Chapter II

General

171. —(1) In this section—

“the 1994 amending section” means section 159 of the Finance Act, 1994 ;

“capital services” has the same meaning as it has in the principal section;

“the forty-fifth additional annuity” means the sum charged on the Central Fund under subsection (4);

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

(2) In relation to the twenty-nine successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1995, subsection (4) of the 1994 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£67,702,028” for “£68,241,818”.

(3) Subsection (6) of the 1994 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£51,254,069” for “£52,452,200”.

(4) A sum of £74,427,949 to redeem borrowings, and interest thereon, in respect of capital services shall be charged annually on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof in the thirty successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1995.

(5) The forty-fifth additional annuity shall be paid into the Capital Services Redemption Account in such manner and at such times in the relevant financial year as the Minister for Finance may determine.

(6) Any amount of the forty-fifth additional annuity, not exceeding £57,207,000 in any financial year, may be applied towards defraying the interest on the public debt.

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

172. —(1) In this section—

“the Acts” means—

(a) the Customs Acts,

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

(c) the Tax Acts,

(d) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

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

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

(g) the statutes relating to stamp duty and to the management of that duty,

and any instruments made thereunder and any instruments made under any other enactment and relating to tax;

“appropriate officer” means any officer nominated by the Revenue Commissioners to be an appropriate officer for the purposes of this section;

“company” means any body corporate;

“relevant person”, in relation to a company, means a person who—

(a) (i) is an auditor to the company appointed in accordance with section 160 of the Companies Act, 1963 (as amended by the Companies Act, 1990 ), or

(ii) in the case of an industrial and provident society or a friendly society, is a public auditor to the society for the purposes of the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1978, and the Friendly Societies Acts, 1896 to 1977,

or

(b) with a view to reward assists or advises the company in the preparation or delivery of any information, declaration, return, records, accounts or other document which he or she knows will be, or is likely to be, used for any purpose of tax:

Provided that a person who would, but for this proviso, be treated as a relevant person in relation to a company shall not be so treated if the person assists or advises the company solely in the person's capacity as an employee of the said company, and a person shall be treated as assisting or advising the company in that capacity where the person's income from assisting or advising the company consists solely of emoluments to which Chapter IV of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , applies;

“relevant offence” means an offence committed by a company which consists of the company—

(a) knowingly or wilfully delivering any incorrect return, statement or accounts or knowingly or wilfully furnishing or causing to be furnished any incorrect information in connection with any tax,

(b) knowingly or wilfully claiming or obtaining relief or exemption from, or repayment of, any tax, being a relief, exemption or repayment to which there is no entitlement,

(c) knowingly or wilfully issuing or producing any incorrect invoice, receipt, instrument or other document in connection with any tax,

(d) knowingly or wilfully failing to comply with any provision of the Acts requiring the furnishing of a return of income, profits or gains, or of sources of income, profits or gains, for the purposes of any tax:

Provided that an offence under this paragraph committed by a company shall not be a relevant offence if the company has made a return of income, profits or gains to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of an accounting period falling wholly or partly into the period of 3 years immediately preceding the accounting period in respect of which the offence was committed;

“tax” means tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) If, having regard solely to information obtained in the course of examining the accounts of a company, or in the course of assisting or advising a company in the preparation or delivery of any information, declaration, return, records, accounts or other document for the purposes of tax, as the case may be, a person who is a relevant person in relation to the company becomes aware that the company has committed, or is in the course of committing, one or more relevant offences, the person shall, if the offence or offences are material—

(a) communicate particulars of the offence or offences in writing to the company without undue delay and request the company to—

(i) take such action as is necessary for the purposes of rectifying the matter, or

(ii) notify an appropriate officer of the offence or offences,

not later than 6 months after the time of communication, and

(b) (i) unless it is established to the person's satisfaction that the necessary action has been taken or notification made, as the case may be, under paragraph (a), cease to act as the auditor to the company or to assist or advise the company in such preparation or delivery as is specified in paragraph (b) of the definition of relevant person, and

(ii) shall not so act, assist or advise before a time which is—

(I) 3 years after the time at which the particulars were communicated under paragraph (a), or

(II) the time at which it is established to the person's satisfaction that the necessary action has been taken or notification made, as the case may be, under paragraph (a),

whichever is the earlier:

Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a person from assisting or advising a company in preparing for, or conducting, legal proceedings, either civil or criminal, which are extant or pending at a time which is 6 months after the time of communication under paragraph (a).

