Written Answers Nos. 65-71
65. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance if the National Asset Management Agency has taken control of a number of assets of borrowers including premium tickets for both Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium. [46576/14]
View answerI am advised by NAMA that, through its engagement with its debtors, it has obtained charges over a wide range of previously unencumbered property and non-property assets. Through this process, NAMA has obtained charges over additional security with an aggregate value in excess of €800m, which represents a significant additional protection for Irish taxpayers. This includes a limited number of cases where debtors have disposed of their interest in corporate hospitality facilities at sporting events with the proceeds going to NAMA.
66. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance in a situation where a borrower has disposed of all assets and has no prospect of repaying the outstanding balance, the procedures or actions that the National Asset Management Agency follows. [46577/14]
View answerI am advised by NAMA that, where a cooperative borrower has consensually sold all available assets, made full disclosure to NAMA and made every reasonable effort to repay debt, NAMA is prepared to consider forbearance on residual debt. NAMA will carry out independent verification of the debtor's statement of affairs and will retain recourse to the debtor for a period so that any future windfall gains or a portion of earnings may be applied towards debt reduction. NAMA will reserve the right to pursue the debtor should it subsequently emerge that full disclosure was not made at the time of the consensual forbearance settlement.
67. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance if the National Asset Management Agency is aware of any individual borrowers having taken their own lives; and if the agency is satisfied that it acted appropriately with such persons and their families. [46578/14]
View answerNAMA's engagement with its debtors is carried out in a manner consistent with the highest professional industry standards with the aim of maximising the return to the taxpayer in respect of debts owing to it. All debtors are afforded equal courtesy and the Agency engages with all debtors in an entirely professional, impartial and objective manner.
68. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on all tax reliefs on income tax either eliminated or being phased out from budget 2012 onwards; the estimated savings to date for each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46580/14]
View answerI understand the Deputy to be referring to reliefs or credits eliminated or commencing to be phased out with effect from Budget and Finance Act 2012. The tax reliefs and credits which follow below were ceased or are being phased out since Budget and Finance Act 2012. (Section numbers refer to the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.)
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that tax returns for 2013 were only due last month so that data have not yet been processed or made available for analysis. Returns for 2014 are not yet filed. Estimated costs of reliefs, allowances and credits for 2012 are being prepared and will be published shortly on Revenue's statistics website http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/index.html. Updates for later years will be published in due course on the same webpage. In the absence of this information I am providing the Budget estimates relating to the various credits or reliefs, where available.
Section 87A and section 381B Section 18 of the Finance Act 2013 applied the following changes, with effect from 13 February 2013, to the taxation of certain individuals deemed to be engaged in the trade of dealing in or developing land:
- Loss relief, related to both the decline in land values and interest deductions, was restricted to circumstances where the decline in value is actually realised and interest on the funding loan is actually paid, and
- The write-off of debts used to acquire land as trading stock, became an income receipt.
The purpose of these changes was to deny tax deductions in circumstances where there is no real economic loss suffered by the taxpayer.
Section 88A and section 472A Section 7 Finance Act 2013 discontinued the double deduction in respect of certain emoluments and relief for the long term unemployed, in respect of employments commencing on or after 1 July 2013. They were replaced by the new JobsPlus scheme.
Section 201 Foreign Service Relief on ex gratia termination lump-sum payments, provided for in section 201 of Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, was abolished with effect from the passing of Finance Act 2013 (27 March 2013).
Section 201 and Schedule 3 Top Slicing Relief (TSR) on ex-gratia lump sums payments was ceased from 1 January 2013 where the payment was €200,000 or over. The yield was estimated at €10m in a full year. TSR was abolished completely for ex gratia payments made on or after 1 January 2014 with an expected yield of €22m in a full year.
Section 201 A lifetime limit of €200,000 on the amount that may be paid tax-free was applied to ex-gratia payments made on account of the death or disability of an employee in Finance Act 2013. Any amount exceeding €200,000 is taxable in full.
