Comments on Tax and Social Welfare Commission report

Commission on Taxation and Welfare​

A Ceann Comhairle, I would now like to take the opportunity to look past the immediate issues facing us today and to consider some issues which we will face over the medium to longer-term.
I very much welcome the recent publication of the report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, and thank members for their hard work.
The Commission considered how the overall balance of taxation might shift in order to sustainably fund public services over the longer-term. Its recommendations are clearly not intended to be implemented immediately but rather provide a clear direction of travel for this and future governments around how the sustainability of the taxation and welfare systems may be improved.
The report has already fed into a number of policy actions being announced today.
As referenced earlier I have requested that the department consider the proposals related to a range of recommendations across PRSI, USC and income tax over the coming months with a view to developing a medium-term roadmap for personal taxation reform to address these and other related issues.
In the area of property, I welcome the Commission’s proposals on changes to the Local Property Tax and a Site Value Tax. These longer-term reforms are wide-ranging and require careful consideration and consultation across Government. I am also committing to commencing a review of the REIT and IREF regimes. Institutional investment has played a key role in the provision of housing in recent years. This review will consider those structures and how best they can continue to support housing policy objectives.
In addition, I also intend to commence a review of the use of Section 110 regimes and to establish a working group to consider the taxation of funds, life assurance policies and other investment products.
Another area which the Commission considered in detail is corporation tax.
 
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