Income Tax Act, 1967.

Distraint.

480.—(1) If a person neglects or refuses to pay the sum charged, upon demand made by the Collector in accordance with the assessments and warrants delivered to him, the Collector shall, for non-payment thereof, distrain upon the lands, tenements and premises in respect of which the tax is charged, or distrain the person charged by his goods and chattels, and all such other goods and chattels as the Collector is hereby authorised to distrain, without any further authority for that purpose than the warrant delivered to him on his appointment:

Provided that no distraint shall be made on the lands, tenements and premises in respect of which the tax is charged if such lands, tenements and premises have been sold for valuable consideration and the person on whom the tax is charged is no longer the occupier thereof.

(2) For the purpose of levying any such distress, the Collector may, after obtaining a warrant for that purpose, under the hands and seals of the Special Commissioners, break open, in the daytime, any house or premises, calling to his assistance any member of the Garda Síochána. Every such member shall, when so required, aid and assist the Collector in the execution of the warrant and in levying the distress in the house or premises.

(3) A levy or warrant to break open shall be executed by, or under the direction of, and in the presence of, the Collector.

(4) A distress levied by the Collector shall be kept for five days, at the costs and charges of the person neglecting or refusing to pay.

(5) If the person aforesaid does not pay the sum due, together with the costs and charges, within the said five days, the distress shall be appraised by two or more inhabitants of the parish in which the distress is taken, or by other sufficient persons, and shall be sold by public auction by the Collector or his deputy for payment of the sum due and all costs and charges. The costs and charges of taking, keeping, and selling the distress shall be retained by the Collector or his deputy, and any overplus coming by the distress, after the deduction of the costs and charges and of the sum due, shall be restored to the owner of the goods distrained.

(6) If lands charged under Schedule A are unoccupied, and no distress can be found thereon at the time the tax is payable, the Collector may at any future time when there is any distress to be found on the lands, enter, seize, and sell, under the same powers as if a distraint had been made on the lands at the time the tax became due and as if the occupier had been in occupation at that time.