Written Answers Nos. 54 - 62
54. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the total income derived by the general records office through fees paid by persons searching records at the office's site, in each of the past ten years and to date in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8686/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that this question relates to the dedicated genealogy research room that the General Register Office operates in Werburgh Street, Dublin. At this location members of the public can search indexes of births, deaths and marriages and obtain photocopies of entries they require.
The table outlines the total income from searches and purchased photocopies of entries from the registers in the research room from 2007 to 2015 (to date).
|
Year |
Total Income € |
|
2007 |
236,862 |
|
2008 |
297,460 |
|
2009 |
383,508 |
|
2010 |
377,408 |
|
2011 |
347,526 |
|
2012 |
329,480 |
|
2013 |
295,548 |
|
2014 |
261,340 |
|
2015 (to date) |
35,142 |
Before 2007 the service was provided by the Civil Registration Office in Lombard St and was the responsibility of the Department of Health. Therefore, the General Register Office cannot provide figures prior to 2007.
55. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will share the results of the scoping exercise undertaken in her Department to determine the resources that will be required to administer the annual allowance as set out in the most recent Irish Water legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8720/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department continues to consult with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with regard to the staffing and funding needed to administer the water conservation grant on behalf of the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government.
As I said in my reply of 5 February (Ref No: 4980/15), the Department is currently carrying out a scoping exercise to explore the most effective and efficient approach to its implementation. This will include estimates of resources required to undertake the initial work involved and the ongoing administration of the grant. When those estimates have been agreed with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, I will be happy to make the information available to the Deputy.
56. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Finance if there are tax breaks, or development relief, available for council contributions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8480/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the Planning and Development Act, 2000 enables a planning authority, when granting a planning permission, to include conditions requiring the payment of a contribution in respect of
- public infrastructure, and
- facilities benefiting development in the area of the planning authority.
There is no specific tax relief provided in respect of contributions paid to a local authority as part of the process of obtaining planning permission. However, where a person is carrying on a trade of dealing in and/or developing land, contributions made to a local authority will be deductible in calculating the taxable profits of the trade where those contributions relate wholly and exclusively to the activities of that trade.
Where a person constructs a building which qualifies for capital allowances as an industrial building under section 268, Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997, for example, a mill or a factory, any fees paid to a local authority for the provision of certain infrastructure and services that are directly related to that particular property can be included in the qualifying expenditure for capital allowances purposes.
Section 310, TCA 1997, provides that a person carrying on a trade is entitled to capital allowances in respect of contributions made by the trader, to a local authority, towards
- expenditure incurred by the authority on the provision of an asset for an approved scheme of effluent control, or
- the supply of water under a written agreement between the authority and the trader.
The scheme may be provided to service a particular premises or may service a number of premises, for example, an industrial estate.
57. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the brewing, and selling, of beer by private businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8488/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Licensing Acts 1833 to 2010, together with the Finance (1909-10) Act 1910, provide the regulatory framework for liquor licences, including the licences relevant to the brewing and sale of beer. A beer manufacturer's licence is required for the production and wholesale supply of beer. A person who is engaging solely in the wholesale supply of beer is required to hold a 'wholesale dealer in beer' licence. The sale of beer for personal consumption requires a person to hold, depending on the circumstances, a publican's licence, or a beer retailer's on-licence, a wine retailer's on-licence (if the holder has an appropriate court certificate), a special restaurant licence, or a beer retailer's off-licence. Separate to the liquor licensing laws, a club may sell beer if it holds a certificate of registration from the Courts under the Registration of Clubs Acts 1904 - 2008.
In addition to the licensing requirements, beer may be produced only in a tax warehouse by a person who is authorised by the Revenue Commissioners under the Finance Act 2001.
58. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance if a value added tax number might issue, at an early date, in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare, in order to facilitate an early business start up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8521/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they do not have an application for a VAT registration from the persons concerned. Revenue has made contact with the persons concerned and advised them how to proceed with such an application.
59. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of any Revenue Commissioners compliance initiative in respect of expenses claimed by self-employed persons and pay-as-you-earn employees; the number of such cases investigated in 2014; the number of ongoing investigations; if he will provide details of the tax assessments that have resulted from such investigations; the number of persons affected; the amount of interest, and penalties, that have been applied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8529/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is assumed that the Deputy is referring to the National Contractors Project being run by the Revenue Commissioners.
