Finance Act, 1979

/static/images/base/harp.jpg


Number 11 of 1979


FINANCE ACT, 1979


ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter I

Income Tax

Section

1.

Amendment of section 142 (dependent relatives) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

2.

Amendment of section 5 (charge of income tax) of Finance Act, 1977.

3.

Personal reliefs.

4.

Additional relief for widows and others in respect of children.

5.

Special deduction for 1979-80.

6.

Withdrawal of income tax relief in respect of contributions under Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979.

7.

Relief for certain expenditure on residential premises.

8.

Permanent health benefit schemes.

9.

Amendment of provisions relating to relief in respect of certain interest.

10.

Restriction of relief in respect of interest paid on certain loans at a reduced rate.

11.

Treatment for tax purposes of certain benefits payable under Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979, and under Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Acts, 1942 to 1978.

12.

Amendment of section 488 of Income Tax Act, 1967 (High Court proceedings).

Chapter II

Taxation of Farming Profits

13.

Extension of tax charge on farming profits.

14.

Application for 1979-80 of section 20A (optional basis of assessment) of Finance Act, 1974.

15.

Amendment of section 20 (basis of assessment) of Finance Act, 1974.

16.

Amendment of section 21 (notional basis of assessment) of Finance Act, 1974.

Chapter III

Provisions Relating to Losses

17.

Amendment of section 307 (right to repayment of tax by reference to losses) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

18.

Amendment of section 308 (persons carrying on two or more trades) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

19.

Amendment of section 318 (option to treat capital allowances as creating or augmenting a loss) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

20.

Amendment of section 319 (extent to which capital allowances to be taken into account) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

Chapter IV

Corporation Tax

21.

Amendment of limit to relief for certain interest treated as a charge on income for corporation tax purposes.

22.

Amendment of Chapter IV (manufacturing companies) of Part I of Finance Act, 1977.

Chapter V

Income Tax and Corporation Tax

23.

Amendment of provisions relating to relief in respect of increase in stock values.

24.

Amendment of section 22 (investment allowance for machinery and plant in designated areas) of Finance Act, 1971.

25.

Amendment of section 25 (increase of writing-down allowances for certain industrial buildings) of Finance Act, 1978.

26.

Continuation of certain capital allowances for period to 1st April, 1984.

27.

Exemption of certain payments made by Minister for Labour.

28.

Retirement annuities.

Chapter VI

Anti-evasion

29.

Time limit for certain summary proceedings.

30.

Amendment of section 70 (power to require returns as to source of partnership income and amounts derived therefrom) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

31.

Power to obtain from certain persons particulars of transactions with and documents concerning tax liability of taxpayers.

Chapter VII

Anti-avoidance

32.

Repeal of section 144 (exemption where total income does not exceed £240, and marginal relief) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

33.

Amendment of section 439 (income under dispositions for short periods) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

34.

Amendment of Schedule 12 (dividends regarded as paid out of profits accumulated before given date) to Income Tax Act, 1967.

Chapter VIII

Capital Gains Tax

35.

Amendment of section 25 (private residence) of Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975.

36.

Amendment of section 27 (disposal within the family of business or farm) of Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975.

37.

Amendment of section 31 (unit trusts) of Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975.

PART II

Customs and Excise

38.

Interpretation (Part II).

39.

Beer.

40.

Spirits.

41.

Tobacco products.

42.

Wine and made wine.

43.

Cider and perry.

44.

Amendment of section 2 (prohibition of acting as bookmaker without licence) of Betting Act, 1931.

45.

Repeal.

46.

Provisions in relation to excise duties on agricultural produce.

47.

Confirmation of Order.

PART III

Value-Added Tax

48.

Amendment of section 18 (inspection and removal of records) of Value-Added Tax Act, 1972.

49.

Amendment of Third Schedule to Value-Added Tax Act, 1972.

PART IV

Stamp Duties

50.

Exemption from stamp duty of certain instruments.

51.

Amendment of section 70 (amount on which stamp duty chargeable) of Finance Act, 1973.

52.

Amendment of section 72 (reconstructions or amalgamations of capital companies) of Finance Act, 1973.

53.

Amendment of section 69 (statement to be charged with stamp duty) of Finance Act, 1973.

54.

Exemption from stamp duty of certain transfers.

55.

Agreement as to stamp duty on certain instruments.

56.

Revocation of Order.

PART V

Miscellaneous

57.

Capital Services Redemption Account.

58.

Care and management of taxes and duties.

59.

Short title, construction and commencement.

FIRST SCHEDULE

Amendment of Enactments

SECOND SCHEDULE

Relief for certain Expenditure on Residential Premises

THIRD SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Spirits

FOURTH SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Tobacco Products

FIFTH SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Wine and Made Wine

SIXTH SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Cider and Perry

/static/images/base/harp.jpg


Number 11 of 1979


FINANCE ACT, 1979


AN ACT TO CHARGE AND IMPOSE CERTAIN DUTIES OF CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE (INCLUDING EXCISE), TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE (INCLUDING EXCISE) AND TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISIONS IN CONNECTION WITH FINANCE. [1st June, 1979]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS :

PART I

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter I

Income Tax

Amendment of section 142 (dependent relatives) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

1.Section 142 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended, as respects the year 1979-80 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution for subsection (1A) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ) of the following subsection :

“(1A) For the purposes of this section ‘specified amount’ means the aggregate of the payments to which a person is entitled in that year of assessment in respect of an old age (contributory) pension at the maximum rate under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979, if throughout that year of assessment, he is entitled to such a pension and—

(a) he has no adult dependant or qualified children (within the meaning, in each case, of those Acts),

(b) he is over the age of 80 years (or such other age as may stand specified in those Acts for the time being in lieu of the said age of 80 years), and

(c) he is living alone.”.

Amendment of section 5 (charge of income tax) of Finance Act, 1977.

2.—(1) Section 5 of the Finance Act, 1977 , is hereby amended, as respects the year 1979–80 and subsequent years of assessment—

(a) by the substitution of “the first two rates” for “the first three rates” in subsection (1), and

(b) by the substitution of the following Table for the Table to subsection (1) of the said section :

“TABLE

Part of taxable income

Rate of tax

Description of rate

(1)

(2)

(3)

The first £1,100

25 per cent.

the reduced rate

the next £3,000

35 per cent.

the standard rate

the next £1,500

45 per cent.

}

the higher rates

the next £1,000

50 per cent.

the remainder

60 per cent.

(2) Part I of the First Schedule shall have effect for the purpose of supplementing subsection (1).

Personal reliefs.

3.—(1) Where a deduction falls to be made from the total income of an individual for the year 1979-80 or any subsequent year of assessment in respect of relief to which the individual is entitled under a provision mentioned in column (1) of the Table to this subsection and the amount of the deduction would, but for this section, be an amount specified in column (2) of the said Table, the amount of the deduction shall, in lieu of being the amount specified in the said column (2), be the amount specified in column (3) of the said Table opposite the mention of the amount in the said column (2).

TABLE

Statutory provision

Amount to be deducted for 1978-79

Amount to be deducted for 1979–80 and subsequent years

(1)

(2)

(3)

Income Tax Act, 1967 :

£

£

section 138

(married man)

1,730

2,230

(single person)

865

1,115

(widowed person)

935

1,185

section 141

(child)

240

218

(2) Section 10 of the Finance Act, 1976 , and section 6 of the Finance Act, 1978 , shall have effect subject to the provisions of this section.

(3) Part II of the First Schedule shall have effect for the purpose of supplementing subsection (1).

Additional relief for widows and others in respect of children.

4.Part VI of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion, after section 138, of the following section :

“138A.—(1) This section applies to a person who—

(a) is—

(i) a widow,

(ii) a widower, or

(iii) a person who is not entitled to the deduction first-mentioned in subsection (1) of section 138,

and

(b) is entitled, for the year of assessment, to a deduction under section 141 in respect of a child resident with him.

(2) A person to whom this section applies, shall be entitled to a deduction of £250.”.

Special deduction for 1979-80.

5.—(1) For the purposes of ascertaining the amount of the income on which an individual is to be charged to income tax for the year 1979-80 in a case where the total income of the individual for the said year consists of or includes emoluments—

(a) a deduction of £175 shall be made from so much, if any, of the emoluments (but not including any emoluments deemed to be his income by virtue of section 192 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ) as arise to the individual, and

(b) a deduction of £175 shall be made from so much, if any, of the emoluments as arise to the wife of the individual and as are in excess of the amount, if any, by which the deduction to which the individual is entitled for that year under section 138 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is increased by virtue of subsection (3) of the said section 138.

(2) In determining cumulative tax-free allowances in relation to the year 1979-80 for the purposes of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960), deductions under this section shall be deemed to have accumulated in full on such date in the year 1979-80 as the Minister for Finance shall by order direct.

(3) In this section—

“emoluments” means emoluments to which Chapter IV of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , applies save that it does not include—

(a) emoluments paid, directly or indirectly, by a body corporate, or any person who would be regarded as connected with the body corporate for the purposes of Part IV of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968 , to a proprietary director of the body corporate or to the spouse of such a proprietary director, and

(b) emoluments paid, directly or indirectly, by an individual, or by a partnership in which the individual is a partner, to the spouse of the individual;

“proprietary director” has the meaning assigned to it by section 226 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(4) This section shall come into operation on such day (if any) as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.

