Some one in eight of Ireland’s super-rich are tax exiles, reveals Irish revenue
Almost one-in-eight 12.5% of Ireland’s richest people like Denis O’Brien and Michael Smurfit are are tax exiles, according to the Revenue Commissioners.
Of the 450 “high wealth” individuals, 54 are resident abroad for tax purposes.
This is the first time the tax authorities have released figures relating to how many Irish tax exiles are in the super-rich league.
Revenue said that last year its “high wealth” section dealt with 450 individuals who have net assets worth more than €50m and non-residents with “substantial economic interests” in Ireland.
It said the “number of non-resident individuals that are considered by Revenue to be high-wealth individuals is currently 54″.
Membership of the “54″ club is confidential. But some of Ireland’s biggest business figures are known to have moved their bases to generous foreign tax shelters. This means they only have to pay tax on Irish earnings and not on their worldwide income.
Denis O’Brien, the telecoms entrepreneur and significant stakeholder in Independent News & Media (INM), is tax resident in Malta. Dermot Desmond, the founder of NCB stockbrokers and another shareholder in INM, is tax resident in Gibraltar.
Michael Smurfit, the paper packaging tycoon, has moved toMonaco while the racehorse magnates JP McManus and John Magnier are both tax resident in Switzerland. The supergroup U2 moved part of their business from Ireland to Holland after the Government capped the tax exemption scheme for artists.
In contrast, Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair chief executive whose wealth is estimated at €438m by rich lists, famously said he is happy to pay his taxes here.
While the official number of “tax exiles” is 10,781, some are people who moved abroad, rent their homes and pay tax here on the rental income. Others are foreigners working for multinationals here, or who have investments here.
Collectively they generated €49m in tax last year although it’s not clear how much the super-rich club of 54 contributed.
The issue of tax exiles has riled the taxpaying public, according to recent research by theLabour Party which showed that tax exiles were one of the main issues exercising voters. The Government plans to examine the issue of tax exiles in the Budget, with Labour pressing to tighten up the residency rules.
To qualify as “non-resident”, they must spend less than 183 days a year in Ireland, or 280 days over two years.
Michael Noonan, the Finance Minister, has been lobbied by business interests claiming that any attempt to tighten tax exile rules would scare off investors. A “domicile levy” of €200,000 imposed on wealthy Irish citizens living abroad for tax purposes raised just €1.6m in 2010.
Gerald Nash, a Labour TD for Louth, said: “While it is a fact that Ireland now has a taxation system that is considered by international standards to be among the fairest in the world, the system at the higher end needs to be radically altered to ensure that exacting standards are applied to so-called tax exiles in terms of their treatment for tax purposes.”
Call’s for Government septic tank repair grants
The Irish GOVERNMENT has been urged to introduce a grant scheme covering the entire cost of septic tank repairs, following the introduction of the septic tank inspection scheme earlier this year.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) made the call in its pre-budget submission published yesterday.
ICSA president Gabriel Gilmartin said rural dwellers must be treated equally with their urban counterparts “and this is the only way that can be achieved”.
The submission points out that all urban households have full sewage disposal costs covered “and recent evidence suggests that the cost per house in urban housing developments is actually more than the potential cost of a 100 per cent grant for rural households to upgrade septic tanks”.
Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan opened the septic tank registration scheme in June. A reduced €5 registration fee was available until the end of September but fewer than 40 per cent of septic tank owners availed of the lower rate. The fee is now €50.
The ICSA submission also called for a tougher stance on public sector pay and allowances.
Mr Gilmartin said the Government had a stated policy of expenditure cuts rather than tax increases to meet fiscal targets but this was being curbed by the Croke Park agreement.
“The focus on reducing staff numbers rather than pay is hindering any real progress,” he said.
“The refusal to target increments and failure to make savings on allowances means that a disproportionately high number of cuts are made to vital schemes, frontline services and capital investment.”
The farm organisation has also urged that farm schemes be protected from cuts. “For example, the Disadvantaged Area Scheme, which is vital for many livestock farmers, has taken a cut of more than 25 per cent over recent budgets,” Mr Gilmartin said.
