Finance Act , 1996

Type Act

Publication 1996-05-15

State In force

Source Irish Statute Book

articles 143

Provided that the said price shall be reduced by the part of that price which would be attributable to the acquisition of, or of rights in or over, the land on which the building or house is constructed;

“qualifying period” means the period commencing on the 1st day of August, 1996, and ending on the 31st day of July, 1999;

“total floor area” means the total floor area of a house measured in the manner referred to in section 4 (2) (b) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979.

(2) For the purposes of this Chapter references therein to the construction of, conversion into, refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of, any premises shall be construed as including references to the development of the land on which the premises is situated or which is used in the provision of gardens, grounds, access or amenities in relation to the premises and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, as including, in particular—

(a) demolition or dismantling of any building on the land,

(b) site clearance, earth moving, excavation, tunnelling and boring, laying of foundations, erection of scaffolding, site restoration, landscaping and the provision of roadways and other access works,

(d) the construction of any outhouses or other buildings or structures for use by the occupants of the premises or for use in the provision of amenities for the occupants.

66 Deduction for certain expenditure on construction of rented residential accommodation.

66.—(1) In this section—

“qualifying lease”, in relation to a house, means, subject to section 70 (1), a lease of the house the duration of which is not less than 12 months and the consideration for the grant of which consists—

(a) solely of periodic payments all of which are, or fall to be treated as, amounts by way of rent for the purposes of Chapter VI of Part IV of the Income Tax Act, 1967, or

(b) of payments of the kind mentioned in paragraph (a) together with a payment by way of a premium which does not exceed 10 per cent. of the relevant cost of the house;

“qualifying premises” means, subject to subsections (2), (3) (a) and (4) of section 70, a house—

(a) the site of which is on a designated island,

(b) which is used solely as a dwelling,

(i) is not less than 30 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in the case where the house is a separate self-contained flat or maisonette in a building of two or more storeys, or

(ii) is not less than 35 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in any other case,

(d) in respect of which, if it is not a new house (within the meaning of section 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979) provided for sale, there is in force a certificate of reasonable cost, the amount specified in which in respect of the cost of construction of the house to which the certificate relates is not less than the expenditure actually incurred on such construction, and

(e) which, without having been used, is first let in its entirety under a qualifying lease and thereafter throughout the remainder of the relevant period (save for reasonable periods of temporary disuse between the ending of one qualifying lease and the commencement of another such lease) continues to be let under such a lease;

“relevant cost”, in relation to a house, means, subject to subsection (3), an amount equal to the aggregate of—

(a) the expenditure incurred on the acquisition of, or of rights in or over, any land on which the house is constructed, and

(b) the expenditure actually incurred on the construction of the house;

“relevant period”, in relation to a qualifying premises, means the period of 10 years beginning with the date of the first letting of the premises under a qualifying lease.

(2) Where a person, having made a claim in that behalf, proves to have incurred expenditure on the construction of a qualifying premises, such person shall be entitled, in computing, for the purposes of subsection (4) of section 81 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, the amount of a surplus or deficiency in respect of the rent from the said premises, to a deduction of so much (if any) of that expenditure as falls to be treated, under section 70 (5) or any of the provisions of this section, as having been incurred by such person in the qualifying period, and all the provisions of Chapter VI of Part IV of the said Act shall apply as if the said deduction were a deduction authorised by the provisions of subsection (5) of the said section 81:

Provided that, where any premium or other sum which is payable, directly or indirectly, under a qualifying lease, or otherwise under the terms subject to which the lease is granted, to or for the benefit of the lessor or to or for the benefit of any person connected with the lessor, or any part of such premium or sum, is not, or is not treated as, an amount by way of rent for the purposes of the said section 81, the expenditure falling to be treated as having been incurred in the qualifying period on the construction of the qualifying premises to which the qualifying lease relates shall be deemed, for the purposes of this subsection, to be reduced by the lesser of—

(a) the amount of the said premium or sum or, as the case may be, the said part of such premium or sum, and

(b) the amount which bears to the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) the same proportion as the amount of the expenditure actually incurred on the construction of the qualifying premises which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period bears to the whole of the expenditure incurred on the said construction.

(a) of the expenditure incurred on the construction of the said building or buildings, and

(b) of the amount which would be the relevant cost in relation to the said building or buildings if the building or buildings, as the case may be, were a single qualifying premises,

for the purposes of determining the expenditure incurred on the construction of the qualifying premises and the relevant cost in relation to the qualifying premises.

(4) Where a house is a qualifying premises and at any time during the relevant period in relation to the premises either of the following events occurs:

(a) the house ceases to be a qualifying premises, or

(b) the ownership of the lessor's interest in the house passes to any other person but the house does not cease to be a qualifying premises,

then the person who, before the occurrence of the event, received or was entitled to receive a deduction under subsection (2) in respect of expenditure incurred on the construction of the qualifying premises shall be deemed to have received on the day before the day of the occurrence an amount by way of rent from the qualifying premises equal to the amount of the deduction.

(5) (a) Where the event mentioned in subsection (4) (b) occurs in the relevant period in relation to a house which is a qualifying premises, the person to whom the ownership of the lessor's interest in the said house passes shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period an amount of expenditure on the construction of the said house equal to the amount which, under section 70 (5) or any of the provisions of this section, apart from the proviso to subsection (2), the said lessor was treated as having incurred in the qualifying period on the construction of the said house:

Provided that, in the case of a person who purchases such a house, the amount so treated as having been incurred by such person shall not exceed the relevant price paid by such person on the sale.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection and subsection (6), the relevant price paid by a person on the sale of a house shall be the amount which bears to the net price paid by such person on that sale the same proportion as the amount of the expenditure actually incurred on the construction of the house which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period bears to the relevant cost in relation to that house.

(6) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), where expenditure is incurred on the construction of a house and before the house is used it is sold, the person who buys the house shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period expenditure on the construction of the house equal to the amount of such expenditure which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period or the relevant price paid by such person on the sale, whichever is the lower:

Provided that, where the house is sold more than once before it is used, the provisions of this subsection shall have effect only in relation to the last of those sales.

(b) Where expenditure is incurred on the construction of a house by a person carrying on a trade or part of a trade which consists, as to the whole or any part thereof, of the construction of buildings with a view to their sale and the house, before it is used, is sold in the course of that trade or, as the case may be, that part of that trade, the person who buys the house shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period expenditure on the construction of the house equal to the relevant price paid by such person on the said sale (hereafter in this paragraph referred to as “the first sale”) and, in relation to any subsequent sale or sales of the house before the house is used, paragraph (a) shall have effect as if the reference to the amount of expenditure which falls to be treated as having been incurred in the qualifying period were a reference to the said relevant price paid on the first sale.

(7) The provisions of section 70 shall have effect for the purposes of supplementing this section.