Withdrawal of income tax relief in respect of contributions under Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979.

6.—In relation to the year 1979-80 or any subsequent year of assessment—

(a) subsections (3), (5) and (6) of section 224 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall not apply or have effect, and

(b) no relief or deduction under any provision of the Income Tax Acts shall be given or allowed in respect of any contribution paid under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979, by a person as an employed contributor or as a voluntary contributor.

Relief for certain expenditure on residential premises.

7.—(1) Subject to the provisions of the Second Schedule, where an individual, having made a claim in that behalf, and having made a return in the prescribed form of his total income, proves that he incurred expenditure in respect of the labour cost of qualifying work carried out by a registered person in the qualifying period on a residence of the individual, he shall be entitled, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the income on which he is to be charged to income tax for the year 1979-80, to have a deduction made from his total income of the amount by which the aggregate of the expenditure in respect of the labour cost of qualifying work carried out in the qualifying period exceeds £50 :

Provided that no such deduction shall exceed £450.

(2) For the purposes of this section—

(a) qualifying work carried out by an employee of a registered person on behalf of the said registered person shall be deemed to be carried out by the registered person,

(b) section 193 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply as if the following paragraph were inserted after paragraph (bb) in subsection (2)—

“(bbb) so far as it flows from relief under section 7 of the Finance Act, 1979, in the proportions in which they incurred the expenditure giving rise to the relief,”, and

(c) expenditure shall not be regarded as having been incurred in so far as any sum in respect of, or by reference to, the qualifying work to which it relates has been or is to be received directly or indirectly by the individual from the State, from any public or local authority, from any other person or under any contract of insurance or by way of compensation or otherwise and, where any such sum is so received or is to be received, the labour cost of the qualifying work concerned shall be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to have been reduced by such sum as bears to the first-mentioned sum the same proportion as the labour cost bears to the total expenditure on the qualifying work.

(3) No deduction shall be allowed under this section for expenditure in respect of which a deduction may be claimed under any other provision of the Tax Acts.

(4) The Second Schedule shall have effect for the purpose of supplementing this section.

Permanent health benefit schemes.

8.—(1) In this section—

“benefit” means a payment made to a person in the event of loss or diminution of income, in consequence of ill-health, under a permanent health benefit scheme;

“a permanent health benefit scheme” means any scheme, contract, policy, or other arrangement, approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this section, which provides for periodic payments to an individual in the event of loss or diminution of income in consequence of ill-health;

“contribution”, in relation to a permanent health benefit scheme, means any premium paid or other periodic payment made to the scheme in consideration of the right to benefit under it, being a premium or payment which bears a reasonable relationship to the benefits secured by it.

(2) (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, if an individual makes a claim in that behalf in the manner prescribed by the Income Tax Acts, makes a return in the prescribed form of his total income for a year of assessment and proves that in that year of assessment he made a contribution or contributions to a bona fide permanent health benefit scheme or schemes, he shall be entitled, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the income on which he is to be charged to income tax, to have a deduction of so much of the contributions as does not exceed 10 per cent. of his total income for that year of assessment made from his total income.

(b) All such provisions of the Income Tax Acts as apply in relation to every deduction specified in sections 138 to 143 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to a deduction under this subsection.

(3) In a case where the amount of a contribution made by an employer to a permanent health benefit scheme is charged to income tax under Chapter III of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , as a perquisite of the office or employment of a director or employee, that amount shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (2), to be a contribution made by the director or employee to the scheme in the year in respect of which it is so charged to income tax.

(4) (a) Any benefit received by a person under a permanent health benefit scheme, whether as of right or not, shall be deemed to be—

(i) profits or gains arising or accruing from an employment, and—

(ii) emoluments within the meaning of Chapter IV of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(b) Tax under Schedule E shall be charged on every person, to whom any benefit referred to in paragraph (a) is paid, in respect of all such benefits paid to him and the tax so chargeable shall be computed under section 110 (1) of the said Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(5) This section shall have effect in relation to income tax for the year 1980-81 and subsequent years of assessment.

Amendment of provisions relating to relief in respect of certain interest.

9.—As respects the year 1979-80 and subsequent years of assessment, the provisions specified in the Table to this section shall have effect as if “£2,400” were substituted for “£2,000” in each place where it occurs.

TABLE

(a) Subsection (2) (b) of section 496 (restriction on repayment of tax on interest in certain cases) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1974 ) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(b) Subsection (1) of section 38 (aggregation of interest paid by connected persons) of the Finance Act, 1974 .

(c) Section 44 (amendment of section 76 of Income Tax Act, 1967 ) of the Finance Act, 1974 .

(d) Paragraph (b) of section 52 (restriction of Schedule 6 to Income Tax Act, 1967 ) of the Finance Act, 1974 .

(e) Subsection (2) of section 8 (relief to individuals on loans applied in acquiring interest in companies) of the Finance Act, 1978 .

Restriction of relief in respect of interest paid on certain loans at a reduced rate.

10.—(1) (a) In this section—

“employee”, in relation to an employer, means a person employed by the said employer including, in a case where the employer is a body corporate, a director, within the meaning of Chapter III of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , of the body corporate;

“employer”, in relation to an individual, means—

(i) a person of whom the individual or his spouse is an employee,

(ii) a person of whom the individual becomes an employee subsequent to the making of a loan by the person to the individual and while any part of the loan, or of another loan replacing it, is outstanding, and

(iii) a person connected with a person referred to in paragraph (i) or (ii);

“loan” includes any form of credit, and references to a loan include references to any other loan applied directly towards the replacement of another loan; “preferential loan” means a loan made to an individual or his spouse by a person who in relation to the individual is an employer save that a loan shall not be a preferential loan if it was made before the 6th day of April, 1979, and at the time the loan was made, the making of loans to persons, other than employees, for a stated term of years at a rate of interest which does not vary for the duration of the loans, formed part of the trade of the said employer and interest is payable in respect of it at the rate of interest at which the employer in the course of his trade, at the time the loan was made, made loans at arm's length to persons other than employees for the purpose of purchasing dwelling-houses for occupation by the borrowers as residences;

“the specified rate” means the rate of 12 per cent. per annum.

(b) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be regarded as connected with another if that person would be so regarded for the purposes of section 8 of the Finance Act, 1978 .

(c) In this section a reference to a loan being made by a person includes a reference to a person assuming the rights and liabilities of the person who originally made the loan and to a person arranging, guaranteeing or in any way facilitating a loan or the continuation of a loan already in existence.

(2) Where, for any year of assessment, being the year 1979-80 or any subsequent year of assessment, relief is claimed by an individual by virtue of one or more of the following provisions, that is to say, section 496 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , section 76 (1) (c) of the said Act or paragraph 1 (2) of Part III of Schedule 6 to that Act, relief shall not be given for that year of assessment in respect of the part, if any, of the aggregate amount of interest in respect of which relief is so claimed on a preferential loan or loans that exceeds the amount determined by the formula—

(A − B)

×

C

_____

D + E

where—

A is £2,400,

B is the aggregate amount of interest, other than interest on a preferential loan or loans, in respect of which the individual is entitled to relief for the year of assessment under any one or more of the aforementioned provisions,

C is the aggregate amount of interest on a preferential loan or loans in respect of which relief is claimed by the individual for the year of assessment under any one or more of the aforementioned provisions,

D is the amount of the interest which would have been payable on the preferential loan or loans for the period or periods for which the interest included in C was paid or payable, as the case may be, if for any rate or rates at which interest was paid or payable as the case may be for the said period or periods there were substituted the specified rate, and

E is the amount of interest which would have been payable for the year of assessment on any preferential loan or loans in respect of which no interest is payable if interest were payable on the said loan or loans at the specified rate.

(3) Section 178 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph (a) of the following paragraph :

“(aa) particulars of any preferential loan, within the meaning of section 10 of the Finance Act, 1979, made by him;”.

Treatment for tax purposes of certain benefits payable under Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979, and under Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Acts, 1942 to 1978.

11.—(1) The following provisions shall have effect for the year 1980-81 and subsequent years of assessment.

(2) Amounts falling to be paid on foot of the benefits mentioned in Part I of the Table to this section shall be deemed to be profits or gains arising or accruing from an employment and, accordingly—

(a) tax under Schedule E shall be charged on every person, to whom any such benefit is payable, in respect of all amounts falling to be paid on foot of such benefits, and

(b) the tax so chargeable shall be computed under section 110 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(3) All amounts falling to be paid on foot of the benefits mentioned in Parts I and II of the Table to this section shall be deemed to be emoluments to which the provisions of Chapter IV of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , are applied by section 125 of that Act.

(4) (a) The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations modifying the Income Tax (Employment) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960), in their application to the benefits mentioned in Parts I and II of the Table to this section and the benefits mentioned in section 224 (2) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(b) 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 twenty-one 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.

TABLE

Part I

Benefits referred to in subsection (2)

(a) the following benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979 :

(i) disability benefit,

(ii) unemployment benefit,

(iii) maternity allowance comprised in maternity benefit,

(iv) pay-related benefit,

(v) deserted wife's benefit, and

(vi) injury benefit, and disablement benefit, which are comprised in occupational injuries benefit;

(b) intermittent unemployment benefit under the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Acts, 1942 to 1978.