(3) Where a person, being in relation to a company a relevant person within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition of relevant person, ceases under the provisions of this section to act as auditor to the company, then the person shall deliver—

(a) a notice in writing to the company stating that he or she is so resigning, and

(b) a copy of the notice to an appropriate officer not later than 14 days after he or she has delivered the notice to the company.

(4) A person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if the person—

(a) fails to comply with subsection (2) or (3), or

(b) knowingly or wilfully makes a communication under subsection (2) which is incorrect.

(5) Where a relevant person is found guilty of an offence under this section the person shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction to a fine of £1,000 which may be mitigated to not less than one-fourth part thereof, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(6) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to this section as if, in lieu of the penalties specified in subsection (3) of the said section 13, there were specified therein the penalties provided for by subsection (5) (a) of this section, and the reference in subsection (2) (a) of the said section 13 to the penalties provided for in the said subsection (3) shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other enactment, proceedings in respect of this section may be instituted within 6 years from the time at which a person is required under subsection (2) to communicate particulars of an offence or offences in writing to a company.

(8) It shall be a good defence in a prosecution for an offence under subsection (4) (a) in relation to a failure to comply with subsection (2) for an accused (being a person who is a relevant person in relation to a company) to show that he or she was, in the ordinary scope of professional engagement, assisting or advising the company in preparing for legal proceedings and would not have become aware that one or more relevant offences had been committed by the company if he or she had not been so assisting or advising.

(9) If a person who is a relevant person takes any action required by subsection (2) or (3), no duty to which the person may be subject shall be regarded as contravened and no liability or action shall lie against the person in any court for so doing.

(10) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate an officer to be an appropriate officer for the purposes of this section and the name of an officer so nominated and the address to which copies of notices under subsection (2) or (3) shall be delivered shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil.

(11) This section shall have effect as respects a relevant offence committed by a company in respect of tax which is—

(a) assessable by reference to accounting periods, for any accounting period beginning after the 30th day of June, 1995,

(b) assessable by reference to years of assessment, for the year of assessment 1995-96 and subsequent years,

(c) payable by reference to a taxable period, for a taxable period beginning after the 30th day of June, 1995,

(d) chargeable on gifts or inheritances taken on or after the 30th day of June, 1995,

(e) chargeable on instruments executed on or after the 30th day of June, 1995, or

(f) payable in any other case, on or after the 30th day of June, 1995.

173. —(1) Part XXVI of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended—

(a) in section 416—

(i) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) (a) A person aggrieved by any assessment to income tax made upon him by the inspector or such other officer as the Revenue Commissioners shall appoint in that behalf (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘other officer’) shall be entitled to appeal to the Appeal Commissioners on giving, within thirty days after the date of the notice of assessment, notice in writing to the inspector or other officer.

(b) If on an application under paragraph (a) the inspector or other officer is of opinion that the person who has given the notice of appeal is not entitled to make such an appeal, the inspector or other officer shall refuse the application and notify the person in writing accordingly specifying the grounds for such refusal.

(c) A person who has had an application under paragraph (a) refused by the inspector or other officer shall be entitled to appeal against such refusal by notice in writing to the Appeal Commissioners within 15 days of the date of issue, by the inspector or other officer, of the notice of refusal.

