Finance Act, 1986

Allowance to owner-occupiers in respect of certain premises.

44.—(1) (a) In this section—

“qualifying expenditure”, in relation to an individual, means, subject to paragraph (c), an amount equal to the amount of the expenditure incurred by the individual in the qualifying period on the construction of a qualifying premises which is a qualifying owner-occupied dwelling in relation to the individual after deducting from that amount of expenditure any sum in respect of or by reference to that expenditure, or in respect of or by reference to the qualifying premises or construction work in respect of which it was incurred, which the individual has received, or is entitled to receive, directly or indirectly, from the State, any board established by statute or any public or local authority;

“qualifying owner-occupied dwelling”, in relation to an individual, means a qualifying premises, the site of which is wholly within a designated area other than the Custom House Docks Area and which is first used, after the qualifying expenditure has been incurred, by that individual as his only or main residence;

“qualifying premises” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (b);

“qualifying period” means the period commencing on the 23rd day of October, 1985, and ending on the 31st day of May, 1989;

“refurbishment” has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Finance Act, 1985 .

(b) A premises which would be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 23 of the Finance Act, 1981 , as it applies to expenditure to which section 29 of the Finance Act, 1983 , applies, if—

(i) clause (iv) of the definition of “qualifying premises” in the said section 23 were deleted, and

(ii) subsection (8) of that section had not been enacted,

shall be a qualifying premises for the purposes of this section, and all the provisions of the said section 23 in so far as they apply for the purpose of determining whether a premises is a qualifying premises shall, subject to the modifications mentioned in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) and with any other necessary modifications, apply for the purposes of this section.

(c) A person shall be regarded as having incurred expenditure in the qualifying period on the construction of a qualifying premises to the extent that he would be regarded as having incurred expenditure on the construction or refurbishment of that premises for the purposes of section 23 of the Finance Act, 1981 , if for the definition of “qualifying period” in that section and in section 21 of the Finance Act, 1985 , there were substituted the definition of “qualifying period” in this section, and all the provisions of the said sections 23 and 21 in so far as they apply for the purpose of determining the amount of expenditure incurred in the qualifying period on the construction or refurbishment of a qualifying premises shall, subject to the aforesaid modification of the definition of “qualifying period” and with any other necessary modifications, apply for the purposes of this section.

(d) For the purposes of this section, other than for the purposes of determining whether and to what extent expenditure on the construction or refurbishment of a qualifying premises is incurred in the qualifying period, expenditure incurred on the construction or refurbishment of a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the earliest date after the expenditure was actually incurred that the premises is in use as a dwelling.

(e) (i) Where the qualifying expenditure in relation to a qualifying premises is incurred by two or more persons, each of those persons shall be treated as having incurred only such amount of the expenditure as the inspector, to the best of his knowledge and judgment, considers to be just and reasonable and the expenditure shall be apportioned accordingly.

(ii) An apportionment made under subparagraph (i) may be amended by the Appeal Commissioners or by the Circuit Court on the hearing, or the rehearing, of an appeal against any deduction granted on the basis of the apportionment.

(2) Where an individual, having made a claim in that behalf, proves that he has incurred qualifying expenditure in a year of assessment, he shall be entitled, for that year of assessment and for any of the nine immediately subsequent years of assessment in which the qualifying premises in respect of which the expenditure was incurred is the only or main residence of the individual, to have a deduction made from his total income of an amount equal to 5 per cent. of the amount of the qualifying expenditure.

(3) An appeal to the Appeal Commissioners shall lie on any question arising under this section, other than a question on which an appeal lies under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 , in like manner as an appeal would lie against an assessment to income tax and the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to appeals shall apply and have effect accordingly.

(4) All such provisions of the Income Tax Acts as apply in relation to the deductions specified in sections 138 to 143 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to deductions under this section.

(5) Section 198 (1) (a) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (x) (inserted by section 19 ):

“(xi) so far as it flows from relief under section 44 of the Finance Act, 1986, in the proportions in which they incurred the expenditure giving rise to the relief,”.