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6 2006

FINANCE ACT 2006

PART 6

Miscellaneous

Interpretation (Part 6).

120 .— In this Part “ Principal Act ” means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 .

Amendment of section 1003 (payment of tax by means of donation of heritage items) of Principal Act.

121 .— Section 1003 of the Principal Act is amended, as respects the year of assessment 2006 and subsequent years of assessment, by substituting the following for subsection (3)(a):

“(a) For the purposes of this section, the market value of any item or collection of items (in this subsection referred to as ‘the property’) shall, subject to paragraph (d), be estimated to be the lesser of—

(i) 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, and

(ii) (I) the price which, in the opinion of the person making the gift of the property, the property would fetch on the valuation date if sold in the manner referred to in subparagraph (i), or

(II) at the election of that person, the amount paid for the property by that person.”.

Payment of tax by means of donation of heritage property to an Irish heritage trust.

122 .— (1) The Principal Act is amended in Chapter 5 of Part 42 by inserting the following after section 1003:

“1003A.— (1) In this section—

‘the Acts’ means—

(a) the Tax Acts (other than Chapter 8 of Part 6, Chapter 2 of Part 18 and Chapter 4 of this Part),

(b) the Capital Gains Tax Acts, and

(c) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

and any instruments made thereunder;

‘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)—

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

(b) in the case of gift tax or inheritance tax, before 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;

‘contents of the building’ means furnishings historically associated with the building and in respect of which the Minister is satisfied that they are important to establishing the historic or aesthetic context of the building;

‘current liability’ means—

(a) 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,

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

(c) 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;

‘heritage property’ has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2)(a);

‘market value’ has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (3);

‘Minister’ means the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government;

‘relevant gift’ means a gift of heritage property to the Trust in respect of which no consideration whatever (other than relief under this section) is received by the person making the gift, either directly or indirectly, from the Trust or otherwise;

‘relevant period’ means—

(a) 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

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

‘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;

‘Trust’ means the company designated for the purposes of this section by the order referred to in section 122 (2) of the Finance Act 2006;

‘valuation date’ means the date on which an application is made to the Minister for a determination under subsection (2)(a).

(2) (a) In this section ‘heritage property’ means a building or a garden which, on application to the Minister in writing in that behalf by a person who owns the building or the garden is, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), determined by the Minister to be a building or a garden which is—

(i) an outstanding example of the type of building or garden involved,

(ii) pre-eminent in its class,

(iii) intrinsically of significant scientific, historical, horticultural, national, architectural or aesthetic interest, and

(iv) suitable for acquisition by the Trust,

and, for the purposes of this section, a reference to ‘building’ includes—

(I) any associated outbuilding, yard or land where the land is occupied or enjoyed with the building as part of its garden or designed landscape and contributes to the appreciation of the building in its setting, and

(II) the contents of the building.

(b) In considering an application under paragraph (a), the Minister shall consider such evidence as the person making the application submits to the Minister.

(c) On receipt of an application for a determination under paragraph (a), the Minister shall request the Revenue Commissioners in writing to value the heritage property in accordance with subsection (3).

(d) The Minister shall not make a determination under paragraph (a) where the market value of the property, as determined by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (3), at the valuation date exceeds an amount determined by the formula—

€6,000,000 - M

where M is an amount (which may be nil) equal to the market value at the valuation date of the heritage property (if any) or the aggregate of the market values at the respective valuation dates of all the heritage properties (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 Minister in any one calendar year and not revoked in that year.

(e) (i) A property shall cease to be a heritage property for the purposes of this section if—

(I) the property is sold or otherwise disposed of to a person other than the Trust,

(II) the owner of the property notifies the Trust in writing that it is not intended to make a gift of the property to the Trust, or

(III) the gift of the property is not made to the Trust within the calendar year following the year in which the determination is made under paragraph (a).

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

(3) (a) For the purposes of this section, the market value of any property shall be estimated to be the lesser of—

(i) 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, and

(ii) (I) the price which, in the opinion of the person making the gift of the property, the property would fetch on the valuation date if sold in the manner referred to in subparagraph (i), or

(II) at the election of that person, the amount paid for the property by that person.

(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 of the property 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 the Trust—

(a) the Trust 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 property the subject of that gift to the Trust, and

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

(5) Subject to 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 subsection (5) shall be set in 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) 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) To the extent that a payment on account of tax has not been set off in accordance with 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 property 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 property 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 apply 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 this section.

(10) Interest shall not be payable in respect of any overpayment of tax for any period which arises directly or indirectly by reason of the set-off against any liability for that period of a payment on account of tax made in accordance with 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 compile a list of the titles (if any), descriptions and values of the heritage properties (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 the list (if any) referred to in paragraph (a) for the year in respect of which the report is made.”.

