Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Nov 2002

Vol. 557 No. 1

Written Answers. - Tax Reliefs.

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

97 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Finance if, in regard to his statement of 18 July 2002 announcing the closing off of a tax avoidance scheme in relation to student accommodation projects, the number of such projects in respect of which tax relief was sought; the number in respect of which relief was granted; the total tax foregone in respect of this scheme; when the irregularities first came to the attention of his Department and the Revenue Commissioners; the procedures in place to ensure that abuses are not occurring in respect of other similar schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21283/02]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the information from tax returns is not recorded in such a way that it would be possible to provide an estimate of the number of persons who have availed of relief for the provision of student accommodation. To establish the extent to which such claims have been made it would be necessary to manually identify and examine all claims for capital allowances generally. Such an exercise could be carried out only at a disproportionate cost.

The irregularities first came to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners in February 2002 who, after further investigations, informed the Department of Finance in June 2002. As the Deputy is aware, the Revenue Commissioners are responsible for the administration and audit of the tax code. When an abuse comes to their attention they liaise with the Department of Finance and the abuse is then addressed and appropriate action is taken to prevent any future tax avoidance or abuse of the relief. Whenever such abuses of the tax code are brought to my attention, I have acted as quickly as possible to announce closures of such tax loopholes.

Question No. 98 answered with Question No. 73.