“Power to call for production of books, information, etc.

900.—(1) In this section and in section 901—

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section, or as the case may be, section 901;

‘books, records or other documents’ includes—

(a) accounts (including balance sheets) relating to a trade or profession and where the accounts have been audited, a copy of the auditor's certificate,

(b) books, accounts, rolls, registers, papers and other documents, whether—

(i) comprised in bound volume, loose-leaf binders or other loose-leaf filing systerm, loose-leaf ledger sheets, pages, folios or cards, or

(ii) kept on microfilm, magnetic tape or in any non-legible form (by the use of electronics or otherwise) which is capable of being reproduced in a legible form,

(c) every electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which any such thing in non-legible form is so capable of being reproduced, and

(d) documents in manuscript, documents which are typed, printed, stencilled or created by any other mechanical or partly mechanical process in use from time to time and documents which are produced by any photographic or photostatic process;

‘judge’ means a judge of the High Court;

‘liability’ in relation to a person, means any liability in relation to tax to which the person is or may be, or may have been, subject, or the amount of such liability;

‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) Subject to this section, an authorised officer may serve on a person a notice in writing, requiring the person, within such period as may be specified in the notice, not being less than 21 days from the date of the service of the notice, to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to deliver to, or to make available for inspection by, the authorised officer such books, records or other documents as are in the person's possession, power or procurement and as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to a liability in relation to the person,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer, in writing or otherwise, such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability, and which are specified in the notice.

(3) A notice shall not be served on a person under subsection (2) unless the person has first been given a reasonable opportunity to deliver, or as the case may be, to make available to the authorised officer concerned the books, records or other documents in question, or to furnish the information, explanations and particulars in question.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a person who is carrying on a profession, and on whom a notice under subsection (2) has been served, to furnish any information, explanations and particulars relating to a client to an authorised officer, or to deliver to, or make available for inspection by, an authorised officer any books, records or other documents relating to a client, other than such—

(a) as pertain to the payment of fees to the person carrying on the profession or to other financial transactions of the person carrying on the profession, or

(b) as are otherwise material to the liability in relation to the person carrying on the profession,

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

(5) Where, in compliance with the requirements of a notice served on a person under subsection (2), the person makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, the person shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(6) Where, under subsection (2), a person makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by the authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.

(7) A person who refuses or fails to comply with a notice served on the person under subsection (2) or fails to afford the assistance referred to in subsection (5) shall be liable to a penalty of £1,500.”,

“Application to High Court: production of books, information, etc.

901.—(1) An authorised officer may make an application to a judge for an order requiring a person, to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to deliver to the authorised officer, or to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents as are in the person's power, possession or procurement and as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to a liability in relation to the person,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability,

and which are specified in the application.

(2) Where the judge, to whom an application is made under subsection (1), is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for the application being made, that judge may, subject to such conditions as he or she may consider proper and specify in the order, make an order requiring the person to whom the application relates—

(a) to deliver to the authorised officer, or to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents, and

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars,

as may be specified in the order.

(3) Nothing in this section shall oblige a person who is carrying on a profession to furnish any information, explanations or particulars relating to a client to an authorised officer, or to deliver to, or make available for inspection by, an authorised officer any books, records or other documents relating to the client, without the consent of the client, other than such—.

(a) as pertain to the payment of fees to the person carrying on the profession or to other financial transactions of the person carrying on the profession, or

(b) as are otherwise material to the liability in relation to the person carrying on the profession,

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

“Information to be furnished by third party: request of an authorised officer.

902.—(1) In this section and in section 902A—

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section, or as the case may be, section 902A;

‘books, records or other documents’ and ‘liability’, in relation to a person, have, respectively, the meaning assigned to them by section 900(1).

(2) Notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon disclosure of information imposed by or under statute or otherwise, and subject to this section, an authorised officer may for the purpose of enquiring into a liability in relation to a person (in this section referred to as ‘the taxpaper’) serve on any other person (not being a financial institution within the meaning of section 906A) a notice in writing requiring that other person, within such period as may be specified in the notice, not being less than 30 days from the date of the service of the notice, to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to deliver to, or make available for inspection by, the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents as are in the other person's power, possession or procurement and as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to a liability in relation to the taxpayer,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer, in writing or otherwise, such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability,

and which are specified in the notice.