67 Rented residential accommodation: deduction for expenditure on conversion.

67.—(1) In this section—

“conversion expenditure” means, subject to subsection (2), expenditure incurred on—

(a) the conversion into a house of a building—

(i) the site of which is on a designated island, and

(ii) which has not been previously in use as a dwelling,

and

(b) the conversion into two or more houses of a building—

(i) the site of which is on a designated island, and

(ii) which, prior to the conversion, had not been in use as a dwelling or had been in use as a single dwelling,

and references in this section and section 70 to “conversion”, “conversion into a house” and “expenditure incurred on conversion” shall be construed accordingly;

(a) solely of periodic payments all of which are, or fall to be treated as, amounts by way of rent for the purposes of Chapter VI of Part IV of the Income Tax Act, 1967, or

(b) of payments of the kind mentioned in paragraph (a) together with a payment by way of a premium which does not exceed 10 per cent. of the market value of the house at the time the conversion is completed:

Provided that, in the case of a house which is part of a building and which is not saleable apart from the building of which it is a part, the market value of the house at the time the conversion is completed shall, for the purposes of paragraph (b), be taken to be an amount which bears to the market value of the building at that time the same proportion as the total floor area of the house bears to the total floor area of the building;

“qualifying premises” means, subject to subsections (2), (3) (b) and (4) of section 70, a house—

(a) which is used solely as a dwelling,

(b) the total floor area of which—

(i) is not less than 30 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in the case where the house is a separate self-contained flat or maisonette in a building of two or more storeys, or

(ii) is not less than 35 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in any other case,

(c) in respect of which there is in force a certificate of reasonable cost the amount specified in which in respect of the cost of conversion in relation to the house to which the certificate relates is not less than the expenditure actually incurred on such conversion, and

(d) which, without having been used subsequent to the incurring of the expenditure on the conversion, is first let in its entirety under a qualifying lease and thereafter throughout the remainder of the relevant period (save for reasonable periods of temporary disuse between the ending of one qualifying lease and the commencement of another such lease) continues to be let under such a lease;

“relevant period”, in relation to a qualifying premises, means the period of 10 years beginning with the date of the first letting of the premises under a qualifying lease.

(2) For the purposes of this section, expenditure incurred on conversion of a building shall be deemed to include expenditure incurred, in the course of the conversion, on either or both the following, that is to say:

(a) the carrying out of works of construction, reconstruction, repair or renewal, and

(b) the provision or improvement of water, sewerage or heating facilities,

in relation to the building or any outoffice appurtenant thereto or usually enjoyed therewith, but shall not be deemed to include—

(i) any expenditure in respect of which any person is entitled to a deduction, relief or allowance under any other provision of the Tax Acts, or

(ii) any expenditure attributable to any part (hereafter in this section referred to as a “non-residential unit”) of the building which, upon completion of the conversion, is not a house.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (ii) of subsection (2), where expenditure is attributable to a building in general and not directly to any particular house or non-residential unit comprised in the building upon completion of the conversion, then such an amount of that expenditure shall be deemed to be attributable to a non-residential unit as bears to the whole of that expenditure the same proportion as the total floor area of the non-residential unit bears to the total floor area of the building.

(4) Where a person, having made a claim in that behalf, proves to have incurred conversion expenditure in relation to a house which is a qualifying premises, such person shall be entitled, in computing, for the purposes of section (4) of section 81 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, the amount of a surplus or deficiency in respect of the rent from the said premises, to a deduction of so much (if any) of the expenditure as falls to be treated, under section 70 (5) or any of the provisions of this section, as having been incurred by such person in the qualifying period and all the provisions of Chapter VI of Part IV of the said Act shall apply as if the said deduction were a deduction authorised by the provisions of subsection (5) of the said section 81:

Provided that, where any premium or other sum which is payable, directly or indirectly, under a qualifying lease, or otherwise under the terms subject to which the lease is granted, to or for the benefit of the lessor or to or for the benefit of any person connected with the lessor, or any part of such premium or sum, is not, or is not treated as, an amount by way of rent for the purposes of the said section 81, the conversion expenditure falling to be treated as having been incurred in the qualifying period in relation to the qualifying premises to which the qualifying lease relates shall be deemed, for the purposes of this subsection, to be reduced by the lesser of—

(a) the amount of the said premium or sum or, as the case may be, the said part of such premium or sum, and

(b) the amount which bears to the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) the same proportion as the amount of the conversion expenditure actually incurred in relation to the qualifying premises which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period bears to the whole of the conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the qualifying premises.

(5) Where a qualifying premises forms part of a building or is one of a number of buildings in a single development, or forms part of a building which is itself one of a number of buildings in a single development, there shall be made such apportionment as is necessary of the expenditure incurred on the conversion of the said building or buildings for the purposes of determining the conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the qualifying premises.

(6) Where a house is a qualifying premises and at any time during the relevant period in relation to the premises either of the following events occurs:

(a) the house ceases to be a qualifying premises, or

(b) the ownership of the lessor's interest in the house passes to any other person but the house does not cease to be a qualifying premises,

then the person who, before the occurrence of the event, received or was entitled to receive a deduction under subsection (4) in respect of conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the qualifying premises shall be deemed to have received on the day before the day of the occurrence an amount by way of rent from the qualifying premises equal to the amount of the deduction.

(7) Where the event mentioned in subsection (6) (b) occurs in the relevant period in relation to a house which is a qualifying premises, the person to whom the ownership of the lessor's interest in the said house passes shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period an amount of conversion expenditure in relation to the said house equal to the amount of the conversion expenditure which, under section 70 (5) or any of the provisions of this section, apart from the proviso to subsection (4), the said lessor was treated as having incurred in the qualifying period in relation to the said house:

Provided that, in the case of a person who purchases such a house, the amount so treated as having been incurred by such person shall not exceed—

(a) the net price paid by such person on the sale, or

(b) in case only a part of the conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the house falls to be treated, under section 70 (5), as having been incurred in the qualifying period, the amount which bears to the said net price the same proportion as that part bears to the whole of the conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the house.

(8) Where conversion expenditure is incurred in relation to a house and before the house is used subsequent to the incurring of that expenditure it is sold, the person who buys the house shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period conversion expenditure in relation to the house equal to—

(a) the amount of such expenditure which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period, or

(b) (i) the net price paid by such person on the sale, or

(ii) in case only a part of the conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the house falls to be treated, under section 70 (5), as having been incurred in the qualifying period, the amount which bears to the said net price the same proportion as that part bears to the whole of the conversion expenditure incurred in relation to the house,

whichever is the lower:

Provided that, where the house is sold more than once before it is used subsequent to the incurring of the conversion expenditure in relation to the house, the provisions of this subsection shall have effect only in relation to the last of those sales.

(9) This section shall not apply in the case of a conversion unless planning permission in respect of the conversion has been granted under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts, 1963 to 1993.

(10) The provisions of section 70 shall have effect for the purposes of supplementing this section.

68 Rented residential accommodation: deduction for expenditure on refurbishment.

68.—(1) In this section—

(a) solely of periodic payments all of which are, or fall to be treated as, amounts by way of rent for the purposes of Chapter VI of Part IV of the Income Tax Act, 1967, or

(b) of payments of the kind mentioned in paragraph (a) together with a payment by way of a premium—

(i) which is payable on or subsequent to the date of the completion of the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates or which, if payable before that date, is so payable by reason of, or otherwise in connection with, the carrying out of the refurbishment, and

(ii) which does not exceed 10 per cent. of the market value of the house on the date of completion of the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates:

Provided that, in the case of a house which is part of a building and which is not saleable apart from the building of which it is a part, the market value of the house on that date shall, for the purposes of paragraph (b), be taken to be an amount which bears to the market value of the building on that date the same proportion as the total floor area of the house bears to the total floor area of the building;

“qualifying premises” means, subject to subsections (2), (3) (b) and (4) of section 70, a house—

(a) which is used solely as a dwelling,

(b) the total floor area of which—

(i) is not less than 30 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in the case where the house is a separate self-contained flat or maisonette in a building of two or more storeys, or

(ii) is not less than 35 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in any other case,

(c) in respect of which there is in force a certificate of reasonable cost the amount specified in which in respect of the cost of refurbishment in relation to the house to which the certificate relates is not less than the relevant expenditure actually incurred on such refurbishment, and

(d) which, on the date of completion of the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates, is let (or, if it is not let on that date, is, without having been used after that date, first let) in its entirety under a qualifying lease and thereafter throughout the remainder of the relevant period (save for reasonable periods of temporary disuse between the ending of one qualifying lease and the commencement of another such lease) continues to be let under such a lease;

“refurbishment”, in relation to a building, means either or both of the following, that is to say:

(a) the carrying out of any works of construction, reconstruction, repair or renewal, and

