First Previous (PART II. Income Tax in Relation to Administration of Estates.) Next (PART IV. Death Duties.)

25 1938

FINANCE ACT, 1938

PART III.

Customs and Excise.

Imposition of duties in the First Schedule.

15. —(1) There shall be charged, levied, and paid on every of the articles mentioned in the second column of the First Schedule to this Act imported on or after the 13th day of May, 1938, a duty of customs at the rate stated in the third column of the said First Schedule opposite the mention of the article in the said second column.

(2) Where a percentage is stated in the third column of the First Schedule to this Act opposite the mention of any article in the second column of the said First Schedule , such statement shall be construed as meaning a rate of duty equal to that percentage of the value of such article.

(3) Wherever it is stated in the fourth column of the First Schedule to this Act that the provisions of section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, shall apply to a duty mentioned in that Schedule, the provisions of the said section 8 shall apply to that duty with the substitution of the expression “the area of application of the Acts of the Oireachtas” for the expression “Great Britain and Ireland” and as though the articles chargeable with the said duty were mentioned in the Second Schedule to the said Finance Act, 1919, in the list of goods to which two-thirds of the full rate is made applicable as a preferential rate.

(4) Wherever it is stated in the fourth column of the First Schedule to this Act that the licensing provision applies to a particular duty mentioned in that Schedule, the following provision shall apply and have effect in relation to that duty, that is to say:—whenever the Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce, so thinks proper, the Revenue Commissioners may by licence authorise any particular person, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, to import without payment of the said duty any articles chargeable with the said duty either, as the Revenue Commissioners shall think proper, without limit as to time or quantity or either of them or within a specified time or in a specified quantity, but so that no such licence shall be exempt from the provisions of section 15 of the Finance (Agreement with United Kingdom) Act, 1938 (No. 12 of 1938).

(5) Subject to the provisions of the two next preceding sub-sections of this section, the provisions (if any) set forth in the fourth column of the First Schedule to this Act at any reference number in that Schedule shall have effect in respect of the duty mentioned at that reference number.

(6) An article shall not be deemed, for the purposes of this section and the First Schedule to this Act, to have been manufactured in any particular country unless such proportion of its value as is prescribed by regulations made under sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, for the purposes of that section is the result of labour within that country.

(7) In this section and the First Schedule to this Act, the expression “the United Kingdom” means the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and includes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Duty on certain articles of iron or steel.

16. —(1) A duty of customs at the rate of an amount equal to thirty-seven and one-half per cent, of the value of the article shall be charged, levied, and paid on every of the following articles which is imported on or after the 1st day of November, 1938, that is to say:—

(a) articles of iron or steel of any of the following descriptions which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, are suitable for use in building construction and are not fabricated, that is to say:—

(i) angles,

(ii) channels,

(iii) girders,

(iv) joists,

(v) tees;

(b) articles of iron or steel which are, in the opinion aforesaid, of any of the following descriptions, that is to say:—

(i) squares,

(ii) flats,

(iii) hoop,

(iv) skelp,

(v) strip other than strip suitable for the manufacture of safety razor blades,

(vi) bars,

(vii) rods or rounds,

(viii) sheets,

(ix) plates,

(x) tinplates,

(xi) light rails not exceeding thirty pounds in weight per linear yard;

(c) galvanised corrugated iron or steel, whether worked or unworked.

(2) The duty imposed by this section, in so far as it is chargeable on articles mentioned in paragraph (c) of sub-section (1) of this section, is in lieu of the duty imposed by section 11 of the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932), and mentioned at reference number 30 in the First Schedule to that Act, and accordingly the said duty mentioned at the said reference number 30 shall not be charged or levied on any article imported on or after the 1st day of November, 1938.

(3) The duty imposed by this section shall not be charged or levied on any article which would, but for this sub-section, be chargeable with that duty and is shown, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, to have been manufactured in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or in the Channel Islands, or in the Isle of Man, or in the Dominion of Canada and (in any case) to be comprised within one of the following classes or descriptions of articles, that is to say:—

(a) brassed strips; steel strips for manufacture of corsets; tempered steel lathing;

(b) cast steel sheets and plates for guillotine knives; mica steel sheets and plates; stainless steel sheets and plates;

(c) asphalt coated sheets and plates; bitumen coated sheets and plates; silver finish sheets and plates; stainless steel sheets and plates coated.

