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DÁIL QUESTION NO 127

To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 159 of 27 May 2008 the breakdown of moneys accrued by the Exchequer for each month respectively in 2007 and to date in 2008 by way of excise duty, VAT and other such payments through the sale of respective petroleum products including home heating oil, petrol, diesels and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. – David Stanton.

For ORAL answer on Wednesday, 4th June, 2008.

Ref No: 21947/08

REPLY

Minister for Finance ( Mr Lenihan) :

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the amounts of tax revenue collected from Mineral Oil Tax on petroleum products for each month respectively in 2007 and the first four months of 2008 are set out in the attached Appendix A and Appendix B.

VAT returns do not require the yield from a particular sector or sub-sector of trade to be identified and therefore the VAT yield in each month on petroleum products cannot be provided. The figures provided in this reply for monthly VAT receipts are estimates of the amount of VAT yield that would be generated by the volume of clearances of oil products up to the end of each month. Mineral Oil Tax is paid in the month of clearance of the product but, depending on the nature of the registration status of a trader, VAT returns can be made monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually. This will dictate the point in time when VAT on sales will actually be paid to Revenue.

It should also be noted that the VAT content of purchases of Auto Diesel, Marked Gas Oil, Kerosene and Fuel Oil is a deductible credit for business in the Irish VAT system. There are no VAT receipts for Heavy Fuel Oil, as this type of residual oil is used only by registered traders and any VAT paid is reclaimed.

The yield from excise, as excise is set at a nominal amount, does not increase as the price of fuels increase. On the other hand, the yield from VAT, as VAT is set as a percentage of the price, increases as the price of fuels increase. However, in this regard it should be borne in mind that to the extent that spending in the economy is re-allocated to petrol and other oil products, and away from other VAT liable spending, and to the extent that the overall level of economic activity is reduced by higher oil prices, there may be little or no net gain to the Exchequer.

Appendix A.

Mineral Oil Tax

Petrol

Diesel

Fuel Oil

MGO

Auto LPG

2007

2007

2007

2007

2007

Prov

Prov

Prov

Prov

Prov

€m

€m

€m

€m

€m

Jan

122.5

111.3

0.8

8.1

0.006
Feb

80.6

85.5

0.8

6.4

0.005
Mar

88.5

91.3

0.6

6.6

0.006
Apr

86.4

87.8

0.9

5.5

0.003
May

93.4

96.4

0.9

5.7

0.008
Jun

88.4

90.7

0.8

5.6

0.003
Jul

87.7

89.9

0.6

4.9

0.006
Aug

94.6

93.1

0.6

5.7

0.006
Sep

84.0

88.1

0.7

5.7

0.007
Oct

94.4

98.2

0.8

5.5

0.004
Nov

85.8

93.1

0.5

6.2

0.006
Dec

45.0

50.4

0.4

2.5

0.005
Total

1,051.3

1,075.8

8.4

68.4

0.07

2008

2008

2008

2008

2008

Prov

Prov

Prov

Prov

Prov

€m

€m

€m

€m

€m

Jan

123.2

113.7 0.6 7.2 0.004
Feb 83.2 91.0 0.5 6.4 0.005
Mar 84.9 88.3 0.5 5.6 0.005
Apr 91.1 99.6 0.6 7.0 0.003
Total

382.4

392.6

2.3

26.2

0.02

Appendix B

Estimated VAT Receipts.

Petrol

Diesel

Kerosene

MGO

Auto LPG

2007

2007

2007

2007

2007

Estd

Estd

Estd

Estd

Estd

€m

€m

€m

€m

€m

Jan 54.2 5.9 14.3 8.3 0.009
Feb 35.6 4.5 10.0 6.5 0.007
Mar 39.2 4.8 8.8 6.8 0.009
Apr 38.2 4.7 3.8 5.6 0.005
May 41.3 5.1 3.4 5.8 0.012
Jun 39.1 4.8 2.5 5.7 0.005
Jul 38.8 4.8 2.9 5.0 0.009
Aug 41.8 4.9 3.1 5.8 0.010
Sep 37.2 4.7 6.1 5.8 0.010
Oct 41.8 5.2 8.7 5.6 0.006
Nov 38.0 4.9 8.5 6.3 0.010
Dec 19.9 2.7 4.8 2.6 0.008
Total

465.0

57.0

77.0

70.0

0.10

2008

2008

2008

2008

2008

Estd

Estd

Estd

Estd

Estd

€m

€m

€m

€m

€m

Jan

57.3

6.7

15.2

8.7

0.007
Feb

38.1

5.2

11.3

7.2

0.009
Mar

39.6

5.1

10.8

6.7

0.011
Apr

42.0

6.0

8.7

8.4

0.007
Total

177.0

23.0

46.0

31.0

0.03

DÁIL QUESTION NO 159

To ask the Minister for Finance the amount accrued to the Exchequer each month for the past 12 months by way of excise duty, VAT and other such payments through the sale of respective petroleum products to include home heating oil, petrol and diesels; and if he will make a statement on the matter.- David Stanton.* For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 27th May, 2008.

Ref No: 20563/08

REPLY

Minister for Finance ( Mr Lenihan) :

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the amounts of tax revenue collected from Mineral Oil Tax and VAT on petroleum products for the annual year 2007 and the first four months of 2008 are as follows:

2007

2008

Mineral Oil Tax

(Jan to Dec)

(Jan to Apr)

Prov

€m

€m

Petrol

1,051

382

Auto Diesel

1,076

393

Fuel Oil

8

2

Marked Gas Oil

68

26

Auto LPG

0.07

0.02

Total

2,204

803

2007

2008

Estimated VAT Yield

(Jan to Dec)

(Jan to Apr)

Est.

Est.

€m

€m

Petrol

465

177

Auto Diesel

57

23

Marked Gas Oil

70

31

Kerosene

77

46

Auto LPG

0.1

0.03

Total

669

277

Note:

The VAT yield from petroleum products is estimated as the information to be furnished on VAT returns does not require the yield from particular sectors of trade to be identified. It should also be noted that the VAT content of purchases of Auto Diesel is a deductible credit for business in the Irish VAT system.

DÁIL QUESTION NO 25, For ORAL answer on Tuesday, 26th February, 2008.

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he has considered or will consider allowing tax relief to businesses that have experienced losses due to works carried out by local authorities or the National Roads Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. – David Stanton.

REPLY

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance ( Mr Cowen ) :

The premise on which this question is based appears to be that businesses should receive specific compensation through the tax system for the loss of business which they consider they have experienced or will experience as a result of works carried out by local authorities and others. I do not consider the tax system to be the appropriate mechanism through which to deal with matters of this kind.

In the normal way, the tax system already provides relief to companies and businesses, generally, in relation to losses suffered by them in the course of their trade. Trading losses can be set off against profits in the same accounting period. Such losses can also be set off against profits of the preceding accounting period, if the company or business carried on the trade in that period. Finally, trading losses can be set off against future profits of the same trade, unless the losses have been otherwise utilised.