Finance Act 2014

Amendment of Chapter 3 of Part 33 (mandatory disclosure and payment notices)

88. (1) Chapter 3 of Part 33 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 817D(1) by—

(i) inserting the following definitions after the definition of “disclosable transaction”:

“‘emoluments’ means emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 applies;

‘employee’ means any person in receipt of emoluments;

‘employer’ means any person paying emoluments;”,

(ii) inserting the following definition after the definition of “promoter”:

“‘quarter’ means a period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December;”,

(iii) inserting the following definitions after the definition of “relevant date”:

“‘return’ means any return, claim, application, notification, election, declaration, nomination, statement, list, registration, particulars or other information, which a person is or may be required by the Acts to give to the Revenue Commissioners or any Revenue officer;

‘Revenue officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners;

‘specified date’ means—

(a) in relation to a promoter, the relevant date, and

(b) in relation to a person other than a promoter, the date the person first enters into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction;”,

(iv) in the definition of “specified description”, by substituting “section 817DA” for “subsection (2) ”,

(v) in the definition of “specified information”, by substituting “, in respect of a disclosable transaction, the information set out in subsection (2)(a) and subparagraphs (i) to (iii), as the case may be, of subsection (2)(b) ” for “any information specified in regulations made under section 817Q”,

(vi) deleting the definition of “specified period”,

(vii) inserting the following definition after the definition of “transaction”:

“‘transaction number’ means the number assigned to a transaction by the Revenue Commissioners under section 817HB;”,

and

(viii) substituting the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) For the purposes of the definition of ‘specified information’ in the preceding subsection, the following provisions specify the information concerned:

(a) such information as might reasonably be expected to enable the manner in which the disclosable transaction operates, or is intended to operate, to be fully understood by a Revenue officer, and, in all cases, includes—

(i) full reference to the provisions of this Chapter by virtue of which the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the information is being provided considers that the transaction is disclosable,

(ii) a summary of the disclosable transaction and the name (if any) by which it is known,

(iii) full reference to the provisions of the Acts that are considered by the person to be relevant to the treatment of the disclosable transaction for tax purposes, and

(iv) full details of the disclosable transaction explaining each element of the transaction (including the way in which the transaction is structured) from which the tax advantage expected to be obtained under the transaction arises and how, in the opinion of the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the information is being provided, each provision of the Acts referred to in subparagraph (iii) applies, or as the case may be, does not apply to the transaction,

(b) where—

(i) the information is required to be disclosed by a promoter under section 817E, the following information, namely, the name, address, telephone number and tax reference number of the promoter,

(ii) the information is required to be disclosed by a person under section 817F, 817H(1) or 817L, the following information, namely—

(I) the name, address, telephone number and tax reference number of the person, and

(II) the name, address and telephone number of the promoter,

or

(iii) the information is required to be disclosed by a person under section 817G, the following information, namely, the name, address, telephone number and tax reference number of the person;”,

(b) by inserting the following after section 817D:

“References to ‘specified description’ — classes of transaction for purposes of that expression

817DA. (1) For the purposes of this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a specified description shall be construed as a reference to a class of transaction to which any of subsections (2) to (10) applies.

(2) This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where, but for the provisions of this Chapter, a promoter or person would, or might reasonably be expected to, wish to keep the transaction or any element of the transaction (including the way in which the transaction is structured) which gives rise to the tax advantage expected to be obtained, confidential from—

(a) the Revenue Commissioners, at any time after the specified date, and a purpose for doing so would be—

(i) to facilitate repeated or continued use of the same, or substantially the same, transaction in the future,

(ii) to prevent the Revenue Commissioners from using the information relating to the transaction to enquire into any return, or

(iii) to prevent the Revenue Commissioners from using the information relating to the transaction to withhold a refund or repayment of, or a payment of, any amount claimed separately from a return under any of the provisions of the Acts,

(b) any other promoter, at any time after the specified date, and a purpose for doing so would be to maintain competitive advantage.

