749. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance to provide an exhaustive list of all double tax agreements and ‘limited scope agreements’ that investors in IREF to avail of a lower dividend withholding tax; and the specific maximum lower rate for each jurisdiction. [56602/26]

An Irish Real Estate Fund (IREF) is an Irish regulated investment fund, or sub-fund where at least 25% of the value of its assets is derived from Irish real estate. As an investment fund, the income and gains of an IREF are not subject to corporation tax or capital gains tax. Instead under the IREF regime, withholding tax (WHT) at a rate of 20% is generally applied at the point in time where the value of profits generated within the IREF are passed to a non-resident investor. When value passes from the fund to Irish resident investors, investment undertaking tax (IUT) at a rate of 38% is generally applied.

Under the IREF legislation, certain categories of non-resident investors such as pension funds, life assurance companies and other collective investment undertakings are generally exempt from IREF WHT, provided the appropriate declarations are in place prior to the occurrence of an IREF taxable event. In other circumstances, non-resident investors may be able to reclaim the IREF WHT suffered under a double taxation agreement (DTA). Ireland’s DTAs do not contain provisions that specifically refer to IREFs or prescribe treaty withholding rates specifically applicable to IREF dividends, rather the provisions that generally apply under DTAs will also apply in the case of payments received from an IREF.

Under the IREF legislation, on receiving a payment from an IREF, a non-resident investor who directly owns less than 10 per cent of the units in an IREF will be treated as having received a dividend for DTA relief purposes. Under the terms of the relevant DTA applicable to dividends, the investor may be entitled to reclaim the relevant portion of the IREF WHT.

Under the IREF legislation, on receiving a payment from an IREF, a non-resident investor who directly owns more than 10 per cent of the units in an IREF will be treated as receiving income from immoveable property for DTA relief purposes. As the majority of Ireland’s DTAs provide that the primary taxation rights of income derived from Irish immovable property remain with Ireland, relief from IREF WHT under a DTA should not generally be available in these circumstances.

Ireland has signed 78 comprehensive double taxation treaties with 78 countries. These agreements are negotiated bilaterally and are designed to eliminate double taxation, allocate taxing rights between Ireland and the treaty partner, and provide mechanisms for resolving cross-border tax disputes. The text of each of Ireland’s double taxation treaties is available here: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tax-agreements/double-taxation-treaties/tax-treaties-by-country.aspx with the dates of effect of those treaties available here: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tax-agreements/dates-of-effect/index.aspx.

*Treaties with Ghana, Kenya and Liechtenstein have yet to be ratified.

In addition, Ireland has concluded three “Limited Scope Agreements” – with Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. In contrast to the comprehensive double taxation treaties, these Agreements are limited in scope and primarily prevent the double taxation of certain sources of income of individuals. Ireland’s three Limited Scope Agreements (www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tax-agreements/tiea/index.aspx?page=g) are published on Revenue.ie, alongside the Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs). It is not possible to reclaim IREF WHT under the terms of a Limited Scope Agreement.

Revenue publishes a summary of the withholding tax rates provided for under Ireland’s Double Taxation Agreements in respect of dividends, interest and royalties. The summary is available here: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tax-agreements/rates/index.aspx. In an IREF context, the rates for dividends are applicable where the investor holds less than 10 percent of the units in an IREFs. While the summary sets out the maximum reduced treaty rates by jurisdiction, investors in IREFs may only avail of those rates where the conditions of the relevant agreement are satisfied in their particular circumstances.