(4) The provisions of section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, shall apply to the duty imposed by this section with the substitution of the expression “the area of application of the Acts of the Oireachtas” for the expression “Great Britain and Ireland” and as though the articles chargeable with the said duty were mentioned in the Second Schedule to the said Act in the list of goods to which two-thirds of the full rate is made applicable as a preferential rate.

(5) Whenever the Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce, so thinks proper, the Revenue Commissioners may by licence authorise any particular person, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, to import without payment of the duty imposed by this section any articles chargeable with that duty either, as the Revenue Commissioners shall think proper, without limit as to time or quantity or either of them or within a specified time or in a specified quantity, but so that no such licence shall be exempt from the provisions of section 15 of the Finance (Agreement with United Kingdom) Act, 1938 (No. 12 of 1938).

(6) An article shall not be deemed for the purposes of this section to have been manufactured in any particular country unless such proportion of its value as is prescribed by regulations made under sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, for the purposes of that section is the result of labour within that country.

Exemption of fire brigade vehicles from all customs duties.

17. —Whenever the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that a vehicle imported on or after the 13th day of May, 1938, is designed and constructed for use (otherwise than merely carrying persons) for or in connection with extinguishing fires or rescuing persons from burning buildings, they may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, permit such vehicle, and every (if any) article which is imported with such vehicle and is, in their opinion, a part of the normal equipment, of such vehicle or an accessory normally carried in such vehicle to be imported without payment of any duty of customs or repay any such duty paid on such vehicle or any such article on the importation thereof.

Exemption of certain articles for the use of blind persons from all customs duties.

18. —Whenever it is shown, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, that an article imported on or after the 13th day of May, 1938, is designed, constructed, and intended specifically or primarily for the use of blind persons and is imported by an institution or society which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, has for its primary object the amelioration of the lot of blind persons, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, permit such article to be imported without payment of any duty of customs or repay any such duty paid on such article on the importation thereof.

Amendments of certain Finance Acts.

19. —(1) Every Act mentioned at the head of a Part of the Second Schedule to this Act shall be amended as follows, that is to say, every section, schedule, or reference number of or in such Act which is mentioned in the second column of the said Part of the said Second Schedule shall be amended in the manner stated in the third column of the said Part of the said Second Schedule opposite the mention of such section, schedule, or reference number (as the case may be) in the said second column.

(2) Every amendment which is so stated as aforesaid in the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect as on and from the 13th day of May, 1938.

(3) The particulars stated in the fourth column of the Second Schedule to this Act are inserted in the said Second Schedule solely to facilitate the identification of the duties respectively affected by the several amendments mentioned in the said Second Schedule, and accordingly nothing contained in the said fourth column shall affect the construction of this section or the said Second Schedule or operate to extend, limit, or control the extent or effect of any amendments mentioned in that Schedule.

Termination of certain customs duties.

20. —(1) The several duties mentioned in the third column of the Third Schedule to this Act and respectively imposed by the enactments mentioned in the second column of the said Third Schedule shall not be charged or levied on any articles imported on or after the 13th day of May, 1938.

(2) The particulars stated in the fourth column of the Third Schedule to this Act are inserted in the said Third Schedule solely to facilitate identification of the several duties mentioned in the third column of that Schedule, and accordingly nothing contained in the said fourth column shall affect the construction or limit or control the operation of this section and the second and third columns of the said Third Schedule.

Amendment of the Hawkers Act, 1888.

21. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Hawkers Act, 1888, or in sub-section (2) of section 12 of the Finance Act, 1930 (No. 20 of 1930), the duty of excise to be paid on an excise licence issued under section 3 of the Hawkers Act, 1888, in respect of any period commencing after the 31st day of March, 1939, shall be charged, levied, and paid at whichever of the following amounts is applicable, that is to say:—

(a) on any such licence issued to a person who is a hawker by virtue of paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the said section 12 of the Finance Act, 1930 , and travels with a horse or other beast bearing or drawing burden—four pounds, and

(b) on every other such licence—twenty pounds.

(2) Where a person commits an offence under sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Hawkers Act, 1888, and the act constituting the offence is of such character that the proper licence within the meaning of that sub-section is a licence in respect of which the excise duty is four pounds, such person shall be liable on summary conviction of such offence to an excise penalty of twenty pounds.

