Finance Act 2022
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Amendment of Part 13 of Principal Act (administration and general) | ||
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57. Part 13 of the Principal Act is amended— | ||
(a) in section 108— | ||
(i) in subsection (7), by the substitution of “subsection (8)” for “subsection (7) ”, and | ||
(ii) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (8): | ||
“(8) (a) In this subsection— | ||
‘EEA Agreement’ means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992 as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement; | ||
‘EEA state’ means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; | ||
‘EU value-added tax’ means value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive and includes tax within the meaning of section 2; | ||
‘financial institution’ means— | ||
(i) a person who holds or has held a licence under section 9 or an authorisation granted under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971 , or a person who holds or has held a licence or other similar authorisation under the law of an EEA state, other than the State, which corresponds to a licence granted under the said section 9, | ||
(ii) a person referred to in section 7 (4) of the Central Bank Act 1971 , or | ||
(iii) a credit institution (within the meaning of the European Union (Capital Requirements) Regulations 2014 ( S.I. No. 158 of 2014 )) which has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland to carry on the business of a credit institution in accordance with the provisions of any financial services legislation (within the meaning of those Regulations), other than an authorisation granted under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971 ; | ||
‘records’ means any document, or any other written or printed material in any form, including any information stored, maintained or preserved by means of any mechanical or electronic device, whether or not stored, maintained or preserved in a legible form, which a person is required to keep, retain, issue or produce for inspection or which may be inspected under any provision relating to EU value-added tax. | ||
(b) The case referred to in subsection (7) is a case in which an authorised officer is required by Council Regulation 904/2010/EU of 7 October 201030 on administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of value-added tax to provide to a requesting authority (as defined in Article 2 of that Council Regulation) in another Member State, on request by that authority, any books, records, accounts or other documents whether— | ||
(i) related to a business being carried on in the State or another Member State, | ||
(ii) connected with that business by means of trading relations, either current or otherwise, that such a business has had with other businesses, or | ||
(iii) held by a financial institution, | ||
and where such a request is made, the books, records, accounts or other documents that may be the subject of the exercise of the powers referred to in subsection (7) shall extend to such books, records, accounts or other documents as are deemed to be relevant by the authorised officer. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon disclosure of information imposed by or under statute or otherwise, and subject to this section, an authorised officer may, for the purpose of fulfilling a request related to the case referred to in this subsection, serve on a financial institution a notice in writing— | ||
(i) requiring the financial institution, within such period as may be specified in the notice, not being less than 30 days from the date of service of the notice, to do either or both of the following, as may be specified in the notice: | ||
(I) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer such books, records, accounts or other documents as are in the financial institution's power, possession or procurement and as contain, or may, in the opinion of the authorised officer (being an opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to the case referred to in this subsection; | ||
(II) to furnish to the authorised officer, in writing or otherwise, such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such case, | ||
and | ||
(ii) informing the financial institution of the consequences under section 115(5A) of failing to comply with the notice. | ||
(d) Where, in compliance with the requirements of a notice under paragraph (c), a financial institution makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records, accounts or other documents specified in the notice, it shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records, accounts or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material. | ||
(e) An authorised officer shall not serve a notice on a financial institution under paragraph (c) without the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner and without having reasonable grounds to believe that the financial institution is likely to have information relevant to the case referred to in this subsection. | ||
(f) Where, in compliance with a notice served under paragraph (c), a financial institution makes books, records, accounts or other documents available for inspection by an authorised officer, the authorised officer may take extracts from or make copies of all or any part of the books, records, accounts or other documents.”, | ||
and | ||
(b) in section 115, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5): | ||
“(5A) A financial institution which fails to comply with a notice served under section 108(8)(c) shall be liable to a penalty of €4,000.”. | ||