Finance Act, 1982
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Allowance for rent paid by certain tenants. |
5.—(1) The Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion after section 142 of the following section: | |
“142A.—(1) In this section— | ||
‘residential premises’ means property held under a tenancy, being— | ||
(a) a building or part of a building used or suitable for use as a dwelling, and | ||
(b) land which the occupier of a building or part of a building used as a dwelling has for his own occupation and enjoyment with the said building or part as its garden or grounds of an ornamental nature; | ||
‘rent’ includes any periodical payment in the nature of rent made in return for a special possession of residential premises, or for the use, occupation or enjoyment of residential premises, but does not include so much of any rent or payment as— | ||
(a) is paid or made to defray the cost of maintenance of or repairs to residential premises for which in the absence of agreement to the contrary the tenant would be liable, | ||
(b) relates to the provision of goods or services, | ||
(c) relates to any right or benefit other than the bare right to use, occupy and enjoy residential premises, or | ||
(d) is the subject of a right of reimbursement or a subsidy from any source enjoyed by the person making the payment, unless such reimbursement or subsidy cannot be obtained; | ||
‘tenancy’ includes any contract, agreement or licence, under or in respect of which rent is paid, but does not include— | ||
(a) a tenancy which, apart from any statutory extension, is a tenancy for a freehold estate or interest or for a definite period of 50 years or more, | ||
(b) a tenancy in relation to which the person beneficially entitled to the rent is a Minister of the Government, the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, or a housing authority for the purposes of the Housing Act, 1966 , or | ||
(c) a tenancy in relation to which an agreement or provision exists under which the rent paid or part of it is or may be treated as consideration or part consideration, in whatever form, for the creation of a further or greater estate, tenancy or interest in the residential premises concerned or in any other property. | ||
(2) (a) In relation to income tax for 1983-84 and each subsequent year of assessment, if an individual (referred to in this section as ‘a claimant’) proves that— | ||
(i) at any time during the year of assessment he was of the age of sixty-five years or upwards, and | ||
(ii) in the year ending on the 31st day of December prior to that year of assessment, he has made a payment on account of rent in respect of residential premises which, during the period in respect of which the payment was made, was his only or main residence, | ||
he shall be entitled to a deduction of an amount equal to the aggregate of all such payments proved to be so made, or to the relevant limit, whichever is the lesser: | ||
Provided that in the case of a claimant who is a husband assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 194, any payments made by his spouse, in respect of which she would have been entitled to relief under this section if she were assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 193 (apart from the proviso thereto), shall be deemed to have been made by the claimant. | ||
(b) In this subsection ‘the relevant limit’ means— | ||
(i) in the case of a claimant who is entitled to a deduction under section 138 (a), £1,000, and | ||
(ii) in any other case, £500. | ||
(3) (a) Where a payment is made partly on account of rent and partly on account of anything which is not rent, such apportionment of the payment shall be made as is necessary in order to determine for the purposes of this section the amount paid on account of rent. | ||
(b) Any apportionment required by this subsection shall be made by the inspector according to the best of his knowledge and judgment. | ||
(c) (i) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of the inspector on any question arising under this subsection may, by notice in writing to that effect given to the inspector within thirty days from the date on which notice of the decision is given to him, make an application claiming relief against the decision and the claim shall be heard and determined by the Appeal Commissioners. | ||
(ii) Where an application is made under subparagraph (i), the Appeal Commissioners shall hear and determine the claim in like manner as an appeal made to them against an assessment and all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to such an appeal (including the provisions relating to the rehearing of an appeal and to the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law) shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications. | ||
(4) Where a payment on account of rent is made in respect of any period, that payment shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be made in the year into which the period falls: | ||
Provided that if the period falls partly into one year and partly into another year, the amount of the payment made in respect of that period shall be apportioned to each year in the proportion which the part of the period falling into that year bears to the whole of the period and the amount so apportioned to a year shall be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to be paid in that year. | ||
(5) (a) Any claim for relief under this section in respect of a payment on account of rent shall be accompanied by— | ||
(i) a certificate and statement in a form (being a form prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners) signed by the claimant setting forth— | ||
(A) the name, address and income tax reference number of the claimant, | ||
(B) the name and address of the person or body of persons beneficially entitled to the rent under the tenancy under which the rent was paid, | ||
(C) the postal address of the premises in respect of which the rent was paid, and | ||
(D) full particulars of the tenancy under which the rent was paid, | ||
and | ||
(ii) in respect of each payment on account of rent in respect of which relief is claimed a receipt or acknowledgement given pursuant to the provisions of subsection (6). | ||
(b) Failure to furnish any of the particulars mentioned in paragraph (a) (i) or failure to furnish a receipt or acknowledgement mentioned in paragraph (a) (ii) shall be grounds for refusal of the claim: | ||
Provided that— | ||
(i) the inspector may waive the requirement at paragraph (a) (i) (B) on receipt of satisfactory proof that the claimant's inability to comply therewith is bona fide, and | ||
(ii) the inspector may waive the requirement at paragraph (a) (ii) on receipt of satisfactory proof of the total rent paid in the relevant period and on being furnished with the name and address of the person or body of persons to whom it was paid. | ||
(c) (i) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of the inspector on any question arising under this subsection may, by notice in writing to that effect given to the inspector within thirty days from the date on which notice of the decision is given to him, make an application to have his claim for relief heard and determined by the Appeal Commissioners. | ||
(ii) Where an application is made under subparagraph (i), the Appeal Commissioners shall hear and determine the claim in like manner as an appeal made to them against an assessment to tax and all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to such an appeal (including the provisions relating to the rehearing of an appeal and to the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law) shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications. | ||
(6) (a) Where at any time after the passing of this Act a payment is made on account of rent by a person (hereafter in this subsection referred to as ‘the tenant’) who is entitled to relief under this section or who has reason to believe that he may be so entitled and at the time of such payment the tenant requests a receipt or acknowledgement of the payment, the person or body of persons beneficially entitled to the rent shall, within 7 days from the date of the payment, give to the tenant a receipt or acknowledgement of that payment and, thereafter, in respect of any subsequent payment on account of rent to which that person or body of persons is beneficially entitled and which is made by the tenant, the person or body of persons shall, within 7 days from the date of the payment, give to the tenant a receipt or acknowledgement of the payment, whether requested to do so or not. | ||
(b) Any receipt or acknowledgement given pursuant to this subsection shall be in writing and shall contain— | ||
(i) the name and address of the tenant, | ||
(ii) the name and address of the person or body of persons giving the receipt or acknowledgement, and | ||
(iii) the amount of the payment and the period in respect of which it is paid. | ||
(7) (a) The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations, for the purpose of giving effect to this section, with respect to the allowance granted by this section, or to any matter ancillary or incidental thereto, or, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to provide for— | ||
(i) the proof by a claimant of payment on account of rent, | ||
(ii) the disclosure of information by a person in receipt of a payment on account of rent, | ||
(iii) the maintenance of records and the production to and inspection by persons authorised by the Revenue Commissioners of such records and the taking by such persons of copies of, or of extracts from, such records, | ||
(iv) for appeals with respect to matters arising under the regulations which would not otherwise be the subject of an appeal. | ||
(b) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next twenty-one days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder. | ||
(8) Any deduction under this section shall be in substitution for, and not in addition to, any deduction to which the individual might be entitled in respect of the same payments under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts.”. | ||
(2) The Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby further amended— | ||
(a) in section 198(1)(a), by the insertion in subparagraph (iv) after “sections” of “142A,”, and | ||
(b) in Schedule 15, by the insertion in column (1) of “section 142A or Regulations thereunder”. |