(3) (a) This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where it might reasonably be expected that a promoter, or a person connected (within the meaning of section 10) with a promoter, of transactions that are the same as, or substantially the same as, the transaction concerned, would, but for the requirements of this Chapter, be able to obtain a premium fee from, or charge a premium fee to, a person implementing such transaction, being a person experienced in receiving services of the type being provided.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection—

‘premium fee’, in relation to a transaction, means a fee chargeable by virtue of the transaction from which the tax advantage expected to be obtained arises and which is—

(i) to a significant extent attributable to that tax advantage, or

(ii) to any extent contingent upon the obtaining of that tax advantage;

‘fee’, in relation to a transaction, includes any consideration, in whatever form, which is attributable to the provision of the transaction, whether the consideration is provided directly or indirectly.

(4) (a) This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, which is a standardised tax product.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, a transaction is a standardised tax product if a promoter makes, or intends to make, the transaction available for implementation by more than one person and the transaction is—

(i) one which has, or is intended to have standardised, or substantially standardised, documentation—

(I) the purpose of which is to enable the implementation, by a person, of the transaction, and

(II) the form of which is determined by the promoter and not tailored, to any material extent, to reflect the circumstances of the person implementing the transaction,

and

(ii) one which requires the person implementing it to enter into a specific transaction, or series of transactions, that are standardised, or substantially standardised, in form.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a standardised tax product where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.

(5) This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where the promoter expects more than one individual to implement the same, or substantially the same, transaction and the transaction is such that an informed observer, having examined it, could reasonably conclude—

(a) that a main outcome of the transaction that could be expected for some or all of the individuals participating in it is the provision of losses, and

(b) that those individuals would be expected to use such losses to reduce their liability to income tax or capital gains tax.

(6) (a) This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where one of the parties to the transaction is a company that has, or expects to have, unrelieved losses at the end of an accounting period and an informed observer, having examined the transaction, could reasonably conclude that a main benefit of the transaction is—

(i) that the company transfers those losses to another party who would be expected to use them to reduce its corporation tax liability, or

(ii) that the company is able to use those losses to reduce its corporation tax liability.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, ‘unrelieved losses at the end of an accounting period’ means trading losses in respect of which relief could not have been given (but for the transaction) for that, or any previous, accounting period.

(7) (a) This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where a tax advantage is obtained, or might be expected to be obtained, by virtue of a transaction, or any part of a transaction, by way of a reduction in, or deferment of, liability to tax, by the employer or the employee or by any other person by reason of the employee’s employment—

(i) where the tax advantage relates to employment income, in any year of assessment, or

(ii) in any other case, in any period of account.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection ‘employment income’ means salaries, fees, wages, perquisites, benefits or profits (by whatever name called, including expenses) from an office or employment.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a transaction of a kind described in this subsection where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.

(8) (a) This subsection applies to a transaction where, as a consequence of the transaction, or part of the transaction, a person who would otherwise incur, or be expected to incur, a liability to income tax in any tax year, will—

(i) incur, or be expected to incur, a lesser or nil liability to income tax chargeable in that year, and

(ii) acquire an asset, the disposal of which would, in principle, give rise to a chargeable gain.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) a chargeable gain includes a gain on the disposal of assets that are exempt from capital gains tax or relieved from capital gains tax under any of the provisions of the Acts.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a transaction of a kind described in this subsection where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.

(9) This subsection applies to a transaction where, as a consequence of the transaction, or part of a transaction, a person who would otherwise incur, or be expected to incur, a liability to income tax in any tax year will—

(a) incur, or be expected to incur, a lesser or nil liability to income tax chargeable in that year, and

(b) be deemed to take a gift by virtue of section 5 (1) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 .

(10) (a) This subsection applies to a transaction, or part of a transaction, where a party to that transaction is a trustee of a discretionary trust.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a transaction of a kind described in this subsection where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.”,

(c) by substituting the following section for section 817E:

“Duties of promoter

817E. Subject to this Chapter, a promoter shall—

(a) within 5 working days after the specified date, provide the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to any disclosable transaction, and

(b) provide any person—

(i) to whom the promoter has made a disclosable transaction available for implementation, or

(ii) who markets or seeks to market the disclosable transaction,

with the transaction number for that disclosable transaction within 5 working days after receipt of the transaction number from the Revenue Commissioners or within 5 working days after making the scheme available to the person, whichever is the later.”,

(d) by inserting the following section after section 817H:

“Duty of person who obtains tax advantage

817HA. (1) Any person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a disclosable transaction shall be a chargeable person for the purposes of Part 41A.

(2) A person who enters into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction shall, in a timely manner, provide any other person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from that disclosable transaction with the transaction number for that disclosable transaction so as to allow that person comply with their obligations under this section.

