Finance Act, 1999

Retirment benefits.

19.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in Chapter 1 of Part 30—

(i) by the insertion in section 770, of the following definitions, namely—

(I) before the definition of “director” of:

“‘approved retirement fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;

‘approved minimum retirement fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C;”,

and

(II) after the definition of “pension” of:

“‘proprietary director’ means a director who, either alone or together with his or her spouse and minor children is or was, at any time within three years of the date of—

(a) the specified normal retirement date,

(b) an earlier retirement date, where applicable, or

(c) leaving service,

the beneficial owner of shares which, when added to any shares held by the trustees of any settlement to which the director or his or her spouse had transferred assets, carry more than 20 per cent of the voting rights in the company providing the benefits or in a company which controls that company;”,

and

(ii) in section 772—

(I) by the substitution in paragraph (f) of subsection (3), of “that, subject to subsection (3A),” for “that”, and

(II) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (3):

“(3A) (a) The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter unless it appears to them that the scheme provides for any individual entitled to a pension under the scheme, being a proprietary director of a company to which the scheme relates, to opt, on or before the date on which that pension would otherwise become payable, for the transfer, on or after that date, to—

(i) the individual, or

(ii) an approved retirement fund,

of an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula—

A - B

where—

A   is the amount equal to the value of the individual's accrued rights under the scheme exclusive of any lump sum paid in accordance with paragraph (f) of subsection (3), and

B   is the amount or value of assets which the trustees, administrator or other person charged with the management of the scheme (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘the trustees’) would, if the assumptions in paragraph (b) were made, be required, in accordance with section 784C, to transfer to an approved minimum retirement fund held in the name of the individual or to apply in purchasing an annuity payable to the individual with effect from the date of the exercise of the said option.

(b) The assumptions in this paragraph are—

(i) that the retirement benefit scheme was an annuity contract approved in accordance with section 784,

(ii) that the trustees of the retirement benefit scheme were a person lawfully carrying on the business in the State of providing annuities on human life with whom the said contract had been made, and

(iii) that the individual had opted in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784.

(3B) Where an individual opts in accordance with subsection (3A) then—

(a) the provisions of subsection (2B) of section 784 and of sections 784A, 784B, 784C, 784D and 784E shall, with any necessary modifications, apply as if—

(i) any reference in those sections to the person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life were a reference to the trustees of the retirement benefit scheme,

(ii) any reference in those sections to the annuity contract were references to the retirement benefit scheme, and

(iii) any reference in those sections to Case IV of Schedule D were a reference to Schedule E, and

(b) paragraph (f) of subsection (3) shall apply as if the reference to ‘a lump sum or sums not exceeding in all three-eightieths of the employee's final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years’ were a reference to ‘a lump sum not exceeding 25 per cent of the value of the pension which would otherwise be payable’.”,

and

(III) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b) of subsection (4):

“(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a scheme unless it appears to them that the scheme complies with the provisions of subsection (3A).”,

(b) in Chapter 2 of Part 30—

(i) in paragraph (a) of section 783(1), by the insertion of the following definitions before the definition of “director”:

“‘approved retirement fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;

‘approved minimum retirement fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C;”,

(ii) in section 784—

(I) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) pays a premium or other consideration under an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners as being a contract by which the main benefit secured is, or would, but for the exercise of an option by the individual under subsection (2A), be a life annuity for the individual in his or her old age or under a contract for the time being approved under section 785 (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘qualifying premium’),”,

(II) in paragraph (a) of subsection (2)—

(A) by the substitution for “Subject to subsection (3),” of “Subject to subsections (2A) and (3) and to section 786,”,

(B) in subparagraph (iii)(II), by the substitution for “70 years” of “75 years”,

and

(III) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (b) of subsection (2):

“(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a)—

(i) the contract may provide for the payment to the individual, at the time the annuity commences to be payable or, where the individual opts in accordance with subsection (2A), at the time of the transfer referred to in that subsection, of a lump sum by means of commutation of part of the annuity where the individual elects, at or before the time when the annuity first becomes payable to him or her or before the date of such transfer, to be paid the lump sum, and

(ii) the amount payable under subparagraph (i) shall not exceed 25 per cent of the value of the annuity payable or the value of the annuity which would have been payable if the individual had not opted in accordance with subsection (2A).