Section 253 Relief to individuals on loans applied in acquiring an interest in a partnership was abolished for new loans with effect from 15 October 2013. Relief for existing loans was restricted commencing in 2014, with relief being reduced on a sliding scale each year until 2016 with no relief available in 2017. Savings of €1m in 2014, and €4m for each year thereafter, were estimated.
Section 462 The One Parent Family Tax Credit (OPFTC) of €1,650 for a single individual with whom a qualifying child resided during a tax year was ceased at 31 December 2013. It was replaced by the Single Person Child Carer Credit from 1 January 2014. This was estimated to yield €18m in 2014 and €25m in a full year.
Section 470 A cap was introduced on relief for premiums for qualifying health insurance policies in respect of policies entered into or renewed on or after 16 October 2013. A maximum relief of €1,000 per adult and €500 per child covered by a policy was introduced. This was estimated to yield €94m in 2014 and €127m in 2015.
Section 470B The Age Related Tax Credit (ARTC) for private health insurance policies taken out or renewed during 2012 by a person aged over 60 but less than 65 years was reduced from €625 to €600. This coincided with a move from age bands of 10 years to five years, with the credit for the 60 to 65 age group being reduced, while the rates for the other relevant age categories were increased. The ARTC scheme ceased with effect from 31 December 2012 but was replaced by the Risk Equalisation scheme. Both schemes were self-financing via a levy on the health insurance companies.
Section 481 Relief for individuals to invest in qualifying films is being abolished with effect from 1 January 2015. The cost to the exchequer for the relief in 2013 is estimated to be €76m based on investors spending €185m and claiming relief at 41%. It is being replaced by a Corporation Tax credit with relief at 32%. Therefore, if a similar expenditure of €185m was incurred there would be a saving to the exchequer of €17m. The budget estimate (2013) was for a saving of €20m in 2016.
Section 825B Repayment of tax where earnings are not remitted was phased out with effect from tax year 2012 with end year of 2015. The Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP - section 825C) was introduced from tax year 2012.
Section 848A The scheme of tax relief for donations made to approved bodies (i.e. charities etc.) was amended in a number of respects with effect from 1 January 2013. One of the changes was that relief for donations made by self-assessed taxpayers, previously obtained by way of a deduction from taxable income, was aligned with that for PAYE-only taxpayers such that the relief is now given on a "grossed-up" basis at the rate of 31% to the approved body (and not to the donor). This and the other changes made were on a cost neutral basis.
69. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties being experienced by some homeowners who have been trying to claim an exemption from liability for the local property tax due to their homes having significant pyrite damage and the onerous requirements imposed on such homeowners in terms of having to provide costly engineering and other professional reports in support of their application for an exemption from tax. [46581/14]
View answerI confirm that I am aware of the anomaly to which the Deputy refers, and that officials of my Department, together with officials of the Department of Environment, Community & Local Government, are examining the alternatives other than testing that may be available in order to confirm entitlement to a Local Property Tax (LPT) exemption. I am conscious that the issue to which the Deputy refers needs to be addressed and I want to assure the Deputy, and those homeowners affected, that this issue is receiving attention.
Section 10A of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides for a temporary exemption of at least three consecutive years from the charge to Local Property Tax (LPT) for residential properties that have been certified under Regulations made by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (S.I. No. 147 of 2013) as having "significant pyritic damage". These Regulations describe the methodology that must be used when a property is being assessed for pyrite damage.
Unless and until the LPT legislation is changed, Revenue has an obligation to act in accordance with section 10A of the LPT legislation which requires that an LPT exemption can only apply where the residential property has been assessed and a certificate confirming "significant pyritic damage" has been issued.
I expect to make a decision as regards alternatives shortly, that will be consistent with the original objectives of the legislation, and the report of the Pyrite Panel, and I will communicate my decision to the Deputy immediately it is made.
