Finance Act 2005

Capital allowances for registered tourist accommodation.

34.—Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 268—

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

“(2C) For the purposes of this Part, a building or structure (other than a building or structure which is in use for the purposes of the trade of hotel-keeping) which is in use as—

(a) a guest house and is registered in the register of guest houses kept under the Tourist Traffic Acts 1939 to 2003, or

(b) a holiday hostel and is registered in the register of holiday hostels kept under the Tourist Traffic Acts 1939 to 2003,

shall, as respects capital expenditure incurred on or after 3 February 2005 on its construction (within the meaning of section 270), be deemed to be a building or structure in use for the purposes of the trade of hotel-keeping.”,

(ii) in subsection (3), by substituting “a holiday camp registered in the register of holiday camps kept under the Tourist Traffic Acts 1939 to 2003” for “a holiday camp”,

(iii) in subsection (12)—

(I) by substituting the following for paragraph (a):

“(a) that it has received a declaration from that person as to whether or not that person is—

(i) a small or medium-sized enterprise within the meaning of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the European Communities Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises1 , or

(ii) a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise within the meaning of the Annex to Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises2 ,”,

(II) in paragraph (d)(i), by substituting “the Regulation or Recommendation” for “the Regulation”, and

(III) in paragraph (d)(ii), by inserting the following after “European Communities”:

“or, as the case may be, ‘Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty’3 prepared by that Commission”,

and

(iv) by inserting the following after subsection (13):

“(14) Subject to subsection (15), a building or structure in use for the purposes of the trade of hotel-keeping (but not including a building or structure deemed to be such a building or structure) shall not, as respects capital expenditure incurred on or after 3 February 2005 on its construction (within the meaning of section 270), be treated as an industrial building or structure unless the building or structure is registered in the register of hotels kept under the Tourist Traffic Acts 1939 to 2003.

(15) Subsection (14) shall not apply as respects capital expenditure incurred on or before 31 July 2006 on the construction or refurbishment of a building or structure in use for the purposes of the trade of hotel-keeping if—

(a)  (i) a planning application (not being an application for outline permission within the meaning of section 36 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 ), in so far as planning permission was required, in respect of the construction or refurbishment work on the building or structure represented by that expenditure, was made in accordance with the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 to 2004,

(ii) an acknowledgement of the application, which confirms that the application was received on or before 31 December 2004, was issued by the planning authority in accordance with article 26(2) of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 600 of 2001 ), and

(iii) the application was not an invalid application in respect of which a notice was issued by the planning authority in accordance with article 26(5) of those regulations,

(b)  (i) a planning application, in so far as planning permission was required, in respect of the construction or refurbishment work on the building or structure represented by that expenditure, was made in accordance with the Local Government (Planning and Development) Regulations 1994 ( S.I. No. 86 of 1994 ), not being an application for outline permission within the meaning of article 3 of those regulations,

(ii) an acknowledgement of the application, which confirms that the application was received on or before 10 March 2002, was issued by the planning authority in accordance with article 29(2)(a) of the regulations referred to in subparagraph (i), and

(iii) the application was not an invalid application in respect of which a notice was issued by the planning authority in accordance with article 29(2)(b)(i) of those regulations,

(c) where the construction or refurbishment work on the building or structure represented by that expenditure is exempted development for the purposes of the Planning and Development Act 2000 by virtue of section 4 of that Act or by virtue of Part 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 600 of 2001 ) and—

(i) a detailed plan in relation to the development work was prepared,

(ii) a binding contract in writing, under which the expenditure on the development is incurred, was in existence, and

(iii) work to the value of 5 per cent of the development costs was carried out,

not later than 31 December 2004, or

(d)  (i) the construction or refurbishment of the building or structure is a development in respect of which an application for a certificate under section 25 (7)(a)(ii) of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act 1997 was made to the Authority (within the meaning of that Act),

(ii) an acknowledgement of the application, which confirms that the application was received on or before 31 December 2004, was issued by that Authority, and

(iii) the application was not an invalid application.”,

(b) in section 272—

(i) in subsection (3)—

(I) in paragraph (c), by substituting “paragraph (d) or (da)” for “paragraph (d)”, and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (d):

“(da) in relation to a building or structure which is to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of section 268(1)(d) by reason of its use as a guest house or a holiday hostel to which section 268(2C) applies, 4 per cent of the capital expenditure on the construction (within the meaning of section 270) of the building or structure which is incurred on or after 3 February 2005,”,

and

(ii) in subsection (4)—

(I) in paragraph (c), by substituting “paragraph (d) or (da)” for “paragraph (d)”, and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (d):

“(da) in relation to a building or structure which is to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of section 268(1)(d) by reason of its use as a guest house or a holiday hostel to which section 268(2C) applies, 25 years beginning with the time when the building or structure was first used, in the case where the capital expenditure on the construction (within the meaning of section 270) of the building or structure is incurred on or after 3 February 2005,”,

and

(c) in section 274(1)—

(i) in paragraph (b)(iii), by substituting “subparagraph (iv) or (iva)” for “subparagraph (iv)”, and

(ii) by inserting the following after subparagraph (iv):

“(iva) in relation to a building or structure which is to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of section 268(1)(d) by reason of its use as a guest house or a holiday hostel to which section 268(2C) applies, 25 years after the building or structure was first used, in the case where the capital expenditure on the construction (within the meaning of section 270) of the building or structure is incurred on or after 3 February 2005,”.

1OJ No. L10 of 13 January 2001, p.33

2OJ No. L124 of 20 May 2003, p.36

3OJ No. C244 of 1 October 2004, p.2