Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 April 2024
134. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will intervene with the Minister for Finance to support the extension of the tax warehousing scheme for the farm and forestry contractors sector in Ireland, which has been the most severely impacted by the bad weather since September 2023 and now faces huge cashflow difficulties due to the late spring sowing season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18208/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile primary responsibility for taxation policy is with the Minister for Finance, I continue to work closely with him on taxation matters relating to the agri-food sector.
The tax debt warehousing scheme has offered valuable and practical liquidity support to businesses since it was introduced in May 2020 during the pandemic and continues to support businesses as they recover from the impacts of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. It has assisted businesses with their cash flow during difficult trading periods, allowing businesses to temporarily defer VAT, employer PAYE, certain self-assessed income tax liabilities, and wage subsidy scheme and employment wage subsidy scheme overpayments. This is on an interest-free basis for an extended period, up to the end of 2022, or until the end of April 2023 for those availing of the extended scheme. After this time, a 3% interest rate applies until the debt is either fully repaid or the customer otherwise exits the warehouse.
Taxpayers are not required to pay all of their warehoused debt by 1 May 2024. However, in order to avail of the 0 per cent interest and flexible payment options, they are required to engage with Revenue ahead of that date to make arrangements to pay the debt over an agreed period of time. We are informed by Revenue that it fully appreciates that there may be circumstances where businesses continue to experience cash flow difficulties, impacting either their ability to pay non-warehoused debt, or their ability to meet ongoing tax obligations on a timely basis. The advice remains that businesses should engage with Revenue as soon as such difficulties start to arise so that an agreed solution can be found.
In the case of a seasonal business, the option of a lower down payment and a payment break may be appropriate to alleviate the temporary cash flow difficulty for the business. These options can be considered on a case-by-case basis to suit the individual business circumstances and their capacity to pay, once the business engages with Revenue and submits their payment proposal. Revenue has a proven successful track record in supporting businesses with cash flow difficulties, by agreeing flexible “Phased Payment Arrangements” that take account of the financial circumstances of each business and their capacity to pay.
I am informed that the total debt in the warehouse has decreased substantially since January 2022. At the end of March 2024, €1.65 billion remained outstanding in respect of 55,490 individual taxpayers. Approximately 70 per cent of customers with debts in the warehouse owed amounts less than €5,000. The bulk of the debt (€1.41 billion) was warehoused by 5,040 customers with outstanding balances greater than €50,000. As of 22 April 2024, Revenue has advised that there were 2,876 customers from the “Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing” sector availing of the Debt Warehouse with aggregated debt of €15.8 million. Specific figures for farm and forestry contractors are not available.