(3) A person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a disclosable transaction shall include the transaction number relating to the disclosable transaction in the return, within the meaning of Part 41A, for any chargeable period, within the meaning of Part 41A, in which the person—

(a) entered into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction, or

(b) obtains, or seeks to obtain, a tax advantage from the disclosable transaction.

(4) Where a person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a disclosable transaction which was not assigned a transaction number, or where that person was not provided with a transaction number, then that person shall be deemed to have complied with the obligation under subsection (3) if that person—

(a) did not have an obligation to disclose that transaction under section 817F, 817G or 817H,

(b) provides a Revenue officer with the specified information in relation to that transaction, and

(c) without unreasonable delay, provides a Revenue officer with any other information that the officer may reasonably require for the purposes of deciding if an application should be made to the relevant court under section 817O(3)(a).

Duty of Revenue Commissioners

817HB. (1) Subject to subsection (2), where the Revenue Commissioners receive specified information in relation to a disclosable transaction under section 817E, 817F, 817G, 817H or 817L they shall, within 90 days after such receipt—

(a) assign a unique transaction number to the disclosable transaction and notify the promoter, or the person who entered into the transaction, as the case may be, of that transaction number, or

(b) determine whether or not the transaction was a disclosable transaction and notify the promoter, or person who entered into the transaction, as the case may be, accordingly.

(2) Where the Revenue Commissioners request supplemental information in relation to a transaction under section 817K, the reference in subsection (1) to 90 days after receipt of the specified information shall be construed as a reference to 90 days after the day on which the Revenue Commissioners receive all such supplemental information.”,

(e) in section 817L by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) (a) Where a person is a marketer of a transaction that it would be reasonable to consider is a disclosable transaction and the promoter of that transaction has not provided the marketer with a transaction number for that transaction in accordance with section 817E, then within 30 working days from making the first marketing contact in relation to that transaction, the marketer shall provide the Revenue Commissioners with—

(i) the name and address of the promoter of the transaction,

(ii) details of the transaction, and

(iii) all materials, whether provided by the promoter or otherwise, used to make a marketing contact in relation to the transaction.

(b) Where a marketer provides information to Revenue in accordance with this subsection, then this shall be wholly without prejudice as to whether or not the transaction is a disclosable transaction.”,

(f) in section 817M—

(i) in subsection (1) by substituting the following for paragraphs (a) and (b):

“(a) within the period of 30 days beginning on the day after the day on which—

(i) the promoter first makes the transaction concerned available to a person for implementation, or

(ii) in a case where the relevant date is the date referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘relevant date’, the promoter first becomes aware of any transaction which is or forms part of the disclosable transaction having been implemented,

and

(b) subject to subsection (3), within the period of 5 days beginning on the day after the end of each quarter thereafter,”,

and

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

“(3) Subsection (1)(b) shall not apply to a quarter during which the promoter—

(a) has not made the disclosable transaction available to a person for implementation, or

(b) has provided the Revenue Commissioners with a client list in accordance with subsection (1)(a) and has not made the disclosable transaction available to any other person for implementation in the period from the date the client list was provided to the Revenue Commissioners to the last day of the quarter concerned.

(4) A client list required to be provided to the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (1)(b) (in this subsection referred to as the ‘latest client list’) shall not include the name, address and tax reference number of any person who has been included in a client list in respect of the disclosable transaction to which the latest client list relates, in any preceding quarter.”,

(g) in section 817N—

(i) in subsection (1) by substituting “whether or not the disclosable transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction within the meaning of section 811C.” for “whether any opinion that the disclosable transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction, if such an opinion were to be formed by the Revenue Commissioners, would be correct.”,

(ii) in subsection (2) by substituting “whether or not the disclosable transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction within the meaning of section 811C.” for “whether any opinion that the disclosable transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction, if such an opinion were to be formed by the Revenue Commissioners, would be correct.”,

(iii) in subsection (3) by substituting “811A or 811D” for “811A”, and

(iv) in subsection (4) by substituting “section 811, 811A, 811C or 811D” for “section 811 or 811A”,

(h) in section 817O—

(i) in subsection (1)(a) —

(I) by substituting “817H(3), 817HA(2), 817I,” for “817H(3), 817I”, and

(II) by substituting “under that subparagraph,” for “under that subparagraph, and”,