(c) The reference in paragraph (b)(i) to the commutation of part of the annuity shall, in a case where the individual has opted in accordance with subsection (2A), be construed as a reference to the commutation of the annuity which would, but for such election, be payable if the individual opted to have the annuity paid with effect from the date of the transfer referred to in that subsection.”,

(IV) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(2A) The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a contract unless it appears to them that the contract provides for the individual entitled to an annuity under the contract to exercise, on or before the date on which that annuity would otherwise become payable, an option for the transfer by the person with whom the contract is made, on or after that date, to—

(a) the individual, or

(b) an approved retirement fund,

of an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula—

A - B

where—

A   is the amount equal to the value of the individual's accrued rights under the contract exclusive of any lump sum paid in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (2), and

B   is the amount or value of assets which the person with whom the contract is made is required, in accordance with section 784C, to transfer to an approved minimum retirement fund held in the name of the individual or to apply in purchasing an annuity payable to the individual with effect from the date of the exercise of the said option.

(2B) Where an individual opts in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (2A), the amount paid to the individual by virtue of that paragraph other than the amount payable by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) shall be regarded as income of the individual chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D for the year of assessment in which the payment is made.”,

and

(V) in subsection (3), by the deletion of paragraph (d),

(iii) by the insertion of the following sections after section 784:

“Approved retirement fund.

784A.—(1) (a) In this section—

‘approved retirement fund’ means a fund which is managed by a qualifying fund manager and which complies with the conditions of section 784B;

‘qualifying fund manager’ means—

(a) a person who is a holder of a licence granted under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 ,

(b) a building society within the meaning of section 256,

(c) a trustee savings bank within the meaning of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989 ,

(d) ACC Bank plc,

(e) ICC Bank plc,

(f) ICC Investment Bank Limited,

(g) the Post Office Savings Bank,

(h) a credit union within the meaning of the Credit Union Act, 1997 ,

(i) a collective investment undertaking within the meaning of section 172A,

(j) a person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life,

(k) a person—

(i) which is an authorised member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange, within the meaning of the Stock Exchange Act, 1995 , or a member firm (which carries on a trade in the State through a branch or agency) of a stock exchange of any other Member State of the European Communities, and

(ii) which has sent to the Revenue Commissioners a notification of its name and address and of its intention to act as a qualifying fund manager,

or

(l) such other person as the Minister for Finance may by order approve of for the purposes of this section;

‘tax reference number’, in relation to an individual, has the meaning assigned to it by section 885 in relation to a specified person within the meaning of that section.

(b) For the purposes of this Chapter, references to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as a reference to assets in an approved retirement fund which are managed for an individual by a qualifying fund manager and which are beneficially owned by the individual.

(2) The beneficial owner of assets in an approved retirement fund shall, subject to the provisions of the Income Tax Acts and the Capital Gains Tax Acts, be chargeable to income tax or capital gains tax, as the case may be, in respect of any income, profits or gains arising in respect of those assets or any chargeable gains on disposals of such assets.

(3) (a) A qualifying fund manager shall maintain a record (in this section and in section 784B referred to as ‘the income and gains account’) of the aggregate—

(i) of all income, profits and gains arising in respect of an approved retirement fund, and

(ii) of all gains and losses on disposal of investments made by the qualifying fund manager in relation to the approved retirement fund,

reduced by the aggregate of all distributions made in respect of the approved retirement fund.

(b) In calculating at any time the residue of the assets transferred to an approved retirement fund (in this section and in section 784B referred to as ‘the residue’) by the person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life—

(i) distributions made at or before that time shall be treated as made primarily out of the income and gains account,

(ii) in so far as the distributions made from the fund exceed the aggregate of the balance on the income and gains account, they shall be treated as made out of the residue,

and, where assets in an approved retirement fund are transferred to another approved retirement fund, the residue in relation to those assets shall be calculated as if the assets had at all times been held in the approved retirement fund to which those assets had originally been transferred.

(c) Any reference in this section to a distribution in relation to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as including any payment or transfer of assets out of the fund or any assignment of assets out of the fund, including a payment, transfer or assignment to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets, other than a payment, transfer or assignment to another approved retirement fund the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the first-mentioned approved retirement fund, whether or not the payment, transfer or assignment is made to the said individual.