(d) On receipt of an application under paragraph (c) the Appeal Commissioners shall request the inspector or other officer to furnish them with a copy of the notice issued to the person under paragraph (b) and, on receipt thereof, they shall as soon as possible—

(I) refuse the application for an appeal by giving notice in writing to the applicant specifying the grounds for their refusal, or

(II) allow the application for an appeal and give notice in writing accordingly to both the applicant and the inspector or other officer, or

(III) notify in writing both the applicant and the inspector or other officer that they have decided to arrange a hearing, at such time and place specified in the notice, to enable them determine whether or not to allow the application for an appeal.”,

(ii) in subsection (2)—

(I) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b):

“(ii) in a case where it appears to the inspector or other officer that an appeal may be settled by agreement under subsection (3), he may refrain from giving notice under this paragraph or may, by notice in writing, and with the agreement of the appellant, withdraw a notice already given.”,

and

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

“(c) Where, on application in writing in that behalf to the Appeal Commissioners, a person, who has given notice of appeal to the inspector or other officer in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) (a), satisfies the Appeal Commissioners that the information submitted to the inspector or other officer is such that the appeal is likely to be determined on the first occasion on which it comes before them for hearing, the Appeal Commissioners may direct the inspector or other officer to give the notice in writing first mentioned in paragraph (b) and the inspector or other officer shall comply forthwith with such direction and, accordingly, subparagraph (ii) of the said paragraph shall not apply to that notice of appeal.”,

and

(iii) in subsection (6), by the substitution of the following clause for clause (B) of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c):

“(B) such a return has been made but—

(I) all the statements of profits and gains, schedules and other evidence relating to such return have not been furnished by or on behalf of the appellant,

(II) information requested from the appellant by the Appeal Commissioners in the hearing of the appeal has not been supplied by the appellant,

(III) the terms of a precept issued by the Appeal Commissioners under section 422 have not been complied with by the appellant, or

(IV) any questions as to an assessment or assessments put by the Appeal Commissioners under section 425 have not been answered to their satisfaction,”,

(b) in sections 421 (1), 422 (5), 423 (1), 424 (a) and 427 (e), by the substitution of “inspector or such other officer as the Revenue Commissioners shall authorise in that behalf for” “inspector” in each place where it occurs,

(c) in section 428—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (1) of “inspector or such other officer as the Revenue Commissioners shall authorise in that behalf (hereafter in this section referred to as Other officer')” for “inspector”, and

(ii) by the insertion in subsection (2) of “or other officer” after “inspector”,

(d) in section 429—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (1) of “inspector or such other officer as the Revenue Commissioners shall authorise in that behalf (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘other officer’)” for “inspector”,

(ii) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) The provisions of section 421 (2) shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to a rehearing of an appeal by a judge of the Circuit Court as they do in relation to the hearing of an appeal by the Appeal Commissioners.”,

and

(iii) by the insertion in subsection (6) of “or other officer” after “inspector”,

and

(e) in section 432, by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) The Appeal Commissioners shall hear and determine an appeal to them under subsection (1) as if it were an appeal against an assessment to income tax and all of the provisions of section 416, with respect to such appeals, together with the provisions of this Act relating to the rehearing of an appeal and the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law, shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications.”.

(2) Section 2 of the Finance Act, 1969 , is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (5B) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1989 ):

“(5B) The Appeal Commissioners shall hear and determine an appeal made to them under subsection (5A) as if it were an appeal against an assessment to income tax and, subject to subsection (5C), all of the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , relating to such appeals and to the rehearing of an appeal and the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications.”.

(3) The provisions of subsection (1) shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to an appeal in relation to capital gains tax as if the appeal were against an assessment to income tax.

(4) (a) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall apply and have effect as respects appeals against assessments made after the passing of this Act.

(b) Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subsection (1) and subsection (2) shall apply and have effect as respects every hearing of an appeal by the Appeal Commissioners or the rehearing of an appeal by a judge of the Circuit Court, as the case may be, after the passing of this Act.