It is important that any changes that may be made do not go beyond the objectives of providing a temporary exemption for homes with "significant pyritic damage" only. As I have advised on many occasions in the past, a liability to LPT should apply to all owners of residential property with a limited number of exemptions. Limiting the exemptions available allows the rate of the tax to be kept low for those liable persons who do not qualify for an exemption.
70. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance his plans to review the Disabled Drivers and Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994, SI 353 of 1994, with a view to allowing upper limb amputees avail of the scheme. [46604/14]
View answerThe Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, repayment of excise duty on fuel, and an exemption from Motor Tax.
To qualify for the Scheme, an applicant must have a permanent and severe physical disability within the terms of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations (S.I. 353 of 1994) and satisfy one of the six qualifying criteria outlined in the Regulations. The Senior Medical Officer for the relevant local Health Service Executive administrative area makes a professional clinical determination as to whether an individual applicant satisfies the medical criteria. A successful applicant is provided with a Primary Medical Certificate, which is required under the Regulations to claim the reliefs provided for in the Regulations. An unsuccessful applicant can appeal the decision of the Senior Medical Officer to the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal, which makes a new clinical determination in respect of the individual. The Regulations mandate that the Medical Board of Appeal is independent in the exercise of its functions to ensure the integrity of its clinical determinations. After six months a citizen can reapply if there is a deterioration in their condition.
To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a Primary Medical Certificate. To qualify for a Primary Medical Certificate, an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled within the terms of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994 and satisfy one of the following conditions:
- be wholly or almost wholly without the use of both legs;
- be wholly without the use of one leg and almost wholly without the use of the other leg such that the applicant is severely restricted as to movement of the lower limbs;
- be without both hands or without both arms;
- be without one or both legs;
- be wholly or almost wholly without the use of both hands or arms and wholly or almost wholly without the use of one leg;
- have the medical condition of dwarfism and have serious difficulties of movement of the lower limbs.
The Scheme represents a significant tax expenditure. Between the Vehicle Registration Tax and VAT foregone, and the repayment of excise on fuel used by members of the Scheme, the Scheme represented a cost of €43.5 million to the Exchequer in 2013. This figure does not include the revenue foregone to the Local Government Fund in the respect of the relief from Motor Tax provided to members of the Scheme. In terms of the numbers of beneficiaries of the Scheme in 2013, 4,355 citizens availed of the Vehicle Registration Tax and/or VAT relief, and 11,436 availed of the repayment of excise on fuel element of the Scheme.
The Department of Finance conducted a review of Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme in 1993, which informed the drafting and enactment of the 1994 Regulations. As part of the review, the position of single hand amputees was considered given extensive representations made seeking the inclusion of persons without the use of one arm or hand within the qualifying medical criteria. The review noted that such a disability did not present as serious a challenge to mobility as the extant qualifying criteria, and on that basis, and in the context of limited resources, priority should be given to those citizens with the greatest challenge to their mobility.
Unfortunately, the current context is still one of constrained resources. I recognise the important role that the Scheme plays in expanding the mobility of citizens with disabilities, and I have managed to maintain the relief at current levels throughout the crisis despite the requirement for significant fiscal consolidation. However, in the still challenging fiscal environment and given the scale and scope of the Scheme, I have no plans to expand the medical criteria beyond the six currently provided for in the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994.
71. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 50 of 8 October 2014, if he will provide the information. [46618/14]
View answerThe Revenue Commissioners have carried out a detailed examination of the particular case. The individual concerned had failed to submit income tax returns and estimated assessments had been made by a Revenue Officer. No appeals were submitted against the assessments raised and subsequently an attachment order was obtained against payments due to the individual by a State Department.
Belatedly returns were submitted for all years and the assessments were amended in accordance with these returns. Under section 955(2)(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 no repayment may be made after the end of a period of 4 years commencing at the end of the chargeable for which the return was made. On the facts of the particular case the returns were outstanding for periods ranging from 8 to 11 years.
The Revenue Commissioners have no authority to make a repayment in the circumstances of the case.
