Finance Act 2015

Amendment of Chapter 4 of Part 38 of Principal Act (Revenue powers)

75. Chapter 4 of Part 38 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 902—

(i) in subsection (1) —

(I) by substituting “section 900(1) ;” for “section 900(1).” in the definition of “books, records or other documents” and “liability”, and

(II) by inserting the following after the definition of “books, records or other documents” and “liability”:

“ ‘taxpayer’ includes any person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer and includes a group or class of persons whose individual identities are not so known to the authorised officer.”,

(ii) in subsection (5) by inserting “, where known,” after “taxpayer”, and

(iii) in subsection (6), by substituting the following for “the taxpayer concerned.”:

“the taxpayer concerned—

(a) in a case where the identity of the taxpayer is known to the authorised officer at the time the notice is served under subsection (2), at that time or as soon as is practicable thereafter, and

(b) in any other case, as soon as is practicable after the time the identity of the taxpayer becomes known to the authorised officer.”,

(b) in section 902A—

(i) by inserting the following after subsection (2):

“(2A) In making an application under subsection (2), an authorised officer may request the judge to provide that any order made under subsection (4) shall be subject to a condition that, save for the purposes of complying with the order, the existence of or any details of the order shall not be disclosed (whether directly or indirectly) to any person.”,

and

(ii) in subsection (3) —

(I) by inserting the following after “subsection (2)”:

“, whether or not it includes a request to be made under subsection (2A),”,

(II) in paragraph (b), by substituting “failure),” for “failure), and”, and

(III) by inserting the following after paragraph (b):

“(ba) that, in a case where the application includes a request made under subsection (2A), there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a disclosure, referred to in subsection (2A) would lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax, and”,

(c) in section 906A—

(i) in subsection (1) —

(I) by substituting “Revenue Commissioners;” for “Revenue Commissioners.” in the definition of “tax”, and

(II) by inserting the following after the definition of “tax”:

“‘taxpayer’ includes any person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer and includes a group or class of persons whose individual identities are not so known to the authorised officer.”,

(ii) in subsection (7) by inserting “, where known,” after “taxpayer”, and

(iii) by substituting the following for “the taxpayer concerned.” in subsection (8):

“the taxpayer concerned—

(a) in a case where the identity of the taxpayer is known to the authorised officer at the time the notice is served under subsection (2), at that time or as soon as is practicable thereafter, and

(b) in any other case, as soon as is practicable after the time the identity of the taxpayer becomes known to the authorised officer.”,

(d) in section 908—

(i) by inserting the following after subsection (2):

“(2A) In making an application under subsection (2), an authorised officer may request the judge to provide that any order made under subsection (5) shall be subject to a condition that, save for the purposes of complying with the order, the existence of or any details of the order shall not be disclosed (whether directly or indirectly) to any person.”,

and

(ii) in subsection (3) —

(I) by inserting the following after “under subsection (2) ”:

“, whether or not it includes a request to be made under subsection (2A),”,

(II) in paragraph (b), by substituting “failure),” for “failure), and”, and

(III) by inserting the following after paragraph (b):

“(ba) that, in a case where the application includes a request made under subsection (2A), there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a disclosure, referred to in subsection (2A) would lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax, and”,

and

(e) in section 912A—

(i) in subsection (2), by substituting “907, 907A and” for “907 and”, and

(ii) in subsection (3), by substituting “907, 907A and” for “907 and”.