(b) the provision or improvement of water, sewerage or heating facilities,

where the carrying out of such works, or the provision of such facilities, is certified by the Minister for the Environment, in any certificate of reasonable cost granted by that Minister in relation to any house contained in the building, to have been necessary for the purposes of ensuring the suitability as a dwelling of any house in the building and whether or not the number of houses in the building, or the shape or size of any such house, is altered in the course of such refurbishment;

“relevant expenditure” means expenditure incurred on the refurbishment of a specified building, other than expenditure attributable to any part (hereafter in this section referred to as a “non-residential unit”) of the building which, upon completion of the refurbishment, is not a house; and, for the purposes of this definition, where expenditure is attributable to the specified building in general (and not directly to any particular house or non-residential unit comprised in the building upon completion of the refurbishment) such an amount of that expenditure shall be deemed to be attributable to a non-residential unit as bears to the whole of that expenditure the same proportion as the total floor area of the non-residential unit bears to the total floor area of the building;

“relevant period”, in relation to a qualifying premises, means the period of 10 years beginning with the date of the completion of the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates or, if the premises was not let under a qualifying lease on that date, the period of 10 years beginning with the date of the first such letting after the date of such completion;

“specified building” means a building—

(a) the site of which is on a designated island,

(b) in which, prior to the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates, there are one or more houses, and

(c) which, upon completion of that refurbishment, contains (whether in addition to any non-residential unit or not) one or more houses.

(2) Where a person, having made a claim in that behalf, proves to have incurred relevant expenditure in relation to a house which is a qualifying premises, such person shall be entitled, in computing for the purposes of subsection (4) of section 81 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, the amount of a surplus or deficiency in respect of the rent from the said premises, to a deduction of so much (if any) of the expenditure as falls to be treated, under section 70 (5) or any of the provisions of this section, as having been incurred by such person in the qualifying period and all the provisions of Chapter VI of Part IV of the said Act shall apply as if the said deduction were a deduction authorised by the provisions of subsection (5) of the said section 81:

Provided that, where any premium or other sum which is payable (directly or indirectly), on or subsequent to the date of the completion of the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates (or which, if payable before that date, is so payable by reason of, or otherwise in connection with, the carrying out of the refurbishment), to or for the benefit of the lessor or to or for the benefit of any person connected with the lessor, or any part of such premium or sum, is not, or is not treated as, an amount by way of rent for the purposes of the said section 81, the relevant expenditure falling to be treated as having been incurred in the qualifying period in relation to the qualifying premises to which the qualifying lease relates shall be deemed, for the purposes of this subsection, to be reduced by the lesser of—

(a) the amount of the said premium or sum or, as the case may be, the said part of such premium or sum, and

(b) the amount which bears to the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) the same proportion as the amount of the relevant expenditure actually incurred in relation to the qualifying premises which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period bears to the whole of the relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the qualifying premises.

(3) Where a qualifying premises forms part of a building or is one of a number of buildings in a single development, or forms part of a building which is itself one of a number of buildings in a single development, there shall be made such apportionment as is necessary of the relevant expenditure incurred on the said building or buildings for the purposes of determining the relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the qualifying premises.

(4) Where a house is a qualifying premises and at any time during the relevant period in relation to the premises either of the following events occurs:

(a) the house ceases to be a qualifying premises, or

(b) the ownership of the lessor's interest in the house passes to any other person but the house does not cease to be a qualifying premises,

then the person who, before the occurrence of the event, received or was entitled to receive a deduction under subsection (2) in respect of relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the qualifying premises shall be deemed to have received on the day before the day of the occurrence an amount by way of rent from the qualifying premises equal to the amount of the deduction.

(5) Where the event mentioned in subsection (4) (b) occurs in the relevant period in relation to a house which is a qualifying premises, the person to whom the ownership of the lessor's interest in the said house passes shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period an amount of relevant expenditure in relation to the said house equal to the amount of the relevant expenditure which, under section 70 (5) or any of the provisions of this section, apart from the proviso to subsection (2), the said lessor was treated as having incurred in the qualifying period in relation to the said house:

Provided that, in the case of a person who purchases such a house, the amount so treated as having been incurred by such person shall not exceed—

(a) the net price paid by such person on the sale, or

(b) in case only a part of the relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the house falls to be treated, under section 70 (5), as having been incurred in the qualifying period, the amount which bears to the said net price the same proportion as that part bears to the whole of the relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the house.

(6) Where relevant expenditure is incurred in relation to a house and before the house is used subsequent to the incurring of that expenditure it is sold, the person who buys the house shall be treated, for the purposes of this section, as having incurred in the qualifying period relevant expenditure in relation to the house equal to—

(a) the amount of such expenditure which falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period, or

(b) (i) the net price paid by such person on the sale, or

(ii) in case only a part of the relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the house falls to be treated, under section 70 (5), as having been incurred in the qualifying period, the amount which bears to the said net price the same proportion as that part bears to the whole of the relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the house,

whichever is the lower:

Provided that, where the house is sold more than once before it is used subsequent to the incurring of the relevant expenditure in relation to the house, the provisions of this subsection shall have effect only in relation to the last of those sales.

(7) This section shall not apply in the case of any refurbishment unless planning permission, in so far as it is required, in respect of the work carried out in the course of the refurbishment has been granted under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts, 1963 to 1993.

(8) Expenditure to which a person is entitled to relief under this section shall not include any expenditure in respect of which any person is entitled to a deduction, relief or allowance under any other provision of the Tax Acts.

(9) The provisions of section 70 shall have effect for the purposes of supplementing this section.

69 Residential accommodation: allowance to owner-occupiers in respect of expenditure on construction or refurbishment.

69.—(1) In this section—

“qualifying expenditure”, in relation to an individual, means an amount equal to the amount of the expenditure incurred by the individual on the construction or, as the case may be, refurbishment of a qualifying premises which is a qualifying owner-occupied dwelling in relation to the individual after deducting from that amount of expenditure any sum in respect of or by reference to that expenditure, or in respect of or by reference to the qualifying premises or the construction or, as the case may be, refurbishment work in respect of which it was incurred, which the individual has received, or is entitled to receive, directly or indirectly, from the State, any board established by statute or any public or local authority;

“qualifying owner-occupied dwelling”, in relation to an individual, means a qualifying premises which is first used, after the qualifying expenditure has been incurred, by such an individual as that individual's only or main residence;

“qualifying premises”, in relation to the incurring of qualifying expenditure, means, subject to subsections (3) and (4) (a) of section 70, a house—

(a) the site of which is on a designated island,

(b) which is used solely as a dwelling,

(c) in respect of which, if it is not a new house (within the meaning of section 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979) provided for sale, there is in force a certificate of reasonable cost the amount specified in which in respect of the cost of construction or, as the case may be, refurbishment of the house to which the certificate relates is not less than the expenditure actually incurred on such construction or refurbishment, as the case may be, and

(d) the total floor area of which—

(i) is not less than 30 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in the case where the house is a separate self-contained flat or maisonette in a building of two or more storeys, or

(ii) is not less than 35 square metres and not more than 125 square metres in any other case;

“refurbishment” has the same meaning as in section 68.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where an individual, having made a claim in that behalf, proves to have incurred qualifying expenditure in a year of assessment, the individual shall be entitled, for that year of assessment and for any of the 9 immediately subsequent years of assessment in which the qualifying premises in respect of which the individual incurred the qualifying expenditure is the only or main residence of the individual, to have a deduction made from the individual's total income of an amount equal to 5 per cent. of the amount of that expenditure:

Provided that a deduction shall be given under this section in respect of qualifying expenditure only in so far as that expenditure falls to be treated under section 70 (5) as having been incurred in the qualifying period.

(3) Where qualifying expenditure in relation to a qualifying premises is incurred by two or more persons, they shall be treated as having incurred the expenditure in the proportions in which they actually bore the expenditure and the expenditure shall be apportioned accordingly.