174. — Section 115 of the Finance Act, 1986 , is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsections for subsection (1):

“(1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, where a person holds a fixed charge (being a fixed charge which is created on or after the passing of this Act) on the book debts of a company (within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963 ), such person shall, if the company fails to pay any relevant amount for which it is liable, become liable to pay such relevant amount on due demand, and on neglect or refusal of payment may be proceeded against in like manner as any other defaulter:

Provided that—

(a) this section shall not apply—

(i) unless the holder of the fixed charge has been notified in writing by the Revenue Commissioners that a company has failed to pay a relevant amount for which it is liable and that, by reason of this section, the holder of the fixed charge—

(I) may become liable for payment of any relevant amount which the company subsequently fails to pay, and

(II) where subparagraph (iii) does not apply, has become liable for the payment of the relevant amount that the company has failed to pay,

(ii) to any amounts received by the holder of the fixed charge from the company before the date on which the holder is notified in writing by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subparagraph (i), and

(iii) where, within 21 days of the passing of the Finance Act, 1995, or of the creation of the fixed charge, whichever is the later, the holder of the fixed charge furnishes to the Revenue Commissioners a copy of the prescribed particulars of the charge delivered or to be delivered to the registrar of companies in accordance with the provisions of section 99 of the Companies Act, 1963 , to any relevant amount which the company was liable to pay before the date on which the holder is notified in writing by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subparagraph (i),

and

(b) the amount or aggregate amount which the person shall be liable to pay in relation to a company in accordance with this section shall not exceed the amount or aggregate amount which that person has, while the fixed charge on book debts in relation to the said company is in existence, received, directly or indirectly, from that company in payment or in part payment of any debts due by the company to that person.

(1 A) The Revenue Commissioners may, at any time and by notice in writing given to the holder of the fixed charge, withdraw, with effect from a date specified in the notice, a notification issued by them in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1):

Provided that such withdrawal shall not—

(i) affect in any way any liability of the holder of the fixed charge under this section which arose prior to such withdrawal, or

(ii) preclude the issue under subsection (1) of a subsequent notice to the holder of the fixed charge.

(1B) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this section to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners.”.

175. —(1) For the purposes of the assessment, charge, collection and recovery of any tax or duty placed under their care and management, the Revenue Commissioners may, by notice in writing, request any Minister of the Government to provide them with such information in the possession of the Minister in relation to payments for any purposes made by the Minister, whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, to such persons or classes of persons as the Revenue Commissioners may specify in the notice and a Minister so requested shall provide such information as may be specified.

(2) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this section to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners.

176. —(1) (a) In this section—

“the Acts” means—

(i) the Tax Acts (other than Chapter IV of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , section 17 of the Finance Act, 1970 , and Chapter VII of Part I of the Finance Act, 1983 ),

(ii) the Capital Gains Tax Acts, and

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

and any instrument made thereunder;

“approved body” means—

(i) the National Archives,

(ii) the National Gallery of Ireland,

(iii) the National Library of Ireland,

(iv) the National Museum of Ireland,

(v) the Irish Museum of Modern Art, or

(vi) in relation to the offer of a gift of a particular item or collection of items, any other such body (being a body owned, or funded wholly or mainly, by the State or by any public or local authority) as may be approved, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht for the purposes of this section;

“arrears of tax” means tax due and payable in accordance with any provision of the Acts (including any interest and penalties payable under any provision of the Acts in relation to such tax)—

(i) in the case of income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax, in respect of the relevant period, or

(ii) in the case of gift tax or inheritance tax, prior to the commencement of the calendar year in which the relevant gift is made,

which has not been paid at the time a relevant gift is made;

“current liability” means—

(i) in the case of income tax or capital gains tax, any liability to such tax arising in the year of assessment in which the relevant gift is made, or

(ii) in the case of corporation tax, any liability to such tax arising in the accounting period in which the relevant gift is made, or

(iii) in the case of gift tax or inheritance tax, any liability to such tax which becomes due and payable in the calendar year in which the relevant gift is made;

“designated officer” means—

(i) the member of the selection committee who represents the appropriate approved body on that committee where the approved body is so represented, or

(ii) in any other case, a person nominated in that behalf by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht;

“heritage item” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2) (a);

“market value” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (3);

“relevant gift” means a gift of a heritage item to an approved body which is made on or after the date of the passing of this Act and in respect of which no consideration whatsoever (other than relief under this section) is received by the person making the gift, either directly or indirectly, from the approved body or otherwise;

