compliance.
On foot of receiving such a letter, the person in question contacted Revenue and contended that he had already paid his HHC liability to the LGMA. It was agreed that the person would supply copies of receipts to Revenue confirming payment and that the LPT team would adjust the record once the information was received. However, no such confirmation was received and Revenue was left with no alternative but to start mandatory deduction at source from the person's salary to secure the outstanding debt.
In regard to LPT, the person in question has recently claimed that one of his two properties is uninhabitable and that he should not have paid LPT on that particular property for either 2013 or 2014. During the recent discussions on the issues, the LPT team explained that Revenue has no discretion to amend a 'self-assessed' valuation of any property without supporting documentation outlining the reasons why the property is uninhabitable and confirming the date that the property fell into its current state of disrepair.
To bring matters to a conclusion the person has committed to providing the necessary documentation to Revenue as quickly as possible. To expedite this process the LPT team has provided a direct contact to the person.
205. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Finance if his Department, or any agency of his Department, have awarded any contracts to a company (details supplied) since 9 March 2011. [45346/14]
View answerIn response to the Deputy, I am advised that neither my Department, nor any agency under my Department's remit have awarded any contracts to the company mentioned by the Deputy since 9th March 2011.
206. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if a further review of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No.2) Act 2009 will take place in the near future in order that technical pay increases may be awarded to cooks and supervisory cooks in the Defence Forces. [45171/14]
View answerI refer to my reply of 6 November 2014 to Parliamentary Question Number 42277. The position remains unchanged.
207. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of money drawn down by Kerry County Council for damages to coastal areas due to storm damage in the early part of 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44830/14]
View answerThe Government Decision of 11th February 2014 allocated total funding of up to €69.5 million for clean-up, repair and restoration works in relation to public infrastructure that was damaged in the period 13th December 2013 to 6th January 2014. Of this sum of €69.5 million, up to €19.6 million was allocated for repair of existing coastal protection and flood defences based on submissions and cost estimates made by the local authorities concerned to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (D/ECLG). This funding for repair of damaged coastal protection and flood defence infrastructure is being made available to the local authorities via the Office of Public Works (OPW) based on programmes of works submitted by the local authorities. The Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Transport, Tourism and Sport (D/TTS) and Agriculture, Food and the Marine (D/AFM) are responsible for the approval of programmes of work and the disbursement of funding for repair of other damaged public infrastructure such as roads, piers, harbours and other community facilities and amenities.
The D/ECLG wrote to Kerry County Council on 27 February, 2014 indicating that, based on the estimate submitted by the Council to that Department, up to €1,226,920 was being made available to the Council to undertake the necessary repair works to damaged coastal protection and flood defence infrastructure identified by the Council in its submission to the D/ECLG. To date, the Council has submitted claims for and drawn down €861,561 of the allocation of €1,226,920 from the OPW. The Council has indicated that it expects to submit further claims for the balance of funding shortly. Information on the allocation of funding to Local Authorities for storm damage repairs is available on the OPW website www.opw.ie and information on the amount drawn down from this allocation by each Local Authority is also available and is updated on a monthly basis.
The OPW is not aware of any sums that may have been drawn down by the Council from the D/ECLG, D/TTS or D/AFM in respect of the other categories of damaged infrastructure.
208. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of requests his Department received in 2013 from the Information Commissioner seeking permission to employ additional staff; the date each request was received in his Department; the date in which his Department made a decision on each request; and the number of those requests that were approved, pending or refused. [45143/14]
View answerThere was one request made for additional staff in the Office of the Information Commissioner during 2013. This involved a request for 5 additional staff to assist in meeting the demands arising from the changes to the Freedom of information legislation, including the extension of the provisions of the Act to a significant number of additional bodies. The request for additional staffing was made on 31 January 2013 and was approved on 15 March 2013. These posts have all been filled.
209. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when the Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 will be laid before Dáil Éireann for its consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45147/14]
View answerThe Valuation (Amendment)(No.2) Bill 2012 was initiated in the Seanad. The Bill completed Report and Final stages in the Seanad on 20th November 2014. The Bill will be introduced at Second Stage in the Dail in the near future, subject to availability of Dail time.
