Finance Act, 1986

Amendment of provisions relating to payment of interest on tax overpaid.

114.—(1) Section 429 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution, in paragraph (a) of the proviso to subsection (4), of “at the rate of one per cent., or such other rate (if any) as stands prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, for each month or part of a month” for “at the rate provided by section 550(1)”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (6):

‘(7) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next twenty-one days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”,

and the said paragraph (a), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

(a) if too much tax has been paid, the amount or amounts overpaid shall, save where the interest amounts to less than £1, be repaid with interest at the rate of one per cent., or such other rate (if any) as stands prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, for each month or part of a month from the date or dates of payment of the amount or amounts giving rise to the overpayment to the date on which the repayment is made; or

(2) Section 30 of the Finance Act, 1976 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution, in subsection (4), of “at the rate of one per cent., or such other rate (if any) as stands prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, for each month or part of a month” for “at the rate or rates in force by virtue of section 550 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ,”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (8):

“(9) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next twenty-one days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”,

and the said subsection (4) (apart from the proviso thereto), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

(4) Where an overpayment of tax is to be repaid under subsection (3), the overpayment shall carry interest at the rate of one per cent., or such other rate (if any) as stands prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, for each month or part of a month for the period from the date or dates of the payment of the amount or amounts giving rise to the overpayment, as the case may require, to the date on which the repayment is made:

(3) Section 107 of the Finance Act, 1983 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution, in subsection (2), of “at the rate of one per cent., or such other rate (if any) as stands prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations,” for “at the rate of 1.25 per cent.”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(3) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next twenty-one days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”,

and the said subsection (2), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

(2) Where, under this section, any amount falls to be repaid or retained, there shall be added to such amount simple interest at the rate of one per cent., or such other rate (if any) as stands prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, of the amount to be repaid or retained for each month or part of a month from the date of the payment of the excess giving rise to the repayment to the date of the repayment or retention as the case may be. Income tax shall not be deductible on payment of interest under this subsection and such interest shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Tax Acts.

(4) This section shall apply and have effect in relation to interest payable under the said paragraph (a) and the said subsections (4) and (2) for any month, or any part of a month, commencing on or after the date of the passing of this Act.