Part II

The following benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1979 :

(i) invalidity pension, or

(ii) death benefit which is comprised in occupational injuries benefit, insofar as consisting of a pension payable to a widow, a widower, an orphan or a parent under section 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 or 21 of the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966 .

Amendment of section 488 of Income Tax Act, 1967 (High Court proceedings).

12.Section 488 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the substitution, in subsection (5), of the following paragraph for paragraph (a) :

“(a) a certificate signed by an inspector certifying the fact that, before the institution of the proceedings, a stated sum for income tax became due and payable by the defendant—

(i) under an assessment which had become final and conclusive, or

(ii) under the provisions relating to the specified amount of tax within the meaning of section 30 of the Finance Act, 1976 , and”.

Chapter II

Taxation of Farming Profits

Extension of tax charge on farming profits.

13.—As respects the year 1979-80 and subsequent years of assessment—

(a) section 15 (farming profits to be charged under Schedule D) of the Finance Act, 1974 , is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (3) of “£50” for “£60”, and

(b) section 19 (limit on amount of tax to be charged in certain cases) of the said Finance Act, 1974 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ), is hereby amended—

(i) by the substitution in the definition of V in subsection (1) of “£49” for “£59”, and

(ii) by the substitution in subsection (2) of “£59” for “£69”,

and the said subsection (3) (apart from the proviso), the said definition and the said subsection (2), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply, as respects any year of assessment, in the case of an individual who shows that the rateable valuation of all farm land occupied by him did not, at any time during that year of assessment, amount to £50 or more.

V is 1 or, if greater, the number equivalent to the amount by which the rateable valuation of the farm land occupied by him for that year exceeds £49.

(2) This section shall not apply in any case where the rateable valuation of the farm land occupied by the individual at any time during the year of assessment exceeds £59.

Application for 1979-80 of section 20A (optional basis of assessment) of Finance Act, 1974.

14.—Section 20A (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ) of the Finance Act, 1974 , shall have effect for the year 1979-80 as if—

(a) “1979-80” were substituted for “1978-79” in each place where it occurs,

(b) “section 13 of the Finance Act, 1979” were substituted for “ section 13 of the Finance Act, 1978 ” in paragraph (a) (ii), and

(c) “1979” were substituted for “1978” in paragraph (a) (II).

Amendment of section 20 (basis of assessment) of Finance Act, 1974.

15.—As respects assessments for the year 1979-80 and any subsequent year of assessment, section 20 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ) of the Finance Act, 1974 , is hereby amended by the addition of the following subsections:

“(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3), where, by virtue of the said subsection (3), an assessment in respect of profits or gains from farming is made in accordance with the provisions of section 21 on an individual for any year of assessment, he shall be entitled, on giving, within 30 days after the date of the notice of assessment, notice in writing to that effect to the inspector, to elect to be charged to tax for that year in respect of those profits or gains on an amount determined in accordance with the provisions of section 58 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts (including, in particular, the provisions relating to appeals against assessments and payments on account) shall apply in relation to the said assessment as if the notice given to the inspector were a notice of appeal against the assessment under section 416 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and the said assessment shall be amended as necessary so as to give effect to the election so made by the individual.

(5) Where, as respects a year of assessment (referred to in this subsection as ‘the first year of assessment’), an individual elects in accordance with subsection (4)—

(a) notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this section, he shall be charged to tax in respect of profits or gains from farming for each of the next two years of assessment following the first year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 58 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and

(b) the year of assessment immediately preceding the first year of assessment or, where the said year of assessment immediately preceding the first year of assessment is not a year as respects which the individual has elected as provided for in subsection (1), each of the two-years of assessment immediately preceding the first year of assessment shall, in relation to that individual, be a year of assessment to which subsection (6) applies :

Provided that paragraph (a) shall not apply for any year of assessment in which the individual is not, by virtue of section 15 (3), chargeable to tax on profits or gains from farming.

(6) Where for any year of assessment, which is, in relation to an individual, a year of assessment to which this subsection applies, the amount of profits or gains from farming, on which the individual would have been chargeable for that year of assessment if he had been chargeable for that year in respect of those profits or gains in accordance with the provisions of section 58 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , after deducting therefrom the aggregate of—

(a) any capital allowances which would be allowed in charging those profits or gains to tax, and

(b) any loss within the meaning of Chapter I of Part XIX of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , which would be, or would be regarded as being, deducted from or set off against those profits or gains,

is in excess of the amount of those profits or gains on which he has been charged for that year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 21, there shall be made such assessment or assessments as is or are necessary to secure that the amount of tax ultimately borne by the individual for the year of assessment shall not be less than the amount which would have been borne by him if the said amount on which he has been charged in accordance with the provisions of section 21 had been increased by the amount of the excess.

(7) Where, in the case of any individual, as respects any year of assessment, the amount of an excess is determined for the purposes of subsection (6)—

(a) for the purposes of the formulae in subsections (5) and (6) of section 12 of the Finance Act, 1976 , any amount which would have been allowed as a deduction or treated as a trading receipt by virtue of the said section 12 and which is taken into account in computing the amount of profits or gains from farming on which the individual would have been chargeable for that year in accordance with section 58 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall, as appropriate, be deemed to be a deduction which the individual was entitled to make in computing profits or gains from farming for a preceding accounting period which ended on or after the 6th day of April, 1975, or be deemed to be an amount which was treated as a trading receipt of the trade of farming for a preceding accounting period,

(b) in determining what capital allowances, balancing allowances or balancing charges fall to be made to or on the individual for any chargeable period in taxing a trade of farming, any capital allowances which, in determining the amount of the said excess, are deducted from the said amount of profits or gains shall be deemed to have been made to that individual, and

(c) for the purposes of Chapter I of Part XIX of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , relief shall be deemed to have been given for any loss which, in determining the amount of the said excess, is deducted from the said amount of profits or gains and no further relief shall be given for that loss under any of the provisions of the said Chapter.

(8) An individual who has elected in accordance with subsection (4) shall, for each year of assessment which, by virtue of the election, is a year of assessment to which subsection (6) applies, prepare and deliver to the inspector, within three months after the date of the election, a statement in writing, signed by him, containing the amount of the profits or gains from farming on which he would be chargeable to tax for that year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 58 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to penalties for failure to make a statement or for fraudulently or negligently making an incorrect statement shall apply as if the statement were a statement required to be delivered to the inspector by reason of a notice given by him under section 169 of the said Income Tax Act, 1967 .

(9) If, for any year of assessment—

(a) an individual makes default in the delivery of a statement which he is required to deliver by virtue of subsection (8), or

(b) the inspector is not satisfied with any such statement which has been delivered, or has received information as to its insufficiency,

the inspector shall make an assessment on the individual concerned in such sum as, according to the best of the inspector's judgment, ought to be charged on that individual for that year of assessment by virtue of subsection (6).”.

Amendment of section 21 (notional basis of assessment) of Finance Act, 1974.

16.Section 21 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ) of the Finance Act, 1974 , is hereby amended by the substitution in the formula in subsection (1) of “125” for “90” and the said formula, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(V × l25) - W - C

Chapter III

Provisions Relating to Losses

Amendment of section 307 (right to repayment of tax by reference to losses) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

17.Section 307 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the deletion from subsection (1) of “or in the occupation of woodlands managed on a commercial basis and with a view to the realisation of profits,”, and

(b) by the insertion after subsection (1A) of the following subsections:

“(1AA) Where in any year of assessment any person carries on any trade other than farming, or any profession or employment, either solely or in partnership, or farming in a case in which this section applies, in the carrying on of which he has sustained a loss in the year preceding the year of assessment, he may make a claim under subsection (1) for the year of assessment in respect of the said loss in so far as relief has not already been given for that loss under the said subsection (1) or under any other provision of this Act; and any repayment of tax by virtue of this subsection shall be made in priority to any repayment of tax under the said subsection (1) in respect of a loss sustained in the year for which the repayment is claimed.

(1AAA) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any loss sustained in the year of assessment 1979-80 or any subsequent year of assessment by the owner of a stallion from the sale of services of mares by the stallion or of rights to such services or by the part-owner of a stallion from the sale of such services or such rights.”.

Amendment of section 308 (persons carrying on two or more trades) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

18.Section 308 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following proviso :

“Provided that no deduction or set off shall be allowed in respect of a loss sustained in the year 1979-80 or in any subsequent year of assessment.”.

Amendment of section 318 (option to treat capital allowances as creating or augmenting a loss) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

19.Section 318 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection :

“(1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, any claim made under section 307 for relief in respect of a loss sustained in any trade in any year of assessment (hereafter referred to as ‘the year of loss’) may require the amount of the loss to be determined as if an amount equal to the capital allowances for the year of assessment for which the year of loss is the basis year were to be deducted in computing the profits or gains or losses of the trade in the year of loss and a claim may be so made notwithstanding that, apart from those allowances, a loss had not been sustained in the trade in the year of loss.”.

