769. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance whether the levy imposed on sound broadcasting services by Coimisiún na Meán is subject to value added tax; whether such value added tax is deductible as an input credit by broadcasters in the ordinary course of business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62057/26]

I am advised by Revenue that the VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law is obliged to comply. In general, the EU VAT Directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate, unless they are exempt from VAT or fall within the categories of goods and services listed in Annex III of the EU VAT Directive, to which Member States are permitted to apply lower VAT rates subject to certain rules.

Revenue is prohibited by legislation from commenting on the tax affairs of specific taxpayers however, where a public body charges a levy in respect of their statutory oversight functions that levy is typically not subject to VAT. Generally, activities carried out by public bodies under their statutory remit, and that are not in competition with other providers, are outside the scope of VAT and they do not charge VAT on those activities.

A commercial broadcaster who is engaged in taxable activities is entitled to deduct any VAT it incurs on purchases once those purchases are used for the purposes of those taxable activities.