(3) A notice shall not be served on a person under subsection (2) unless the authorised officer concerned has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is likely to have information relevant to the establishment of a liability in relation to the taxpayer.

(4) The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

(5) A notice under subsection (2) shall name the taxpayer in relation to whose liability the authorised officer is enquiring.

(6) Where an authorised officer serves a notice under subsection (2), a copy of such notice shall be given by the authorised officer to the taxpayer concerned.

(7) Where, under subsection (2), a person has delivered any books, records or other documents and those books, records or other documents are retained by the authorised officer, the person shall, at all reasonable times and subject to such reasonable conditions as may be determined by the authorised officer, be entitled to inspect those books, records or other documents and to obtain copies of them.

(8) Where, under subsection (2), a person makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by the authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.

(9) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring any person carrying on a profession, and on whom a notice is served under subsection (2), to furnish any information, explanations and particulars relating to a client to an authorised officer or to deliver to, or make available for inspection by, an authorised officer any books, records or other documents relating to a client, other than such—

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

(b) as are otherwise material to a liability in relation to the client,

and in particular such person shall not be required to disclose any information or professional advice of a confidential nature.

(10) Where, in compliance with the requirements of a notice under subsection (2), a person makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, the person shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(11) A person who fails or refuses to comply with a notice served on the person under subsection (2) or to afford the assistance referred to in subsection (10) shall be liable to a penalty of £1,500, but nothing in section 1078 shall be construed as applying to such failure or refusal.”,

“Application to High Court: information from third party.

902A.—(1) In this section—

‘the Acts’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 1078(1);

‘judge’ means a judge of the High Court;

‘a taxpayer’ means any person including a person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer, and a group or class of persons whose individual identities are not so known.

(2) An authorised officer may make an application to a judge for an order requiring a person (other than a financial institution within the meaning of section 906A) to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to deliver to the authorised officer, or to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents as are in the person's power, possession or procurement and as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to a liability in relation to a taxpayer,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability, and which are specified in the application.

(3) An authorised officer shall not make an application under subsection (2) without the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner, and without being satisfied—

(a) that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the taxpayer, or, where the taxpayer is a group or class of persons, all or any one of those persons, may have failed or may fail to comply with any provision of the Acts,

(b) that any such failure is likely to have led or to lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax (having regard to the amount of a liability in relation to the taxpayer, or where the taxpayer is a group or class of persons, the amount of a liability in relation to all or any one of those persons, that arises or might arise from such failure), and

(c) that the information—

(i) which is likely to be contained in the books, records or other documents to which the application relates, or

(ii) which is likely to arise from the information, explanations and particulars to which the application relates,

is relevant to the proper assessment or collection of tax.

(4) Where the judge, to whom an application is made under subsection (2), is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for the application being made, that judge may, subject to such conditions as he or she may consider proper and specify in the order, make an order requiring the person to whom the application relates—

(a) to deliver to the authorised officer, or to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents, and

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars,

as may be specified in the order.

(5) The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

(6) Nothing in this section shall oblige any person carrying on a profession to furnish any information, explanations or particulars relating to a client to an authorised officer, or to deliver to, or make available for inspection by, an authorised officer any books, records or other documents relating to a client, without the client's consent, other than such—

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

(b) as are otherwise material to a liability in relation to the client,

and in particular such person shall not be required to disclose any information or professional advice of a confidential nature.

(7) Every hearing of an application for an order under this section and of any appeal in connection with that application shall be held in camera.”,

“Power of inspection: returns and collection of appropriate tax.

904A.—(1) In this section—

‘amount on account of appropriate tax’, ‘appropriate tax’, ‘deposit’, ‘interest’, ‘relevant deposit taker’, ‘relevant interest’ and ‘return’ have, respectively, the meaning assigned to them by section 256(1);

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

‘books, records or other documents’ includes—

(a) any records used in the business of a financial institution, or used in the transfer department of a financial institution acting as registrar of securities, whether—

(i) comprised in bound volume, loose-leaf binders or other loose-leaf filing system, loose-leaf ledger sheets, pages, folios or cards, or

(ii) kept on microfilm, magnetic tape or in any non-legible form (by the use of electronics or otherwise) which is capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and

(b) every electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which any such thing in non-legible form is so capable of being reproduced, and

(c) documents in manuscript, documents which are typed, printed, stencilled or created by any other mechanical or partly mechanical process in use from time to time and documents which are produced by any photographic or photostatic process, and