Amendment of section 319 (extent to which capital allowances to be taken into account) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

20.Section 319 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) The capital allowances for any year of assessment shall be taken into account under section 318 (1) only if and so far as they are not required to offset balancing charges for the year; and, where the capital allowances tàken into account are allowances for the year of claim or for the preceding year (the year of loss being the basis year for that year itself, or the claim being made by virtue of section 307 (1AA)), relief shall not be given by reference to those allowances in respect of an amount greater than the amount non-effective in the year for which the claim is, made or, in the case of allowances for the preceding year, the amount non-effective in both years.”.

Chapter IV

Corporation Tax

Amendment of limit to relief for certain interest treated as a charge on income for corporation tax purposes.

21.—(1) Subsection (6) of section 10 (allowance of charges on income) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall have effect as respects any accounting period of a company which commences on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, as if—

(a) in paragraph (a), “£2,400” were substituted for “£2,000”,

and

(b) in the formula in paragraph (b), “2,400” were substituted for “2,000”.

(2) The said subsection (6) shall have effect as respects any accounting period of a company which commences before the 6th day of April, 1979, and ends on or after that date as if the lesser of the amounts specified in the said paragraphs (a) and (b) were increased to an amount determined by the formula—

D

×

E

__

G

+

D

×

2,400

________

2,000

×

F

__

G

where—

D is the lesser of the amounts so specified,

E is the number of months comprised in the part of the accounting period falling before the 6th day of April, 1979,

F is the number of months or fractions of months comprised in the part of the accounting period falling on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, and

G is the number of months or fractions of months comprised in the accounting period.

(3) Section 169 (limitations on deductions in respect of interest) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall have effect as if “in respect of the accounting period in which the charges are paid” were added after “the amount specified in section 10 (6)”.

(4) The proviso to subsection (5) of section 18 (disregard of profits or losses attributable to certain transactions of industrial and provident societies) of the Finance Act, 1978 , shall have effect—

(a) where the accounting period referred to in the proviso is a period to which subsection (1) applies, as if for “£2,000” in each place where it occurs there were substituted “£2,400”, and

(b) where that accounting period is a period to which subsection (2) applies, as if for “£2,000” in each place where it occurs there were substituted an amount determined by the formula—

2,000

×

E

__

12

+

2,400

×

F

__

12

where E and F have the same meanings as in subsection (2).

Amendment of Chapter IV (manufacturing companies) of Part I of Finance Act, 1977.

22.Chapter IV of Part I of the Finance Act, 1977 , is hereby amended by the insertion after section 25 of the following section :

“Determination of number of employment contributions.

25A.—(1) For the purposes of this Chapter the number of employment contributions payable in respect of an employed contributor in a relevant period, or part of a relevant period, falling wholly after the 5th day of April, 1979, shall be equal to the number of contribution weeks in that period, or part of a period, for which the appropriate employment contribution or contributions in respect of that employed contributor was or werepaid or would have been paid but for section 6 (1) (c) (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978 ) of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 .

(2) In this section ‘contribution week’ has the same meaning as in the Social Welfare Act, 1952 .”.

Chapter V

Income Tax and Corporation Tax

Amendment of provisions relating to relief in respect of increase in stock values.

23.—(1) Section 31A (inserted by the Finance Act, 1976 ) of the Finance Act, 1975 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of the proviso (inserted by the Finance Act, 1977 ) to subsection (4) (a)—

“(ii) the company's trading income to be taken into account in computing a deduction shall be that income before any deduction is made under this section or the Fifth Schedule,

(iii) in relation to an accounting period which ends on or after the 6th day of April, 1978, the amount of the deduction under this section shall, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, be three-fourths of the amount which, apart from this paragraph of this proviso, would be the amount of the deduction for that accounting period, and

(iv) a deduction shall not be allowed under the provisions of this section in computing a company's trading income for any accounting period which ends on or after the 6th day of April, 1979.”,

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b) of subsection (5)—

“(b) the 31st day of December next following the end of the year of assessment in which the accounting period ends,”, and

(c) by the substitution of “1979” for “1978”—

(i) in subsection (7) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1977 ), and

(ii) in subsection (9) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1977 ) in each place where it occurs,

and the said subsection (7) (other than the proviso) and the said subsection (9) (other than the proviso), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

(7) Where in relation to an accounting period a company's opening stock value exceeds its closing stock value, the amount of the excess (in this section referred to as the company's “decrease in stock value”) shall, if the accounting period ends on a date before the 6th day of April, 1979, be treated in the computation of the company's trading income for the purposes of corporation tax, as a trading receipt of the company's trade for that accounting period :

(9) In the computation of a company's trading income for the purposes of corporation tax for any accounting period which ends on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, in which there is a decrease in stock value, there shall be treated as a trading receipt of the company's trade for that accounting period the amount (if any) by which A exceeds the aggregate of B and C where—

A is the aggregate amount of the company's decreases in stock value in all accounting periods which ended on or after the 6th day of April, 1979,

B is the aggregate amount of the company's increases in stock value in all accounting periods which ended on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, and

C is the aggregate of the amounts which under this subsection are treated as trading receipts of the company's trade for preceding accounting periods :

(2) Section 12 of the Finance Act, 1976 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b) of subsection (2)—

“(c) Where a deduction allowed by virtue of this section in computing a person's trading profits of a trade for an accounting period has effect for the year 1979-80, the amount of the deduction shall, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, be three-fourths of the amount which, apart from this paragraph, would be the amount of the deduction for that accounting period.”,

(b) by the substitution in subsection (3) of “1979-80” for “1978-79” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ),

(c) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b) of subsection (4)—

“(b) the 31st day of December in the year of assessment for which the assessment is made”,

(d) by the substitution of “1979” for “1978” in each place where it occurs in subsection (5) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 ) and subsection (6) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1977 ), and

(e) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsections (7) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1977 ) and (7A) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1978 )—

“(7) Where a deduction allowed by virtue of this section in computing a person's trading profits of a trade for an accounting period has effect for a year of assessment (being a year of assessment later than 1978-79) (in this subsection referred to as ‘the relevant year’)—

(a) the person shall not be entitled to relief—

(i) under section 309 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , for any year of assessment later than the relevant year in respect of a loss sustained in the trade before the commencement of the relevant year, or

(ii) under section 311 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , for any year of assessment earlier than the relevant year in respect of a loss sustained in the trade,

(b) the provisions of section 241 (3) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , or of that section as applied by any other provision of the Income Tax Acts, shall not apply as respects a capital allowance or part of a capital allowance which is, or is deemed to be, all or part of a capital allowance for the relevant year and to which full effect has not been given in that year owing to there being no profits or gains chargeable for that year or an insufficiency of profits or gains chargeable for that year, and

(c) the provisions of section 318 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall not apply to the capital allowances or any part thereof for the relevant year.”,

and the said subsection (3), the said subsection (5) (other than the proviso) and the said subsection (6) (other than the proviso), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

(3) Any deduction allowed by virtue of this section in computing a person's trading profits for an accounting period shall not have effect for any purpose of the Income Tax Acts for any year of assessment prior to the year 1974-75 or later than the year 1979-80.

(5) In the computation of a person's trading income for an accounting period in which there is a decrease in stock value and which ends on a date in the period from the 6th day of April, 1976, to the 5th day of April, 1979, the amount of that decrease shall be treated as a trading receipt of the trade for that accounting period :

(6) In the computation of a person's trading income for any accounting period in which there is a decrease in stock value and which ends on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, there shall be treated as a trading receipt of the trade for that accounting period the amount (if any) by which A exceeds the aggregate of B and C

where—

A is the aggregate amount of the person's decreases in stock value in all accounting periods which ended on or after the 6th day of April, 1979,

B is the aggregate amount of the person's increases in stock value in all accounting periods which ended on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, and

C is the aggregate of the amounts which are treated as trading receipts of the person's trade for preceding accounting periods which ended on or after the 6th day of April, 1979 :

Amendment of section 22 (investment allowance for machinery and plant in designated areas) of Finance Act, 1971.

24.Section 22 (inserted by the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ) of the Finance Act, 1971 , is hereby amended by the substitution of “1st day of January, 1981” for “1st day of April, 1977”.

Amendment of section 25 (increase of writing-down allowances for certain industrial buildings) of Finance Act, 1978.

25.Section 25 of the Finance Act, 1978 , is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (1) of “the person” for “a person” and of “the allowance” for “an allowance” and the said subsection (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) In this section “qualifying expenditure” means capital expenditure incurred, on or after the 2nd day of February, 1978, by the person to whom the allowance under section 264 (inserted by the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , falls to be made on the construction of a building or structure which is to be an industrial building or structure occupied by the said person for a purpose specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (d) of section 255 (1) of the said Act :

Continuation of certain capital allowances for period to 1st April, 1984.

26.—For the purpose of continuing to the 1st day of April, 1984, the capital allowances provided for by the sections of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , specified in the Table to this section, the said sections (which were inserted by the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ) shall have effect as if each reference therein to the 1st day of April, 1977, were a reference to the 1st day of April, 1984.

TABLE

Section 251 (initial allowances)

Section 254 (industrial building allowance)

Section 264 (annual allowances)

Section 265 (balancing allowances and balancing charges)

Exemption of certain payments made by Minister for Labour.

27.—The following section shall be substituted for section 25 of the Finance Act, 1976 :

“25.—(1) A payment to which this section applies shall be disregarded for all the purposes of the Tax Acts.

