I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. Section 31 of the Finance Act, 1995, contains a very welcome provision. The purpose of that section was to extend to the self-employed the direct debit or instalment method of making their preliminary tax payment. In recent years considerable progress has been made by the Revenue Commissioners and by compliant taxpayers in developing a well structured system for the payment of PAYE and value added tax. As is evident from reports of the Revenue Commissioners, considerable progress has been made in the collection of all taxes.
For a number of years it was possible to pay one's VAT or PAYE by way of an instalment arrangement. The logical extension of that for income tax was provided in section 31 of the Finance Act, 1995. The purpose of that section was to allow people to make instalment payments of their preliminary taxes by direct debit. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to avail of that facility in the tax year 1995-96. Preliminary tax payments should be made on 1 November and I understand that the Revenue Commissioners were not in a position to issue mandate forms and the Collector General's office is not allowing people to avail of that concession.
It appears that a mistake was made in the drafting of section 31 of the Finance Act. The Act should have provided that that concession would commence in the tax year 1996-97. I am aware that the group which meets with the Revenue Commissioners has agreed that the facility will commence on 1 January 1996 and will relate to preliminary tax payments for the year 1996-97 which will be due on 1 November 1996.
A strict reading of the Act is that the facility should have been available for this tax year and people whose preliminary tax payments are due on 1 November should have been allowed to use it given that the provisions of section 31 are specific. It should not be necessary for me to read the provisions of the Act, but the Minister can be assured that a layman's interpretation is that the concessions should have applied to the tax year 1995-96. As it would be legally possible for taxpayers to avail of the direct debit method under section 31 until 31 December, I ask the Minister to indicate to the Revenue Commissioners that they should facilitate any taxpayer who wishes to use that concession. I understand the Collector General's office indicated that it does not intend to allow that concession, but if a taxpayer is refused that concession he or she could take a legal action. My reading of section 31 is that the concession was intended and an error was made. I suggest that section should have been framed to provide for the commencement of that concession in that tax year 1996-97. The reason I raise this matter is that the section specifically provides for the commencement of the concession in the 1995-96 tax year and a taxpayer should be allowed to avail of it if he or she so desires.