Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 17 Jun 2003

Vol. 568 No. 5

Written Answers. - Tax Code.

Finian McGrath

Ceist:

209 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to a complaint regarding the situation of stamp duty on visa cards (details supplied); the reason an institution intends to charge a further ?40; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16460/03]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

Section 140 of the Finance Act 2003 gave legislative effect to the stamp duty increase from €19 to €40 per annum on credit card accounts which I announced in budget 2003.

Under the previous legislation, the stamp duty on credit cards was in respect of an account maintained by the bank on 1 April. However, people could cancel their cards in a particular manner so as to avoid the annual charge. In view of this, an anti-avoidance provision was included in the Finance Act 2003 for credit cards to ensure that a stamp duty charge will arise where the account is maintained by the bank at any time during the 12 month period ending on 1 April rather than maintained specifically on 1 April. This change is effective where the charge arises after 1 April 2003.

If an individual having used a card at any time cancels the credit card after 1 April in a year, a further stamp duty charge of €40 is payable on closure of the account, as the account had been maintained by the financial institution at any time during the year ending on 1 April of the following year. This is consistent with applying a stamp duty charge for a year or part of a year for which the credit card account is held.

There are revenue implications in any change to the current provisions. For that reason I will keep this matter under consideration in the context of next year's budget and Finance Bill, which is the normal context for any changes in taxation arrangements.