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13 1991

FINANCE ACT, 1991

PART III

Value-Added Tax

Interpretation ( Part III ).

76. —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 1985” means the Finance Act, 1985 ;

the Act of 1986” means the Finance Act, 1986 ;

the Act of 1987” means the Finance Act, 1987 .

Amendment of section 1 (interpretation) of Principal Act.

77. —Section 1 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the deletion of the definition of “hotel”.

Amendment of section 7 (waiver of exemption) of Principal Act.

78. —Section 7 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the substitution of “to which paragraph (iv) of the First Schedule relates” for “specified in paragraphs (iv) and (x) of the First Schedule” and of “services to which the said paragraph (iv) relates” for “services specified in the paragraph or paragraphs”.

Amendment of section 8 (accountable persons) of Principal Act.

79. —Section 8 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1978) by the substitution of “subsections (2), (2A) and (8)” for “subsections (2) and (2A)”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (8) (inserted by the Act of 1978):

“(8) (a) Where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that two or more persons established in the State are closely bound by financial, economic and organisational links and that it would be expedient in the interest of efficient administration of the tax to do so then, subject to such conditions as they may impose by regulations, the said Commissioners, for the purpose of this Act, may—

(i) by notice in writing to each of the persons concerned, deem the activities relating to those links to be carried on by any one of the persons, and all transactions by or between such persons shall be deemed, for that purpose, to be transactions by that one person and all rights and obligations under this Act shall be determined accordingly, and

(ii) make each such person jointly and severally liable to comply with all the provisions of this Act and regulations (including the provisions requiring the payment of tax) that apply to each of those persons and subject to the penalties under this Act to which they would be subject if each such person was liable to pay to the Revenue Commissioners the whole of the tax chargeable, apart from regulations under this subsection, in respect of each such person:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply in the case of:

(I) the supply of immovable goods by any such person to any other such person, or

(II) the transfer of ownership of goods specified in section 3 (5) (b) (iii) from any such person to any other such person, except where, apart from the provisions of this subsection, each of the persons whose activities are deemed to be carried on by that one person is a taxable person.

(b) The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing to each of the persons whose activities are, by virtue of a notification issued in accordance with paragraph (a) (i), deemed to be carried on by one of those persons, and as on and from the date specified in the notice (which date shall not be earlier than the date of issue of the notice) cancel the notification under the said paragraph; and as on and from the date specified in the said notice the provisions of the Act and regulations shall apply to all the persons as aforesaid as if a notification under the said paragraph had not been issued, but without prejudice to the liability of any of the persons for tax or penalties in respect of anything done or not done during the period for which the said notification was in force.

(c) The Revenue Commissioners may, for the purpose of this subsection, deem a person engaged in the supply of non-taxable goods or services in the course or furtherance of business to be a taxable person.”.

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

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

(a) in subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1985):

(i) in paragraph (a)—

(I) by the substitution of “21 per cent.” for “23 per cent.” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1990 ), and

(II) by the insertion after “in paragraphs (b)” of “, (bi)”,

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

“(bi) 10 per cent. of the amount on which tax is chargeable in relation to goods or services of a kind specified in the Third Schedule,”,

and

(iii) in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “12.5 per cent.” for “10 per cent.”,

and

(b) in subsection (8), by the substitution in paragraph (a) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1973 ) of “Second, Third or Sixth Schedule” for “Second or Sixth Schedule”.

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

81. —Section 12 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1987) by the insertion of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iii):

“(iiia) the tax charged to him during the period by other taxable persons in respect of services directly related to the transfer of ownership of goods specified in section 3 (5) (b) (iii),”.

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

82. —Section 15 (inserted by the Act of 1978) of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1985) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) on goods of a kind specified in the Third Schedule at the rate specified in section 11 (1) (bi) of the value of the goods,”.

Amendment of section 20 (refund of tax) of Principal Act.

83. —Section 20 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1A) (inserted by the Act of 1986):

“(1A) Where the Revenue Commissioners apply the provisions of section 8 (8) to a number of persons they may defer repayment of all or part of any tax refundable under subsection (1) to any one or more of the said persons prior to the application of those provisions, where any one or more of the said persons have not furnished all returns and remitted all amounts of tax referred to in section 19 (3) at the time of such application.”.

Amendment of section 25 (appeals) of Principal Act.

84. —Section 25 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in subsection (1) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) the treatment of one or more persons as a single taxable person in accordance with section 8 (8),”.

Amendment of First Schedule to Principal Act.

