Budget bill benefits dogs and music

THE music and greyhound businesses will benefit from measures to be introduced in the 1996 Finance Bill. In an outline published yesterday of measures proposed for the Bill, plans to abolish off course betting duty on bets placed at other greyhound tracks were revealed. Income from greyhound stud fees will be exempt from tax to help the greyhound breeding industry and the Business Expansion Scheme is to be extended to the music industry.

The Finance Bill legislates for measures announced in the Budget and introduces other measures, planned by the Minister for Finance. For the first time, an outline of most of the measures which will be included in the Finance Bill has been published.

This outline approach is aimed at facilitating discussion and consideration of measures before the full details are drafted. The Bill will be published at the end of March.

But a number of measures which will be in the Bill were not revealed yesterday. New anti avoidance measures are not included in the outline because early publication of such measures is "not appropriate", the Department of Finance said.

In the outline, arrangements for the extension of relief from benefit in kind tax on cars for company representatives who have low mileage were disclosed. To qualify, employees will have to maintain log books with details of business mileage, business transacted, business time travelling and journey dates. Employers will have to certify that these details are correct.

The rules under which elderly people living alone can claim tax relief for alarms installed between January 23rd 1996 and April 5th 1998 will not be published until the end of March. In the meantime, intending claimants have been advised to ensure they have the VAT number of their installer and confirmation that the alarm conforms to relevant Irish standards.

Details of the new statutory certification system required for investments of over £250,000 in industrial projects under Business Expansion Schemes were disclosed.

There will be provisions for clawback of tax reliefs under the scheme if the money is not used for the purposes set out in the business plans. But there will be flexibility in recognition of the fact that business plans can change over time. Guidelines for tourism and other projects are not yet finalised.

Provision to facilitate the settings up of mail order operations in the Shannon zone will be included in the Finance Bill. Department officials would not say if this provision was aimed at a specific company with plans to establish in Shannon.

The list of "accountable public bodies" which must deduct withholding tax from payments for professional services is being reviewed. The Higher Education Authority will be added to the list.

Within the next two weeks the Minister for Finance will publish a series of sections of the Finance Bill in order to clear the way for the planned consolidation in 1997 of the Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax Acts.