(d) correspondence and records of other communications between a relevant deposit taker and a person to whom it pays interest;

‘liability’ in relation to a person means any liability in relation to tax to which the person is or may be, or may have been, subject, or the amount of such liability;

‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) An authorised officer, having regard to Chapter 4 of Part 8, may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of a relevant deposit taker for the purposes of auditing for a year of assessment—

(a) the return made by the relevant deposit taker of—

(i) the relevant interest paid by it in that year,

(ii) the appropriate tax in relation to the payment of that interest,

(iii) the amount of interest in respect of which an amount on account of appropriate tax is due and payable for that year, and

(iv) the amount on account of appropriate tax so due and payable, and

(b) whether payments of interest were properly made by the relevant deposit taker without deducting appropriate tax in relation to the payments.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the authorised officer may—

(a) examine the procedures put in place by the relevant deposit taker for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the relevant deposit taker with its obligations under section 257(2), and

(b) check a sample of accounts into which deposits, which have not been treated by the relevant deposit taker as relevant deposits, have been paid, to determine whether—

(i) the procedures referred to in paragraph (a) have been observed in practice and whether they are adequate,

(ii) the relevant deposit taker is, in respect of each deposit in the sample of deposits, in possession of a declaration mentioned in section 263, 265 or 266, as the case may be, and

(iii) there is information in the relevant deposit taker's possession which can reasonably be taken to indicate that one or more of such deposits is or may be a relevant deposit.

(4) Where an authorised officer in exercising or performing his or her powers and duties under this section has reason to believe that in respect of one or more deposits, the relevant deposit taker has incorrectly treated them as not being relevant deposits, the authorised officer may make such further enquiries as are necessary to establish whether there is a liability in relation to any person.

(5) An authorised officer may require a relevant deposit taker or an employee of the relevant deposit taker to produce books, records or other documents and to furnish information, explanations and particulars and to give all assistance, which the authorised officer reasonably requires for the purposes of his or her audit and examination under subsections (2) and (3), and, as the case may be, enquiries under subsection (4).

(6) An employee of a relevant deposit taker who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer's powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of £1,000.

(7) A relevant deposit taker which fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer's powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of £15,000 and if that failure continues a further penalty of £2,000 for each day on which the failure continues.”,

“Information to be furnished by financial institutions.

906A.—(1) In this section and in sections 907 and 908—

‘the Acts’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 1078(1);

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section, or, as the case may be, section 907 or 908;

‘books, records or other documents’ includes—

(a) any records used in the business of a financial institution, or used in the transfer department of a financial institution acting as registrar of securities, whether—

(i) comprised in bound volume, loose-leaf binders or other loose-leaf filing system, loose-leaf ledger sheets, pages, folios or cards, or

(ii) kept on microfilm, magnetic tape or in any non-legible form (by the use of electronics or otherwise) which is capable of being reproduced in a legible form,

(b) every electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which any such thing in non-legible form is so capable of being reproduced,

(c) documents in manuscript, documents which are typed, printed, stencilled or created by any other mechanical or partly mechanical process in use from time to time and documents which are produced by any photographic or photostatic process, and

(d) correspondence and records of other communications between a financial institution and its customers;

‘connected person’ has the same meaning as in section 10; but an individual (other than in the capacity as a trustee of a settlement) shall be connected with another individual only if that other individual is the spouse of or a minor child of the first-mentioned individual;

‘deposit’ and ‘interest’ have, respectively, the meaning assigned to them by section 256(1);

‘financial institution’ means

(a) a person who holds or has held a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 , and

(b) a person referred to in section 7(4) of that Act;

‘liability’ in relation to a person means any liability in relation to tax to which the person is or may be, or may have been, subject, or the amount of such liability;

‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) Notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon disclosure of information imposed by or under statute or otherwise, and subject to this section, an authorised officer may, for the purpose of enquiring into a liability in relation to a person (in this section referred to as the ‘taxpayer’), serve on a financial institution a notice in writing requiring the financial institution, within such period as may be specified in the notice, not being less than 30 days from the date of the service of the notice, to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer such books, records or other documents as are in the financial institution's power, possession or procurement and as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to a liability in relation to the taxpayer,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer, in writing or otherwise, such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability,

and which are specified in the notice.

