Finance Act, 1950

Agreements as to stamp duty on industrial assurance policies.

19.—(1) Where, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, any body of persons carrying on industrial assurance business so carries on that business as to render it impracticable or inexpedient to require that the stamp duties chargeable on policies issued by the body in the course of that business should be charged and paid thereon, the Revenue Commissioners may enter into an agreement with that body for the delivery to the Revenue Commissioners of periodical accounts giving such particulars as may be required of the policies so issued by the body.

(2) The agreement shall be in such form and shall contain such terms and conditions as the Revenue Commissioners think proper.

(3) Where an agreement has been entered into under this section between the Revenue Commissioners and any body of persons, any policy which, during the period for which the agreement is in force, is issued by that body in the course of its industrial assurance business and which contains a statement that the appropriate stamp duty has been or will be paid to the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall not be chargeable with any stamp duty, but in lieu thereof and by way of composition there shall be charged, in respect of the policies issued during the period to which any such account as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section relates, a stamp duty of an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts of stamp duty which, but for the provisions of this section, would have been chargeable upon those policies, and the stamp duty chargeable under this subsection by way of such composition as aforesaid shall be paid by the body to the Revenue Commissioners on the delivery of the account.

(4) Where a body makes default in delivering any account required by any such agreement or in paying the duty payable on the delivery of any such account, the body shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds for every day during which the default continues and shall also be liable to pay, in addition to the duty, interest thereon, which shall be recoverable in the same manner as if it were part thereof, at the rate of five per cent. per annum from the date when the default begins.

(5) In this section, the expression “industrial assurance business” has the same meaning as in the Insurance Act, 1936 (No. 45 of 1936).