Mayo Council 1st county to begin court proceedings over household charge
Sinn Féin has criticised Mayo County Council for becoming the first local authority in the country to begin issuing court summonses to people who have not paid the household charge.
It is understood about one in four homeowners in Mayo have failed to pay the charge.
Sinn Féin’s environment and local government spokesperson Brian Stanley has condemned Mayo County Council for its actions, describing them as “bully boy tactics”.
A number of court dates have been set for the coming weeks for those who have failed to pay the €100 charge and Deputy Stanley is urging Mayo County Council to withdraw the summons immediately.
It is estimated around 500,000 people around the country have yet to pay this controversial tax, which is a predecessor to the property tax which is expected to be introduced next July.
New marine team to protect Irish coastal waters
A new marine division has been created to deliver policy and legislation to promote, protect and sustain coastal waters.
Environment Minister Alex Attwood revealed his department will run the dedicated unit, which will also be responsible for implementing national, European and international laws.
Mr Attwood said coastal waters play a massive role in the lives of the people of Northern Ireland.
“The wealth of its resources, the splendour of its biodiversity, the simple fact of it being a huge natural resource to be enjoyed, means it is vital that we concentrate our efforts to protect and sustain it,” he said. “Therefore we need to make sure we are managing it properly.”
Mr Attwood is calling on his colleagues in Stormont to back his plan to bring all marine functions across government departments into an independent marine management organisation.
“This new marine division is an important step towards developing fully integrated marine management across government,” he added.
“It sends out the message we will strongly protect the marine, look for sustainable development and ensure the marine interest punches to its weight in government.”
Protecting the ash trees of Ireland
As we enter the season for planting trees, it is timely to note that the presence of a “new” fungal disease, ash dieback (Chalara fraxinea), has been widely reported in the last few weeks.
Outbreaks have been detected across Britain and, unfortunately, in Ireland. The response of the relevant European authorities to this disease has been very ineffective. Since the discovery in Poland in 1992, ash dieback has devastated Europe’s forests, killing 90 per cent of ash trees in Denmark alone.
Strangely, given the fact that Department of Agriculture officials assure me they have been monitoring the disease’s progress, limits on the importation of saplings have still not been imposed.
The “voluntary moratorium” that Ireland’s plant suppliers have been asked to respect is not enough, especially as Coillte’s decision to stop selling trees to the public has accelerated demand for imports in the last few years.Urgent action is required if we are not to lose our native ash trees to a preventable, imported disease.
Dual imaging modalities can detect breast cancer at early stages
The diagnostic accuracy of breast cancerat early stages can be enhanced by adapting to dual imaging modalities, said senior radiologist Arjan Bhatia, head of radiology unit at AIMS Hospital in Aundh. October is observed as breast cancer awareness month.
Most of us know that mammography remains the gold standard for screening women in general population, however it has limitation in dense breast and cancer can be hidden in some cases.
The recent research by American association for cancer research revealed that women with a breast density of 75% were 4-5 times more likely to develop breast cancer then women with little or no density, said Bhatia whose many research articles have found place in various prestigious medical journals.
Elaborating, Bhatia said, Mammography has limitation for dense breast and also cysts and solid tumor can t be defiantly differentiated by mammography. The America Cancer Society (ACS) has recently updated their breast screening guidelines by recommending an overlapping approach for high risk patients using dual modalities.
Breast cancer is the common cancer that affect women, however men can develop breast cancer as well. “Besides ultrasound and mammography, new imaging techniques have evolved which have proven to be of great importance for female having dense breast,” Bhatia said.
Among the new imaging techniques which are found most useful for breast cancer detection are digital mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Breast MRI is recommended for screening high risk women as it further defines the tumor mass and shape. It cannot be performed in females who are claustrophobic or in those who have metal implants,
Bhatia said, adding, “Nuclear breast imaging is a genetic term than that covers many different form of nuclear medicine like Positrons Emission Mammography(PEM), breast specific gamma images (BSGI), Molecular Breast Images (MBI) scan. These techniques are based on gamma camera.”
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