“relevant period” means—

(i) in the case of income tax and capital gains tax, any year of assessment preceding the year in which the relevant gift is made, and

(ii) in the case of corporation tax, any acounting period preceding the accounting period in which the relevant gift is made;

“selection committee” means a committee consisting of the Chairperson of the Heritage Council, the Director of the Arts Council, the Director of the National Archives, the Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, the Director of the National Library of Ireland, the Director of the National Museum of Ireland and the Director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and includes any person duly acting in the capacity of any of the foregoing as a result of the member concerned being unable to fulfil his or her duties for any of the reasons set out in paragraph (b) (ii);

“tax” means income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, gift tax or inheritance tax, as the case may be, payable in accordance with any provision of the Acts;

“valuation date” means the date on which an application is made, to the selection committee, for a determination under subsection (2) (a).

(b) (i) The selection committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies among its members and may regulate its own procedure.

(ii) If and so long as a member of the selection committee is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his or her duties, a person nominated in that behalf by the member shall act as the member of the committee in the place of the member.

(2) (a) In this section “heritage item” means any kind of cultural item including—

(i) any archaeological item, archive, book, estate record, manuscript and painting, and

(ii) any collection of cultural items and any collection thereof in their setting, which, on application to the selection committee in writing in that behalf by a person who owns the item or collection of items (as the case may be), is determined by the selection committee, after consideration of any evidence in relation to the matter which the person submits to the committee and after such consultation (if any) as may seem to the committee to be necessary with such person or body of persons as in the opinion of the committee may be of assistance to them, to be an item or collection of items—

(I) which is an outstanding example of the type of item involved, pre-eminent in its class, whose export from the State would constitute a diminution of the accumulated cultural heritage of Ireland, and

(II) suitable for acquisition by an approved body.

(b) On receipt of an application for a determination under paragraph (a) the selection committee shall request the Revenue Commissioners in writing to value the item or collection of items, as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (3).

(c) The selection committee shall not make a determination under paragraph (a) where the market value of the item or collection of items (as the case may be), as determined by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (3), at the valuation date—

(i) is less than £75,000, or

(ii) exceeds an amount (which shall not be less than £75,000) determined by the formula—

£500,000 − M

where M is an amount (which may be nil) equal to the market value at the valuation date of the heritage item (if any) or the aggregate of the market values at the respective valuation dates of all the heritage items (if any), as the case may be, in respect of which a determination or determinations, as the case may be, under this subsection has been made by the selection committee in any one calendar year and not revoked in that year.

(d) (i) An item or collection of items shall cease to be a heritage item for the purposes of this section if the item or collection of items—

(I) is sold or otherwise disposed of to a person other than an approved body, or

(II) the owner thereof notifies the selection committee in writing that it is not intended to make a gift thereof to an approved body, or

(III) the gift of the item or collection of items is not made to an approved body within the calendar year following the year in which the determination is made under paragraph (a).

(ii) Where the selection committee becomes aware, at any time within the calendar year in which a determination under paragraph (a) is made in respect of an item or collection of items, that clause (I) or (II) of subparagraph (i) applies to the item or collection of items the selection committee may revoke its determination with effect from that time.

(3) (a) For the purposes of this section, the market value of any item or collection of items (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “the property”) shall be estimated to be the price which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, the property would fetch if sold in the open market on the valuation date in such manner and subject to such conditions as might reasonably be calculated to obtain for the vendor the best price for the property.

(b) The market value of the property shall be ascertained by the Revenue Commissioners in such manner and by such means as they think fit, and they may authorise a person to inspect the property and report to them the value thereof for the purposes of this section, and the person having custody or possession of the property shall permit the person so authorised to inspect the property at such reasonable times as the Revenue Commissioners consider necessary.

(c) Where the Revenue Commissioners require a valuation to be made by a person authorised by them, the cost of such valuation shall be defrayed by the Revenue Commissioners.