(4) Within 3 months after the end of a year of assessment, a qualifying fund manager shall provide a statement for that year of assessment to each individual, on whose behalf an approved retirement fund was managed at any time during that year of—

(a) the income, profits or gains and the chargeable gains and allowable losses, as may be appropriate, in respect of the assets held in the approved retirement fund at any time during that year,

(b) the tax, if any, deducted from such income, profits or gains,

(c) the income and gains account in relation to the fund, and

(d) the residue including, in particular, any distributions made out of the residue in the year of assessment.

(5) The amount or value of any distribution out of the residue of an approved retirement fund other than a distribution to which subsection (7)(a) applies shall be treated as income of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets of the fund and shall be chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D for the year of assessment in which the said distribution is made.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), where the distribution referred to in subsection (5) occurs following the death of the individual, who was prior to death beneficially entitled to the assets of the approved retirement fund—

(a) the amount or value of the said distribution shall be treated as the income of the said individual for the year of assessment in which that individual dies, and

(b) the qualifying fund manager shall be liable to pay to the Collector-General income tax at the higher rate on the value of such distribution; the qualifying fund manager may deduct an amount on account of such tax and the person beneficially entitled to the residue of the approved retirement fund, including the personal representatives of the deceased individual, shall allow such deduction; but, where there are no such funds or insufficient funds available out of which the qualifying fund manager may satisfy the tax required to be deducted, the amount of such tax shall be a debt due to the qualifying fund manager from the estate of the deceased individual.

(7) (a) This subsection shall apply to the extent that the distribution, made following the death of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund, is made to—

(i) another such fund (hereafter in this subsection referred to as ‘the second-mentioned fund’) the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the spouse of the said individual, or

(ii) to or for the sole benefit of any child of the individual who has not, at the date of the individual's death, attained the age of 21 years.

(b) Where the beneficial owner of the assets in the second-mentioned fund dies, subsection (6) shall apply as regards any distributions out of the residue of that approved retirement fund following that spouse's death as if the reference to the higher rate were a reference to a rate of 25 per cent.

(c) Where, in accordance with paragraph (b), the qualifying fund manager is required to account for tax at a rate of 25 per cent, the amount so charged to tax shall not, notwithstanding any provisions of the Income Tax Acts, be treated as income for any other purposes of those Acts.

Conditions relating to an approved retirement fund.

784B.—(1) The conditions of this section are—

(a) an approved retirement fund shall be held by a qualifying fund manager in the name of the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund,

(b) assets held in an approved retirement fund shall consist of and only of one or more of—

(i) assets transferred to the fund by virtue of an option exercised by the individual in accordance with section 784(2A),

(ii) assets which were previously held in another approved retirement fund held in the name of the individual or the individual's deceased spouse, and

(iii) assets derived from such assets as are referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii),

(c) the individual referred to in paragraph (a) shall, on the opening of an approved retirement fund, make a declaration of the kind mentioned in paragraph (d) to the qualifying fund manager, and

(d) the declaration referred to in paragraph (c) shall be a declaration, in writing, to the qualifying fund manager which—

(i) is made by the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund,

(ii) is made in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners,

(iii) contains the full name, address and tax reference number of the individual referred to in subparagraph (i),

(iv) declares that the assets included in the fund consist only of assets referred to in paragraph (b) to which the individual was beneficially entitled, and

(v) contains such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A qualifying fund manager shall not accept any assets into an approved retirement fund unless the fund manager receives a certificate to which subsection (3) applies in relation to those assets from a person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life or from another qualifying fund manager.

(3) A certificate to which this subsection applies is a certificate stating—

(a) that the assets in relation to which the certificate refers are assets to which the individual named on the certificate is beneficially entitled and which are being transferred to the approved retirement fund, or have previously been transferred to an approved retirement fund, in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784,

(b) that the assets in relation to which the certificate is given do not form part of an approved minimum retirement fund within the meaning of section 784C, and

(c) the amount of the balance on the income and gains account, and the residue in relation to the approved retirement fund, the assets of which are being transferred or assigned to the qualifying fund manager.

