Finance Act, 2001

Provisions relating to making of returns of income and chargeable gains and payment of income tax and capital gains tax.

78.—(1) Part 41 of the Principal Act is amended as respects the year of assessment 2001 and subsequent years (being years of assessment for income tax and capital gains tax) and as respects accounting periods of companies ending on or after 1 April 2001—

(a) in section 950(1)—

(i) by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the definition of “chargeable person” of the following:

“(a) whose total income for the chargeable period consists solely of emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 applies, and for this purpose a person whose total income for the chargeable period, other than emoluments to which that Chapter applies, is taken into account in determining in accordance with regulations made under section 986 the amount of his or her tax credits and standard rate cut-off point for the chargeable period shall be deemed for the chargeable period to be a person whose total income consists solely of emoluments to which that Chapter applies,”,

and

(ii) by the substitution for paragraph (a) of the definition of “specified return date for the chargeable period” of the following:

“(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax or capital gains tax purposes, 31 October in the year of assessment following that year,”,

(b) in section 951—

(i) in subsection (1)—

(I) by the substitution for “Every chargeable person shall as respects a chargeable period prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector” of the following:

“Every chargeable person shall as respects a chargeable period prepare and deliver to, in the case of a chargeable person who is chargeable to income tax or capital gains tax for a chargeable period which is a year of assessment, the Collector-General and, in any other case, the appropriate inspector”,

and

(II) by the insertion after “such further particulars” of “(including particulars relating to the preceding year of assessment where the profits or gains of that preceding year are determined in accordance with section 65(3))”,

(ii) in subsection (2) by the substitution for “appropriate inspector” of “Collector-General” and for “the inspector” of “the appropriate inspector”,

(iii) in subsection (3)(a) by the substitution for “an inspector” of “the Collector-General or an inspector, as the case may be”,

(iv) in subsection (4) by the substitution for “appropriate inspector” of “the Collector-General or the appropriate inspector, as the case may be,”, and

(v) in subsection (10)—

(I) by the substitution for “an inspector” in both places in which it occurs of “an officer of the Revenue Commissioners”, and

(II) by the substitution for “that inspector” of “such officer”,

(c) in section 952—

(i) by the deletion of subsection (3),

(ii) by the insertion after subsection (5) of the following:

“(6) This section shall not apply to capital gains tax.”,

(d) in section 953 by the deletion of subsections (1) to (6) and subsections (8) to (11),

(e) in section 957(1) by the deletion of paragraph (a),

(f) in section 958—

(i) in subsection (1) by the deletion of the definition of “specified due date”,

(ii) by the substitution for subsections (2) to (4) of the following:

“(2) Preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period shall be due and payable—

(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax and subject to subsection (10), on or before 31 October in the year of assessment, or

(b) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, within the period of 6 months from the end of the accounting period; but in any case not later than—

(i) day 28 of the month in which that period of 6 months ends, or

(ii) such earlier day in that month as may be specified by order made by the Minister for Finance,

and accordingly references in this Part to the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax shall be construed as references to 31 October in the year of assessment, the last day of that period of 6 months, or day 28 (or such earlier day as may be specified by order made by the Minister for Finance) of the month in which that period of 6 months ends, as the case may be.

(3) (a) Subject to subsections (3A) and (4), tax payable by a chargeable person for a chargeable period shall be due and payable—

(i) where an assessment is made on the chargeable person for the chargeable period before the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period, on or before that date,

(ii) where an assessment is made on the chargeable person for the chargeable period before the specified return date for the chargeable period and the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax or capital gains tax, on or before that date,

(iii) where an assessment has not been made on the chargeable person for the chargeable period, being a year of assessment for income tax or capital gains tax, on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period, or

(iv) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, not later than one month from the date on which an assessment is made on the chargeable person for the chargeable period.

(b) Where in relation to a chargeable period, being a year of assessment for income tax or capital gains tax, tax payable by a chargeable person for the year of assessment is due and payable in accordance with paragraph (a)(iii), then, tax specified in any subsequent assessment made on the chargeable person for that year shall be deemed to have been due and payable on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period.

