Lenihan to get tax commission report this month

THE REPORT of the Commission on Taxation is due to be handed over to Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan later this month.

A spokesman for the Department of Finance said yesterday that the Minister would bring the report to the Cabinet for consideration and Ministers would then make a decision on whether to publish the report.

Mr Lenihan has said that the report should be published before the Government begins detailed consideration on budgetary options in October.

It is expected that the report will be published in mid-September in order to encourage public debate in tandem with the McCarthy report.

There has been speculation that the report will recommend the introduction of a property tax, water charges and a carbon tax.

The taxation of pension lump sums and the reduction of tax relief on pension contributions may also be part of the package.

The 17-member commission, under the chairmanship of former Revenue Commissioners chief Frank Daly, was set up by the Government in February to establish a framework for the setting of tax policy for the next decade.

Its brief involved four key principles, which are contained in the programme for government between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. They are: to keep the overall tax burden low and implement further changes to enhance the rewards of work while increasing the fairness of the tax system; to introduce measures to further lower carbon emissions and to phase in, on a revenue-neutral basis, appropriate fiscal measures including a carbon levy; to continue the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate; to ensure that the regulatory framework remains flexible, proportionate and up to date.

The commission is made up of people from a variety of interest groups, including the social partners, as well as tax experts.