(4) Section 198 (inserted by section 18 of the Finance Act, 1980) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended, in subsection (1) (a), by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (xvi) (inserted by section 7 of the Finance Act, 1995):

“(xvii) so far as it flows from relief under section 69 of the Finance Act, 1996, in the proportion in which they incurred the expenditure giving rise to the relief,”.

(5) The provisions of section 70 shall have effect for the purposes of supplementing this section.

70 Provisions supplementary to sections 66 to 69.

70.—(1) A lease shall not be a qualifying lease for the purposes of section 66, 67 or 68 if the terms of the lease contain any provisions enabling the lessee or any other person, directly or indirectly, at any time to acquire any interest in the house to which the lease relates for a consideration which is less than that which might be expected to be given at that time for the acquisition of the interest if the negotiations for that acquisition were conducted in the open market at arm's length.

(2) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 66, 67 or 68 if it is occupied as a dwelling by any person who is connected with the person who is entitled, in relation to the expenditure incurred on the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, the house, to a deduction under section 66 (2), 67 (4) or 68 (2), as the case may be, and the terms of the qualifying lease in relation to the house are not such as might have been expected to be included in the lease if the negotiations for the lease had been at arm's length.

(3) (a) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 66 or, in so far as it applies to expenditure other than expenditure on refurbishment, section 69 unless it complies with such conditions, if any, as may be determined by the Minister for the Environment from time to time for the purposes of section 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979, in relation to standards of construction of houses and the provision of water, sewerage and other services therein.

(b) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 67 or 68 or, in so far as it applies to expenditure on refurbishment, section 69 unless it complies with such conditions, if any, as may be determined by the Minister for the Environment from time to time for the purposes of section 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979, in relation to standards for improvements of houses and the provision of water, sewerage and other services therein.

(4) (a) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 66, 67, 68 or 69 unless persons authorised in writing by the Minister for the Environment for the purposes of those sections are permitted to inspect it at all reasonable times upon production, if so requested by a person affected, of their authorisations.

(b) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 66, 67 or 68 unless, throughout the period of any qualifying lease related to that premises, the house is used as the sole or main residence of the lessee in relation to that qualifying lease.

(5) (a) For the purposes of determining, in relation to any claim under section 66 (2), 67 (4), 68 (2) or 69 (2), as the case may be, whether and to what extent expenditure incurred on the construction of, conversion into, refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of, a qualifying premises is incurred or not incurred during the qualifying period, only such an amount of that expenditure as is properly attributable to work on the construction of, conversion into, refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of, the premises which was actually carried out during the qualifying period shall be treated as having been incurred during that period.

(b) Where, by virtue of section 65 (2), expenditure on the construction of, conversion into, refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of, a qualifying premises includes expenditure on the development of any land, paragraph (a) shall have effect, with any necessary modifications, as if the references therein to the construction of, conversion into, refurbishment of, or, as the case may be, construction or refurbishment of, the qualifying premises were references to the development of such land.

(6) (a) For the purposes of sections 66 and 67, other than for the purposes mentioned in subsection (5) (a), expenditure incurred on the construction of, or, as the case may be, conversion into, a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the date of the first letting of the premises under a qualifying lease.

(b) For the purposes of section 68, other than for the purposes mentioned in subsection (5) (a), relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the refurbishment of a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the date of the commencement of the relevant period, in relation to the premises, determined as respects the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates.

(c) For the purposes of section 69, other than for the purposes mentioned in subsection (5) (a), expenditure incurred on the construction or refurbishment of a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the earliest date after the expenditure was actually incurred that the premises is in use as a dwelling.

(7) For the purposes of sections 66, 67 and 68, expenditure shall not be regarded as incurred by a person in so far as it has been or is to be met directly or indirectly by the State, by any board established by statute or by any public or local authority.

(8) Paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975, shall have effect as if a deduction under section 66 (2), 67 (4) or 68 (2), as the case may be, were a capital allowance and as if any amount by way of rent deemed to have been received by a person under section 66 (4), 67 (6) or 68 (4), as the case may be, were a balancing charge.

(9) An appeal to the Appeal Commissioners shall lie on any question arising under this section or under section 66, 67, 68 or 69, other than a question on which an appeal lies under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979, in like manner as an appeal would lie against an assessment to income tax or corporation tax and the provisions of the Tax Acts relating to appeals shall apply and have effect accordingly.

PART II Customs & Excise

Chapter I Vehicle Registration Tax

71 Interpretation Chapter I.

71.—In this Chapter “the Act of 1992” means the Finance Act, 1992.

72 Amendment of section 130 (interpretation) of Act of 1992.

72.—Section 130 of the Act of 1992 is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion in the definition of “category A vehicle” (inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1992) after “a category D vehicle,” of “a crew cab, a motor caravan,”,

(b) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “category B vehicle” (inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1992):

“‘category B vehicle’ means a vehicle (other than a category A vehicle, a category D vehicle, a motor-cycle or a listed vehicle) which is not more than 3 tonnes unladen weight and which—

(a) has a roofed area to the rear of the driver's seat the floor of which is less than 2 metres in length when measured in such manner as may be approved by the Commissioners:

Provided that, where a motor vehicle is of not more than 1.3 tonnes unladen weight and the roofed area of the vehicle to the rear of the driver's seat has a load volume of more than 2 cubic metres when measured in such manner as the Commissioners may approve, the vehicle shall not be regarded as a category B vehicle,

(b) is a crew cab, or

“‘crew cab’ means a vehicle which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to be comprised of a cab with seating for a driver and a minimum of three and a maximum of six other persons and a cargo area to the rear of the cab—

(a) the floor of which is not less than 2 metres in length when measured in such manner as may be approved by the Commissioners, and

(b) which is completely separated from the cab by a partition which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to be permanently fixed;”,

and

(d) by the insertion after the definition of “the Minister” of the following:

“‘motor caravan’ means a vehicle which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to be designed, constructed or adapted to provide temporary living accommodation which has an interior height of not less than 1.8 metres when measured in such manner as may be approved by the Commissioners and, in respect of which vehicle, such design, construction or adaptation incorporates the following permanently fitted equipment—

(a) a sink unit,

(b) cooking equipment of not less than a hob with 2 rings or such other cooking equipment as may be prescribed, and

73 Amendment of section 135B (repayment of amounts in respect of vehicle registration tax in certain cases) of Act of 1992.

73.—Section 135B (inserted by section 98 of the Finance Act, 1995) of the Act of 1992 is hereby amended by the insertion of the following proviso to subsection (1):

“Provided that for the purposes of paragraphs (c) and (e) any reference to ‘the person’ may, in the application of those provisions, be construed by the Commissioners as a reference to the person concerned or to that person's spouse.”.

74 Amendment of section 141 (regulations) of Act of 1992.

74.—Section 141 of the Act of 1992 is hereby amended in subsection (2), by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (s) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1995):

“(s) make provision (including the prescription of conditions, restrictions and limitations) in relation to subsections (7), (11) and (15) of section 134 and section 135B,

(t) prescribe permanently fitted equipment for the purposes of the definition of ‘motor caravan’ in section 130.”.

Chapter II Miscellaneous

75 Exemption from duty on certain bets.

75.—(1) (a) The duty on bets to which section 24 of the Finance Act, 1926, relates shall not be charged or levied on bets entered into on or after the commencement of this subsection where such bets—

(i) are entered into—

(I) during a meeting at which a series of greyhound races is held, and

(II) at the place at which such meeting is held,

and

(ii) are in respect of one or more than one event taking place at a place other than at such meeting.

(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) shall not apply to bets entered into by any means of telecommunications.

(2) Subsection (1) shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may, by order, appoint.

