Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
231. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider introducing a VAT refund order worth 5% of a new home for the purchase of new build homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42162/23]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that VAT arrangements are subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply. EU VAT law, including the VAT Directive, provides a framework of rules and principles that Member States are obliged to observe. In certain circumstances, it is possible for a Member State to maintain historic national arrangements, but only provided these are not expanded.
The introduction of an arrangement to refund VAT to the purchaser of a new home, as proposed by the Deputy, would run counter to the principle that VAT should be paid by the final consumer of goods and services. For this reason Ireland has not introduced any new VAT refund orders since the 1980s. The existing refund orders maintained by Ireland are all historic, dating from the 1970s and 1980s, and any changes to them since then have either arisen from an EU requirement or involved making minor changes to existing refund orders.