(3A) Subject to subsection (3), where—

(a) an assessment to tax has not been made on a chargeable person on or before the specified return date for a chargeable period (being a year of assessment for income tax or capital gains tax), and

(b) the chargeable person has—

(i) delivered a return for the year of assessment by the specified return date for the chargeable period,

(ii) made in the return a full and true disclosure of all material facts necessary for the making of a correct assessment for the year of assessment, and

(iii) paid an amount of tax for the year of assessment on or before the specified return date, being an amount which is less than the tax payable by the chargeable person for the year of assessment by not more than the greater of—

(I) 5 per cent of the tax payable by that person for that year or £2,500, whichever is the lesser, and

(II) £500,

then, subject to subsection (8), any additional tax payable by the chargeable person for that year shall be due and payable on or before 31 December in the following year of assessment.

(4) Where but for this subsection tax payable by a chargeable person for a chargeable period would be due and payable in accordance with subsection (3), other than paragraph (a)(i) of that subsection, and—

(a) the chargeable person has defaulted in the payment of preliminary tax for the chargeable period,

(b) the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period is less than, or less than the least of, as the case may be—

(i) 90 per cent of the tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period,

(ii) (I) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment other than the year of assessment 2001 or 2002, the income tax payable by the chargeable person for the preceding chargeable period,

(II) where the chargeable period is the year of assessment 2002, 135 per cent of the income tax payable by the chargeable person for the preceding chargeable period,

(III) where the chargeable period is the year of assessment 2001, 74 per cent of the income tax payable by the chargeable person for the preceding chargeable period,

(iii) in the case of a chargeable person to whom subsection (10) applies (other than a chargeable person in relation to whom the amount of income tax payable, or taken in accordance with subsection (5)(a) to be payable, for the pre-preceding chargeable period was nil)—

(I) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment other than the year of assessment 2001 or 2003, 105 per cent of the income tax payable by the chargeable person for the pre-preceding chargeable period,

(II) where the chargeable period is the year of assessment 2003, 142 per cent of the income tax payable by the chargeable person for the pre-preceding chargeable period,

(III) where the chargeable period is the year of assessment 2001, 78 per cent of the income tax payable by the chargeable person for the pre-preceding chargeable period,

or

(c) the preliminary tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period was not paid by the date on which it was due and payable,

the tax payable by the chargeable person shall be deemed to have been due and payable on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period.

(4A) Where—

(a) after the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for a chargeable period (being a year of assessment for income tax), an amount of additional income tax to which subsection (3A) applies is paid for the preceding chargeable period, and

(b) an additional amount of preliminary tax (which is not more than the additional amount of income tax so paid) is paid on or before 31 December in the year of assessment such that the total amount of preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period is not less than the amount specified in subsection (4)(b)(ii),

then, the additional amount of preliminary tax so paid shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (4)(b)(ii) to have been paid on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period.”,

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

“(8A) (a) Where, in relation to a chargeable period being a year of assessment for income tax, the profits or gains of a corresponding period relating to the preceding year of assessment are taken to be the profits or gains of that preceding year of assessment in accordance with section 65(3), then, notwithstanding that the assessment for that preceding year of assessment has not been amended, any tax payable for that preceding year of assessment which exceeds the tax due and payable for that year without regard to the operation of section 65(3) shall be due and payable on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period.

(b) An amount of income tax to which paragraph (a) applies shall not be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (4).

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (8), where, in relation to a chargeable period being a year of assessment for income tax, any additional tax for the preceding year of assessment is due and payable by virtue of an amendment of the assessment for that year made in accordance with section 65(3), then, such additional tax as specified in the amendment to the assessment for that year shall be deemed to have been due and payable on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period.”,

and

(iv) by the substitution for subsection (10) of the following:

“(10) (a) This subsection shall apply to a chargeable person who authorises the Collector-General to collect preliminary tax by the debiting of the bank account of that person in accordance with paragraph (b) and complies with such conditions as the Collector-General may reasonably impose to ensure that an amount of preliminary tax payable by a chargeable person for a chargeable period will be paid by the chargeable person in accordance with this subsection.

