Finance Act 2008
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Chapter 2 Miscellaneous | ||
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Amendment of Chapter 1 of Part 2 (consolidation and modernisation of general excise law) of Finance Act 2001. |
69.— (1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2001 is amended— | |
(a) by inserting the following after section 108: | ||
“Warehousing. | ||
108A.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the following shall take place only in a tax warehouse— | ||
(a) the production and processing of excisable products, and | ||
(b) the holding of excisable products under a suspension arrangement. | ||
(2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to— | ||
(a) coal within the meaning of section 94 (as amended by Finance Act 2006) of the Finance Act 1999 , | ||
(b) any operation by which the user of mineral oil makes its re-use possible in his or her own undertaking, and where the mineral oil tax already paid on that mineral oil is not less than that which would be due if the mineral oil resulting from such operation was liable to excise duty, | ||
(c) the mixing or blending of excisable products with other excisable products or other materials, but only if— | ||
(i) the proper excise duty on such excisable products has already been paid, and | ||
(ii) the amount so paid is not less than the amount chargeable on the mixture or blend. | ||
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(a), the Commissioners may, where a written application is made to them, exempt from that subsection— | ||
(a) operations during which small quantities of excisable products are produced incidentally, and | ||
(b) subject to such conditions as they deem fit to impose, production and processing operations involving excisable products on which the proper excise duty has already been paid, and where the amount so paid is not less than the excise duty that would be chargeable following such production or processing. | ||
(4) Excisable products held under a suspension arrangement in a tax warehouse are deemed to be so held until such time as such products are removed from the tax warehouse. | ||
(5) An authorised warehousekeeper, or any person acting on behalf of such warehousekeeper, shall provide such appliances, facilities and assistance as an officer may reasonably require to take account of any excisable products or materials, and allow an officer at any reasonable time to use anything so provided.”, | ||
and | ||
(b) by substituting the following for section 109: | ||
“Authorisation of warehouse-keepers and approval of tax warehouses. | ||
109.— (1) In this section— | ||
‘ applicant ’ means a person who has applied in writing for authorisation under subsection (2); | ||
‘ authorised ’ means authorised as an authorised warehousekeeper under this section; | ||
‘ conditions of authorisation ’ means the conditions referred to in subsection (2)(c); | ||
‘ excise law ’ means the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and the instruments relating to those duties made under statute; | ||
‘ proprietor ’, in relation to a tax warehouse, means the authorised warehousekeeper who, for the time being, has possession or control of such tax warehouse; | ||
‘ tenant ’, in relation to a tax warehouse, means an authorised warehousekeeper who has been accepted by a proprietor as a tenant in such tax warehouse in accordance with subsection (4). | ||
(2) The Commissioners may, under this section, authorise a person, who has applied to them in writing,— | ||
(a) as the proprietor of a tax warehouse or tax warehouses approved in relation to such proprietor in accordance with subsection (5), or as a tenant in accordance with subsection (4), | ||
(b) for specific activities, in relation to specific types of excisable products, in such tax warehouse or tax warehouses, and | ||
(c) for such periods, and subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose in any particular case. | ||
(3) (a) An applicant shall only be authorised under subsection (2) where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that such applicant or, where the applicant is a company, any director or person having control of such company within the meaning of section 11 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), can satisfy the conditions of authorisation. | ||
(b) An applicant shall only be authorised where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that the business activity to be carried out in the tax warehouse is to be undertaken with a view to the realisation of profits from legitimate trade in excisable products. | ||
(c) No applicant may be authorised where such applicant or, where the applicant is a company, any director or person having control of such company within the meaning of section 11 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , has in the 10 years prior to such application been convicted of any indictable offence under the Acts referred to in section 1078 (1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , or any corresponding offence under the law of another Member State. | ||
(d) No applicant shall be authorised who does not hold a current tax clearance certificate issued under section 1094 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 . | ||
(e) No applicant shall be authorised for the production or processing of excisable products who does not hold a current licence for such production or processing, where such licence is required under excise law. | ||
(4) Without prejudice to subsections (2) and (3), an applicant who has applied in relation to a tax warehouse of which he or she is not to be the proprietor, may only be so authorised where— | ||
(a) such applicant has been accepted by the proprietor to be a tenant in that tax warehouse, | ||
(b) the terms of that acceptance, including a statement of the responsibilities of the proprietor in relation to products to be held by the tenant, are set out in a document signed or sealed by both and approved by an officer, and | ||
(c) a copy of such document is included in the authorisation documents of both proprietor and tenant. | ||
(5) (a) A premises or place shall be approved as a tax warehouse in relation to the authorisation of a proprietor, and such approval shall terminate when such authorisation is revoked or, for any other reason, ceases to have effect. | ||
(b) The approval of a tax warehouse shall be subject to such requirements as the Commissioners may think fit to impose in any particular case, and such requirements shall be included in the conditions of authorisation of the proprietor. | ||
(6) (a) The details of the authorisation, including the conditions of authorisation, shall be set down in a document, referred to in this section as the “authorisation document”. | ||
(b) The authorisation document shall be signed by the applicant and by an officer, and it shall, unless another date is specified, be effective from the date on which it is so signed. | ||
(7) (a) The proprietor shall at all times be responsible for the excise duty on the excisable products held in the tax warehouse, and shall, where required under the conditions of authorisation, provide security, at a level specified in the authorisation document, for such excise duty. | ||
(b) Without prejudice to paragraph (a) a tenant may be required under the conditions of authorisation, to provide security for the products held by such tenant in the tax warehouse. | ||
(c) Any authorised warehouse-keeper who dispatches excisable products from a tax warehouse under a suspension arrangement shall, before any such dispatch, provide security, at a level specified in the authorisation document, for the excise duty on such products. | ||
(8) An authorised warehousekeeper shall inform an officer of any changes or proposed changes that are relevant to the conditions of authorisation including, in the case of a proprietor, any changes or proposed changes to the tax warehouse. | ||
(9) The Commissioners may at any time, following such notice as is reasonable in the circumstances, vary the conditions of authorisation. | ||
(10) Where an authorised warehousekeeper is a company, the authorisation of such warehousekeeper, and the approval of any tax warehouse of which such warehousekeeper is the proprietor, shall expire immediately upon a change of control of such company, within the meaning of section 11 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 . | ||
(11) Before the date when an authorised warehousekeeper ceases to act as such, all excisable products held by such authorised warehousekeeper, or by any tenant in respect of whom he or she acts as proprietor, shall be either— | ||
(a) removed from the tax warehouse, either on payment of the proper excise duty or under a suspension arrangement, or | ||
(b) otherwise disposed of to the satisfaction of an officer. | ||
(12) Authorisation under this section is at all times subject to the conditions of authorisation, and the Commissioners may revoke an authorisation where the authorised warehousekeeper— | ||
(a) contravenes or fails to comply with such conditions, | ||
(b) contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of excise law relating to the excisable products in respect of which the authorisation has been granted, or | ||
(c) no longer satisfies the requirements for authorisation. | ||
(13) Where the Commissioners propose to revoke an authorisation, they shall inform the holder of that authorisation of that intention, and afford such holder an opportunity to make representations to them in relation to the matter. | ||
(14) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), this section as amended by section 69 of the Finance Act 2008 shall, as appropriate, apply to all authorisations and approvals granted under this section prior to it being so amended. | ||
(b) The conditions attaching to any authorisation or approval granted under this section prior to its amendment by section 69 of the Finance Act 2008 shall remain in force until such time as such conditions are varied in accordance with subsection (9).”. | ||
(2) This section comes into operation on 1 October 2008. |