CHAPTER 2

Miscellaneous

84. — Section 122 of the Finance Act, 1992 , is amended by the insertion of the following after subsection (2):

“(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other enactment, a permit shall not be granted or renewed by the Revenue Commissioners under this section in respect of any period commencing on or after 1 July 2000 unless a tax clearance certificate in relation to the permit or its renewal has been issued in accordance with section 1094 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 .”.

85. —The Finance Act, 1992 , is amended by the insertion after section 123 of the following new section:

86. —Section 49 of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, is amended by the insertion, after subsection (1), of the following subsection:

“(1A) Notwithstanding subsection (1) or anything to the contrary in any other enactment, any licence commencing after the coming into operation of this subsection which is—

(a) a manufacturer's licence required by—

(i) a distiller of spirits,

(ii) a rectifier or compounder of spirits,

(iii) a brewer of beer for sale, or

(iv) a maker for sale of sweets,

(b) a beer retailer's on-licence,

(c) a cider retailer's on-licence,

(d) a sweets retailer's on-licence,

(e) a cider retailer's off-licence,

(f) a sweets retailer's off-licence,

(g) a railway restaurant car licence,

(h) a passenger vessel licence (annual),

(i) a passenger vessel licence (one day), or

(j) a passenger aircraft licence,

as is specified in the First Schedule to this Act, shall not be granted or renewed by the Revenue Commissioners unless a tax clearance certificate in relation to that licence has been issued in accordance with section 1094 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 .”.

87. — Section 136 of the Finance Act, 2001 , is amended—

(a) in subsection (1) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (b):

“(bb) bets liable to betting duty are reasonably believed to be accepted, or”,

and

(b) in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) by substituting “(a), (b) and (bb)” for “(a) and (b)”, and

(c) in subsection (3) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (d):

“(e) exercise the powers of detention provided for under section 140.”.

88. —(1) In this section and in Schedule 4—

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

“cigarettes”, “cigars”, “fine-cut tobacco for the rolling of cigarettes” and “smoking tobacco” have the same meanings as they have in the Act of 1977, as amended by section 86 of the Finance Act, 1997 , and section 94 of this Act.

(2) The duty of excise on tobacco products imposed by section 2 of the Act of 1977 shall, in lieu of the several rates specified in Schedule 4 to the Finance Act, 2001 , be charged, levied and paid—

(a) as on and from 6 December 2001, at the several rates specified in Part 1 of Schedule 4, and

(b) as on and from 1 January 2002, at the several rates specified in Part 2 of Schedule 4.

89. —The Finance Act, 1999 , is amended—

(a) with effect as on and from 6 December 2001, by substituting the following Schedule for Schedule 2 to that Act:

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Mineral Oil Tax

With effect as on and from 6 December 2001

”,

(b) with effect as on and from 1 January 2002, by substituting the following Schedule for Schedule 2 (inserted by subsection (a)) to that Act:

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Mineral Oil Tax

With effect as on and from 1 January 2002

”,

(c) with effect as on and from 1 March 2002, by substituting the following Schedule for Schedule 2 (inserted by subsection (b)) to that Act:

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Mineral Oil Tax

With effect as on and from 1 March 2002

”.

90. —(1) In Schedule 5 “% vol” means the number of volumes of pure alcohol contained at a temperature of 20°C in 100 volumes of the product at that temperature.

(2) The duty of excise on cider and perry imposed by paragraph 8(2) of the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975), shall, in lieu of the several rates specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Finance Act, 1994 , be charged, levied and paid—

(a) as on and from 6 December 2001, at the several rates specified in Part 1 of Schedule 5, and

(b) as on and from 1 January 2002, at the several rates specified in Part 2 of Schedule 5.

91. — Section 98 of the Finance Act, 1999 , is amended by substituting the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2)  (a) Claims for repayment under subsection (1) shall be made in such form as the Commissioners may direct and shall be in respect of mineral oil used within a period of not less than one and not more than 6 calendar months.

(b) A repayment under subsection (1) may not be made unless the claim is made within 4 months following the end of each such period or within such longer period as the Commissioners may, in any particular case, allow.”.

92. — Section 100 of the Finance Act, 1999 , is amended by substituting the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3)  (a) Claims for remission or repayment under subsection (2) shall be made in such form as the Commissioners may direct and shall be in respect of oil used within a period of not less than one and not more than 6 calendar months.

(b) A repayment under subsection (2) may not be made unless the claim is made within 4 months following the end of each such period or within such longer period as the Commissioners may, in any particular case, allow.”.

93. —(1) The Finance Act, 1999 , is amended in Chapter 1 of Part 2 by substituting the following section for section 99:

“99.—(1) Where a person who—

(a) carries on a passenger road service within the meaning of section 2 of the Road Transport Act, 1932 , pursuant to a passenger licence granted under section 11 of that Act.