76 Reductions of duty on certain gaming machine licences.

76.—Paragraph (aa) (inserted by section 74 (2) of the Finance Act, 1980) of subsection (7) of section 43 of the Finance Act, 1975, shall, as respects the grant of gaming machine licences on or after the 1st day of June, 1996, be amended by the substitution for “£60”, “£120”, “£180” and “£240” (inserted by section 160 (3) (b) of the Finance Act, 1992) of “£25”, “£50”, “£75” and “£100”, respectively.

77 Amendment of section 155 (spirits retailers' on-licences) of Finance Act, 1992.

77.—Section 155 of the Finance Act, 1992, is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the substitution of the following proviso for the proviso to the definition of “excluded business activity”:

“Provided that the provision of entertainment or the sale of snack foods, beverages for consumption on the premises or tobacco products shall be regarded as so related and that the provision of meals shall not be regarded as so related.”.

78 Amendment of section 92 (tax concessions for disabled drivers, etc.) of Finance Act, 1989.

78.—Section 92 (as amended by section 124 of the Finance Act, 1991) of the Finance Act, 1989, is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the substitution in paragraph (ii) of “10 per cent.” for “20 per cent.”.

79 Hydrocarbons and substitute motor fuel.

79.—(1) In this section—

“the Act of 1994” means the Finance Act, 1994;

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

(2) The duty of excise on mineral hydrocarbon light oil imposed by paragraph 11 (1) of the Order of 1975, shall, in lieu of the rate specified in section 84 (1) of the Act of 1994, be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 24th day of January, 1996, at the rate of £307.65 per 1,000 litres.

(3) For the purposes of the rebate of duty on mineral hydrocarbon light oil provided for in section 56 (3) of the Finance Act, 1988, section 89 of the Finance Act, 1990, shall apply as on and from the 24th day of January, 1996, as if the reference therein to section 40 (1) of the Finance Act, 1989, which, by virtue of section 84 (2) of the Act of 1994, is construed as a reference to section 84 (1) of the Act of 1994, were instead a reference to subsection (2) of this section.

(4) The duty of excise on hydrocarbon oil imposed by paragraph 12 (1) of the Order of 1975, shall, in lieu of the rate specified in section 84 (3) of the Act of 1994, be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 24th day of January, 1996, at the rate of £243.75 per 1,000 litres.

(5) The duty of excise on substitute motor fuel imposed by section 116 (2) of the Finance Act, 1995, shall, in lieu of the rate specified in the said section 116 (2), be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 24th day of January, 1996, at the rate of £243.75 per 1,000 litres.

(6) With effect from the 1st day of July, 1996, section 42 (2) of the Finance Act, 1976, is hereby amended by the substitution of “£14.30 per 1,000 litres” for “£0.085 per gallon” (inserted by section 150 (3) of the Finance Act, 1992).

80 Amendment of section 56 (hydrocarbons) of Finance Act, 1988.

80.—(1) Section 56 of the Finance Act, 1988, is hereby amended in subsection (3)—

(a) by the insertion in paragraph (b) of “, has a research octane number of 95.4 or less” after “paragraph (a)”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b):

“(c) In paragraph (b) ‘research octane number’ means the research octane number measured in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials method D2699-94 or other equivalent method.”.

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

81 Amendment of section 74 (deferment of duty on beer) of Finance Act, 1993.

81.—Section 74 of the Finance Act, 1993, is hereby amended in paragraphs (a) and (b) by the substitution of “payable” for “charged” in both places where it occurs.

82 Spirits.

82.—(1) In the Second Schedule “alcohol” means pure ethyl alcohol.

(2) 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 1st day of July, 1996, at the several rates specified in the Second Schedule in lieu of the rate specified in the said paragraph 4 (2) as amended by section 81 (2) of the Finance Act, 1994.

83 Tobacco products.

83.—(1) In this section and in the Third Schedule—

“the Act of 1977” means the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977;

“cigarettes”, “cigars”, “fine-cut tobacco for the rolling of cigarettes” and “other smoking tobacco” have the same meanings as they have in the Act of 1977, as amended by the Imposition of Duties (No. 243) (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 296 of 1979), and by Regulations 26 and 29 of the European Communities (Customs and Excise) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. No. 394 of 1992).

(2) The duty of excise on tobacco products imposed by section 2 of the Act of 1977, shall, in lieu of the several rates specified in the Seventh Schedule to the Finance Act, 1995, be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 24th day of January, 1996, at the several rates specified in the Third Schedule.

84 Amendment of section 7 (ascertainment of retail prices of tobacco products) of Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977.

84.—Section 7 of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977, is hereby amended in subsection (3) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) A person shall not invite an offer to treat, offer for sale or sell by retail any packet of cigarettes at a price which is higher than—

(i) in the case of cigarettes sold or to be sold by means of a coin-operated vending machine, the nearest multiple of five pence to the price, or

(ii) in all other cases, the price,

being the price on the basis of which that part of the excise duty imposed by section 2 of this Act which is chargeable by reference to the price at which the cigarettes are sold by retail has been charged on the cigarettes in question and any person who so invites, offers or sells shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to an excise penalty of £50 in respect of each such offence.”.

85 Amendment of section 10A (offences in relation to tax stamps) of Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977.

85.—Section 10A (inserted by the Finance Act, 1994) of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977, is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1) (as amended by the Finance Act, 1995) by the substitution for “any person who offers for sale or delivery, where such sale or delivery does not take place under a duty-suspension arrangement, in the State relevant tobacco products otherwise than in a pack or packs to which a tax stamp, on which duty at the appropriate amount has been paid, is affixed in the prescribed manner shall be guilty of an offence” of “any person who in the State invites an offer to treat for, offers for sale, sells or delivers or is in the process of delivering relevant tobacco products otherwise than in a pack or packs to which a tax stamp, on which duty at the appropriate amount has been paid in respect of the tobacco products contained therein, is affixed to each such pack in the prescribed manner shall be guilty of an offence unless such an invitation, offer, sale or delivery takes place under a duty-suspension arrangement,”, and

(b) in subsection (2), by the insertion after “shall be guilty of an offence” of “and the stamp shall be liable to forfeiture”.

86 Amendment of Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952.

86.—The Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952, shall as respects licences taken out for periods beginning on or after the 1st day of October, 1996, be amended in Part I of the Schedule thereto by the substitution of the following clause (vii) of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 5 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1992):

“(vii) exceeding 8,000 kilograms but not exceeding 20,000 kilograms	£580 plus £135 for each 1,000 kilograms or part thereof in excess of 8,000 kilograms
(viii) exceeding 20,000 kilograms	£2,350.”.

PART III Value-Added Tax

87 Interpretation (Part III).

87.—In this Part—

“the Principal Act” means the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972;

“the Act of 1978” means the Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 1978;

“the Act of 1992” means the Finance Act, 1992;

“the Act of 1993” means the Finance Act, 1993;

“the Act of 1995” means the Finance Act, 1995.

88 Amendment of section 1 (interpretation) of Principal Act.

88.—Section 1 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1)—

(a) by the insertion after the definition of “Community” of the following definitions:

“‘contractor’, in relation to contract work, means a person who makes or assembles movable goods;

‘contract work’ means the service of handing over by a contractor to another person of movable goods made or assembled by the contractor from goods entrusted to the contractor by that other person, whether or not the contractor has provided any part of the goods used;”,

(b) by the substitution in the definition of “goods” of “used” for “second-hand”, and

89 Amendment of section 3 (supply of goods) of Principal Act.

89.—Section 3 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (aa) (inserted by the Act of 1995):

“(aa) the sale of movable goods pursuant to a contract under which commission is payable on purchase or sale by an agent or auctioneer who concludes agreements in such agent's or auctioneer's own name but on the instructions of, and for the account of, another person,”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) the handing over by a person (in this paragraph referred to as the developer) to another person of immovable goods which have been developed from goods entrusted to the developer by that other person for the purpose of such development, whether or not the developer has supplied any part of the goods used,”,

and

(iii) in paragraph (g)—

(I) by the deletion of subparagraph (iii), and

(II) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (iiia):

“(iiia) the transfer of goods for the purpose of having a service carried out on them:

Provided that the goods which were so transferred by the person are, after being worked upon, returned to that person in the State,”,

(b) by the deletion of subsection (3) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1982), and

“(4) Where an agent or auctioneer makes a sale of goods in accordance with paragraph (aa) of subsection (1) the transfer of those goods to that agent or auctioneer shall be deemed to be a supply of goods to the agent or auctioneer at the time that that agent or auctioneer makes that sale.”.