A comprehensive reply on the National Contractors Project was provided to the Deputy to Question No. 38 of 11 June 2014 and updated statistics were provided to the Deputy to Question Nos. 313 and 128 of 2014 of 17 September and 18 December 2014 respectively. The Revenue Commissioners have provided the following further updated data in relation to this project:
Between 1 July 2013 and 31 December 2014, 621 audits of contracting companies and 446 audits of directors of those companies were concluded. Additional liability of €15,189,316 was determined in respect of 482 companies and 81 directors. The additional liability was made up of tax of €9,675,409, penalties of €2,781,778 and interest of €2,732,129.
At the end of 2014, under this project, 158 company audits and 147 audits of directors were ongoing.
Apart from the National Contractors Project, Revenue routinely examines areas of risk which may include an examination of the treatment of expenses. Building on the work undertaken under the National Contractors Project, Revenue continues to examine issues related to the treatment of expenses by contractors and to undertake compliance interventions, including audits, as appropriate.
60. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will arrange for the detailed replies to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 248, 249 and 250 of 20 January 2015 to be forwarded, as indicated in the initial reply. [8564/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised that the responses to these questions are currently being collated by my officials and that a detailed response will be issued to the Deputy directly later this week.
61. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a report which outlines the cost to the Exchequer of providing a €6,000 housing cost tax credit; his views that the housing cost tax credit should be assigned to any person who in providing a principal private residence for them, or their family, has engaged in a lease or mortgage; that this housing cost tax credit would replace the current mortgage interest relief scheme and remaining claims for tax relief on rent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8579/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the projected cost of mortgage interest relief and rent relief in 2015 is approximately €275m and €50m respectively. It should be noted that both of these credits are no longer available for new claimants. Mortgage interest relief is not available for homes purchased on or after 1 January 2013 and rent relief has not been available for new claimants from 8 December 2010. The relief for pre-existing claimants is being be phased out with both schemes scheduled to finish at the end of 2017.
It is not possible to estimate the cost to the Exchequer of providing the €6,000 housing tax credit outlined by the Deputy as there is insufficient detail as to how such a credit would work. For example, is the proposed tax credit an annual allowance or a once-off lifetime credit? In addition, it is not clear how the proposed credit would interact with mortgage interest relief already claimed, for example, how would it apply where a person has already received mortgage interest relief for one year, compared to someone who has claimed it for six years. These variables would affect the estimation of cost over a period of time.
I would have concerns about the introduction of such a credit in terms of the possibility of its value being absorbed by landlords, resulting in no gain for tenants. Similarly, the availablity of such a credit could act to encourage lenders to charge higher rates of interest on home loans. In addition, it should be noted that tax credits are only of value to those who are liable to income tax. In this regard, the Deputy may wish to note that it is estimated that approximately 38% of income earners will not have a liability to income tax in 2015.
If the Deputy wishes to scope out the proposal in greater detail my officials in conjunction with Revenue will see if they can provide an estimate of the cost of the proposed credit.
62. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will indicate, in tabular form, and using the most recently available data from the Revenue Commissioners, the combined pre-tax total declared earnings of all persons, or tax couples, who are, or were, in income bands (details supplied); the number of persons, or tax couples, in each of these income bands; the combined total income tax paid by all persons, or tax couples, in each income band; the combined total universal social charge paid by all the persons, or tax couples, in each income band; the combined total pay-related social insurance paid by all persons, or tax couples, in each income band, for each year from 2005 to 2014, inclusive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8584/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that a wide range of statistical information is now available on the Revenue Commissioners' new, enhanced, statistics webpage at www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/index.html. In particular in response to the Deputy's Question, at www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/pssn/rv01/homepagefiles/rv01_statbank.asp detailed information is presented on the breakdowns of gross Income Tax and Universal Social Charge (USC) paid by income range. This information can be found under the heading "Income Tax and Corporation Tax Distribution Statistics", where Table RVA04 shows Income Tax and USC payments by income range.
This recently released facility provides breakdowns on the annual distribution of Income Tax from 2004 to 2012 and USC from 2011 to 2012 using the Central Statistics Office data toolset. Whereas previously information of this nature was provided by way of static tables in documents, these data are now published in a format which may be dynamically accessed by a range of user defined queries. Data for 2013 and 2014 are not available as yet but these webpages will be updated in due course. If the Deputy requires assistance locating or interpreting the information on the Revenue webpages, the Commissioners are available to assist and may be contacted by email at statistics@revenue.ie.
As regards PRSI, I am informed that the breakdown of receipts requested by the Deputy is not available.