(4) Subsection (2) of section 263 shall apply to a declaration made in accordance with subsection (1)(c) or a certificate to which subsection (3) applies as it applies in relation to declarations of a kind mentioned in that section.

(5) The Minister for Finance may by order specify requirements regarding the operation of approved retirement funds.

Approved minimum retirement fund.

784C.—(1) In this section, ‘an approved minimum retirement fund’ means a fund managed by a qualifying fund manager (within the meaning of section 784A) and which complies with the conditions of section 784D.

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), where an individual, who has not attained the age of 75 years, exercises an option in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784, the amount referred to as B in the formula in the said subsection which the person with whom the annuity contract is made shall—

(a) transfer to an approved minimum retirement fund in respect of that individual, or

(b) apply in the purchase of an annuity payable to the individual, shall be the lesser of—

(i) the amount referred to as A in that formula, or

(ii) £50,000.

(3) Where the individual has already exercised an option in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784, the amount referred to as B in the formula in subsection (2A) shall be such amount as will result in the aggregate of the amount required in respect of all such options, in accordance with subsection (2A), to be transferred to an approved minimum retirement fund or applied in the purchase of an annuity payable to the individual being the lesser of—

(a) the aggregate of the amount referred to as A in that formula in relation to each contract, or

(b) £50,000.

(4) (a) Where, at the date of exercise of an option under subsection (2A) of section 784, the individual by whom the option is exercised is entitled to specified income amounting to £10,000 per annum, the amount referred to as B in the formula in the said section 784(2A) shall be nil.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, ‘specified income’ means a pension or annuity which is payable for the life of the individual, including a pension payable under the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 , and any pension to which the provisions of section 200 apply.

(5) Subject to subsection (6), the qualifying fund manager shall not make any payment or transfer of assets out of the approved minimum retirement fund other than—

(a) a transfer of all the assets of the fund to another qualifying fund manager to be held as an approved minimum retirement fund, or

(b) a payment or transfer of income, profits or gains, or gains on disposal of investments received by the qualifying fund manager in respect of assets held in the approved fund to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund.

(6) Where the individual referred to in subsection (2) attains the age of 75 years or dies, the approved minimum retirement fund shall, thereupon, become an approved retirement fund and the provisions of section 784A, subsections (1) and (5) of section 784B and section 784E shall apply accordingly.

(7) Any assets held as part of an approved minimum retirement fund shall be the property of the individual on whose behalf the fund is held and, subject to the provisions of the Income Tax Acts and the Capital Gains Tax Acts, that individual shall be chargeable to income tax or capital gains tax, as the case may be, in respect of any income, profits or gains arising in respect of those assets or any chargeable gain on disposal of such assets.

(8) Within 3 months after the end of the year of assessment, a qualifying fund manager shall provide a statement for that year of assessment to each individual for that year of assessment, on whose behalf an approved minimum retirement fund was managed at any time during that year of—

(a) the income, profits or gains and the chargeable gains and allowable losses, as may be appropriate, in respect of the assets held in the approved minimum retirement fund at any time during that year, and

(b) the tax, if any, deducted from such income, profits or gains.

(9) The provisions of subsection (8) of section 784E shall apply as regards an approved minimum retirement fund as if references to an approved retirement fund were references to an approved minimum retirement fund.

Conditions relating to an approved minimum retirement fund.

784D.—(1) The conditions of this section are—

(a) an approved minimum retirement fund shall be held in the name of the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund,

(b) assets held in an approved minimum retirement fund shall consist of one or more of the following—

(i) assets transferred to the fund by virtue of an option exercised by the individual in accordance with section 784(2A),

(ii) assets which were previously held in another approved minimum retirement fund held in the name of the individual, and

(iii) assets derived from such assets as are referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii),

(c) the individual referred to in paragraph (a) shall make a declaration of the kind mentioned in paragraph (d) to the qualifying fund manager,

(d) the declaration referred to in paragraph (c) shall be a declaration, in writing, to the qualifying fund manager which—

(i) is made by the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved minimum retirement fund,

(ii) is made in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners,

(iii) contains the full name, address and tax reference number of the individual referred to in subparagraph (i),

(iv) declares that assets included in the fund consist only of assets referred to in paragraph (b) to which the individual was beneficially entitled in accordance with section 784(2A), and

(v) contains such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A qualifying fund manager shall not accept any assets into an approved minimum retirement fund unless the fund manager receives a certificate to which subsection (3) applies in relation to those assets from a person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life or from another qualifying fund manager.