(3) Where, in compliance with the requirements of a notice under subsection (2), a financial institution makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, it shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(4) An authorised officer shall not serve a notice on a financial institution under subsection (2) without the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner and without having reasonable grounds to believe that the financial institution is likely to have information relevant to a liability in relation to the taxpayer.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the books, records or other documents which a financial institution may be required by notice under that subsection to deliver or to make available and the information, explanations and particulars which it may likewise be required to furnish, may include books, records or other documents and information, explanations and particulars relating to a person who is connected with the taxpayer.

(6) The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

(7) A notice served under subsection (2) shall name the taxpayer in relation to whose liability the authorised officer is enquiring.

(8) Where an authorised officer serves a notice under subsection (2), a copy of such notice shall be given by the authorised officer to the taxpayer concerned.

(9) Where, in compliance with a notice served under subsection (2), a financial institution makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by an authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.

(10) A financial institution which fails or refuses to comply with a notice issued under subsection (2) or which fails or refuses to afford reasonable assistance to an authorised officer as required under subsection (3), shall be liable to a penalty of £15,000 and, if the failure or refusal to comply with such notice continues after the expiry of the period specified in the notice served under subsection (2), a further penalty of £2,000 for each day on which the failure or refusal continues.”,

“Application to Appeal Commissioners: information from financial institutions.

907.—(1) In this section ‘a taxpayer’ means any person including—

(a) a person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer, and a group or class of persons whose individual identities are not so known, and

(b) a person by or in respect of whom a declaration has been made under section 263(1) declaring that the person is beneficially entitled to all or part of the interest in relation to a deposit.

(2) An authorised officer may, subject to this section, make an application to the Appeal Commissioners for their consent, under subsection (5), to the service by him or her of a notice on a financial institution requiring the financial institution to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents as are in the financial institution's power, possession or procurement as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain, information relevant to a liability in relation to a taxpayer,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability,

and which are specified in the application.

(3) An authorised officer shall not make an application under subsection (2) without the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner, and without being satisfied—

(a) that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the taxpayer, or where the taxpayer is a group or class of persons, all or any one of those persons, may have failed or may fail to comply with any provision of the Acts,

(b) that any such failure is likely to have led or to lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax (having regard to the amount of a liability in relation to the taxpayer, or where the taxpayer is a group or class of persons, the amount of a liability in relation to all or any one of those persons, that arises or might arise from such failure), and

(c) that the information—

(i) which is likely to be contained in the books, records or other documents to which the application relates, or

(ii) which is likely to arise from the information, explanations and particulars to which the application relates,

is relevant to the proper assessment or collection of tax.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the authorised officer may make an application under that subsection to the Appeal Commissioners for their consent, under subsection (5), to the service by him or her of a notice on a financial institution in respect of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) in so far as they relate to a person who is connected with the taxpayer.

(5) Where the Appeal Commissioners determine that in all the circumstances there are reasonable grounds for the application being made, they may give their consent to the service by the authorised officer concerned of a notice on the financial institution, requiring the financial institution—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents, and

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars,

of the kind referred to in subsection (2) as may, with the Appeal Commissioners' consent, be specified in the notice.

(6) The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

(7) Where the Appeal Commissioners have given their consent in accordance with this section, the authorised officer shall, as soon as practicable, but not later than 14 days from the time that such consent was given, serve a notice on the financial institution concerned and stating that—

(a) such consent has been given, and

(b) the financial institution should, within a period of 30 days from the date of the service of the notice, comply with the requirements specified in the notice.

(8) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), an application by an authorised officer under subsection (2) shall, with any necessary modifications, be heard by the Appeal Commissioners as if it were an appeal against an assessment to income tax.

(b) Notwithstanding section 933(4), a determination by the Appeal Commissioners under this section shall be final and conclusive.

(9) A financial institution which fails to comply with a notice served on the financial institution by an authorised officer in accordance with this section shall be liable to a penalty of £15,000 and, if the failure continues after the expiry of the period specified in subsection (7)(b), a further penalty of £2,000 for each day on which the failure so continues.”,

“Application to High Court seeking order requiring information: financial institutions.

908.—(1) In this section—

‘judge’ means a judge of the High Court;

‘a taxpayer’ means any person including—

(a) a person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer, and a group or class of persons whose individual identities are not so known, and

(b) a person by or in respect of whom a declaration has been made under section 263(1) declaring that the person is beneficially entitled to all or part of the interest in relation to a deposit.

