Finance Act, 1934

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Motor car duty.

12.—(1) In lieu of the duty imposed by section 11 of the Finance Act, 1928 (No. 11 of 1928), as amended by subsequent enactments, there shall be charged, levied, and paid a duty of customs (to be known and in this Act referred to as motor car duty) on every of the articles mentioned in the second column of the Fourth Schedule to this Act which is imported into Saorst[html]t Eireann on or after the 10th day of May, 1934, and such duty shall be charged, levied, and paid on every such article at the rate stated in the third column of the said Schedule opposite the mention of the article in the said second column.

(2) The Minister for Finance may by order exempt from motor car duty any specified description of articles which are chargeable with the said duty and in respect of which the said Minister is satisfied that, having regard to the small value of articles of that description, it is inexpedient that the said duty should be charged thereon.

(3) Orders made under sub-section (5) of section 13 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915 , or under sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Finance Act, 1928 (No. 11 of 1928), and in force on the 9th day of May, 1934, may be revoked or amended by an order made under the next preceding sub-section of this section and, until so revoked and subject to any such amendment, shall apply to motor car duty and continue in force accordingly.

(4) The Minister for Finance may make regulations providing for the total or partial exemption for a limited period from motor car duty of motor cars brought into Saorst[html]t Eireann temporarily.

(5) Regulations made under sub-section (6) of section 12 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1915 , or under sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Finance Act, 1928 (No. 11 of 1928), and in force on the 9th day of May, 1934, may be revoked or amended by regulations made under the next preceding sub-section of this section and, until so revoked and subject to any such amendment, shall apply to motor car duty and to motor cars chargeable with that duty and shall continue in force accordingly.

(6) Whenever the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied, in respect of a motor car which is in their opinion constructed and designed for the carriage of persons and is being imported into Saorst[html]t Eireann and would, but for this sub-section, be chargeable with motor car duty—

(a) that the importer of such motor car either has within six months before the importation of such motor car begun to reside in Saorst[html]t Eireann or bona fide intends to begin so to reside within six months after such importation and, in either case, bona fide intends to reside permanently in Saorst[html]t Eireann, and

(b) that such motor car had before such importation been used outside Saorst[html]t Eireann by the importer or by his family or household but had not been so used for the carriage of persons for reward, and

(c) that such motor car is being imported for use (otherwise than for the carriage of persons for reward) in Saorst[html]t Eireann by the importer or by his family or household,

the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, permit such motor car to be imported without payment of motor car duty.

(7) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners either—

(a) that a motor car is constructed or adapted for propulsion or traction along rail tracks and is intended to be or has been and is being used exclusively for such propulsion or traction, or

(b) that a motor tractor is constructed or adapted for use for agricultural purposes not involving substantial use on a public road and is intended to be or has been and is being used exclusively for such purposes, or

(c) that a component part or accessory of a motor car is intended to be or has been and is being used exclusively as a component part or accessory of any such motor car or any such tractor as is mentioned in the foregoing paragraph (a) or the foregoing paragraph (b) (as the case may be), or

(d) that an article is of a kind mainly used as a component part or an accessory of a motor car but is being imported for use for some other purpose,

the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, allow such motor car or other article to be imported without payment of motor car duty or, where such duty has been paid on importation, repay such duty.

(8) Where a person engaged in the manufacture in Saorst[html]t Eireann of motor tractors shows, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, that a substantial proportion of the motor tractors manufactured by him in Saorst[html]t Eireann is exported, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, allow the importation into Saorst[html]t Eireann by such person of motor tractor parts and assemblies of such parts without payment of motor car duty thereon.

(9) Motor tractor parts and assemblies of such parts which are, by virtue of the next preceding sub-section of this section, allowed to be imported into Saorst[html]t Eireann without payment of motor car duty shall be used by the importer thereof solely in the manufacture in Saorst[html]t Eireann of motor tractors (whether for exportation or for home use), or in the repair of motor tractors made by him in Saorst[html]t Eireann, and if any such importer uses any such part or assembly in any other manner or for any other purpose whatsoever he shall be guilty of an offence under the Customs Acts and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine equal to treble the value of such part or assembly (including the motor car duty chargeable thereon) or, at the election of the Revenue Commissioners, to a fine of one hundred pounds and, in any case, the part or assembly in respect of which the offence is committed shall be forfeited.

(10) Whenever the Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce, so thinks proper, the Revenue Commissioners may by licence authorise any particular person, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, to import without payment of motor car duty any articles chargeable with such duty either, as the Revenue Commissioners shall think proper, without limit as to time or quantity or either of them or within a specified time or in a specified quantity.

(11) In this section and the Fourth Schedule to this Act—

the expression “motor car” means a mechanically propelled vehicle (including a bicycle and a tricycle) which derives its motive power from an internal combustion engine or from an electric motor or a combination of such engine and such motor and (except in Part III of the Fourth Schedule to this Act) includes a vehicle which is, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, designed and constructed solely or primarily for traction on a road by a mechanically propelled vehicle, but does not include a vehicle which is, in the opinion aforesaid, a road roller or a road sweeper;

the expression “motor tractor” means a motor car which is designed and constructed solely or primarily for the traction of vehicles or other articles.

(12) For the purposes of this section and the Fourth Schedule to this Act—

the body of a motor car (other than a motor tractor, a bicycle, or a tricycle) includes the driver's seat and the cab or roof thereof;

the chassis of a motor car includes the dashboard, scuttle-dash, windscreen, mudguards, lamps, and, in the case of a motor car which is a motor tractor or a bicycle or a tricycle, the driver's seat;

a component part which is constructed in one piece from a material or substance shall not be deemed to be assembled.

(13) In Part III of the Fourth Schedule to this Act, the word “assembly” means assembly of a character and to an extent for the time being approved of by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, and the expressions “motor car body” and “motor car chassis” respectively do not include the body or the chassis (as the case may be) of a vehicle which is not mechanically propelled.