Finance Act 2020
|
Returns of certain payment card transactions by payment card providers | ||
|
61. Part 38 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section after section 891D: | ||
“Returns of certain payment card transactions by payment card providers | ||
891DA. (1) In this section— | ||
‘the Acts’ has the same meaning as in section 851A; | ||
‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section; | ||
‘cross-border payment card transaction’ means a paymentcard transaction where the payee is located in a place other than the State; | ||
‘EEA Agreement’ means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992 as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement; | ||
‘EEA state’ means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; | ||
‘payee’, in relation to a cross-border payment card transaction, means the person accepting the payment concerned; | ||
‘payment card’ means any card which is issued by a payment card provider pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for— | ||
(a) one or more issuers of such cards, | ||
(b) a network of persons unrelated to each other, and to the issuer, who agree to accept such cards as payment, and | ||
(c) standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions between the issuers of such cards and the persons who agree to accept such cards as payment, | ||
and the acceptance as payment of any account number or other indicators associated with a payment card shall be treated for the purposes of this section in the same manner as accepting such card payment as payment; | ||
‘payment card provider’ means— | ||
(a) a person who— | ||
(i) is a holder of a licence granted under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971 or an authorisation granted under section 9A of that Act, or | ||
(ii) holds a licence or other similar authorisation under the law of an EEA state, other than the State, which corresponds to a licence granted under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971 , | ||
(b) a payment institution (within the meaning of Regulation 18 of the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 6 of 2018 )) which has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland to carry on the business of a payment institution, or | ||
(c) the Post Office Savings Bank; | ||
‘payment card transaction’ means any transaction in which a relevant payment card is accepted as payment where the relevant payment card is not physically presented to the payee; | ||
‘relevant payment card’ means a payment card which is issued to a person whose postal address for the purpose of the issue of the card is in the State; | ||
‘tax’ has the same meaning as in section 851B; | ||
‘TIN’ has the same meaning as in section 891G. | ||
(2) For the purposes of enabling the identification of payees who may have an obligation to pay or remit tax under the Acts and determining and ensuring compliance by payees with any obligations imposed on them by the Acts in relation to— | ||
(a) the payment or remittance of taxes, interest or penalties required to be paid or remitted under the Acts, and | ||
(b) the delivery of any returns to be made under the Acts, | ||
the Revenue Commissioners, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may by regulations provide that a payment card provider be required to make to the Revenue Commissioners, in relation to cross-border payment card transactions, a return of such information as may be specified in the regulations. | ||
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), regulations made under this section may, in particular, include provision for— | ||
(a) in respect of a return required to be made under the regulations— | ||
(i) the period in respect of which the return is to be made, | ||
(ii) the date by which the return is to be made, and | ||
(iii) the manner in which the return is to be made, | ||
(b) the following details in respect of payees to be included in the return: | ||
(i) the name or business name of each payee; | ||
(ii) the address or email address of each payee; | ||
(iii) the TIN of each payee; | ||
(iv) the International Bank Account Number, or equivalent, of each payee; | ||
(v) the Bank Identifier Code, or equivalent identifier, of each payee; | ||
(vi) such other details as the Revenue Commissioners consider necessary and appropriate for the purposes of determining the identity of each payee, | ||
(c) the following details in respect of payments made pursuant to cross-border payment card transactions to be included in the return: | ||
(i) the date and time of each payment; | ||
(ii) the amount of each payment and the currency in which each payment was made, | ||
(d) subject to subsection (4), the class or classes of payees in respect of whom the information specified in the regulations is to be included in the return, and | ||
(e) subject to subsection (5), the class or classes of payment card providers required to make a return. | ||
(4) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) and for the purposes of subsection (3)(d), the Revenue Commissioners, having regard to the purposes specified in subsection (2), shall specify in the regulations made under this section the class or classes of payees by reference to the number and aggregate value of cross-border payment card transactions associated with relevant payment cards issued by a payment card provider. | ||
(b) The class or classes of payees specified in accordance with paragraph (a) in regulations made under this section shall not include any payee who meets either of the following conditions: | ||
(i) during the period specified in regulations made under this section in respect of which a return is required to be made, the payee accepts payment pursuant to less than 100 cross-border payment card transactions associated with relevant payment cards issued by the payment card provider who is making the return; | ||
(ii) the aggregate value of the cross-border payment card transactions in respect of which the payee accepts payment associated with relevant payment cards issued by the payment card provider who is making the return is less than €10,000. | ||
(c) Where the period specified in regulations made under this section in respect of which a return is required to be made is less than 12 months, the number of payment card transactions specified in paragraph (b)(i) and the aggregate value of payment card transactions specified in paragraph (b)(ii) shall be reduced pro rata. | ||
(5) For the purposes of subsection (3)(e), the Revenue Commissioners, having regard to the purposes specified in subsection (2), shall specify in the regulations made under this section the class or classes of payment card providers by reference to the number of relevant payment cards issued by a payment card provider and the aggregate value of payment card transactions associated with those relevant payment cards. | ||
(6) Subject to subsection (7), an authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of a payment card provider for the purposes of— | ||
(a) determining whether— | ||
(i) information included in a return made by the payment card provider under regulations made under this section was correct and complete, or | ||
(ii) information not included in such a return was correctly not so included, | ||
or | ||
(b) examining the procedures put in place by that payment card provider for the purposes of ensuring compliance with that provider’s obligations under this section or regulations made under this section. | ||
(7) An authorised officer shall not, other than with the consent of the occupier, enter a private dwelling without a warrant issued under subsection (8) authorising the entry. | ||
(8) A judge of the District Court, if satisfied on the sworn evidence of an authorised officer that— | ||
(a) there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that any information or records, as the authorised officer may reasonably require for the purposes of his or her functions under this section, is or are held on any premises or part of any premises, and | ||
(b) an authorised officer, in the performance of his or her functions under this section has been prevented from entering the premises or any part thereof, | ||
may issue a warrant authorising the authorised officer, accompanied if necessary by other persons, at any time or times within 30 days from the date of issue of the warrant and on production if so requested of the warrant, to enter, if need be by reasonable force, the premises or part of the premises concerned and perform all or any of the functions conferred on the authorised officer under this section. | ||
(9) (a) Section 898O shall apply to— | ||
(i) a failure by a payment card provider to deliver a return required to be made under regulations made under this section, and to each and every such failure, and | ||
(ii) the making of an incorrect or incomplete return, | ||
as it applies to a failure to deliver a return or to the making of an incorrect or incomplete return referred to in section 898O. | ||
(b) A payment card provider who does not comply with— | ||
(i) the requirements of an authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the officer’s powers or duties under this section, or | ||
(ii) any requirement imposed on the payment card provider by this section or regulations made under this section, | ||
shall be liable to a penalty of €1,265. | ||
(10) Section 4 of the Post Office Savings Bank Act 1861 shall not apply to the disclosure of information required to be included in a return made under regulations made under this section and, accordingly, this section shall apply to information to which, but for this subsection, the said section 4 would apply. | ||
(11) 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 21 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.”. |