(2) This section applies to any payment made by the Minister for Labour, whether before or after the passing of this Act, to an employer in respect of a person employed by him, being a payment made under—

(a) the Employment Incentive Scheme of the Minister for Labour or

(b) the Employment Maintenance Scheme of the Minister for Labour.”.

Retirement annuities.

28.—(1) The Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit, and subject to any conditions they think proper to impose, approve an annuity contract under section 235 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , notwithstanding that the contract provides that the individual by whom it is made may require a sum representing the value of his accrued rights thereunder—

(a) to be paid, by the person with whom it is made, to such other person as the individual may specify, and

(b) to be applied by such other person in payment of the premium or other consideration under an annuity contract made between the individual and that other person and approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section,

if the first-mentioned contract otherwise falls to be approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section.

(2) References in subsection (1) to the individual by whom a contract is made include references to any widow, widower or dependant having accrued rights under the contract.

(3) Where, in pursuance of a provision of the kind referred to in subsection (1) of an annuity contract approved under section 235 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , or of a corresponding provision of a contract approved under section 235A(1)(a) of that Act, a sum representing the value of accrued rights under one contract (in this subsection referred to as “the original contract”) is paid by way of premium or other consideration under another contract (in this subsection referred to as “the substituted contract”), any annuity payable under the substituted contract shall be treated as earned income of the annuitant to the same extent that an annuity under the original contract would have been so treated.

(4) Section 239 (8) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b) :

“(bb) to any annuity payable under a substituted contract within the meaning of section 28 (3) of the Finance Act, 1979,”.

(5) Section 50 (4) (a) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , is hereby amended by the insertion of “or any contract under which there is payable an annuity in relation to which section 28 (3) of the Finance Act, 1979, has effect” after “(inserted by section 66 of the Finance Act, 1974 )” and the said paragraph, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

(a) any contract with an individual who is, or would but for an insufficiency of profits or gains be, chargeable to tax in respect of relevant earnings (as defined in section 235 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 (retirement annuities; relief for premiums)) from a trade, profession, office or employment carried on or held by him, being a contract approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section or section 235A (approval of contracts for dependants or for life assurance) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 (inserted by section 66 of the Finance Act, 1974 ) or any contract under which there is payable an annuity in relation to which section 28 (3) of the Finance Act, 1979, has effect;

Chapter VI

Anti-evasion

Time limit for certain summary proceedings.

29.—The Tax Acts are hereby amended in relation to offences committed after the passing of this Act—

(a) by the deletion in section 517 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , of “, 413”, and

(b) by the substitution of “10 years” for “three years” in the said section 517 and in section 148 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ,

and the said sections 517 and 148, as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

517. Notwithstanding subsection (4) of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 , summary proceedings under section 128, 173 or 516 may be instituted within 10 years from the date of the committing of the offence or incurring of the penalty (as the case may be).

148. Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 , summary proceedings under section 516 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 (false statements), as applied in relation to corporation tax or under section 63 (production of books and documents: export sales relief) may be instituted within 10 years from the date of the offence or incurring of the penalty (as the case may be).

Amendment of section 70 (power to require returns as to source of partnership income and amounts derived therefrom) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

30.Section 70 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsections:

“(3A) The precedent partner of any partnership, when required to do so by a notice given to him by an inspector, shall, within the time limited by such notice, prepare and deliver to the inspector a statement in writing, signed by him, stating the amount of the profits or gains arising to the partnership from each and every source chargeable according to the respective schedules, estimated for the period specified in the notice and according to the provisions of this Act and there shall be added to the statement a declaration that such amounts are estimated in respect of all the sources of income mentioned in this Act, describing the same, after deducting only such sums as are allowed.

(3B) Section 174 shall have effect in relation to a partnership carrying on a trade or profession as if in that section—

(a) ‘precedent partner’ were substituted for ‘person’ wherever it occurs,

(b) ‘a partnership’ were substituted for ‘him’ where it firstly occurs, and

(c) ‘or in the possession or power of the partnership’ were inserted after ‘ power’.”.

Power to obtain from certain persons particulars of transactions with and documents concerning tax liability of taxpayers.

31.—(1) (a) In this section—

“an authorised officer” means an inspector authorised by the Revenue Commissioners to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

“business” means any trade, profession or business (other than banking business within the meaning of the Central Bank Act, 1971 );

“documents” includes books, accounts and records;

“tax” means income tax or corporation tax.

(b) The persons who may be treated as “the taxpayer” under this section include a company which has ceased to exist and an individual who has died; and,in relation to such an individual, the reference in subsection (2) to the spouse is then instead to the widow or widower (the circumstance that she or he may have re-married being immaterial for the purposes of that subsection).

(2) Where a person (in this section referred to as “the taxpayer”) delivers to an inspector a statement of the income, profits or gains arising to him from—

(a) any business (past or present) carried on by him or his spouse, or

(b) any business (past or present) with whose management either of them was concerned at a material time,

and the inspector is not satisfied with the statement, the inspector may serve on the taxpayer a notice in writing stating—

(i) that he is not satisfied with the statement delivered to him, and

(ii) that he has requested an authorised officer to serve notice under this section on persons who, in relation to the taxpayer, are subject to this section.

(3) Where a notice under subsection (2) has been served on the taxpayer, an authorised officer may, for the purpose of enquiring into the tax liability of the taxpayer, by notice in writing served on any person who, in relation to the taxpayer, is subject to this section require him, within the period stated in the notice, or within such further period as the authorised officer may allow—

(a) to furnish him with particulars of any business transactions which that person had with the taxpayer during a stated period, and

(b) to deliver to him or, if the person to whom the notice is given so elects, to make available for inspection by an authorised officer such documents specified or described in the notice as are in his possession or power and as, in the first-mentioned officer's opinion, contain, or may contain, information relevant to any tax liability to which the taxpayer is or may be or may have been subject, or to the amount of any such tax liability.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a person who is carrying on a profession, and on whom a notice under subsection (3) has been served, to furnish any particulars relating to a client to an authorised officer, or to deliver to, or make available for inspection by, an authorised officer any documents relating to a client, other than such particulars or documents—

(a) as pertain to the payment of fees or to other financial transactions, or

(b) as are otherwise material to the tax liability of the client,

and, in particular, he shall not be required to disclose any information or professional advice of a confidential nature given to a client.

(5) Where a person fails to comply with a requirement duly made on the person under subsection (3) within the period stated in the notice containing the requirement or such further period as may be allowed by the authorised officer concerned, the person shall be liable to a penalty of £500.

(6) The persons who, in relation to a taxpayer, are subject to this section are any person who is carrying on a business, or was doing so at a material time, and any company whether carrying on a business or not.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (2), every director of a company is to be taken as being concerned with the management of any business carried on by the company, and a material time is any time which, in the authorised officer's opinion, is, or may have been, material in the ascertainment of any past or present tax liability of the taxpayer.

(8) Where documents are to be delivered to an authorised officer pursuant to a requirement duly made under subsection (3), copies of such documents may be delivered instead of the originals; but—

(a) The copies must be photographic or otherwise by way of facsimile; and

(b) if so required by the authorised officer, the originals must be made available for inspection by an authorised officer, failure to comply with this provision being treated as failure to comply with the requirement.

(9) An authorised officer may examine any documents furnished or made available for inspection under this section and may take copies of, or extracts from, them.

(10) When exercising any powers conferred by this section, an authorised officer shall, if so requested by any person affected, produce to that person a certificate of the Revenue Commissioners authorising him to exercise the powers conferred by this section.

Chapter VII

Anti-avoidance

Repeal of section 144 (exemption where total income does not exceed £240, and marginal relief) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

32.—(1) Section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby repealed.

(2) In order to remove doubts, it is hereby declared and enacted that, as respects any relevant year of assessment, section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall not apply to, and shall be deemed never to have applied to, an individual whose total income for that year of assessment exceeded £15,000.

(3) In this section “any relevant year of assessment” means any of the years 1974-75, 1975-76 and 1976-77.

Amendment of section 439 (income under dispositions for short periods) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

33.—As respects income tax for the year 1979-80 and any subsequent year of assessment, section 439 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection :

“(1A) (a) This paragraph applies to a disposition or dispositions referred to in subsection (1) made, directly or indirectly, by a person (in this subsection referred to as the ‘disponer’) insofar as, by virtue or in consequence thereof, income is payable or applicable in a year of assessment, in the manner referred to in paragraph (iii) or (iv) of the said subsection (1), to or for the benefit of one or more descendants of the disponer.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of the said subsection (1), in relation to a disponer, any income which is payable or applicable by virtue or in consequence of a disposition or dispositions to which paragraph (a) applies in excess of 5 per cent. of the total income of that disponer for the year of assessment shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be the income of the disponer, if living, and not to be the income of any other person.

(c) In a case where this subsection has effect, in relation to any disponer, for the purpose of determining, for income tax purposes, the amount of income which remains the income of descendants of the disponer for a year of assessment by virtue or in consequence of a disposition or dispositions referred to in the said subsection (1), the aggregate of the income so remaining shall be apportioned amongst the descendants in the proportions of their entitlements under such disposition or dispositions for that year.

(d) In this subsection ‘descendant’ means a child, or a child of a child, other than a child, or a child of a child, who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity.”.

Amendment of Schedule 12 (dividends regarded as paid out of profits accumulated before given date) to Income Tax Act, 1967.

