asked the Minister for Finance if he will request the Revenue Commissioners to publish information on the distribution of gross personal income in addition to net taxable income in all future reports.
472.
Written Answers. - Total Income Distribution.
471.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will make available statistics on the distribution of gross personal incomes rather than net taxable incomes from the records of the Revenue Commissioners for the years 1970, 1980, and 1982.
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 471 and 472 together.
The Revenue Commissioners publish information on the distribution of total income as well as taxable income, in their annual reports. The relevant information for 1980-81 the latest year for which statistics have been published is contained in tables 84 to 88, inclusive, of the report for the year ended 31 December 1981 copies of which are in the Library. The corresponding information for 1981-82 will be contained in the report for the year ended 31 December 1982 the compilation of which is almost completed. Statistics in relation to the distribution of total income are not available for any year prior to 1974-75.
Total income could for all practical purposes be regarded as gross income. The definition of gross income contained in the annual reports of the Revenue Commissioners is total income before adjustments are made in respect of such items as capital allowances, interest paid in full, losses brought forward, certain allowable expenses and superannuation contributions. In the case of PAYE taxpayers total income is as closely equivalent to gross income as it is possible to achieve without a detailed examination of individual tax files which could only be carried out at a disproportionate cost. In the case of businesses it is considered that a distribution by reference to gross income as defined in the annual reports of the Revenue Commissioners would be of little use for analytical purposes since such gross income does not correspond with any concept of commercial profits as normally understood. To produce a distribution of gross income based on any of the accepted commercial or economic definitions of such income would require an even more detailed and costly examination of tax files than would be required in the case of PAYE taxpayers.