(4) Where a relevant gift is made to an approved body—

(a) the designated officer of that body shall give a certificate to the person who made the relevant gift, in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may prescribe, certifying the receipt of that gift and the transfer of the ownership of the heritage item the subject of that gift to the approved body, and

(b) the designated officer shall transmit a duplicate of the certificate to the Revenue Commissioners.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this section, where a person has made a relevant gift the person shall, on submission to the Revenue Commissioners of the certificate given to the person in accordance with subsection (4), be treated as having made on the date of such submission a payment on account of tax of an amount equal to the market value of the relevant gift on the valuation date.

(6) A payment on account of tax which is treated as having been made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (5) shall be set, so far as possible, against any liability to tax of the person who is treated as having made such a payment in the following order—

(a) firstly, against any arrears of tax due for payment by that person and against an arrear of tax for an earlier period in priority to a later period and, for this purpose, the date on which an arrear of tax became due for payment shall determine whether it is for an earlier or later period, and

(b) then, and only then, against any current liability of the person which the person nominates for that purpose,

and such set-off shall accordingly discharge a corresponding amount of that liability.

(7) Where and to the extent that a payment on account of tax has not been set off in accordance with the provisions of subsection (6), the balance remaining shall be set off against any future liability to tax of the person who is treated as having made the payment which that person nominates for that purpose.

(8) Where a person has power to sell any heritage item in order to raise money for the payment of gift tax or inheritance tax, such person shall have power to make a relevant gift of that heritage item in or towards satisfaction of that tax and, except as regards the nature of the consideration and its receipt and application, any such relevant gift shall be subject to the same provisions and shall be treated for all purposes as a sale made in exercise of that power and any conveyances or transfers made or purporting to be made to give effect to such a relevant gift shall have effect accordingly.

(9) A person shall not be entitled to any refund of tax in respect of any payment on account of tax made in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(10) Interest shall not be payable in respect of any overpayment of tax for any period which arises directly or indirectly due to the set-off against any liability for that period of a payment on account of tax made in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(11) Where a person makes a relevant gift and in respect of that gift is treated as having made a payment on account of tax the person concerned shall not be allowed relief under any other provision of the Acts in respect of that gift.

(12) (a) The Revenue Commissioners shall, as respects each year (being the calendar year 1995 and subsequent calendar years), compile a list of the names (if any), descriptions and values of the heritage items (if any) in respect of which relief under this section has been given.

(b) Notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy imposed on them by the Acts or the Official Secrets Act, 1963 , the Revenue Commissioners shall include in their annual report to the Minister for Finance, commencing with the report for the year 1995, the list (if any) referred to in paragraph (a) for the year in respect of which the report is made.

177. —(1) In this section—

“the Acts” means—

(a) the Tax Acts,

(b) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

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

and any instruments made thereunder;

“the scheme” means a scheme of the Department of Finance for the time being in force for requiring persons to show, by means of tax clearance certificates, compliance with the obligations imposed by the Acts in relation to the matters specified in subsection (2) before the award to them of contracts that are specified in a circular of the Department of Finance entitled ‘Tax Clearance Procedures— Public Sector Contracts’, numbered F 49/29/84 and issued on the 30th day of July, 1991, or any such circular amending or replacing that circular;

“tax clearance certificate” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2).

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, where a person who is in compliance with the obligations imposed on the person by the Acts in relation to—

(a) the payment or remittance of any taxes, interest or penalties required to be paid or remitted under the Acts to the Revenue Commissioners, and

(b) the delivery of any returns required to be made under the Acts,

applies to the Collector-General in that behalf for the purposes of the scheme, the Collector-General shall issue to the person a certificate (in this section referred to as “a tax clearance certificate”) stating that the person is in compliance with the obligations aforesaid.

(3) A tax clearance certificate shall not be issued to a person unless—

(a) the person, and any partnership of which the person is or was a member, in respect of the period of the person's membership thereof,

(b) in a case where the person is a partnership, each person who is a member of the partnership, and

(c) in a case where the person is a company, each person who is either the beneficial owner of, or able directly or indirectly, to control, more than 50 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the company,

is in compliance with the obligations imposed on the person and each other person (including any partnership) by the Acts in relation to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2).