(b) Preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax shall be due and payable in the case of a chargeable person to whom this subsection applies—

(i) as respects the first year of assessment for which the Collector-General is authorised in accordance with paragraph (a) to debit that person's bank account, by way of a minimum of 3 equal monthly instalments in that year, and

(ii) as respects any subsequent year of assessment in which the Collector-General is so authorised, by way of a minimum of 8 equal monthly instalments in that year,

and the Collector-General shall debit the bank account of that person with such instalments on day 9 of each month for which the Collector-General is so authorised.

(c) The Collector-General may, in any particular case, in order to facilitate the payment of preliminary tax in accordance with this subsection, agree at the Collector-General's discretion to vary the number of equal monthly instalments to be collected in a year or agree at the Collector-General's discretion to an increase or decrease in the amount to be collected in any subsequent instalment to be made in that year.

(d) A chargeable person shall not be treated as having paid an amount of preliminary tax in accordance with this subsection unless that person pays in the year of assessment the monthly instalments due in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c), as appropriate.

(e) For the purposes of this section, a chargeable person who pays an amount of preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period in accordance with this subsection shall be deemed to have paid that amount of preliminary tax on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period.”,

and

(g) in section 959 by the deletion from subsection (2) of “a notice of preliminary tax bearing the name of the inspector or” and “that notice of preliminary tax shall for the purposes of the Tax Acts and the Capital Gains Tax Acts be deemed to have been given by the inspector to the best of his or her opinion,”.

(2) The Principal Act is amended as respects the year of assessment 2001 and subsequent years (being years of assessment for income tax and capital gains tax) and as respects accounting periods of companies ending on or after 1 April 2001—

(a) by the substitution in section 66(3) for “on giving notice in writing to the inspector with the return required under section 951 for the year of assessment” of “on including a claim in that behalf with the return required under section 951 for the year of assessment”,

(b) by the substitution in section 579D(1) and in the definition of “specified period” in section 629(1) for “when a return under section 951 for the chargeable period is delivered to the appropriate inspector (within the meaning of section 950)” of “when a return under section 951 for the chargeable period is delivered to the Collector-General”,

(c) by the substitution in section 657(7) for “by notice in writing given to the inspector with the return required under section 951 for the year of assessment” of “on including a claim in that behalf with the return required under section 951 for the year of assessment”.

(d) by the substitution in paragraph (b) of the definition of “appropriate inspector” in section 894(1) for “a return or statement of income or profits” of “any return, statement, list or declaration”,

(e) by the substitution in paragraph (a) of the definition of “appropriate inspector” in section 895(1) for “to deliver a return or statement of income or profits” of “to deliver a return, statement, declaration or list by reason of a notice given to the person by the inspector”,

(f) by the substitution in paragraph (b) of the definition of “appropriate inspector” in section 895(1) for “such return or statement” of “such return, statement, declaration or list”,

(g) by the substitution in section 909(2) for “to deliver a tax return to an inspector of taxes or to the inspector of returns (within the meaning of section 951(11)), as the case may be, the inspector” of “to deliver a tax return, an inspector of taxes or the inspector of returns (within the meaning of section 951(11)), as the case may be,”, and

(h) by the substitution in section 1084 for subsection (5) of the following:

“(5) This section shall apply in relation to an amount of preliminary tax (within the meaning of Part 41) paid under section 952 as it applies to an amount of tax specified in an assessment.”.

(3) Section 958 of the Principal Act is amended, as respects the year of assessment 2002 and subsequent years, by the substitution in subsection (3A)(b)(iii) (inserted by subsection (1)(f)(ii)) for “£2,500” of “€3,175” and for “£500” of “€635”.