Finance Act, 1997
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Chapter II Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax | ||
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Relief for gifts made to third level institutions. |
16.—(1) In this section— | |
“approved institution” means an institution in the State in receipt of public funding which provides courses to which a scheme approved by the Minister under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992, applies or any body established in the State for the sole purpose of raising funds for such an institution; | ||
“approved project” means a project in respect of which the Minister has given a certificate under subsection (2) which certificate has not been revoked under that subsection; | ||
“project” means one or more of the following— | ||
(a) the undertaking of research; | ||
(b) the acquisition of equipment; | ||
(c) infrastructural development in institutions specified in the guidelines referred to in subsection (2) (a) (i); | ||
(d) the provision of facilities designed to increase student numbers in areas of skills needs; | ||
“Minister” means the Minister for Education; | ||
“relevant gift” means a gift of money which— | ||
(a) on or after the 6th day of April, 1997, is made to an approved institution for the sole purpose of funding an approved project, | ||
(b) is or will be applied by the approved institution for the said purpose, and | ||
(c) is not, apart from this section, deductible in computing for the purposes of tax the profits or gains of a trade or profession, or is not income to which the provisions of section 439 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , apply, or is not a gift of money to which the provisions of section 32 of the Finance Act, 1984 , apply; | ||
“tax” means income tax or corporation tax, as the case may be. | ||
(2) (a) (i) The Minister, on the making of an application by an approved institution, may, in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, give a certificate to that institution stating that a project may be treated as an approved project for the purposes of this section. | ||
(ii) An application under this subsection shall be in such form as the Minister may direct and shall contain such information as may be specified in the guidelines referred to in subparagraph (i). | ||
(iii) The Minister shall consult the Higher Education Authority in relation to an application under this subsection. | ||
(b) (i) A certificate given by the Minister under paragraph (a) shall be subject to such conditions as the Minister may consider proper and specifies therein (including a condition as to the amount, or the percentage amount, of the total cost of the approved project which shall be met by relevant gifts). | ||
(ii) The Minister may amend or revoke any condition specified in a certificate under paragraph (a), or add to such conditions, by giving notice in writing to the approved institution of the amendment, revocation or addition and the provisions of this section shall apply as if— | ||
(I) a condition so amended or added by the notice was specified in the certificate, and | ||
(II) a condition as so revoked was not specified in the notice. | ||
(c) Where an approved institution fails to comply with any of the conditions to which a certificate given to it under paragraph (a) is subject by virtue of paragraph (b), the Minister may, by notice in writing given to the institution, revoke the certificate and the project shall cease to be an approved project as respects any gifts made to the institution after the date of the Minister's notice. | ||
(3) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that a person has made a relevant gift and the person claims relief from tax by reference thereto, the provisions of subsection (6) or, as the case may be, subsection (7) shall apply. | ||
(4) Where a relevant gift is made by a chargeable person within the meaning of Chapter II of Part I of the Finance Act, 1988 , a claim under this section shall be made with the return required to be delivered by that person under section 10 of that Act, for the chargeable period in which the gift is made. | ||
(5) In determining the net amount of the gift for the purposes of subsection (6) or (7), the amount or value of any consideration received by the person concerned as a result of making the gift, whether received directly or indirectly from the approved institution to which the gift was made or otherwise, shall be deducted from the amount of the gift. | ||
(6) For the purposes of income tax for the year of assessment in which a person makes a gift to which this section applies, the net amount thereof shall be deducted from or set off against any income of the person chargeable to income tax for that year and tax shall, where necessary, be discharged or repaid accordingly and the total income of the person or, where the person's spouse is assessed to income tax in accordance with the provisions of section 194 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980 ) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , the total income of the spouse shall be calculated accordingly. | ||
(7) Where a relevant gift is made by a company, the net amount thereof shall, for the purposes of corporation tax, be deemed to be a loss incurred by the company in a separate trade in the accounting period of the company in which the gift is made. | ||
(8) Relief under this section shall not be given to a person for a year of assessment or an accounting period, as the case may be, if the net amount of the gift (or the aggregate of the net amounts of gifts) made by such person in that year or that accounting period, as the case may be, is less than £1,000. | ||
(9) Every approved institution, when required to do so by notice from the Minister, shall, within the time limited by the notice, prepare and deliver to the Minister a return containing particulars of the aggregate amount of relevant gifts received by the institution in respect of each approved project. | ||
(10) If any question arises as to whether— | ||
(a) an institution is an approved institution, or | ||
(b) a project is an approved project, or | ||
(c) a gift is a relevant gift, | ||
for the purposes of this section, the Revenue Commissioners may consult with the Minister. | ||
(11) For the purposes of a claim to relief under this section, an approved institution shall, on acceptance of a relevant gift, give to the person making the relevant gift a receipt which shall— | ||
(a) contain a statement that— | ||
(i) it is a receipt for purposes of this section, | ||
(ii) the institution is an approved institution for purposes of this section, | ||
(iii) the gift in respect of which the receipt is given is a relevant gift for purposes of this section, and | ||
(iv) the project in respect of which the relevant gift has been made is an approved project, | ||
and | ||
(b) show— | ||
(i) the name and address of the person making the relevant gift, | ||
(ii) the amount of the relevant gift in both figures and words, | ||
(iii) the date of the relevant gift, | ||
(iv) the full name of the approved institution, | ||
(v) the date on which the receipt was issued, and | ||
(vi) particulars of the approved project in respect of which the relevant gift has been made, | ||
and | ||
(c) be signed by a duly authorised official of the approved institution. |