Finance Bill passes to second reading at Seanad 28/01/11

The Finance bill 2011 has passed to a second reading at the Seanad. Senators voted 28 – 21 in favour of the legislation.

Finance Minister Lenihan closed the first reading of the Finance bill in the Seanad today.

Mr Lenihan expressed his regret at tax breaks for same-sex couples not being included in the bill due to pressures of time. The important bill is being fast tracked through parliament as a result of political pressure from Fine Gael and the Labour party.

The deputy for Dublin West told the house, “secretaries, hairdressers, receptionists took advantage of (s23 property tax) reliefs and owned second properties,” advising it was not just property developers and banks who had prospered previously.

Mr Lenihan conceded that such tax reliefs had “compromised the public finances” and that he had meant to the “trim the tail” of the cat but had ended up “cutting it all off” in the 2011 budget.

The prior state of affairs in which owning a s23 property could qualify the owner for tax relief on additional non s23 properties was described as a “surprise” to the finance minister and was described as an unsatisfactory state of affairs.