90 Amendment of section 5 (supply of services) of Principal Act.

90.—Section 5 (inserted by the Act of 1978) of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in paragraph (c) of subsection (6)—

(i) by the insertion in subparagraph (iii) after “movable goods” of “except where the provisions of subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (f) apply”, and

(ii) by the insertion in subparagraph (iv) after “movable goods” of “, including contract work, except where the provisions of subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (f) apply”,

and

(b) in paragraph (f) of subsection (6), by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iii):

“(iv) valuation of or work on movable goods, including contract work, in cases where the goods are dispatched or transported out of the Member State where the valuation or work was physically carried out.”.

91 Amendment of section 10B (special scheme for auctioneers) of Principal Act.

91.—Section 10B (inserted by the Act of 1995) of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (9) by the substitution of “auction scheme goods” for “tangible movable goods”.

92 Amendment of section 11 (rates of tax) of Principal Act.

92.—Section 11 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1992) by the substitution in paragraph (f) of “2.8 per cent.” for “2.5 per cent.” (inserted by the Act of 1993), and

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

“(1AB) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the rate at which tax is chargeable on a supply of contract work shall be the rate that would be chargeable if that supply of services were a supply of the goods being handed over by the contractor to the person to whom that supply is made:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a supply of contract work in the circumstances specified in paragraph (xvi) of the Second Schedule.”.

93 Amendment of section 12 (deductions for tax borne or paid) of Principal Act.

93.—Section 12 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (i):

“(ia) the amount in respect of tax indicated separately on a document issued during the period in accordance with section 17(1AA) in respect of a supply of goods to him.”,

and

(b) in paragraph (a) of subsection (3) by the deletion of “or” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1987) at the end of subparagraph (iii) and by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iv):

“(iva) the procurement of a supply of contract work where such supply consists of the handing over of goods to which this paragraph applies.”.

94 Amendment of section 12A (special provisions for tax invoiced by flat-rate farmers) of Principal Act.

94.—Section 12A (inserted by the Act of 1978) of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the substitution of “2.8 per cent.” for “2.5 per cent.” (inserted by the Act of 1993).

95 Amendment of section 13A (supplies to, and intra-Community acquisitions and imports by, certain taxable persons) of Principal Act.

95.—Section 13A (inserted by the Act of 1993) of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the insertion after “Second Schedule” in the definition of “qualifying person” of “, supplies of contract work where the place of supply is deemed to be a Member State other than the State and supplies of contract work made in accordance with paragraph (xvi) of the Second Schedule”.

96 Amendment of section 15 (charge of tax on imported goods) of Principal Act.

96.—Section 15 (inserted by the Act of 1978) of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (3) by the insertion after “duties” of “, expenses resulting from the transport of the goods to another place of destination within the Community, if that destination is known at the time of the importation,”.

97 Amendment of section 17 (invoices) of Principal Act.

97.—Section 17 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the addition of the following proviso to subsection (1):

“Provided that, where goods are supplied in accordance with the terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 3, and the ownership of those goods is transferred to a person supplying, in respect of those goods, financial services of the kind specified in subparagraph (e) of paragraph (i) of the First Schedule, the taxable person making the supply of the goods in question shall issue the invoice to the person supplying the said financial services in lieu of the taxable person to whom the supply of the goods is made and that invoice shall include the name and address of the person supplying those financial services.”,

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

“(1AA) Where the proviso to subsection (1) applies, the person supplying the financial services in question shall issue a document to the person to whom the supply of goods is made and shall indicate thereon—

(a) the amount which is set out in respect of tax on the invoice issued to the person supplying the financial services in accordance with the said proviso in respect of that supply of goods, and

(b) such other particulars as are specified by regulations in respect of an invoice issued in accordance with subsection (1).

(1AB) Where any person issues a document for the purposes of subsection (1AA) that person shall, in respect of the document, be treated as a taxable person for the purposes of sections 16 and 18.”,

“(3AB) Where any person supplying financial services receives a credit note issued under the terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) in respect of a supply of goods to which the proviso to subsection (1) applies, that person shall, within seven days of receipt of such credit note, issue to the person to whom the goods in question were supplied, a document corresponding to that credit note indicating such particulars as are specified by regulations in respect of the issue of such credit notes, and the amount which the taxable person to whom the goods were supplied may deduct under section 12 in respect of that supply shall be reduced by the amount in respect of tax shown in the document.”,

(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5):

“(5A) If any person issues a document for the purposes of subsection (1AA) in relation to a supply of goods indicating a greater amount in respect of tax than the amount of tax invoiced in accordance with the proviso to subsection (1) in relation to that supply, that person shall, in relation to that excess, be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be a taxable person and a person to whom subsection (5) applies, and that excess shall be deemed to be tax.”,

and

(e) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (7):

“(7A) A document required to be issued in accordance with subsection (1AA) shall be issued within twenty-two days next following the month of supply of the goods.”.

98 Amendment of Second Schedule to Principal Act.

98.—The Second Schedule (inserted by the Finance Act of 1976) to the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the deletion in paragraph (iii) (as amended by the Act of 1992) after “goods to” of “or from”,

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (xvi) (inserted by the Act of 1992):

“(xvi) the supply of services consisting of work on movable goods acquired or imported for the purpose of undergoing such work within the Community and dispatched or transported out of the Community by or on behalf of the person providing the services”,

and

“(xvia) the supply of transport services relating to the importation of goods where the value of such services is included in the taxable amount in accordance with section 15 (3);”.

99 Amendment of Sixth Schedule to Principal Act.

99.—The Sixth Schedule (inserted by the Act of 1992) to the Principal Act is hereby amended in subparagraph (b) of paragraph (xviii) by the insertion after “other than” of “contract work or”.

100 Revocation (Part III).

100.—The European Communities (Value-Added Tax) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 363 of 1995), shall be deemed to have been revoked with effect from the 1st day of January, 1996.

PART IV Stamp Duties

Chapter I Special provisions relating to uncertificated securities

101 Interpretation (Chapter I).

101.—(1) (a) In this Chapter—

“the Act of 1891” means the Stamp Act, 1891;

“certificated securities” means securities other than uncertificated securities;

“Commissioners” means the Revenue Commissioners;

“market maker” means a person who—

(i) holds himself or herself out at all normal times in compliance with the rules of the Irish Stock Exchange Limited or the London Stock Exchange Limited as willing to buy and sell securities at a price specified by him or her, and

(ii) is recognised as doing so by the Irish Stock Exchange Limited or the London Stock Exchange Limited;

“member firm” means a member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange Limited, or of the London Stock Exchange Limited, which is not acting in the ordinary course of business as a market maker in securities of the kind concerned;

“relevant period” means the period between the 1st day of September, 1996, and the 31st day of March, 1997, or any subsequent period of 6 months ending on the 30th day of September or the 31st day of March;

“securities” means any stocks or marketable securities;

“the Stamp Acts” means the Stamp Act, 1891, and every other enactment relating to stamp duty;

“uncertificated securities” means any securities, title to which is, by virtue of the Companies Act, 1990 (Uncertificated Securities) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 68 of 1996), transferable by means of a relevant system.

(b) In this Chapter, “generate”, “instruction”, “operator”, “operator-instruction”, “relevant system” and “system-member” have the same meanings, respectively, as they have in the Companies Act, 1990 (Uncertificated Securities) Regulations, 1996.