(b) lawfully carries on, other than pursuant to such a licence, such a passenger road service,

(c) provides a school transport service pursuant to an agreement with the Minister for Education and Science,

(d) carries on a passenger road service or provides a school transport service pursuant to an agreement with a person to whom and in respect of such service to which paragraph (a), (b) or (c), as may be appropriate, applies, or

(e) subject to subsection (2), carries for reward tourists by road under contracts for group transport,

shows to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that heavy oil on which mineral oil tax has been paid has been used by such person for combustion in the engine of a mechanically propelled vehicle, on the route travelled by such vehicle in the course of providing such service or in the course of such carriage of tourists, the Commissioners shall, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit, repay to such person the amount of mineral oil tax paid less an amount calculated at the rate of €22.72 per 1,000 litres on such mineral oil so used.

(2) Repayments in respect of the carriage of tourists referred to in paragraph (e) of subsection (1) shall be made only where—

(a) such carriage is under a contract for a tour over a period of at least three days, and which includes the provision of accommodation for each night during that period for all tourists carried, and

(b) the vehicle used in the course of providing such carriage is—

(i) a single-deck touring coach having dimensions as designated by the manufacturer of not less than 2,700 millimetres in height, not less than 8,000 millimetres in length, not less than 950 millimetres in floor height and with an underfloor luggage capacity of not less than 3 cubic metres, or

(ii) a double-deck touring coach having dimensions as designated by the manufacturer of not more than 4,300 millimetres in height and not less than 10,000 millimetres in length.

(3)  (a) Claims for repayment under subsection (1) shall be made in such form as the Commissioners may direct and shall be in respect of oil used within a period of not less than one and not more than 6 calendar months.

(b) A repayment under subsection (1) may not be made unless the claim is made within 4 months following the end of each such period or within such longer period as the Commissioners may, in any particular case, allow.

(4) Where a person has obligations under the Acts within the meaning of subsection (3) of section 1095 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 , a repayment under subsection (1) may not be made to such person unless a current tax clearance certificate, valid on the date of authorisation of such repayment, has been issued to such person in accordance with that section.”.

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

94. —(1) Section 1 of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by substituting “ section 96 of the Finance Act, 2001 ” for “section 103(1) of the Finance Act, 1992 ” in the definition of “Community”, and

(ii) by substituting the following for the definition of “cigars” (inserted by section 86 of the Finance Act, 1997 ):

“‘cigars’ means—

(a) rolls of tobacco made entirely of natural tobacco,

(b) rolls of tobacco with an outer wrapper of natural tobacco,

(c) rolls of tobacco with—

(i) a threshed blend filler, and

(ii) an outer wrapper of the normal colour of a cigar covering the product in full, including where appropriate the filter but not, in the case of tipped cigars, the tip and a binder, both being of reconstituted tobacco,

where the unit weight, excluding the filter or mouth-piece, is not less than 1.2 grammes and where the wrapper is fitted in spiral form with an acute angle of at least 30 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the cigar,

(d) rolls of tobacco with—

(i) a threshed blend filler, and

(ii) an outer wrapper of the normal colour of a cigar of reconstituted tobacco, covering the product in full, including where appropriate the filter but not, in the case of tipped cigars, the tip,

where the unit weight, excluding the filter or mouth-piece, is not less than 2.3 grammes and the circumference over at least one-third of the length is not less than 34 millimetres,

(e) products consisting in part of substances other than tobacco but otherwise conforming to the criteria set out in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) provided they have:

(i) a wrapper of natural tobacco,

(ii) a wrapper and binder both of reconstituted tobacco, or

(iii) a wrapper of reconstituted tobacco,

and to which Council Directive No. 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995¹ (as amended) relates;”,

and

(b) in subsection (1A)—

(i) by substituting “suspension arrangement” for “duty-suspension arrangement”, and

(ii) by substituting “Part 2 of the Finance Act, 2001 ” for “Chapter II of Part II of the Finance Act, 1992 ”.

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

95. —The Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , is amended in subsection (1) (as amended by section 79 of the Finance Act, 1995 ) of section 2B (inserted by section 70 of the Finance Act, 1994)—

(a) in paragraph (a) by substituting “section 104(2) of the Finance Act, 2001 ” for “subsection (2) of section 106 of the Finance Act, 1992 ”, and

(b) in paragraph (b) by substituting “suspension arrangement” for “duty-suspension arrangement”.

96. — Section 7 of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , is amended in subsection (3)(c) (inserted by section 84 of the Finance Act, 1996 ) by substituting “5 cent” for “five pence”.

97. —The Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , is amended in section 10A (inserted by section 74 of the Finance Act, 1994 )—

(a) in subsection (1) (as amended by section 82 of the Finance Act, 1995 , section 85 of the Finance Act, 1996 and section 87 of the Finance Act, 1997 ) by substituting “suspension arrangement” for “duty-suspension arrangement”, and

(b) in subsection (4)(b)(ii) (inserted by section 158 of the Finance Act, 2001 ) by substituting “suspension arrangement” for “duty-suspension arrangement”.

¹ O.J. No. L 291, 6.12.1995, p. 40