Finance Act, 1993

Gaming machine licence duty.

71.—(1) Section 43 of the Finance Act, 1975 , is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (2):

(i) in respect of a licence obtained on or after the 6th day of May, 1993, by the addition of the following proviso to paragraph (b)

“Provided that this paragraph shall not apply to a machine—

(i) which when switched on is in perpetual motion and not as such activated by the insertion of a coin or token, and

(ii) where the player rolls a coin or token down a slide in the machine, or drops it through a slot at the top of the machine, and the coin then progresses through the machine under its own momentum until it settles into either a winning or a losing position on or behind coins already on a tray, and

(iii) where a mechanism for releasing coins into the pay-out chute is actuated by the weight of coins accumulated in a winning position.”,

and

(ii) by the substitution for paragraph (c) of the following paragraph:

“(c) Except where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied, and so certify in writing, that by reason of the inaccessibility to the public of the place in which a gaming machine is stored it cannot be played by the public, a gaming machine (including any machine which has ceased to be so stored) shall be deemed, for the purpose of this section, to be available for play notwithstanding that it is in a state, or so positioned that it cannot be played.”,

(b) by the substitution for subsections (3) to (5) of the following subsections:

“(3) A gaming machine shall not be made available for play in a premises unless there is a subsisting licence, granted under this section, which is displayed at all times in a secure and conspicuous place on the machine.

(4) (a) The Revenue Commissioners shall, upon application and payment of the duty imposed by this section, grant to the holder of a gaming licence the number of gaming machine licences applied for.

(b) A gaming machine licence shall remain in force for such period as is specified in the application therefor provided that such period does not exceed one year and does not exceed the period for which the current gaming licence has been granted in respect of the premises in which the said machine has been made available for play in accordance with subsection (3).

(c) Every gaming machine licence granted under this section shall include such information and be in such form and manner as the Revenue Commissioners may from time to time approve.

(5) The holder of a gaming licence who contravenes subsection (3) shall, in respect of each gaming machine made available for play without a gaming machine licence, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to an excise penalty of £1,000 in respect of each such offence.”,

(c) in paragraph (aa) (inserted by section 74 (2) of the Finance Act, 1980 ) of subsection (7), by the deletion in subparagraph (i) of “for each gaming machine to which the licence relates” in each place where it occurs,

(d) by the deletion of subsections (8) and (9),

(e) in subsection (10), by the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(b) A gaming machine in respect of which an offence was committed under this section shall be liable to forfeiture.”,

and

(f) by the deletion of subsection (11).

(2) Section 74 of the Finance Act, 1980 , is hereby amended by the deletion in subsection (1) of “for each gaming machine to which the licence relates” in each place where it occurs.

(3) Where a gaming machine licence (in this subsection referred to as “the existing licence”) is issued before the 1st day of February, 1994, which specifies an expiry date later than the 1st day of February, 1994, the Revenue Commissioners shall, on the application of the holder of the existing licence and upon the surrender of it, issue replacement gaming machine licences, in respect of the number of gaming machines specified in the existing licence, to remain in force until the expiry of the period specified in the existing licence.

(4) This section, other than subsection (1) (a), shall come into operation on the 1st day of February, 1994.