(2) This Chapter applies in relation to instruments executed on or after the 1st day of September, 1996.

102 Operator-instruction deemed to be an instrument of conveyance or transfer.

102.—(1) Where a transfer of title to securities through a relevant system is effected by an operator-instruction, that operator-instruction shall, for all purposes of the Stamp Acts, be deemed to be an executed instrument of conveyance or transfer of such securities and the date of execution shall be taken to be the date the operator-instruction is generated.

(2) Where an operator-instruction is generated in connection with the transfer through a relevant system of an equitable interest in securities, that transfer shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (1) to have been effected by that operator-instruction.

(3) Where no operator-instruction is generated in connection with the transfer through a relevant system of an equitable interest in securities, that transfer shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, be deemed to have been effected by an operator-instruction generated on the date of the transfer.

103 Rate of duty.

103.—Where an operator-instruction is, by virtue of the provisions of section 102, chargeable with stamp duty under or by reference to the Heading “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER on sale of any stocks or marketable securities” in the First Schedule to the Act of 1891, the rate at which the duty is charged under that Heading shall be the rate of 1 per cent. of the consideration for the sale to which that operator-instruction gives effect:

Provided that—

(a) where the transfer operates as a voluntary disposition intervivos, the reference in this section to the amount or value of the consideration for the sale shall, in relation to the duty so chargeable, be construed as a reference to the value of the securities transferred,

(b) where the calculation results in an amount which is not a multiple of one penny, the amount so calculated shall be rounded to the nearest penny, and any half of a penny shall be rounded up to the next whole penny.

104 Application and adaptation of Stamp Acts.

104.—In relation to a charge for stamp duty arising by virtue of section 102—

(a) the definition of “accountable person” in subsection (1) of section 122 of the Act of 1891 shall be construed as if the reference, in the Table to that definition, to the vendee or transferee were a reference to the transferee,

(b) notwithstanding section 1 (3) of the Act of 1891 the operator-instruction which is charged to stamp duty by virtue of section 102 shall not be required to be stamped and, accordingly—

(i) any duty so charged shall be due and payable and shall be paid to the Commissioners on the date on which that operator-instruction is generated, and

(ii) that operator-instruction shall for the purposes of section 1 (4) of that Act and notwithstanding section 74 (2) of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, be deemed to be duly stamped with the proper stamp duty when such duty and any penalty relating to such duty has been paid to the Commissioners:

Provided that, where an agreement referred to in section 105 is in force between the Commissioners and an operator, any duty paid in respect of that operator-instruction in accordance with such agreement shall be deemed to have been paid to the Commissioners on the date on which it became due and payable,

(c) subject to paragraph (d), section 15 of the Act of 1891 shall apply with the modification that the penalties imposed for not duly stamping the operator-instruction, which is charged to stamp duty by virtue of section 102 within a particular period of the date of first execution, shall be imposed for non-payment of the stamp duty within that period, and with any other necessary modifications,

(d) sections 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15 (4) and 17 of the Act of 1891 shall not apply,

(e) (i) if at any time it appears that for any reason no duty, or insufficient duty, has been paid to the Commissioners, they shall make an assessment of such amount of duty or additional duty as, to the best of their knowledge, information and belief, ought to be charged, levied and paid and the accountable person shall be liable for the payment of the duty so assessed,

(ii) if at any time it appears that for any reason an assessment is incorrect, the Commissioners shall make such other assessment as they consider appropriate, which assessment shall be substituted for the first-mentioned assessment,

(iii) section 13 of the Act of 1891 shall apply to an assessment under this paragraph as if it were an assessment mentioned in that section,

(f) any reliefs or exemptions from stamp duty which are conditional on an instrument being stamped in accordance with section 12 of the Act of 1891 with a particular stamp denoting either that it is not chargeable with any duty or that it is duly stamped shall apply notwithstanding such condition not having been complied with.

105 Collection and payment of duty.

105.—The Commissioners may enter into an agreement with an operator, in such form and on such terms and conditions as they think fit, in relation to the collection of stamp duty and the payment of such duty to the Commissioners.

106 Exemptions.

106.—(1) Section 102 shall not apply or have effect—

(a) to the extent that it would give rise to a charge to stamp duty under any of the following Headings in the First Schedule to the Act of 1891—

(i) “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER of any kind not hereinbefore described.”,

(ii) “DEED of any kind whatsoever, not described in this schedule.”, or

(iii) “MARKETABLE SECURITY.”,

(b) in respect of a transfer of title to securities to a purchaser in completion of a contract for sale to the extent to which the interest transferred has, subsequent to that transfer, been re-transferred in completion of a separate contract for sale made by that purchaser prior to that transfer to that purchaser:

Provided that both contracts were due for completion on the same day and are in fact completed within 25 days after the making of whichever of those contracts was earlier in priority.

(2) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable under or by reference to any Heading in the First Schedule to the Act of 1891 other than the Heading “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER on sale of any stocks or marketable securities” on an instrument effecting a transfer of securities if the transferee is a system-member and the instrument is in a form which will, in accordance with the rules of the system, enable certificated securities to be converted into uncertificated securities so that title to them may become transferable by means of the relevant system.

(3) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any instrument of transfer whereby any securities upon the sale thereof are transferred to a market maker acting in the ordinary course of business as a market maker in securities of the kind concerned or to a person acting as nominee of such market maker.

107 Relief for member firms.

107.—(1) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on any instrument of transfer whereby any securities upon the sale thereof are transferred to a member firm acting on its own behalf in the ordinary course of that member firm's business or to a nominee of such member firm:

Provided that if and to the extent that the member firm does not transfer those securities to a bona fide purchaser before the expiration of the period of one month from the date of the transfer, hereinafter in this section referred to as “the specified period”, the member firm shall pay to the Commissioners within 14 days after the expiration of the specified period the amount of ad valorem duty which would have been chargeable on the transfer if this section had not been enacted.

(2) If any member firm fails to pay any sum due to the Commissioners under the proviso to subsection (1), that sum, together with interest thereon at the rate of 1.25 per cent. per month or part of a month from the first day after the expiration of the specified period to the date of payment of that sum and, by way of further penalty, a sum equal to 1 per cent. of the duty for each day the duty remains unpaid, shall be recoverable from the member firm as a debt due to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund.

(3) Where the provisions of subsection (1) apply in relation to a transfer of securities to a member firm, the member firm shall within 30 days of the end of the relevant period within which the transfer is made deliver to the Commissioners a statement in writing or in such other manner as the Commissioners may agree to in writing—

(a) showing in respect of each such transfer—

(i) full details in relation to the type, nominal value, description and amount of the securities comprised in the transfer;

(ii) what part, if any, of the securities comprised in the transfer has been transferred by the member firm to a bona fide purchaser within the specified period and what part of the securities has not been so transferred;

(iii) the date of the transfer and, if any part of the securities has been transferred to a bona fide purchaser within the specified period, the date on which that part was so transferred;

(iv) the amount of stamp duty (if any) payable by virtue of the proviso to subsection (1) and the date of payment;

(b) certifying in respect of each such transfer that—

(i) the member firm was acting on its own behalf in the ordinary course of that member firm's business, and

(ii) any securities transferred in respect of which the stamp duty has not been paid were transferred on sale to a bona fide purchaser within the period of one month after the date of the transfer,

and shall produce such further evidence by way of statutory declaration or otherwise in relation to the matters aforesaid as the Commissioners require.

(4) A member firm which fails to deliver a statement within the period specified in subsection (3), shall be liable to a fine of £1,000.

(5) Section 42 of the Finance Act, 1920, section 35 of the Finance Act, 1935, and section 32 of the Finance Act, 1961, are hereby repealed.