34.—Schedule 12 to the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following clause after clause (a) of subparagraph (3) (inserted by the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ) of paragraph 5—

“(aa) any group relief given to the company in accordance with the provisions of Part XI of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , for any accounting period in the period,”

and

(b) by the substitution in paragraph 6 (inserted by the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ) of “references therein to an amount for an” for “reference therein to corporation profits tax or corporation tax payable for any”,

and the said paragraph 6, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

6. Any reference in paragraph 4 or 5 to an amount for a year of assessment in the period in question shall be taken as a reference to the full amount for any year of assessment falling wholly within the period and a proportionate part of the amount (on a time basis) for any year of assessment falling partly within that period, and the references therein to an amount for an accounting period in the said period shall be construed in a corresponding manner.

Chapter VIII

Capital Gains Tax

Amendment of section 25 (private residence) of Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975.

35.Section 25 of the Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975 , is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (9) of the following subsection :

“(9A) (a) In this subsection ‘dependent relative’ means, in relation to an individual, a relative of the individual, or of the wife or husband of the individual, who is incapacitated by old age or infirmity from maintaining himself, or the widowed mother (whether or not she is so incapacitated) of the individual or of the wife or husband of the individual.

(b) If as respects a gain accruing to an individual on the disposal, on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, of, or of an interest in, a dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house which is, or has at any time in his period of ownership been, the sole residence of a dependent relative of the individual, provided rent free and without any other consideration, the individual so claims, such relief shall be given in respect of it and of its garden or grounds as would be given under this section if the dwelling-house (or part of the dwelling-house) had been the individual's only or main residence in the period of residence by the dependent relative, and shall be so given in addition to any relief available under this section apart from this subsection :

Provided that—

(i) not more than one dwelling-house (or part of a dwelling-house) may qualify for relief as being the residence of a dependent relative of the claimant at any one time nor, in the case of a man and his wife living with him, as being the residence of a dependent relative of the claimant or of the claimant's wife or husband at any one time, and

(ii) the inspector, before allowing a claim, may require the claimant to show—

(I) that the giving of the relief claimed will not, under paragraph (i), preclude the giving of relief to the wife or husband of the claimant, or

(II) that a claim by the said wife or husband to any such relief has been relinquished.”.

Amendment of section 27 (disposal within the family of business or farm) of Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975.

36.Section 27 (inserted by the Capital Gains Tax (Amendment) Act, 1978 ) of the Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975 , is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (1) (c) of the following paragraph :

“(d) For the purposes of paragraph (a), an illegitimate child who has not, on or before the date of the disposal, been legitimated or adopted in the manner described in section 36 (a) (ii) of the Finance Act, 1977 , shall, if the disposal is made to him by his mother on or after the 6th day of April, 1979, be the child of his mother.”.

Amendment of section 31 (unit trusts) of Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975.

37.—(1) It is hereby declared and enacted that, for the purposes of any assessment to capital gains tax made on or after the 11th day of May, 1979, subsection (4) of section 31 of the Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975 , shall not have effect and shall be deemed never to have had effect as respects a unit trust to which the provisions of subsection (5A) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1977 ) of that section apply.

(2) The said section 31 is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (5) after “the units in the unit trust shall” of “for that year” and the said subsection, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(5) If throughout a year of assessment all the assets of a unit trust are such that they are not chargeable assets or are assets in respect of which a gain would not be a chargeable gain, the units in the unit trust shall for that year be deemed not to be chargeable assets for the purposes of this Act.

PART II

Customs and Excise

Interpretation (Part II).

38.—In this Part—

“the Act of 1976 ”means the Finance Act, 1976 ;

“the Order of 1975” means the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975).

Beer.

39.—(1) The duty of excise on beer imposed by paragraph 7 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, at the rate of £67.976 for, in the case of all beer brewed within the State, every 36 gallons of worts of a specific gravity of 1,055 degrees, and, in the case of all imported beer, every 36 gallons of beer of which the worts were before fermentation of a specific gravity of 1,055 degrees, in lieu of the rates mentioned in section 36 (1) of the Act of 1976.

(2) Subject to paragraph 4 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 237) (Beer) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 67 of 1979), the drawback on beer provided for in paragraph 7 (3) of the Order of 1975 shall, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, be calculated according to the original specific gravity of the beer at the rate of £67,976 on every 36 gallons of beer of which the original specific gravity was 1,055 degrees in lieu of the rate mentioned in section 46 of the Finance Act, 1977 .

Spirits.

40.—(1) The duty of excise on spirits imposed by paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, at the several rates specified in the Third Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Second Schedule to the Act of 1976.

(2) Nothing in this section shall operate to relieve from or to prejudice or affect the additional duty of excise in respect of immature spirits imposed by paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1975 at the several rates specified in the third column of the First Schedule to the said Order.

Tobacco products.

41.—(1) In this section—

“the Order of 1977” means the Imposition of Duties (No. 233) (Rates of Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1977 (S.I. No. 384 of 1977);

“cavendish or negrohead”, “cigars”, “hard pressed tobacco”, “other pipe tobacco” and “tobacco products” have the same meaning as they have in the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 .

(2) The duty of excise on tobacco products imposed by section 2 of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, at the several rates specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Order of 1977.

Wine and made wine.

42.—(1) The duty of excise on wine imposed by paragraph 5 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, at the several rates specified in Part I of the Fifth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1976.

(2) The duty of excise on made wine imposed by paragraph 6 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, at the several rates specified in Part II of the Fifth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in Part II of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1976.

Cider and perry.

43.—(1) In this section—

“actual alcoholic strength by volume” means the number of volumes of pure alcohol contained at a temperature of 20°C in 100 volumes of the product at that temperature;

“% vol” means alcoholic strength by volume.

(2) The duty of excise on cider and perry imposed by paragraph 8 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 8th day of February, 1979, at the several rates specified in the Sixth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the rate specified in the said paragraph 8 (2).

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section and in lieu of the rate of £2.466 the gallon mentioned in the Sixth Schedule to this Act, the duty of the excise referred to in the said subsection (2) shall be charged, levied and paid at the rate of £1.25 the gallon on any stocks of cider or perry of an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 8.7% vol in the ownership or possession of a licensed manufacturer of cider or perry at midnight on the 7th day of February, 1979, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the total quantity of such stocks in the ownership or possession of that manufacturer did not exceed 20,000 gallons.

Amendment of section 2 (prohibition of acting as bookmaker without licence) of Betting Act, 1931.

44.Section 2 of the Betting Act, 1931 , is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (2) of “£500” for “one hundred pounds” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1963 ) and the said subsection (2), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(2) Every person who carries on business or acts as a bookmaker in contravention of this section and every person who holds himself out or represents himself to be a bookmaker or a licensed bookmaker in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of £500.

Repeal.

45.Section 15 of the Finance Act, 1934 , is hereby repealed.

Provisions in relation to excise duties on agricultural produce.

46.—(1) It is hereby declared that the exportation from the State of produce that is subject, upon such exportation, to payment of a duty imposed by the Imposition of Duties (No. 239) (Agricultural Produce) (Cattle and Milk) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 152 of 1979), or by the Imposition of Duties (No. 240) (Agricultural Produce) (Cereals and Sugar Beet) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 153 of 1979), shall be prohibited unless, before such exportation, the amount of the duty is paid to the Revenue Commissioners or security that is, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, adequate for its payment is given to the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) It is hereby declared that section 15 (2) (a) of the Finance Act, 1966 , shall, in relation to the duty imposed by that section or any duty to which that section is applied by virtue of section 1 (h) of the Imposition of Duties Act, 1957 , be construed as enabling, and as always having enabled, the Revenue Commissioners to provide by regulations for the withholding or recovery, from such persons as may be specified in the regulations, by persons specified in the regulations, of an amount equal to the amount of such duty of excise, in the manner and subject to the conditions so specified.

Confirmation of Order.

47.—The Imposition of Duties (No. 234) (Excise Duties on Hydrocarbon Oils and Beer) Order, 1978, (S.I. No. 2 of 1978), is hereby confirmed.

PART III

Value-Added Tax

Amendment of section 18 (inspection and removal of records) of Value-Added Tax Act, 1972.

48.Section 18 of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 , is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of making any enquiry which he considers necessary concerning matters relating to liability to tax or repayment of tax in regard to any person, enter any premises in which the officer has reason to believe that such person is carrying on business and the officer may request the production of, search for and inspect any books, invoices, credit notes, debit notes, receipts, accounts, bank statements, vouchers or other documents whatsoever relating to the said business and may remove and retain any such books, invoices, credit notes, debit notes, receipts, accounts, vouchers, bank statements or other documents for such period as may be reasonable for their examination or for the purpose of any proceedings for the recovery of a penalty under this Act.”

Amendment of Third Schedule to Value-Added Tax Act, 1972.

49.—With effect as on and from the 1st day of March, 1979, the rate of value-added tax on radio receiving sets that are of the domestic or portable type or that are of a type suitable for use in road vehicles, and on gramophones, radio-gramophones and record players, shall be increased from 10 per cent. of the amount or value, as the case may be, in respect of which tax is chargeable on those goods to 20 per cent. of that amount or value and, accordingly, the Third Schedule to the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 , shall be amended—

(a) by the deletion of “radio receiving sets and” in paragraph (xxix), and

(b) by the deletion of paragraph (xxx).