85. —The First Schedule (inserted by the Act of 1978) to the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in paragraph (i) (inserted by the Act of 1987)—

(i) by the insertion in subparagraph (c) after “account” of “and the negotiation of, or any dealings in, payments, transfers, debts, cheques and other negotiable instruments excluding debt collection and factoring”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (g) (inserted by the Act of 1987):

“(g) the management of an undertaking which is—

(I) a collective investment undertaking within the meaning of section 18 of the Finance Act, 1989 , or

(II) administered by the holder of an authorisation granted pursuant to the European Communities (Life Assurance) Regulations, 1984 (S.I. No. 57 of 1984), or by a person who is deemed, pursuant to Article 6 of those Regulations, to be such a holder, the criteria in relation to which are the criteria specified in relation to an arrangement administered by the holder of a licence under the Insurance Act, 1936 , in section 9 (2) of the Unit Trusts Act, 1990 , or

(III) a unit trust scheme established solely for the purpose of superannuation fund schemes or charities, or

(IV) determined by the Minister for Finance to be a collective investment undertaking to which the provisions of this subparagraph apply;”,

(iii) by the deletion of subparagraph (gg) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1989 ), and

(iv) by the substitution in paragraph (ix) (inserted by the Act of 1978) of “(g)” for “(g) or (gg)”,

(b) by the substitution in paragraph (iv) of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (b):

“(b) letting of the kind to which paragraph (vi) of the Third Schedule refers;”,

(c) by the deletion of paragraph (x) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1982 ), and

(d) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (xi):

“(xia) public postal services (including the supply of goods and services incidental thereto) supplied by An Post including postmasters, or by persons licensed in accordance with section 73 or subsection (1) of section 111 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 ;”.

Insertion of Third Schedule in Principal Act.

86. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after the Second Schedule (inserted by the Finance Act, 1976 ) of the following Schedule:

“THIRD SCHEDULE

Goods and Services Chargeable at the Rate Specified in Section 11 (1) (bi)

(i) immovable goods;

(ii) services, other than services specified in paragraph (xiv) of the Sixth Schedule, consisting of the development of immovable goods and the maintenance and repair of immovable goods including the installation of fixtures, where the value of movable goods (if any) provided in pursuance of an agreement in relation to such services does not exceed two-thirds of the total amount on which tax is chargeable in respect of the agreement;

(iii) concrete ready to pour;

(iv) blocks, of concrete, of a kind which comply with the specification contained in the Standard Specification (Concrete Building Blocks) Declaration, 1974 (Irish Standard 20: 1974);

(v) newspapers and periodicals, normally published at least fortnightly, the contents of each issue of which consist, wholly or mainly, as regards the quantity of printed matter contained in them, of information on the principal current events and topics of general public interest;

(vi) letting of the kind to which paragraph (iv) (b) of the First Schedule refers;

(vii) tour guide services;

(viii) the hiring (in this paragraph referred to as ‘the current hiring’) to a person of—

(a) a vehicle designed and constructed, or adapted, for the conveyance of persons by road,

(b) a ship, boat or other vessel designed and constructed for the conveyance of passengers and not exceeding 15 tons gross,

(c) a sports or pleasure craft of any description including a yacht, cabin cruiser, dinghy, canoe, skiff or racing boat, or

(d) a caravan, mobile home, tent or trailer tent,

under an agreement, other than an agreement of the kind referred to in section 3 (1) (b), for any term or part of a term which, when added to the term of any such hiring (whether of the same goods or of other goods of the same kind) to the same person during the period of 12 months ending on the date of the commencement of the current hiring, does not exceed 5 weeks.”.

(2) The Third Schedule (inserted by subsection (1)) to the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in paragraph (ii) by the substitution of “paragraph (xiib) (b) or (xiv)” for “paragraph (xiv)”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (vi):

“(vi) (a) letting of immovable goods—

(I) by a hotel or guesthouse, or by a similar establishment which provides accommodation for visitors or travellers,

(II) in a house, apartment or other similar establishment which is advertised or held out as being holiday accommodation or accommodation for visitors or travellers, or

(III) in a caravan park, camping site or other similar establishment,

or

(b) the provision of accommodation which is advertised or held out as holiday accommodation in any caravan, mobile home, tent, trailer tent or houseboat.”.

Amendment of Sixth Schedule to Principal Act.

87. —(1) The Sixth Schedule (inserted by the Act of 1985) to the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the deletion of paragraphs (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (x) (inserted by the Act of 1986), (xi), (xig) (inserted by the Act of 1987) and (xii),

(b) in paragraph (xiib), (inserted by the Act of 1986) by the substitution of “paragraph (ii) of the Third Schedule” for “paragraph (iii)”,

(c) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (xiic) (inserted by the Act of 1986):

“(xiid) services supplied in the course of their profession by jockeys;”,

(d) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (xiiih) (inserted by the Act of 1987):

“(xiiij) services supplied in the course of their profession by veterinary surgeons;”,

and

(e) in paragraph (xiv), by the deletion of “and” in subparagraph (d) and by the deletion of subparagraph (e).

(2) The Sixth Schedule (inserted by the Act of 1985) to the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (xiib) (inserted by the Act of 1986):

“(xiib) (a) services consisting of work on immovable goods, other than services specified in—

(i) subparagraph (b) or paragraph (xiv), or

(ii) paragraph (ii) of the Third Schedule,

or

(b) services consisting of the routine cleaning of immovable goods;”.