(ii) in subsection (1)(b) by substituting the following for “subparagraph.”:

“subparagraph,

and

(c) where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person under section 817HA(3), be liable to a penalty not exceeding €5,000.”,

(iii) in subsection (3)(a) by substituting “subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) ” for “subsection (1)(a) or (b) ”, and

(iv) by deleting subsection (8),

(i) in section 817P by substituting the following subsection for subsection (5):

“(5) Where the Appeal Commissioners make a determination in accordance with paragraph (a)(i), (b)(i), (c)(i), (d)(i) or (e)(i), as the case may be, of subsection (2) —

(a) the information or documents to be made available to the Revenue Commissioners by a person on foot of the determination (where the determination is made in accordance with paragraph (a)(i), (b)(i) or (c)(i) of that subsection), or

(b) the specified information to be made available to the Revenue Commissioners by a person in consequence of the determination (where the determination is made in accordance with paragraph (d)(i) or (e)(i) of that subsection),

shall be made available within the period of 5 days beginning on the day after the date of the determination.”,

and

(j) in section 817Q—

(i) in subsection (1) —

(I) by deleting paragraphs (a) to (g),

(II) in paragraph (h) by substituting “transaction,” for “transaction, and”,

(III) in paragraph (i) by substituting “necessary, and” for “necessary.”, and

(IV) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (i):

“(j) specifying transactions which are not disclosable transactions.”,

and

(ii) by deleting subsection (2).

(2) Part 33 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following Chapter after section 817R:

“Chapter 4

Payment notices and scheme participants

Payment notices

817S. (1) In this Chapter—

‘assessment’ has the meaning given to it in section 960A;

‘disclosable transaction’ has the meaning given to it in section 817D;

‘Revenue officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners;

‘specified information’ has the meaning given to it in section 817D;

‘specific anti-avoidance provision’ means a provision specified in Schedule 33;

‘tax advantage’—

(a) subject to paragraph (b), has the meaning given to it in section 817D, or

(b) where this Chapter falls to be applied to a tax avoidance transaction, has the meaning given to it in section 811C(1),

and a proposal for a transaction shall be construed accordingly;

‘tax avoidance transaction’ has the meaning given to it in section 811C(1) ;

‘transaction’—

(a) subject to paragraph (b), has the meaning given to it in section 817D, or

(b) where this Chapter falls to be applied to a tax avoidance transaction, has the meaning given to it in section 811C(1),

and a proposal for a transaction shall be construed accordingly;

‘transaction number’ has the meaning given to it in section 817D.

(2) This subsection applies where, as a result of a person entering into a transaction that is—

(a) a tax avoidance transaction,

(b) a disclosable transaction, or

(c) a transaction to which a specific anti-avoidance provision applies,

a Revenue officer makes or amends an assessment the effect of which is to deny or withdraw a tax advantage arising out of the transaction.

(3) Where—

(a) subsection (2) applies, and

(b) an assessment referred to in that subsection has been appealed to the Appeal Commissioners,

and—

(i) the Appeal Commissioners have determined the appeal, and

(ii) the Appeal Commissioners have made a determination other than one that the assessment should be reduced by the full amount of the tax advantage,

a Revenue officer may send, or cause to be sent, a notice (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘payment notice’) to the appellant requiring immediate payment of the amount stated in the payment notice.

(4) For the purpose of subsection (3), the amount stated in the payment notice shall be the lower of—

(a) the amount charged by the assessment resulting from the denial or withdrawal of the tax advantage referred to in subsection (2), or

(b) the tax that would be due and payable under an assessment if no notice was given under section 941(2) or 942(1).

(5) A person to whom a payment notice is sent shall pay the amount stated in a payment notice notwithstanding that that person may be entitled to require that, in relation to a determination referred to in subsection (3) —

(a) an appeal be reheard by a Judge of the Circuit Court, or

(b) the Appeal Commissioners state and sign a case for the opinion of the High Court.

(6) Where tax stated in a payment notice is paid and the assessment in respect of which the tax was paid subsequently becomes final and conclusive for a lower amount of tax than was paid—

(a) the amount overpaid shall be repaid with interest in accordance with section 865A, section 159B of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 , section 105 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 or section 57 (6) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 , as if a valid claim to repayment was made on a day that is 93 days before the date payment was received by the Revenue Commissioners on foot of the payment notice, but no such repayment shall be made until such time as an assessment has become final and conclusive, and

(b) section 865 (4), section 159A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 , section 99 (4) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 or section 57 (3) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 shall not apply in relation to any repayment to be made.