(2) An authorised officer may, subject to this section, make an application to a judge for an order requiring a financial institution, to do either or both of the following, namely—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents as are in the financial institution's power, possession or procurement as contain, or may (in the authorised officer's opinion formed on reasonable grounds) contain information relevant to a liability in relation to a taxpayer,

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars as the authorised officer may reasonably require, being information, explanations and particulars that are relevant to any such liability,

and which are specified in the application.

(3) An authorised officer shall not make application under subsection (2) without the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner, and without being satisfied—

(a) that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the taxpayer, or, where the taxpayer is a group or class of persons, all or any one of those persons, may have failed or may fail to comply with any provision of the Acts,

(b) that any such failure is likely to have led or to lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax (having regard to the amount of a liability in relation to the taxpayer, or where the taxpayer is a group or class of persons, the amount of a liability in relation to all or any one of them, that arises or might arise from such failure), and

(c) that the information—

(i) which is likely to be contained in the books, records or other documents to which the application relates, or

(ii) which is likely to arise from the information, explanations and particulars to which the application relates,

is relevant to the proper assessment or collection of tax.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the authorised officer may make an application under that subsection to the judge for an order in respect of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of that subsection in so far as they relate to a person who is connected with the taxpayer.

(5) Where the judge, to whom an application is made under subsection (2), is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for the application being made, the judge may, subject to such conditions as he or she may consider proper and specify in the order, make an order requiring the financial institution—

(a) to make available for inspection by the authorised officer, such books, records or other documents, and

(b) to furnish to the authorised officer such information, explanations and particulars,

as may be specified in the order.

(6) The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

(7) Every hearing of an application for an order under this section and of any appeal in connection with that application shall be held in camera.

(8) Where a judge makes an order under this section, he or she may also, on the application of the authorised officer concerned, make a further order prohibiting, for such period as the judge may consider proper and specify in the order, any transfer of, or any dealing with, without the consent of the judge, any assets or moneys of the person to whom the order relates that are in the custody of the financial institution at the time the order is made.

(9) (a) Where—

(i) a copy of any affidavit and exhibits grounding an application under subsection (2) or (8) and any order made under subsection (5) or (8) are to be made available to the taxpayer, or the taxpayer's solicitor or to the financial institution or the financial institution's solicitor, as the case may be, and

(ii) the judge is satisfied on the hearing of the application that there are reasonable grounds in the public interest that such copy of an affidavit, exhibits or order, as the case may be, should not include the name or address of the authorised officer,

such copy, or copies or order shall not include the name or address of the authorised officer.

(b) Where, on any application to the judge to vary or discharge an order made under this section, it is desired to cross-examine the deponent of any affidavit filed by or on behalf of the authorised officer and the judge is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds in the public interest to so order, the judge shall order either or both of the following—

(i) that the name and address of the authorised officer shall not be disclosed in court, and

(ii) that such cross-examination shall only take place in the sight and hearing of the judge and in the hearing only of all other persons present at such cross-examination.”,

“Revenue offence: power to obtain information from financial institutions.

908A.—(1) In this section—

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

‘books, records or other documents’ includes—

(a) any records used in the business of a financial institution, or used in the transfer department of a financial institution acting as registrar of securities, whether—

(i) comprised in bound volume, loose-leaf binders or other loose-leaf filing system, loose-leaf ledger sheets, pages, folios or cards, or

(ii) kept on microfilm, magnetic tape or in any non-legible form (by the use of electronics or otherwise) which is capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and

(b) documents in manuscript, documents which are typed, printed, stencilled or created by any other mechanical or partly mechanical process in use from time to time and documents which are produced by any photographic or photostatic process;

‘judge’ means a judge of the Circuit Court or of the District Court;

‘financial institution’ means—

(a) a person who holds or has held a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 , and

(b) a person referred to in section 7(4) of that Act;

‘liability’ in relation to a person means any liability in relation to tax to which the person is or may be, or may have been, subject, or the amount of such liability;

‘offence’ means an offence falling within section 1078(2);

‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) If, on application made by an authorised officer, with the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner, a judge is satisfied, on information given on oath by the authorised officer, that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting—

(a) that an offence which would result in serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax is being, has been or is about to be committed (having regard to the amount of a liability in relation to any person which might be evaded but for the detection of the offence), and

(b) that there is material in the possession of a financial institution specified in the application which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation of the offence,

the judge may make an order authorising the authorised officer to inspect and take copies of any entries in the books, records or other documents of the financial institution for the purposes of investigation of the offence.

