Finance Act, 1999

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Amendment of Chapter 8 (qualifying rural areas) of Part 10 of Principal Act.

47.—(1) Chapter 8 of Part 10 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in section 372L—

(i) in the definition of “qualifying period” (inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1998 ), by the substitution of the following for paragraph (b):

“(b) for the purposes of sections 372P, 372Q, 372R and (in so far as it relates to those sections) section 372S, the period commencing on the 1st day of June, 1998, and ending on the 31st day of December, 2001, and

(c) for the purposes of section 372RA and (in so far as it relates to that section) section 372S, the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1999, and ending on the 31st day of December, 2001;”, and

(ii) in the definition of “refurbishment”, by the substitution of “sections 372R and 372RA” for “section 372R”,

(b) in section 372M(1), by the substitution of “paragraph (a) or (b) of section 268(1)” for “section 268(1)(a)”,

(i) in the definition of “qualifying lease”, by the substitution of “3 months” for “12 months”, and

(ii) in the definition of “qualifying premises”, by the substitution of “140 square metres” for “125 square metres”,

(d) in section 372Q(1)—

(i) in the definition of “qualifying lease”, by the substitution of “3 months” for “12 months”, and

(ii) in the definition of “qualifying premises”, by the substitution of “150 square metres” for “125 square metres”,

(e) in section 372R(1)—

(i) in the definition of “qualifying lease”, by the substitution of “3 months” for “12 months”, and

(ii) in the definition of “qualifying premises”, by the substitution of “150 square metres” for “125 square metres”,

(f) by the insertion of the following section after section 372R:

“Residential accommodation: allowance to owner-occupiers in respect of certain expenditure on construction or refurbishment.

372RA.—(1) In this section—

‘qualifying expenditure’, in relation to an individual, means an amount equal to the amount of the expenditure incurred by the individual on the construction or, as the case may be, refurbishment of a qualifying premises which is a qualifying owner-occupied dwelling in relation to the individual after deducting from that amount of expenditure any sum in respect of or by reference to—

(a) that expenditure,

(b) the qualifying premises, or

which the individual has received or is entitled to receive, directly or indirectly, from the State, any board established by statute or any public or local authority;

‘qualifying owner-occupied dwelling’, in relation to an individual, means a qualifying premises which is first used, after the qualifying expenditure has been incurred, by the individual as his or her only or main residence;

‘qualifying premises’, in relation to the incurring of qualifying expenditure, means, subject to subsections (4) and (5) of section 372S, a house—

(a) the site of which is wholly within a qualifying rural area,

(b) which is used solely as a dwelling,

(c) in respect of which, if it is not a new house (for the purposes of section 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 ) provided for sale, there is in force a certificate of reasonable cost the amount specified in which in respect of the cost of construction or, as the case may be, refurbishment of the house is not less than the expenditure actually incurred on such construction or refurbishment, as the case may be, and

(d) the total floor area of which is not less than 38 square metres and not more than—

(i) in the case where the qualifying expenditure has been incurred on the construction of the qualifying premises, 210 square metres, or

(ii) in the case where the qualifying expenditure has been incurred on the refurbishment of the qualifying premises, 210 square metres;

‘refurbishment’ has the same meaning as in section 372R.

(2) (a) Where an individual, having made a claim in that behalf, proves to have incurred qualifying expenditure in a year of assessment, the individual shall be entitled, for that year of assessment and for any of the 9 subsequent years of assessment in which the qualifying premises in respect of which the individual incurred the qualifying expenditure is the only or main residence of the individual, to have a deduction made from his or her total income of an amount equal to—

(i) in the case where the qualifying expenditure has been incurred on the construction of the qualifying premises, 5 per cent of the amount of that expenditure, or

(ii) in the case where the qualifying expenditure has been incurred on the refurbishment of the qualifying premises, 10 per cent of the amount of that expenditure.

(b) A deduction shall be given under this section in respect of qualifying expenditure only in so far as that expenditure is to be treated under section 372S(7) as having been incurred in the qualifying period.

(3) Where qualifying expenditure in relation to a qualifying premises is incurred by 2 or more persons, each of those persons shall be treated as having incurred the expenditure in the proportions in which they actually bore the expenditure, and the expenditure shall be apportioned accordingly.

(4) Section 372S shall apply for the purposes of supplementing this section.”,

and

(g) (i) in section 372S(1)—

(I) by the substitution of “In sections 372P to 372RA” for “In sections 372P to 372R”, and

(II) in the definition of “certificate of reasonable cost”, by the substitution of “372Q, 372R or 372RA” for “372Q or 372R”,

(ii) in section 372S(4)(a), by the insertion after “section 372P” of “or, in so far as it applies to expenditure other than expenditure on refurbishment, section 372RA”,

(iii) in section 372S(4)(b), by the insertion after “section 372Q or 372R” of “or, in so far as it applies to expenditure on refurbishment, section 372RA”,

(iv) by the substitution of the following for subsection (5):

“(5) A house shall not be a qualifying premises—

(a) for the purposes of section 372P, 372Q, 372R or 372RA, unless persons authorised in writing by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government for the purposes of those sections are premitted to inspect the house at all reasonable times on production, if so requested by a person affected, of their authorisations, and

(b) for the purposes of sections 372P, 372Q or 372R, unless, throughout the period of any qualifying lease related to that premises, the house is used as the sole or main residence of the lessee in relation to that qualifying lease.”,

(v) in section 372S(6)—

(I) by the substitution of “sections 372P to 372RA” for “sections 372P to 372R”, and

(II) by the substitution of “refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of,” for “or refurbishment of,”,

(vi) in section 372S(7)(a)—

(I) by the substitution of “, 372R(2) or 372RA(2)” for “or 372R(2)”, and

(II) by the substitution of “refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of,” for “or refurbishment of,” in both places where it occurs,

(vii) in section 372S(7)(b), by the substitution of “refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of,” for “or refurbishment of,” in both places where it occurs,

(viii) in section 372S(8), by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b):

“(c) For the purposes of section 372RA other than the purposes mentioned in subsection (7)(a), expenditure incurred on the construction or refurbishment of a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the earliest date after the expenditure was actually incurred on which the premises is in use as a dwelling.”, and

(ix) in section 372S(11), by the substitution of “, 372R or 372RA” for “or 372R”.

(2) The Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in section 458 by the insertion in Part 1 of the Table to that section after “Section 371” of “Section 372I Section 372RA”,

and

(b) by the substitution in section 1024(2)(a)(i) of “364, 371, 372I and 372RA” for “364 and 371”.

Finance Act, 1999 Permanent Page URL

Finance Act, 1999

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