(7) Section 960E(2) shall apply as if a payment notice sent by a Revenue officer was a demand made by the Collector-General for tax that is due and payable.

Payment notices and scheme participants

817T. (1) In this section—

(a) a reference to a ‘scheme’ is a reference to a transaction to which section 817S(2) applies, and

(b) a reference to a ‘scheme participant’ is a reference to a person who enters into such transaction or a substantially similar transaction.

(2) For the purpose of this section, a transaction (‘the second transaction’) shall be the same transaction or substantially similar to another transaction (‘the first transaction’) where—

(a) section 817S(3) applies in relation to the first transaction and in the opinion of a Revenue officer, the provisions of the Acts or the principles and reasoning given by the Appeal Commissioners in making a determination in relation to the first transaction would, if applied in making a determination in an appeal against an assessment, being an assessment—

(i) made or amended by a Revenue officer in relation to the second transaction, and

(ii) the effect of which is to deny or withdraw a tax advantage arising out of the second transaction,

result in a determination other than one that that assessment should be reduced by the full amount of the tax advantage,

(b) both transactions were assigned the same transaction number under section 817HB(1)(a),

(c) a transaction is one to which section 817J applies, and two or more transactions would have been assigned the same transaction number if they had been disclosed by a promoter under section 817E rather than by the person who entered into the transaction under section 817H, or

(d) specified information was not provided to the Revenue Commissioners and the transactions were not assigned a transaction number, but had they been assigned a transaction number, both transactions would have been assigned the same transaction number.

(3) Where a person to whom a Revenue officer may send, or cause to be sent, a payment notice under section 817S(3) is a scheme participant, a Revenue officer may send a payment notice to any other scheme participants notwithstanding that an assessment made in respect of those scheme participants has been appealed and the appeal has not yet been determined by the Appeal Commissioners.

(4) The payment notice referred to in subsection (3) shall—

(a) state the amount of the tax assessed on a scheme participant resulting from the denial or withdrawal of a tax advantage, having had regard to the determination referred to in section 817S(3),

(b) state the transaction number, if any, which was assigned to the scheme,

(c) state the reasons why the transaction entered into by the scheme participant in receipt of the payment notice and the scheme participant who has received a determination from the Appeal Commissioners is the same or substantially similar, and

(d) have appended to it a copy of the determination.

(5) A scheme participant may request a Revenue officer to review the payment notice by submitting a notice (in this section referred to as a ‘review notice’) in writing within 30 days from the payment notice giving reasons why the scheme participant does not consider a transaction entered into by that person to be the same as, or substantially similar to, the transaction in respect of which another scheme participant has received a payment notice under section 817S(3).

(6) A Revenue officer shall consider a review notice received from a scheme participant and shall make a determination that either confirms or withdraws a payment notice.

(7) A scheme participant who is aggrieved by a determination referred to in subsection (6) may appeal the determination to the Appeal Commissioners by notice in writing to the Revenue officer within 30 days from the date of the determination, being a notice—

(a) that states the grounds for the appeal, and

(b) to which there is appended a copy of the determination.

(8) Where more than one scheme participant in the same scheme has submitted a notice of appeal under subsection (7), the Appeal Commissioners may in adjudicating and determining an appeal if they consider it appropriate to do so—

(a) have regard to any determination previously made in respect of scheme participants,

(b) consolidate or hear together two or more appeals, or

(c) determine not to hold a hearing.

(9) The Appeal Commissioners’ determination of an appeal made under subsection (7) shall be final and conclusive.

(10) Any obligation on the Revenue Commissioners to maintain secrecy or any other restriction on the disclosure of information by the Revenue Commissioners shall not apply with respect to the giving of a payment notice under subsection (3).

(11) Subsections (5), (6) and (7) of section 817S shall apply to a payment notice issued under this section as if it were a notice issued under section 817S.”.

(3) The Principal Act is amended in the manner and to the extent specified in Schedule 2 .

(4) Subsections (1) and (3) shall apply to a transaction which is commenced after 23 October 2014.