(3) An offence the commission of which, if considered alone, would not be regarded as resulting in serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax for the purposes of this section may nevertheless be so regarded if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the commission of the offence forms part of a course of conduct which is, or but for its detection would be, likely to result in serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), a copy of any entry in books, records or other documents of a financial institution shall in all legal proceedings be received as prima facie evidence of such an entry, and of the matters, transactions, and accounts therein recorded.

(5) A copy of an entry in the books, records or other documents of a financial institution shall not be received in evidence in legal proceedings unless it is further proved that—

(a) in the case where the copy sought to be received in evidence has been reproduced in a legible form directly by either mechanical or electronic means, or both such means, from a financial institution's books, records or other documents maintained in a non-legible form, it has been so reproduced;

(b) in the case where the copy sought to be received in evidence has been made (either directly or indirectly) from a copy to which paragraph (a) would apply—

(i) the copy sought to be so received has been examined with a copy so reproduced and is a correct copy, and

(ii) the copy so reproduced is a copy to which paragraph (a) would apply if it were sought to have it received in evidence,

and

(c) in any other case, the copy has been examined with the original entry and is correct.

(6) Proof of the matters to which subsection (5) relates shall be given—

(a) in respect of paragraph (a) or (b)(ii) of that subsection, by some person who has been in charge of the reproduction concerned, and

(b) in respect of paragraph (b)(i) of that subsection, by some person who has examined the copy with the reproduction concerned, and

(c) in respect of paragraph (c) of that subsection, by some person who has examined the copy with the original entry concerned,

and may be given either orally or by an affidavit sworn before any commissioner or person authorised to take affidavits.”,

Interpretation (Chapter 6).

917D.—(1) In this Chapter—

‘the Acts’ means—

(a) the statutes relating to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties,

(b) the Tax Acts,

(c) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(d) the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

(e) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act, and

(f) the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

and any instruments made under any of the statutes and enactments referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f);

‘approved person’ shall be construed in accordance with section 917G;

‘approved transmission’ shall be construed in accordance with section 917H;

‘authorised person’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 917G(3)(b);

‘digital signature’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 917I;

‘hard copy’, in relation to information held electronically, means a printed out version of that information;

‘return’ means any return which is required—

(a) to be made under section 172F, 172K, 172L, 258 or 525,

(b) to be prepared and delivered under section 894, 895, 895 (as modified by section 896) or 951,

(c) by any provision of the Acts (however expressed), to be prepared and delivered under a notice from the Revenue Commissioners or, as the case may be, a revenue officer requiring such a return to be prepared and delivered,

(d) to be sent under Regulation 35 of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960),

(e) to be sent under Regulation 21 of the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1971 (S.I. No. 7 of 1971),

(f) to be furnished under section 19 of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 ,

(g) to be delivered under subsection (2) or (9) of section 36 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 ,

(h) to be delivered under section 36(8) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 ,

(i) to be presented under the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act, and

(j) to be made under any of the statutes relating to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties;

‘revenue officer’ means the Collector-General, an inspector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners (including an inspector or other officer who is authorised under any provision of the Acts (however expressed) to receive a return or to require a return to be prepared and delivered);

‘tax’ means any income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, value-added tax, gift tax, inheritance tax, excise duty or stamp duty.

(2) Any references in this Chapter to a return include references in any provision of the Acts to a statement, particulars, evidence or any other means whereby information is required or given, however expressed.

(3) Any references in this Chapter to the making of a return include references in any provision of the Acts to—

(a) the preparing and delivering of a return;

(b) the sending of a return;

(c) the furnishing of a return or of particulars;

(d) the delivering of a return;

(e) the presentation of a return;

(f) the rendering of a return;

(g) the giving of particulars or of any information specified in any provision; and

(h) any other means whereby a return is forwarded, however expressed.

Application.

917E.—This Chapter shall apply to a return if—

(a) the provision of the Acts under which the return is made is specified for the purpose of this Chapter by order made by the Revenue Commissioners, and

(b) the return is required to be made after the day appointed by such order in relation to returns to be made under the provision so specified.

Electronic transmission of returns.

