Finance Act, 1994
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Exemption from charge to tax of certain loans of art objects. |
19.—(1) In this section— | |
“art object” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2); | ||
“authorised person” means— | ||
(a) an inspector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing for the purposes of this section, or | ||
(b) a person authorised by the Minister in writing for the purposes of this section; | ||
“the Minister” means the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht; | ||
“relevant building” means an approved building within the meaning of section 19 of the Finance Act, 1982 ; | ||
“relevant garden” means an approved garden within the meaning of section 29 of the Finance Act, 1993 . | ||
(2) (a) In this section “art object” means any work of art (including a picture, sculpture, print, book, manuscript, piece of jewellery, furniture or other similar object) or scientific collection, which, on application to them in that behalf by a person who owns or occupies a relevant building or a relevant garden, as the case may be, is determined— | ||
(i) by the Minister, after consideration of any evidence in relation to the matter which the individual submits to the Minister and after such consultation (if any) as may seem to the Minister to be necessary with such person or body of persons as in the opinion of the Minister may be of assistance to the Minister, to be an object which is intrinsically of significant national, scientific, historical or aesthetic interest, and | ||
(ii) by the Revenue Commissioners, to be an object reasonable access to which is afforded, and in respect of which reasonable facilities for viewing are provided, to the public. | ||
(b) Without prejudice to the generality of the requirement that reasonable access be afforded, and that reasonable facilities for viewing be provided, to the public, access to and facilities for the viewing of an art object shall not be regarded as being reasonable access afforded, or the provision of reasonable facilities for viewing, to the public unless— | ||
(i) subject to such temporary removal as is necessary for the purposes of the repair, maintenance or restoration of the object as is reasonable, access to it is afforded and facilities for viewing it are provided for not less than 60 days (including not less than 40 days during the period commencing on the 1st day of May and ending on the 30th day of September) in any year and on each such day such access is afforded and such facilities for viewing are provided in a reasonable manner and at reasonable times for a period, or periods in the aggregate, of not less than 4 hours, and | ||
(ii) such access is afforded and such facilities are provided to the public on the same days and at the same times as access is afforded to the public to the relevant building or the relevant garden, as the case may be, in which the object is kept, and | ||
(iii) the price, if any, paid by the public in return for such access is, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, reasonable in amount and does not operate to preclude the public from seeking access to the object. | ||
(c) Where under paragraph (a) the Revenue Commissioners make a determination in relation to an art object, and reasonable access to the object ceases to be afforded, or reasonable facilities for the viewing of the object cease to be provided, to the public, the Revenue Commissioners may, by notice in writing given to the owner or occupier of the relevant building or relevant garden, as the case may be, in which the object is kept, revoke the determination with effect from the date on which they consider that such access or such facilities for viewing so ceased, and— | ||
(i) this subsection shall cease to apply to the object from that date, and | ||
(ii) for the year of assessment in which this subsection ceases to apply to the object, subsection (3) shall cease to apply to any expense referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection incurred or deemed to have been incurred by the body corporate concerned. | ||
(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, where— | ||
(a) a body corporate incurs an expense solely in, or solely in connection with, or is deemed to incur an expense in connection with, the provision to an individual (being an individual who is employed by the body corporate in an employment to which Chapter III of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , applies, or who is a director (within the meaning of that Chapter) of the body corporate) of a benefit or facility which consists of the loan of an art object of which the body corporate is the beneficial owner, and | ||
(b) the object is kept in a relevant building or a relevant garden, as the case may be, owned or occupied by the individual, | ||
section 96 (2) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall not apply to any such expense and section 117 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall not apply to any such expense for any year of assessment for which a claim in that behalf is made by the individual to the Revenue Commissioners. | ||
(4) (a) Where an individual makes an application under subsection (2), or a claim under subsection (3), an authorised person may, at any reasonable time, enter the relevant building or relevant garden concerned for the purpose of inspecting the art object to which the application or claim relates. | ||
(b) Whenever an authorised person exercises any power conferred on him by this subsection, he shall, on request, produce his authorisation to any person concerned. | ||
(c) Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised person in the course of exercising a power conferred on him by this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £500. | ||
(5) An application under subsection (2) or a claim under subsection (3)— | ||
(a) shall be made in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may from time to time prescribe, and | ||
(b) in the case of a claim under subsection (3), shall be accompanied by such statements in writing as may be required by the prescribed form in relation to the expense in respect of which the claim is made, including statements by the body corporate which incurred the expense. | ||
(6) Section 43 of the Finance Act, 1991 , shall not apply to an object which is an art object. | ||
(7) This section shall apply and have effect for the year of assessment 1994-95 and subsequent years of assessment: | ||
Provided that for any earlier year of assessment (being a year of assessment not earlier than 1982-83) subsection (3) shall apply and have effect, notwithstanding the provisions of section 498 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , where, in relation to an art object, an individual shows to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that reasonable access to the object was afforded, and reasonable facilities for the viewing of the object were provided, to the public on the same days and at the same times as access was afforded to the public to the relevant building or relevant garden, as the case may be, in which the object was kept; and, for the purposes of this proviso, subsection (2) (b) (i) shall have effect as if “30 days” were substituted for “60 days (including not less than 40 days during the period commencing on the 1st day of May and ending on the 30th day of September)”. |