(3) A certificate to which this subsection applies is a certificate stating—

(a) that the assets in relation to which the certificate is given are the assets of an approved minimum retirement fund to which the individual named on the certificate is beneficially entitled and which are being transferred to the approved minimum retirement fund or have previously been transferred to such a fund in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784,

(b) in the case of assets transferred by another qualifying fund manager, the amount or value of assets transferred to the approved minimum retirement fund for the purposes of subsection (3) of section 784C.

(4) Subsection (2) of section 263 shall apply to a declaration made in accordance with subsection (1)(c) or a certificate to which subsection (3) applies as it applies in relation to declarations of a kind mentioned in that section.

(5) The Minister for Finance may specify requirements regarding the operation of approved minimum retirement funds.

Returns, and payment of tax, by qualifying fund managers.

784E.—(1) A qualifying fund manager shall, within 14 days of the end of the month in which a distribution is made out of the residue of an approved retirement fund, make a return to the Collector-General which shall contain details of—

(a) the name and address of the person in whose name the approved retirement fund is or was held,

(b) the tax reference number of that person,

(c) the name and address of the person to whom the distribution was made,

(d) the amount of the distribution, and

(e) the tax which the qualifying fund manager is required to account for in relation to that distribution (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘the appropriate tax’).

(2) The appropriate tax in relation to a distribution which is required to be included in a return shall be due at the time by which the return is to be made and shall be paid by the qualifying fund manager to the Collector-General, and the appropriate tax so due shall be payable by the qualifying fund manager without the making of an assessment; but appropriate tax which has become so due may be assessed on the qualifying fund manager (whether or not it has been paid when the assessment is made) if that tax or any part of it is not paid on or before the due date.

(3) Where it appears to the inspector that there is any amount of appropriate tax in relation to a distribution which ought to have been but has not been included in a return, or where the inspector is dissatisfied with any return, the inspector may make an assessment on the qualifying fund manager to the best of his or her judgement, and any amount of appropriate tax in relation to a distribution due under an assessment made by virtue of this subsection shall be treated for the purposes of interest on unpaid tax as having been payable at the time when it would have been payable if a correct return had been made.

(4) Where any item has been incorrectly included in a return as a distribution, the inspector may make such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his or her judgement be required for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax, including interest on unpaid tax, whether of the qualifying fund manager or any other person, are in so far as possible the same as they would have been if the item had not been so included.

(5)  (a) Any appropriate tax assessed on a qualifying fund manager under this Chapter shall be due within one month after the issue of the notice of assessment (unless that tax is due earlier under subsection (1)) subject to any appeal against the assessment, but no such appeal shall affect the date when any amount is due under subsection (1).

(b) On the determination of an appeal against an assessment under this section, any appropriate tax overpaid shall be repaid.

(6)  (a) The provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to—

(i) assessment to income tax,

(ii) appeals against such assessments (including the rehearing of appeals and the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court), and

(iii) the collection and recovery of income tax,

shall, in so far as they are applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and recovery of appropriate tax.

(b) Any amount of appropriate tax payable in accordance with this Chapter without the making of an assessment shall carry interest at the rate of 1 per cent for each month or part of a month from the date when the amount becomes due and payable until payment.

(c) Subsections (2) and (4) of section 1080 shall apply in relation to interest payable under paragraph (b) as they apply in relation to interest payable under section 1080.

(d) In its application to any appropriate tax charged by any assessment made in accordance with this section, section 1080 shall apply as if subsection (1)(b) of that section were deleted.

(7) Every return shall be in a form prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners and shall include a declaration to the effect that the return is correct and complete.

(8) (a) A qualifying fund manager shall, on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period, within the meaning of section 950, prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector, within the meaning of that section, a return in relation to each approved retirement fund held by that fund holder at any time during the year of assessment.