(3) Where a person commits an offence under sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Hawkers Act, 1888, and the act constituting the offence is of such character that the proper licence within the meaning of that sub-section is a licence in respect of which the excise duty is twenty pounds, such person shall be liable on summary conviction of such offence to an excise penalty of one hundred pounds.

Certain exemptions from entertainments duty.

22. —(1) Entertainments duty within the meaning of and chargeable under section 1 of the Finance (New Duties) Act, 1916, as amended by subsequent enactments shall not be charged or levied on any entertainment in respect of which it is proved to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners—

(a) that the entertainment is promoted by the Irish Amateur Billiards Association or by a club duly affiliated to or under the direct control of that Association and that the entertainment consists solely of an exhibition of the game of billiards, or

(b) that the entertainment is promoted by the Irish Chess Union or by a club duly affiliated to or under the direct control of that Union and that the entertainment consists solely of an exhibition of the game of chess, or

(c) that the entertainment is promoted by the Irish Squash Rackets Association or by a club duly affiliated to or under the direct control of that Association and that the entertainment consists solely of an exhibition of the game of squash rackets, or

(d) that the entertainment consists solely of an exhibition of aeronautics.

(2) Section 20 (which relates to an exemption from entertainments duty) of the Finance Act, 1934 (No. 31 of 1934), shall be and is hereby amended by deleting therefrom the words “and does not involve the use or participation of horses, dogs, or other animals or the use of mechanically propelled vehicles”.

Bounty on certain destroyed tobacco.

23. —Whenever tobacco grown in Ireland after the 1st day of January, 1934, and allocated to a manufacturer under the Tobacco Act, 1934 (No. 37 of 1934), is, whether before or after the passing of this Act, found to be unfit for manufacture and is destroyed with the consent of the Minister for Industry and Commerce, the Revenue Commissioners shall, out of money provided by the Oireachtas, pay on every pound of such tobacco to the said manufacturer a bounty of whichever of the following amounts is applicable, that is to say:—

(a) if such tobacco was so destroyed in the premises of the said manufacturer, an amount equal to the difference per pound between the excise duty paid on such tobacco and the customs duty chargeable, at the time at which the said excise duty was paid, on like tobacco not grown in Ireland;

(b) if such tobacco was so destroyed in a bonded warehouse, an amount equal to the difference per pound between the excise duty chargeable on such tobacco and the customs duty chargeable, at the time at which such tobacco was so destroyed, on like tobacco not grown in Ireland.

Power to require information and production of documents.

24. —(1) Where an entry or specification of goods or a shipping bill for goods has been delivered for the purposes of any Act (including this Act and any Act passed after this Act) relating to the customs, an officer of customs and excise may, at any time within three years after such delivery, require any person concerned with the importation or the exportation (as the case may be) of such goods to do either or both of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) to furnish to such officer, within such time and in such form and manner as is specified by such officer, all such information in relation to such goods as is reasonably required by such officer and is in the possession or procurement of such person;

(b) within such time as is specified by such officer, to produce to such officer and permit him to inspect and take copies of or extracts from all such books and documents relating to such goods as are reasonably required by such officer and are in the possession, custody, or procurement of such person.

(2) Every person who fails or refuses to do anything which he is required under this section by an officer of customs and excise to do shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a customs penalty of fifty pounds.

(3) Section 1 of the Revenue Act, 1909, is hereby repealed.

(4) Sub-section (2) of section 4 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1935 (No. 7 of 1935), and section 14 of the Finance Act, 1937 (No. 18 of 1937), shall be construed and have effect as if references to this section were substituted therein for the references to section 1 of the Finance Act, 1909, now contained therein.

(5) The powers conferred by this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any power under any other Act relating to the customs to require information or the production of books or documents relating to imported goods or to exported goods.

Computation of value for the purposes of the Customs Acts.

25. Section 34 of the Finance Act, 1933 (No. 15 of 1933), is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that the value of any article or goods for any of the purposes of this Act or any other Act (whether passed before or after this Act) relating to the customs or of any order relating to the customs heretofore or hereafter made under any Act (whether passed before or after this Act) shall, in the absence of provision to the contrary, be taken to be the price which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, an importer would give for such article or goods if such article or goods were delivered, freight and insurance paid, in bond at the place of importation.