Finance Act 2016

Penalties for deliberately or carelessly making incorrect returns, etc.

56. (1) The Principal Act is amended in section 1077E by inserting the following after subsection (15):

“(15A) (a) In this subsection—

‘Directive’ means Council Directive 2011/16/EU16 on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation as amended by Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 201417 as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation;

‘liability to tax or duty’ means, as the case may be, a liability to tax (within the meaning of subsection (1) of this section and that subsection as applied to the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 by section 58(9)(b) of that Act), a liability to tax within the meaning of section 116 (1) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 or a liability to duty within the meaning of section 134A(1) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 ;

‘offshore matters’ means any one or more of the following—

(i) a relevant account held or situated,

(ii) relevant income or gains arising from a source or accruing, as the case may be,

(iii) relevant property situated, or

(iv) any income, gains, accounts or assets, other than those referred to in paragraphs (i) to (iii), arising from a source, accruing, held or situated, as the case may be,

in a country or territory other than the State;

‘penalty’, in relation to a person, means, as the case may be, any penalty of the kind referred to in subsections (2), (3), (5) and (6) of this section, those subsections as applied to the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 by section 58(9)(b) of that Act, any penalty of the kind referred to in subsections (2), (3), (5) and (6) of section 116 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 or any further penalty of the kind referred to in subsections (2) and (4) of section 134A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 ;

‘relevant account’ means an account reportable under the standard or, as the case may be, under the Directive, or an account of a kind reportable under the standard or, as the case may be, under the Directive;

‘relevant income or gains’ means income or gains reportable under the standard or, as the case may be, under the Directive, or income or gains of a kind reportable under the standard or, as the case may be, under the Directive;

‘relevant property’ means property reportable under the Directive, or property of a kind reportable under the Directive;

‘specified penalty’, in relation to a person, means, as the case may be, a penalty or further penalty of the kind referred to—

(i) in subsections (5) and (6) of this section, the amount of which does not exceed the amount referred to in subsection (7)(b)(II)(A) of this section,

(ii) in the subsections referred to in paragraph (i), as applied to the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 by section 58(9)(b) of that Act,

(iii) in subsections (5) and (6) of section 116 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 , the amount of which does not exceed the amount referred to in subsection (7)(b)(II)(A) of that section, and

(iv) in subsection (4) of section 134A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 , the amount of which does not exceed the amount referred to in subsection (5)(b)(II)(A) of that section;

‘the standard’ has the same meaning as in section 891F(2).

(b) A disclosure in relation to a person made on or after 1 May 2017 shall not be a qualifying disclosure where—

(i) any matters contained in the disclosure relate directly or indirectly to offshore matters, and

(ii) in any other case, the person, before the date the disclosure is made, has offshore matters occasioning a liability to tax or duty that are known or become known at any time to the Revenue Commissioners or any of their officers and the person is liable to a penalty other than a specified penalty in relation to those matters.”.

(2) Section 116 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 is amended by inserting the following after subsection (15):

“(15A) (a) In this subsection the expressions ‘liability to tax or duty’, ‘offshore matters’, ‘penalty’ and ‘specified penalty’ have the same meanings as in section 1077E(15A)(a) (inserted by section 56(1) of the Finance Act 2016) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 .

(b) A disclosure in relation to a person made on or after 1 May 2017 shall not be a qualifying disclosure where—

(i) any matters contained in the disclosure relate directly or indirectly to offshore matters, and

(ii) in any other case, the person, before the date the disclosure is made, has offshore matters occasioning a liability to tax or duty that are known or become known at any time to the Revenue Commissioners or any of their officers and the person is liable to a penalty other than a specified penalty in relation to those matters.”.

(3) Section 134A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 is amended by inserting the following after subsection (12):

“(13) (a) In this subsection the expressions ‘liability to tax or duty’, ‘offshore matters’, ‘penalty’ and ‘specified penalty’ have the same meanings as in section 1077E(15A)(a) (inserted by section 56(1) of the Finance Act 2016) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 .

(b) A disclosure in relation to a person made on or after 1 May 2017 shall not be a qualifying disclosure where—

(i) any matters contained in the disclosure relate directly or indirectly to offshore matters, and

(ii) in any other case, the person, before the date the disclosure is made, has offshore matters occasioning a liability to tax or duty that are known or become known at any time to the Commissioners or any of their officers and the person is liable to a penalty other than a specified penalty in relation to those matters.”.

(4) Subsections (1), (2) and (3) shall have effect as on and from 1 May 2017.

16OJ No. L64, 11.3.2011, p.1

17OJ No. L359, 16.12.2014, p.1