Finance Act, 1951

Allowances from total income—persons aged sixty-five or upwards.

4.—(1) (a) Any individual who, in the manner prescribed by the Income Tax Acts, makes a claim in that behalf, makes a return in the prescribed form of his total income, and proves that at any time during the year of assessment either he or, in the case of a married man, his wife living with him was of the age of sixty-five years or upwards and that his total income for the year of assessment does not exceed five hundred pounds, shall, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of his assessable income for the purpose of income tax, be allowed a deduction from the amount of his total income of a sum equal to one-fifth of the amount of that income.

(b) Any individual who would, but for the fact that his total income exceeds five hundred pounds, be entitled to an allowance as aforesaid shall be entitled to have the amount of the income tax payable in respect of his total income reduced, where necessary, so as not to exceed a sum equal to the aggregate of the two following amounts, that is to say, the amount of the tax which would have been payable if his total income had amounted to, but had not exceeded, five hundred pounds, and one-half of the amount by which his total income exceeds five hundred pounds.

(2) Any deduction or relief under subsection (1) of this section shall be in substitution for and not in addition to the deduction under section 16 of the Finance Act, 1920 , as amended by section 4 of the Finance Act, 1939 (No. 18 of 1939).

(3) The provisions of section 30 of the Income Tax Act, 1918, as amended by subsequent enactments (which relates to penalties in cases of fraudulent claims) shall apply with respect to claims under this section.

(4) Where, on an application made for the purpose under the provisions of the Income Tax Acts, income tax for any year is assessable and chargeable on the incomes of the husband and wife respectively as if they were not married, the benefit of any allowance or relief under subsection (1) of this section shall be apportioned between the husband and wife according to the amounts of their respective total incomes.

(5) In this section “total income” means total income from all sources as estimated in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Acts.