PART IV

Stamp Duties

Exemption from stamp duty of certain instruments.

50.—Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any conveyance, transfer or lease of land made, or agreed to be made, after the passing of this Act for charitable purposes in the State or Northern Ireland to a body of persons established for charitable purposes only or to the trustees of a trust so established:'

Provided that a conveyance, transfer or lease to which this section applies shall not be deemed to be duly stamped unless it has, in accordance with the provisions of section 12 of the Stamp Act, 1891, been stamped with a particular stamp denoting that it is not chargeable with stamp duty.

Amendment of section 70 (amount on which stamp duty chargeable) of Finance Act, 1973.

51.Section 70 of the Finance Act, 1973 , is hereby amended by the deletion in the first proviso of “the actual value or” and “(whichever is the greater)” and the proviso, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

Provided that, in any case, the amount in respect of which stamp duty is charged shall not be less than the nominal value of the shares (if any) in the company concerned allotted to the members of the capital company in connection with the transaction or belonging to the members of the capital company immediately after the transaction:

Amendment of section 72 (reconstructions or amalgamations of capital companies) of Finance Act, 1973.

52.Section 72 of the Finance Act, 1973 , is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (5) of the following subsection:

“(6) For the purposes of this section, a company, partnership, firm, association or legal person that is considered to be a capital company in another Member State shall be deemed to be a transferor company notwithstanding that it is not considered to be a capital company.”.

Amendment of section 69 (statement to be charged with stamp duty) of Finance Act, 1973.

53.Section 69 of the Finance Act, 1973 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2) Simple interest shall be payable by way of penalty upon so much of the stamp duty charged on the statement required to be delivered under subsection (1) (b) of this section as remains unpaid after the expiration of one month from the date of the transaction which gave rise to the charge for duty or after the date of the passing of this Act, whichever is the later, and such interest shall be payable at the rate of 1.25 per cent., without deduction of income tax, for each month or part of a month for which duty so remains unpaid and it shall be chargeable and recoverable in the same manner as if it were part of the duty.”.

Exemption from stamp duty of certain transfers.

54.—(1) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any transfer to a stock exchange nominee which is executed for the purposes of a stock exchange transaction.

(2) In this section—

“stock exchange nominee” means a person designated, by regulations made by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy, as a nominee of a recognised stock exchange for the purposes of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1977 ;

“stock exchange transaction” means a sale and purchase of securities in which each of the parties is a member of a recognised stock exchange acting in the ordinary course of his business as such or is acting through the agency of such a member.

Agreement as to stamp duty on certain instruments.

55.—(1) The Revenue Commissioners may, if they in their discretion so think proper, enter into an agreement with, or with persons acting on behalf of, the Stock Exchange—Irish (hereinafter in this section referred to as “the other parties to the agreement”) for the composition, in accordance with the provisions of this section, of the stamp duty chargeable under the heading “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER on sale of any stocks or marketable securities” in the First Schedule to the Finance Act, 1970 , on such instruments as may be specified in the agreement.

(2) Any such agreement shall be in such form and on such terms and shall contain such conditions as the Revenue Commissioners think proper and, in particular, the agreement shall require the other parties to the agreement to deliver to the Revenue Commissioners periodical accounts in respect of the instruments to which it relates giving particulars of those instruments.

(3) While any such agreement remains in force, any instrument to which it relates and which bears such indication of the payment of stamp duty as the Revenue Commissioners may require shall not be chargeable with stamp duty, but in lieu thereof and by way of composition, the other parties to the agreement shall pay to the Revenue Commissioners on the delivery of any account under the agreement, such sums as would, but for the provisions of this section, have been chargeable by way of stamp duty on instruments to which the agreement relates, during the period to which the account relates.

(4) Where the other parties to the agreement make default in delivering any account required by any such agreement or in paying the duty payable on the delivery of any such account, they shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £50 for any day during which the default continues and shall also be liable to pay, in addition to the duty, interest thereon, which shall be recoverable in the same manner as if it were part thereof, at the rate of 15 per cent. per annum from the date when the default begins until the date of payment.

(5) An instrument to which such an agreement applies and which, pursuant to the provisions of this section, bears an indication of the amount of stamp duty payable thereon shall be treated for all purposes of stamp duty as stamped with the amount of stamp duty so indicated thereon.

Revocation of Order.

56.—The Imposition of Duties (No. 238) (Exemption from and Agreement as to Stamp Duty on Certain Transfers) Order, 1979, (S.I. No. 121 of 1979), is hereby revoked.

PART V

Miscellaneous

Capital Services Redemption Account.

57.—(1) In this section—

“the principal section” means section 22 of the Finance Act, 1950 ;

“the 1978 amending section” means section 45 of the Finance Act, 1978 ;

“the twenty-ninth additional annuity” means the sum charged on the Central Fund under subsection (4) of this section;

“the Minister”, “the Account” and “capital services” have the same meanings respectively as they have in the principal section.

(2) In relation to the twenty-nine successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1979, subsection (4) of the 1978 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£13,481,632” for “£13,577,065”.

(3) Subsection (6) of the 1978 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£8,510,305” for “£8,739,850”.

(4) A sum of £18,381,262 to redeem borrowings, and interest thereon, in respect of capital services shall be charged annually on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof in the thirty successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1979.

(5) The twenty-ninth additional annuity shall be paid into the Account in such manner and at such times in the relevant financial year as the Minister may determine.

(6) Any amount of the twenty-ninth additional annuity, not exceeding £11,832,415 in any financial year, may be applied towards defraying the interest on the public debt.

(7) The balance of the twenty-ninth additional annuity shall be applied in any one or more of the ways specified in subsection (6) of the principal section.

Care and management of taxes and duties.

58.—All taxes and duties imposed by this Act are hereby placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

Short title, construction and commencement.

59.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Finance Act, 1979.

(2) Part I of this Act (so far as relating to income tax) shall be construed together with the Income Tax Acts and (so far as relating to corporation tax) shall be construed together with the Corporation Tax Acts and (so far as relating to capital gains tax) shall be construed together with the Capital Gains Tax Acts.

(3) Part II of this Act, so far as it relates to Customs, shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and the said Part II, so far as it relates to duties of excise, shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties.

(4) Part III of this Act shall be construed together with (the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1978, and may be cited together therewith as the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1979.

(5) Part IV of this Act shall be construed together with the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(6) Part I of this Act shall, save as is otherwise expressly provided therein, be deemed to have come into force and shall take effect as on and from the 6th day of April, 1979.

(7) Any reference in this Act to any other enactment shall, except so far as the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment including this Act.

FIRST SCHEDULE

Amendment of Enactments

Section 2.

PART I

Amendments Consequential on Changes in Rates of Tax

The Income Tax Act, 1967 , is, in relation to income tax for the year 1979-80 and subsequent years of assessment, hereby amended in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) in section 1 (1), the definition of “initial rate” (inserted by section 5 of the Finance Act, 1977 ) shall be deleted,

(b) in section 153 (1) (dd), “or rates”, in each place where it occurs, shall be deleted,

(c) in section 497, “initial rate or”, in each place where it occurs, and “as appropriate” shall be deleted, and

(d) in section 525 (1), subparagraph (i) (a) shall be deleted.

PART II

Amendments Consequential on Changes in Personal Reliefs

Section 3.

The Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) in section 138—

(i) in subsection (1), for “£1,730” in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “£2,230”, for “£865” there shall be substituted “£1,115” and for “£1,845” there shall be substituted “£2,345”, and

(ii) in subsection (2), for “£865” in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “£1,115” and for “£935” there shall be substituted “£1,185”,

(b) in section 141, in subsection (1A), for “£240” there shall be substituted “£218”.

SECOND SCHEDULE

Relief for Certain Expenditure on Residential Premises

Section 7.

1. In section 7 and in this Schedule—

“authorised officer” means an inspector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing for the purposes of section 7 and this Schedule;

“certificate of registration” means a certificate issued under paragraph 5;

“labour cost”, in relation to qualifying work, means the cost of having the work performed but does not include the cost of any materials, tools, machinery or anything else, used in the carrying out of the work or the hire of tools, machinery, or anything else, so used;

“precedent partner” has the meaning assigned to it by Chapter III of Part IV of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ;

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners;

“qualifying period” means the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1979, and ending on the 5th day of April, 1980;

“qualifying work” means any work of maintenance, repair, improvement, or insulation of residential premises;

“registered person” means a person to whom a certificate of registration has been issued and who has not been required pursuant to paragraph 7 to return the said certificate or whose certificate of registration has not been cancelled pursuant to that paragraph;

“residence of his” means, in relation to an individual, any residential premises at which he normally resides;

“residential premises” means—

(a) a building or part of a building used or suitable for use as a dwelling, and

(b) land which the occupier of a building or part of a building used as a dwelling has for his own occupation and enjoyment with the said building or part as its garden or grounds of an ornamental nature,

but does not include—

(i) a building or part of a building occupied for the first time as a dwelling after the 5th day of April, 1979, or

(ii) tangible movable property.