917F.—(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Acts, the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies shall be treated as fulfilled by that person if information is transmitted electronically in compliance with that obligation, but only if—

(a) the transmission is made by an approved person or an authorised person,

(b) the transmission is an approved transmission,

(c) the transmission bears the approved person's digital signature or such other means of electronic identification as may be specified or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners, and

(d) the receipt of the transmission is acknowledged in accordance with section 917J.

(2) In subsection (1), the reference to the information which is required to be included in the return includes any requirement on a person to—

(a) make any statement,

(b) include any particulars, or

(c) make or attach any claim.

(3) Where the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with subsection (1) then, any provision of the Acts which—

(a) requires that the return include or be accompanied by any description of declaration whatever by the person making the return, apart from a declaration of an amount,

(b) requires that the return be signed or accompanied by a certificate,

(c) requires that the return be in writing,

(d) authorises the return to be signed by a person acting under the authority of the person obliged to make the return,

(e) authorises the Revenue Commissioners to prescribe the form of a return or which requires a return to be in or on any prescribed form, or

(f) for the purposes of any claim for exemption or for any allowance, deduction or repayment of tax under the Acts which is required to be made with the return, authorises the Revenue Commissioners to prescribe the form of a claim,

shall not apply.

(4) Where the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with subsection (1) then, the time at which any requirement under the Acts to make a return is fulfilled shall be the day on which the receipt of the information referred to in that subsection is acknowledged in accordance with section 917J.

(5) Where the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with subsection (1), then, in a case where the transmission is made by—

(a) an approved person on behalf of another person, or

(b) an authorised person on behalf of another person (not being the person who authorised that authorised person),

a hard copy of the information to be transmitted shall be made and authenticated in accordance with section 917K.

(6) (a) Where the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with subsection (1) then, any requirement that—

(i) the return or any claim which is to be made with or attached to the return should be accompanied by any document (in this subsection referred to as a ‘supporting document’) other than the return or the claim, and

(ii) the supporting document be delivered with the return or the claim,

shall be treated as fulfilled by the person subject to the requirement if the person or the approved person referred to in subsection (1)(a) retains the document for inspection on request by a revenue officer.

(b) Any person subject to the requirement referred to in paragraph (a) shall produce any supporting documents requested by a revenue officer within 30 days of that request.

(c) The references in this subsection to a document include references to any accounts, certificate, evidence, receipts, reports or statements.

Approved persons.

917G.—(1) A person shall be an approved person for the purposes of this Chapter if the person is approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of transmitting electronically information which is required to be included in a return to which this Chapter applies (in this section referred to as ‘the transmission’) and complies with the provisions of this section and, in particular, with the conditions specified in subsection (3).

(2) A person seeking to be approved under this section shall make application in that behalf to the Revenue Commissioners in writing or by such other means as may be approved of by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this section.

(3) The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are that—

(a) the applicant for approval under this section signs an undertaking to comply with the requirements referred to in section 917H(2), and

(b) the applicant signs an undertaking to permit, in addition to the applicant, only individuals duly authorised in writing by the applicant (each of whom is referred to in this section as an ‘authorised person’) to make a transmission.

(4) A person seeking to be approved under this section shall be given notice by the Revenue Commissioners of the grant or refusal by them of the approval and, in the case of a refusal, of the reason for the refusal.

(5) An approval under this section may be withdrawn by the Revenue Commissioners by notice in writing or by such other means as the Revenue Commissioners may decide with effect from such date as may be specified in the notice.

(6) (a) A notice withdrawing an approval under the section shall state the grounds for the withdrawal.

(b) No approval under this section may be withdrawn unless an approved person or an authorised person has failed to comply with one or more of the requirements referred to in section 917H(2).

(7) A person who is refused approval under this section or whose approval under this section is withdrawn may appeal to the Appeal Commissioners against the refusal or withdrawal.

(8) The appeal under subsection (7) shall be made by notice to the Revenue Commissioners before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which notice of the refusal or withdrawal was given to the person.

(9) The Appeal Commissioners shall hear and determine an appeal made to them under subsection (7) as if it were an appeal against an assessment to income tax, and the provisions of the Tax Acts relating to appeals shall apply accordingly.

Approved transmissions.

917H.—(1) Where an approved person transmits electronically information which is required to be included in a return to which this Chapter applies the transmission shall not be an approved transmission unless it complies with the requirements of this section.

(2) The Revenue Commissioners shall notify an approved person of any requirements for the time being determined by them as being applicable to that person with respect to the manner in which information which is required to be included in a return to which this Chapter applies is to be transmitted electronically.

