asked the Minister for Finance the total amount of tax collected from social welfare recipients in 1977-1978; if he will give a breakdown of the categories of recipients from which this tax was taken; and the cost of collecting this tax.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Taxation of Social Welfare Recipients .
11.
: A person whose sole income in 1977-78 consisted of a social welfare pension or benefit was not liable to tax because income tax thresholds were higher than the amounts paid by way of such pensions or benefits. The same position obtains in the present tax year.
If recipients of social welfare benefits and pensions have income from other sources, a tax liability may arise. However, income tax statistics of the total income of taxpayers do not distinguish between the amounts of income that arise from social welfare payments and from other sources. It is not, therefore, possible to give the information requested by the Deputy.