Finance Act 2015

Amendment of section 481 (relief for investment in films) and section 851A (confidentiality of taxpayer information) of Principal Act

17. (1) Section 481 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) —

(i) by substituting the following for the definitions of “broadcast” and “broadcaster”:

“ ‘broadcast’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 ;

‘broadcaster’ means a person who has responsibility for a ‘broadcasting service’ as defined in section 2 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 ;”,

and

(ii) in paragraph (c) of the definition of “film corporation tax credit” by substituting “€70,000,000” for “€50,000,000”,

and

(b) in subsection (3A)(c)(II) by substituting “fortieths” for “forty-firsts”.

(2) Section 851A of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “agent”:

“ ‘film corporation tax credit’ means that credit within the meaning assigned to it by section 481;”,

and

(b) in subsection (8A)—

(i) by deleting paragraph (c),

(ii) by substituting the following for paragraph (d):

“(d) the amount of film corporation tax credit granted, by reference to ranges set out in page 30, paragraph 166(vi) of the Guidelines on State Aid to Promote Risk Finance1 , inserted by Communication from the Commission (2014/C 198/02)2 ;”,

and

(iii) by inserting the following paragraphs after paragraph (d):

“(e) whether the company is—

(i) a category of enterprise referred to Article 2.1 of Annex 1 to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 20143 , or

(ii) a category of enterprise which is larger than the categories of enterprise referred to in subparagraph (i) ;

(f) the territorial unit, within the meaning of the NUTS Level 2 classification specified in Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No. 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 20034 amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1888/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 20055 , Commission Regulation (EC) No. 105/2007 of 1 February 20076 , Regulation (EC) No. 176/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 20087 , Regulation (EC) No. 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 20088 , Commission Regulation (EU) No. 31/2011 of 17 January 20119 , Council Regulation (EU) No. 517/2013 of 13 May 201310 , Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1319/2013 of 9 December 2013 11 , and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 868/2014 of 8 August 201412 , in which the company is located;

(g) the date on which film corporation tax credit is granted.”.

(3) (a) Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall apply for the year of assessment 2016 and subsequent years.

(b) Paragraph (a)(ii) of subsection (1) shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision of it and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

1OJ No. C19, 22.1.2014, p.4

2OJ No. C198, 27.6.2014, p.30

3OJ No. L187, 26.6.2014, p.70

4OJ No. L154, 21.6.2003, p.1

5OJ No. L309, 25.11.2005, p.1

6OJ No. L39, 10.2.2007, p.1

7OJ No. L61, 5.3.2008, p.1

8OJ No. L311, 21.11.2008, p.1

9OJ No. L13, 18.1.2011, p.3

10OJ No. L158, 10.6.2013, p.1

11OJ No. L342, 18.12.2013, p.1

12OJ No. L241, 13.8.2014, p.1