(b) The return under paragraph (a) shall, in relation to each approved retirement fund, contain—

(i) the name, address and tax reference number of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund,

(ii) details of any income, profits and gains, and any chargeable gains derived from assets held in the fund and of any tax deducted from income, profits or gains received,

(iii) details of any distributions made out of the assets held in the approved retirement fund, and

(iv) such further details as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this section.”,

(iv) in section 785, by the substitution in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of “75 years” for “70 years (or any greater age approved under section 784(3)(d))”,

(v) in section 786, by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve an annuity contract under section 784 unless the contract provides that the individual by whom it is made may require a sum representing the value of his or her accrued rights under the contract—

(a) to be paid by the person with whom it is made to such other person as the individual may specify, and

(b) to be applied by such other person in payment of the premium or other consideration under an annuity contract made between the individual and that other person and approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section,

if the first-mentioned contract is otherwise to be approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section.”,

(vi) in section 787—

(I) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(2A) Notwithstanding subsection (2), for the purposes of relief under this section an individual's net relevant earnings shall not exceed £200,000 or such other amount as shall be specified in regulations made by the Minister for Finance.

(2B) Where regulations are proposed to be made under subsection (2A), a draft of the regulations shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann.”,

(II) by the substitution of the following subsections for subsection (8):

“(8) Subject to this section, the amount which may be deducted or set off in any year of assessment (whether in respect of one or more qualifying premiums and whether or not including premiums in respect of a contract approved under section 785) shall not be more than—

(a) in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 30 years or over but had not attained the age of 40 years, 20 per cent,

(b) in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 40 years or over but had not attained the age of 50 years, 25 per cent,

(c) in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 50 years or over or who for the year of assessment was a specified individual, 30 per cent, and

(d) in any other case, 15 per cent,

of the individual's net relevant earnings for that year, and the amount to be deducted shall to the greatest extent possible include qualifying premiums in respect of contracts approved under section 785.

(8A) For the purposes of this section, ‘specified individual’, in relation to a year of assessment, means an individual whose relevant earnings for the year of assessment were derived wholly or mainly from an occupation or profession specified in Schedule 23A.

(8B) The Minister for Finance may, after consultation with the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, by regulations extend or restrict the meaning of specified individual by adding or deleting one or more occupations or professions to or from, as the case may be, the list of occupations and professions specified in Schedule 23A.

(8C) Where regulations are proposed to be made under subsection (8B), a draft of the regulations shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann.”,

and

(c) by the insertion of the following Schedule after Schedule 23:

“Section 787.

SCHEDULE 23A

Specified Occupations and Professions

Athlete

Badminton Player

Boxer

Cyclist

Footballer

Golfer

Jockey

Motor Racing Driver

Rugby Player

Squash Player

Swimmer

Tennis Player”.

(2) (a) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall apply as respects any retirement benefits scheme (within the meaning of section 771 of the Principal Act) approved on or after the 6th day of April, 1999.

(b) Paragraph (b), other than subparagraph (vi), of subsection (1) shall apply as respects any annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under section 784 of the Principal Act entered into on or after the 6th day of April, 1999.

(c) Subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (b), and paragraph (c), of subsection (1) shall apply as respects the year of assessment 1999-2000 and subsequent years.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of Part 30 of the Principal Act, a retirement benefits scheme or an annuity contract which was approved by the Revenue Commissioners before the 6th day of April, 1999, shall not cease to be an approved scheme or contract, as the case may be, because the rules of the scheme or the terms of the contract are altered on or after that date to enable an individual to whom the scheme or the contract applies to exercise an option under subsection (3A) of section 772 or subsection (2A) of section 784 of the Principal Act, as may be appropriate, which that individual would be in a position to exercise in accordance with the terms of those subsections as regards a scheme or contract approved on or after the 6th day of April, 1999, and as regards such a scheme or contract, the provisions of this section shall apply as if the scheme or contract were one approved on or after that date.

(e) Notwithstanding subsection (3A) of section 772 and subsection (2A) of section 784 of the Principal Act, where a pension or annuity first became payable on or after the 2nd day of December, 1998, and before the 6th day of April, 1999, paragraph (d) shall apply as if the references in the said subsections to the exercise of an option on or before the date on which a pension or an annuity would otherwise become payable were a reference to the exercise of an option within six months of the date on which the pension or annuity became payable.