(4) Where a person (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “the first-mentioned person”) applies for a tax clearance certificate in accordance with subsection (2) and the business activity to which the application relates was previously carried on by, or was previously carried on as part of a business activity carried on by, another person (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “the second-mentioned person”) and—

(a) the second-mentioned person is a company which is connected within the meaning of section 16 (3) of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968, with the first-mentioned person or would have been such a company but for the fact that the company has been wound up or dissolved without being wound up, or

(b) the second-mentioned person is a company and the first-mentioned person is a partnership and—

(i) a member of the partnership is or was able, or

(ii) where more than one such member is a shareholder of the company, those members acting together are or were able,

directly or indirectly, either on his, her or their own, or with a connected person or connected persons within the meaning of the said section 16 (3), to control more than 50 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the company, or

(c) the second-mentioned person is a partnership and the first-mentioned person is a company and—

(i) a member of the partnership is or was able, or

(ii) where more than one such member is a shareholder of the company, those members acting together are or were able,

directly or indirectly, either on his, her or their own, or with a connected person or connected persons within the meaning of the said section 16 (3), to control more than 50 per cent, of the ordinary share capital of the company,

then, a tax clearance certificate shall not be issued to the first-mentioned person unless, in relation to the business activity to which the application relates, the second-mentioned person is in compliance with the obligations imposed on that person by the Acts in relation to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) and subsection (2):

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a business the transfer of which was effected before the 9th day of May, 1995, or a business the transfer of which is or was effected after that date if a contract for the transfer was made before that date.

(5) Subsections (4), (5) and (6) of section 242 of the Finance Act, 1992 , shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to an application for a tax clearance certificate under this section as they apply to an application for a tax clearance certificate under that section.

(6) A tax clearance certificate shall be valid for the period specified therein.

(7) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1995.

178. —All taxes and duties (except the excise duties on mechanically propelled vehicles imposed by section 117 ) imposed by this Act are hereby placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

179. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Finance Act, 1995.

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

(3) Part II (so far as relating to customs) shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and (so far as relating to duties of excise) shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties.

(4) Part III shall be construed together with the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1994, and may be cited together therewith as the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1995.

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

(6) Part V shall be construed together with Part VI of the Finance Act, 1983 , and the enactments amending or extending that Part.

(7) Part VI (so far as relating to capital acquisitions tax) shall be construed together with the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(8) Part VII (so far as relating to income tax) shall be construed together with the Income Tax Acts and (so far as relating to corporation tax) shall be construed together with the Corporation Tax Acts and (so far as relating to capital gains tax) shall be construed together with the Capital Gains Tax Acts and (so far as relating to value-added tax) shall be construed together with the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1995, and (so far as relating to stamp duties) shall be construed together with the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act and (so far as relating to gift tax or inheritance tax) shall be construed together with the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 , and (so far as relating to residential property tax) shall be construed together with Part VI of the Finance Act, 1983 , and (so far as relating to customs) shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and (so far as relating to duties of excise) shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties.

(9) Part I shall, save as is otherwise expressly provided therein, be deemed to have come into force and shall take effect as on and from the 6th day of April, 1995.

(10) In relation to Part III :

(a) section 119 , paragraph (b) of section 120 , section 121 , paragraph (a) of section 125 , sections 126 and 127 , paragraph (a) of section 128 , sections 129 and 130 , paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) of section 140 and section 141 shall take effect as on and from the 1st day of July, 1995;

(b) section 124 , paragraph (a) of section 137 , paragraph (b) of section 139 and paragraph (a) of section 140 shall take effect as on and from the 1st day of January, 1996;

(c) the provisions of this Part, other than those specified in paragraphs (a) and (b), shall have effect as on and from the date of passing of this Act.

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

(12) In this Act, a reference to a Part, section or Schedule is to a Part or section of, or Schedule to, this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(13) In this Act, a reference to a subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, clause or subclause is to the subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, clause or subclause of the provision (including a Schedule) in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.