108 Obligations of system-members.

108.—(1) Where an instruction is entered or is caused to be entered in a relevant system by a system-member, and the effect of that instruction is that no stamp duty is calculated by the relevant system, that system-member shall retain evidence in legible written form, or readily convertible into such a form, for a period of 3 years from the date of such instruction, in sufficient detail to establish that the related operator-instruction is not chargeable with stamp duty, and the system-member shall make any such evidence available to the Commissioners upon request.

(2) A system-member who fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) shall be liable to a fine of £1,000.

(3) Where a system-member fraudulently or negligently enters or causes to be entered an incorrect instruction in a relevant system and such incorrect instruction gives rise to an underpayment of stamp duty, or results in a claim for exemption from duty to which there is no entitlement, that system-member shall incur a fine of £1,000 together with the amount, or twice the amount in the case of fraud, of the difference between the duty so paid, if any, and the duty which would have been payable if the instruction had been entered correctly:

Provided that a system-member shall be deemed to have acted negligently for the purposes of subsection (3) if it comes to the system-member's notice, or it would have come to the system-member's notice if the system-member had taken reasonable care, that an incorrect instruction has resulted in an underpayment of stamp duty, unless the system-member notifies the Commissioners accordingly, in writing, without unreasonable delay.

(4) An incorrect instruction to which subsection (3) applies shall be deemed to be the production of an incorrect document for the purposes of section 94 (2) (d) of the Finance Act, 1983.

109 Overpayment of duty.

109.—(1) Where on a claim it is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that there has been an overpayment of duty in relation to a charge to duty by virtue of section 102, the overpayment shall be repaid.

(2) A claim under this section shall—

(a) be made within a period of 6 years beginning on the date on which the payment was made,

(b) set out the grounds on which the repayment is claimed,

(d) if so required by the Commissioners, be supported by such documentation as may be necessary to prove the entitlement to a repayment of the amount claimed, and

(e) if the claim arises by virtue of the operation of section 106 (1) (b)—

(i) it shall be made on a form prescribed by the Commissioners, and

(ii) it shall not be made to the Commissioners before the 21st day of the month following the month in which the overpayment of duty arose.

(3) Where the claimant is not resident in the State and has no branch or agency in the State the Commissioners may require the claimant, as a condition for obtaining a repayment, to appoint and maintain a tax representative in the State who shall be personally liable to the Commissioners for any loss of duty arising out of an incorrect claim.

(4) A person shall not be a tax representative under this section unless that person—

(a) has a business establishment in the State, and

(b) is approved by the Commissioners.

110 Regulations.

110.—(1) The Commissioners may make such regulations as seem to them to be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to this Chapter and of enabling them to discharge their functions in relation to administration, assessment, collection, recovery and repayment thereunder.

(2) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

111 Amendment of section 150 (stock borrowing) of Finance Act, 1995.

111.—Section 150 of the Finance Act, 1995, is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the insertion of the following definition before the definition of “equivalent stock”:

“‘collateral stock’, in relation to a stock borrowing, means stock which is transferred to the lender by way of security for the performance of the undertaking referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘stock borrowing’;”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “stock borrower”:

“‘stock borrower’ means a member firm or a market maker within the meaning of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 101 of the Finance Act, 1996, or a nominee of such member firm or market maker;”,

and

(iii) by the substitution of the words “broker and dealer or market maker” for the words “broker or dealer” in paragraph (a) of the definition of “stock borrowing”,

and

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable—

(a) on a stock borrowing or on a stock return, or

(b) on the transfer of collateral stock to the lender.”.

Chapter II Miscellaneous

112 Removal of stamp duty on memorandum and articles of association of company.

112.—(1) The Companies Act, 1963, is hereby amended—

(a) in section 7 by the deletion of the words “, must bear the same stamp as if it were a deed,”, and

(b) in section 14 by the deletion of paragraph (c).

(2) This section shall have effect with respect to instruments executed on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

113 Amendment of section 49 (exemption of certain instruments from stamp duty) of Finance Act, 1969.

113.—(1) Section 49 of the Finance Act, 1969, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2B) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1984):

“(2B) (a) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (2A) of this section, subsection (1) of this section shall have effect in relation to an instrument if, but (apart from the said subsections (2) and (2A)) only if the instrument contains a statement, in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may specify, certifying that—

(i) the instrument gives effect to the purchase of a house upon the erection thereof, and

(ii) on the date of execution of the instrument there exists a valid floor area certificate in respect of the said house.

(b) In this subsection, “floor area certificate” means a certificate issued by the Minister for the Environment certifying that that Minister is satisfied, on the basis of the information available to that Minister at the time of so certifying, that the total floor area of the said house measured in the manner referred to in section 4 (2) (b) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979, does not or will not exceed the maximum total floor area standing specified in regulations under the said section 4 (2) (b) and is not or will not be less than the minimum total floor area standing so specified.

(c) The furnishing of an incorrect statement within the meaning of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be deemed to constitute the delivery of an incorrect statement for the purposes of section 94 of the Finance Act, 1983.”.

(2) This section shall have effect with respect to instruments executed on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

114 Amendment of section 203 (stamp duty in respect of cash cards) of Finance Act, 1992.

114.—As respects cash cards (within the meaning assigned by subsection (1) of section 203 of the Finance Act, 1992), which are—

(a) included in any statement referred to in subsection (2) of the said section 203, and

(b) valid at any time after the 1st day of February, 1996,

subsection (3) of that section is hereby amended by the substitution of “£5” for “£2” where the due date for the delivery of the statement is after the 1st day of February, 1996.

115 Amendment of section 207 (exemption from stamp duty of certain financial services instruments) of Finance Act, 1992.

115.—Section 207 of the Finance Act, 1992, is hereby amended in subsection (1)—

(a) by the deletion of the words “, which are dealt in and quoted on a recognised stock exchange,” in the definition of “depositary”, and

(b) by the deletion of the words “which are dealt in and quoted on a recognised stock exchange” in paragraph (a) (i) of the definition of “American depositary receipt”.

116 Amendment of section 144 (relief from stamp duty in the case of reconstructions or amalgamations of companies) of Finance Act, 1995.

116.—Section 144 of the Finance Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) Section 31 of the Finance Act, 1965, shall apply notwithstanding—

(a) that the transferee company referred to in that section is incorporated in another Member State of the European Union, or

(b) that the particular existing company referred to in that section is incorporated outside the State:

Provided that any such company incorporated outside the State corresponds, under the law of the place where it is incorporated, to a transferee company or particular existing company, as the case may be, within the meaning of that section and subject to any necessary modifications for the purpose of so corresponding, all the other provisions of that section are met.”.

117 Exemption from stamp duty of designated body.

117.—(1) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on—

(a) the transfer, sale, or assignment of mortgages by a housing authority to a designated body, or

(b) the transfer of securities issued by a designated body.

(2) In this section “designated body” and “housing authority” have the same meanings, respectively, as they have in subsection (1) of section 1 of the Securitisation (Proceeds of Certain Mortgages) Act, 1995.

(3) Section 15 of the Securitisation (Proceeds of Certain Mortgages) Act, 1995, is hereby repealed.

118 Exemption from stamp duty of Community trade marks and international trade marks.

118.—(1) In this section “Community trade mark” and “international trade mark” have the same meanings, respectively, as they have in section 56 and section 58 of the Trade Marks Act, 1996.

(2) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on an instrument relating to a Community trade mark or an international trade mark, or an application for any such mark, by reason only of the fact that such a mark has legal effect in the State.

119 Repeals (Part IV).

119.—Each enactment mentioned in column (2) of the Fourth Schedule to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule.

PART V Capital Acquisitions Tax

120 Interpretation (Part V).

120.—In this Part “the Principal Act” means the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976.

121 Amendment of section 16 (market value of certain shares in private trading companies) of Principal Act.

121.—As respects gifts and inheritances taken on or after the 28th day of March, 1996, section 16 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (2) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “private company”:

“‘private company’ means a body corporate (wherever incorporated) which—

(a) is under the control of not more than five persons, and

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