Finance Act 2010

Gifts to the State by certain donors.

161.— (1) (a) In this section—

“authorised officer” means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, not below the rank or grade of Principal Officer, authorised by them in writing for the purposes of this section;

“donor” means—

(i) a member of the judiciary within the meaning of section 196 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , or

(ii) a military judge appointed under Chapter IVC of Part V of the Defence Act 1954 (as amended by the Defence (Amendment) Act 2007 ),

and references in this section to a member of the judiciary and a military judge shall be construed accordingly;

“ gift ”, in relation to a donor and a year of assessment, means a gift of money made for the year of assessment by the donor to, and accepted by, the authorised officer and calculated in accordance with subsection (2), where the gift is for use for any purpose for or towards which public moneys are provided;

“ public moneys ” means moneys charged on or issued out of the Central Fund or provided by the Oireachtas;

“ tax relief ”, in relation to a donor and a year of assessment, means any allowance, deduction, abatement or relief as may be applicable in arriving at the income tax liability of the donor for the year of assessment for which a gift is made.

(b) Words and expressions used in this section have, except where otherwise provided or where the context otherwise requires, the same meaning as in the Income Tax Acts.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) the amount of a gift made by a donor for any year of assessment shall be the amount determined by the formula—

A—B

where—

A is the amount determined by applying the rates set out in Table D to section 2 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 (as amended by section 13 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2009 ) to the emoluments arising from the donor’s office for the year of assessment; and

B is the aggregate amount of income tax and health contributions (payable under the Health Contributions Act 1979 ) that would be due and payable on the amount as determined in accordance with A for the year of assessment determined on the basis that the donor has no other income apart from the emoluments from that office and has no entitlement to any tax relief.

(3) For the year of assessment 2010, the amount of a gift made by a donor shall be the amount determined by the formula in subsection (2) less any amount paid by the donor between 1 January 2010 and 4 February 2010 under any voluntary arrangements with the Revenue Commissioners corresponding to this section.

(4) Where a gift is made under this section, no relief or deduction under any provision of the Income Tax Acts shall be given or allowed in respect of the gift or part of the gift, as the case may be.

(5) Gifts made under this section shall be remitted to the authorised officer on such dates and in such manner as the donor may consider appropriate including standing orders and electronic fund transfers.

(6) The Revenue Commissioners shall transmit at regular intervals all monies received as gifts under this section to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Exchequer.

(7) Where a donor ceases to be a member of the judiciary or a military judge, this section shall cease to have effect in respect of any gift made on or after that date.

(8) The Revenue Commissioners shall publish for each year of assessment only details of the number of donors who avail of this scheme in the year, and the aggregate amounts gifted for the year.

(9) If and so long as the authorised officer is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his or her duties, a person nominated in writing in that behalf by the Revenue Commissioners from among their officers shall act as the authorised officer, and any reference in this section to the authorised officer shall be construed as including, where appropriate, a reference to a person nominated under this subsection.

(10) This section applies for the year of assessment 2010 and subsequent years of assessment.