(3) The requirements referred to in subsection (2) include, in particular, requirements as to the software or type of software to be used to make a transmission.

Digital signatures.

917I.—(1) In this section—

‘asymmetric cryptosystem’ means an algorithm or series of algorithms which provide a secure key pair;

‘digital signature’ means the transformation of a message by an approved person or an authorised person using an approved asymmetric cryptosystem such that the Revenue Commissioners having possession of the message and the public key in respect of that approved person can accurately determine—

(a) whether the transformation was created using the private key which corresponds to that public key, and

(b) whether the message has been altered since the transformation was made;

‘key pair’ means a private key and its corresponding public key in an asymmetric cryptosystem such that the public key verifies a digital signature that the private key creates;

‘private key’ means the key of a key pair used by an approved person to create a digital signature;

‘public key’ means the key of a key pair used by the Revenue Commissioners to verify a digital signature;

‘message’ means the information referred to in section 917F(1).

(2) This section shall apply solely for the purposes of affixing an electronic signature to an electronic transmission of information which is required to be included in a return to which this Chapter applies and for no other purpose.

(3) The Revenue Commissioners, or a person or persons appointed in that behalf by the Revenue Commissioners, (in this section referred to as the ‘certification authority’) shall assign to each approved person a unique key pair.

(4) The certification authority shall ensure that it uses an accurate and reliable system to create a key pair.

(5) The certification authority shall ensure that an approved person is issued with the private key component of that person's key pair in a secure manner and subject to such conditions as it considers necessary to ensure that the key is not misused.

(6) A private key shall be used by an approved person or an authorised person solely for the purposes of affixing the digital signature referred to in section 917F(1)(c).

Acknowledgement of electronic transmissions.

917J.— For the purposes of this Chapter, where an electronic transmission of information which is required to be included in a return to which this Chapter applies is received by the Revenue Commissioners, the Revenue Commissioners shall send an electronic acknowledgement of receipt of that transmission to the person from whom it was received.

Hard copies.

917K.—(1) A hard copy shall be made in accordance with this subsection only if—

(a) the hard copy is made under processes and procedures which are designed to ensure that the information contained in the hard copy shall only be the information to be transmitted in accordance with section 917F(1),

(b) the hard copy is in a form approved by the Revenue Commissioners which is appropriate to the information so transmitted, and

(c) the hard copy is authenticated in accordance with subsection (2).

(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, a hard copy made in accordance with subsection (1) shall be authenticated only if the hard copy is signed by the person who would have been required to make the declaration, sign the return or furnish the certificate, as the case may be, but for paragraph (a), (b) or (d) of section 917F(3).

Exercise of powers.

917L.—(1) This section shall apply where the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with section 917F(1).

(2) Where this section applies the Revenue Commissioners and a revenue officer shall have all the powers and duties in relation to the information contained in the transmission as they or that officer would have had if the information had been contained in a return made by post.

(3) Where this section applies the person whose obligation to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with section 917F(1) shall have all the rights and duties in relation to the information contained in the transmission as the person would have had if that information had been contained in a return made by post.

Proceedings.

917M.—(1) This section shall apply where the obligation of any person to make a return to which this Chapter applies is treated as fulfilled in accordance with section 917F(1).

(2) In this section, ‘proceedings’ means civil and criminal proceedings, and includes proceedings before the Appeal Commissioners or any other tribunal having jurisdiction by virtue of any provision of the Acts.

(3) Where this section applies a hard copy certified by a revenue officer to be a true copy of the information transmitted electronically in accordance with section 917F(1) shall be treated for the purposes of any proceedings in relation to which the certificate is given as if the hard copy—

(a) were a return or, as the case may be, a claim made by post, and

(b) contained any declaration, certificate or signature required by the Acts on such a return or, as the case may be, such a claim.

(4) For the purposes of any proceedings under the Acts, unless a Judge or any other person before whom proceedings are taken determines at the time of the proceedings that it is unjust in the circumstances to apply this provision, any rule of law restricting the admissibility or use of hearsay evidence shall not apply to a representation contained in a document recording information which has been transmitted in accordance with section 917F(1) in so far as the representation is a representation as to—

(a) the information so transmitted,

(b) the date on which, or the time at which, the information was so transmitted, or

(c) the identity of the person by whom or on whose behalf the information was so transmitted.

Miscellaneous.

917N.— The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this Chapter to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners.”.