2. Where an individual wishes to claim a deduction under section 7 in respect of the labour cost of qualifying work carried out or to be carried out by a registered person, he shall—

(a) make an application on the prescribed form to the Revenue Commissioners for a form on which to claim the deduction (in this paragraph referred to as “a claim form”) bearing the name of the registered person, and

(b) complete the claim form (which shall be issued to him by the Revenue Commissioners if they are satisfied that the form ought to be issued to the said individual),

(c) deliver the completed form, together with one copy thereof and such statements in writing as may be indicated in the claim form, to the inspector of taxes, and

(d) deliver one copy of the completed claim form to the registered person.

3. (1) Where an individual has duly applied for a claim form, an authorised officer may at any reasonable time between the date on which the said application is made and the date on which the relevant deduction is made, enter the residential premises on which the qualifying work which is the subject of the claim is to be, or has been, carried out, for the purpose of enquiring into the accuracy of any particulars given under paragraph 2 in respect of the said work.

(2) Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer in the course of exercising a power conferred on him by this paragraph shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500.

4. (1) Relief from tax consequent on the allowance of a deduction under section 7 shall be given by way of repayment save that, if the Revenue Commissioners consider it appropriate to do so, effect may be given to the relief in the year 1979-80 otherwise than by way of repayment.

(2) Subject to subparagraph (1), all such provisions of the Income Tax Acts as apply in relation to every deduction specified in sections 138 to 143 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to any deduction under section 7.

5. (1) The Revenue Commissioners shall on application to them in that behalf on the prescribed form by a person issue to the person a certificate (referred to in section 7 and in this Schedule as “a certificate of registration”) if they are satisfied that the person or, in the case of a partnership each partner, is resident in the State.

(2) The Revenue Commissioners shall keep and maintain a register in which the name, address and type of work carried out by each person to whom a certificate of registration has been issued shall be entered and a copy of such register shall be kept and maintained in every office of the National Manpower Service and of inspectors of taxes and shall be available for inspection by any person.

6. A registered person shall—

(a) in the space provided therefor, sign the certificate of registration issued to him pursuant to paragraph 5 (1), and

(b) when requested to do so by an individual for whom qualifying work has been or is to be carried out—

(i) produce his certificate of registration for inspection by the individual,

(ii) provide the individual with such particulars as are available to him and as are required by the individual for the purposes of paragraph 2,

(iii) in the space provided, sign the forms required to be completed by the individual for the purposes of the said paragraph 2.

7. Where it appears to the Revenue Commissioners that—

(a) a certificate of registration was issued on the basis of false or misleading information,

(b) a certificate of registration would not have been issued if information of which they became aware subsequent to its issue had been available to them at the date of its issue,

(c) a person, to whom a certificate of registration was issued has permitted it to be misused,

(d) a person, to whom a certificate of registration was issued or, in the case of a partnership any partner, has ceased to be resident in the State, or

(e) a person to whom a certificate of registration was issued has failed to comply with any of the provisions of paragraph 6,

they may—

(I) cancel the certificate,

(II) require the person, to whom the certificate was issued, by notice in writing to return to them forthwith the said certificate, and

(III) remove the person's name from the register kept and maintained in accordance with paragraph 5 (2) and from every copy of such register.

8. (1) Where a person—

(a) for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of registration makes a false statement, or furnishes a document which is, to his knowledge, false in a material particular to the Revenue Commissioners or to an authorised officer,

(b) disposes of a certificate of registration otherwise than by the return of the said certificate to the Revenue Commissioners,

(c) fails to return a certificate of registration to the Revenue Commissioners when required to do so pursuant to paragraph 7,

(d) is in possession of a certificate of registration that was not issued to him by the Revenue Commissioners, or

(e) produces to an individual a certificate of registration after having been required by the Revenue Commissioners to return the certificate,

he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(2) Any person who aids, abets, counsels or procures—

(a) the obtaining of a certificate of registration by means of a false statement,

(b) the use by any person, other than the person to whom it was issued by the Revenue Commissioners, of a certificate of registration, or

(c) the production to an individual of a document that is not a certificate of registration but purports to be such a certificate,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(3) Any registered person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of paragraph 6 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500.

9. (1) Any notice, certificate or form which is required to be given, served, sent or issued under this section may be sent by post.

(2) In proceedings under paragraph 8—

(a) a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners which certifies that he has examined the relevant records and that it appears from them that a stated notice was duly given to the defendant on a stated day shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, that that person received the notice in the ordinary way,

(b) a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners which certifies that he has examined the relevant records, certificates or forms and that it appears that a stated certificate was not received from the defendant or that stated particulars were not furnished by him to a stated individual or that a stated certificate or form was not signed by the defendant in the space provided therefor shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, that the defendant did not deliver that certificate or furnish that information or sign that certificate or form,

(c) a document purporting to be a certificate specified in subparagraph (a) or (b) of this paragraph shall be deemed to be such a certificate, and to be signed by the person purporting to have signed it, unless the contrary is shown.

10. The power—

(a) to issue or cancel a certificate of registration,

(b) to require a person to return the certificate of registration issued to the said person,

(c) to remove a person's name from the register kept and maintained in accordance with paragraph 5 and from every copy of such register,

may be exercised by an inspector of taxes.

11. (1) All such acts as are by this Schedule required to be done by a person shall—

(a) in the case of a body of persons which is not a company, be done by the treasurer or other officer acting as such for the time being of the body of persons, and he shall be answerable for doing all such acts,

(b) in the case of a company, be done by the secretary of the company or other officer (by whatever name called) performing the duties of secretary, and he shall be answerable for doing all such acts.

(c) in the case of a partnership, be done by the precedent partner and he shall be answerable for doing all such acts.

(2) The reference to a registered person in paragraph 8 (3) shall, in the case of a partnership which is a registered person, be deemed to be a reference to the precedent partner of the said partnership.

THIRD SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Spirits

Section 40.

Description of Spirits

Rate of Duty

£

For every gallon computed at proof of spirits of any description not mentioned hereinafter and imported mixtures and preparations containing spirits

31.0246

For every gallon of imported perfumed spirits entered in such manner as to indicate that the strength is not to be tested

49·639

For every gallon of imported liqueurs, cordials, mixtures and other preparations in bottle entered in such manner as to indicate that the strength is not to be tested

41·883

FOURTH SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Tobacco Products

Section 41.

Description of Product

Rate of Duty

Cigarettes

£9·10 per thousand together with the amount equal to 20·2 per cent. of the price at which the cigarettes are sold by retail.

Cigars

£8·064 the lb.

Cavendish or negrohead

£8·149 the lb.

Hard pressed tobacco

£5·212 the lb.

Other pipe tobacco

£6·551 the lb.

Other smoking or chewing tobacco

£6·805 the lb.

FIFTH SCHEDULE

Section 42.

PART I

Rates f Excise Duty on Wine

Description of Wine

Rate of Duty

Still

£

Not exceeding 25° of proof spirit

2·844 the gallon

Exceeding 25° but not exceeding 30° of proof spirit

3·701 the gallon

Exceeding 30° of proof spirit

4·570 the gallon

Sparkling

5·588 the gallon

Wine whether still or sparkling exceeding 42° of proof spirit

An additional duty for every degree or fraction of a degree above 42° of proof spirit

0·310 the gallon

PART II

Rates of Excise Duty on Made Wine

Description of Made Wine

Rate of Duty

Still

£

Not exceeding 25° of proof spirit

2·466 the gallon

Exceeding 25° but not exceeding 30° of proof spirit

3·081 the gallon

Exceeding 30° of proof spirit

3·392 the gallon

Sparkling

4·291 the gallon

Whether still or sparkling exceeding 42° of proof spirit

An additional duty for every degree or fraction of a degree above 42° of proof spirit

0·276 the gallon

SIXTH SCHEDULE

Rates of Excise Duty on Cider and Perry

Section 43.

Description of Cider and Perry

Rate of Duty

£

Of an actual alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 6% vol

0·30 the gallon

Of an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 6% vol but not exceeding 8·7% vol

1·25 the gallon

Of an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 8·7 % vol

2.466 the gallon

Acts Referred to

Betting Act, 1931

1931, No. 27

Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975

1975, No. 20

Capital Gains Tax (Amendment) Act, 1978

1978, No. 33

Central Bank Act, 1971

1971, No. 24

Companies (Amendment) Act, 1977

1977, No. 31

Corporation Tax Act, 1976

1976, No. 7

Finance Act, 1934

1934, No. 31

Finance Act, 1950

1950, No. 18

Finance Act, 1963

1963, No. 23

Finance Act, 1966

1966, No. 17

Finance Act, 1970

1970, No. 14

Finance Act, 1971

1971, No. 23

Finance Act, 1973

1973, No. 19

Finance Act, 1974

1974, No. 27

Finance Act, 1975

1975, No. 6

Finance Act, 1976

1976, No. 16

Finance Act, 1977

1977, No. 18

Finance Act, 1978

1978, No. 21

Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977

1977, No. 32

Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968

1968, No. 7

Imposition of Duties Act, 1957

1957, No. 7

Income Tax Act, 1967

1967, No. 6

Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851

1851, c. 93

Social Welfare Act, 1952

1952, No. 11

Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978

1978, No. 25

Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966

1966, No. 16

Stamp Act, 1891

1891, c. 39

Value-Added Tax Act, 1972

1972, No. 22