(2) The Minister for Finance shall designate by order the company (being a company incorporated under the Companies Acts) which is to be the Trust for the purposes of section 1003A of the Principal Act (inserted by subsection (1)).

(3) Subsection (1) comes into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.

Prescribing of forms, etc.

123 .— (1) In this section—

“the Acts” means—

(a) the Tax Acts,

(b) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(c) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

(d) the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act, and

(e) Chapter IV of Part II of the Finance Act 1992 ,

and any instruments made thereunder;

“form or other document” includes a form or other document for use, or capable of use, in a machine readable form.

(2) Where a provision of the Acts requires that a form or other document used for any purpose of the Acts is to be prescribed, authorised or approved by the Revenue Commissioners, such form or other document may be prescribed, authorised or approved by—

(a) a Revenue Commissioner, or

(b) an officer of the Revenue Commissioners not below the grade or rank of Assistant Secretary authorised by them for that purpose.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be read as restricting section 12 of the Interpretation Act 2005 .

Amendment of Chapter 3A (implementation of Council Directive 2003/48/EC of 3 June 2003 on Taxation of Savings Income in the Form of Interest Payments and Related Matters) of Part 38 of Principal Act.

124 .— (1) Chapter 3A (as amended by the European Communities (Taxation of Savings Income in the form of Interest Payments) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 317 of 2005)) of Part 38 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 898F, by substituting the following for subsection (5):

“(5) (a) A paying agent who establishes the identity and residence of an individual in accordance with this section shall retain or, in a case where the relevant documentation is held by another person, have access to—

(i) a copy of all materials used to identify the individual, and

(ii) a copy of all materials used to establish the residence of the individual,

for a period of at least 5 years after the relationship between the paying agent and the individual has ended.

(b) As respects any interest payment made to an individual referred to in paragraph (a) a paying agent shall retain the original documents or copies admissible in legal proceedings relating to the making of any interest payment to or securing of any interest payment for the individual where the payment is made or secured on or after 1 July 2005, for a period of at least 5 years after the interest payment was made or secured.”,

(b) in section 898G, by substituting the following for subsection (6):

“(6) (a) A paying agent who establishes the identity and residence of an individual in accordance with this section shall retain or, in a case where the relevant documentation is held by another person, have access to—

(i) a copy of all materials used to identify the individual, and

(ii) a copy of all materials used to establish the residence of the individual,

for a period of at least 5 years after the relationship between the paying agent and the individual has ended or, in the case of a transaction carried out in the absence of contractual relations, for a period of at least 5 years after the interest payment was made or secured.

(b) As regards any interest payment made to an individual referred to in paragraph (a) a paying agent shall retain the original documents or copies admissible in legal proceedings relating to the making of any interest payment to or securing of any interest payment for the individual where the payment is made or secured on or after 1 July 2005, for a period of at least 5 years after the interest payment was made or secured.”,

and

(c) in section 898Q, by inserting the following after subsection (4):

“(5) (a) Where any person does not comply with any provision of regulations under this Chapter requiring that person to send any information, document or certificate to the Revenue Commissioners, that person shall be liable to a penalty of €1,520.

(b) Where the person mentioned in paragraph (a) is a body of persons, the secretary of the body shall be liable to a separate penalty of €950.

(c) All penalties for failure to comply with any provision of regulations under this Chapter may, without prejudice to any other method of the recovery, be proceeded for and recovered summarily in the like manner as in summary proceedings for the recovery of any fine or penalty under any Act relating to the excise.

(d) In proceedings for recovery of a penalty under this section—

(i) a certificate signed by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners which certifies that he or she has inspected the relevant records of the Revenue Commissioners and that it appears from them that during a stated period any information, document or certificate referred to in paragraph (a) was not received from the defendant shall be evidence until the contrary is proved that the defendant did not during that period send that information, document or certificate to the Revenue Commissioners,

(ii) a certificate certifying as provided for in subparagraph (i) and purporting to be signed by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners may be tendered in evidence without proof and shall be deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners.”.

(2) This section applies as on and from the date of the passing of this Act.

Amendment of Chapter 3 (other obligations and returns) of Part 38 of Principal Act.

125 .— Chapter 3 of Part 38 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after section 891A the following:

“Returns of certain payments made by certain persons.

891B.— (1) In this section—

‘assurance company’ means―

(a) an assurance company within the meaning of section 3 of the Insurance Act 1936 , or

(b) a person that holds an authorisation within the meaning of the European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations 1994 (S.I. No. 360 of 1994);

‘collective fund’ means—

(a) an investment undertaking (within the meaning of section 739B), or

(b) a unit trust to which section 731(5) applies;

‘financial institution’ means—

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

(b) a person referred to in section 7(4) of the Central Bank Act 1971 , or

(c) a credit institution (within the meaning of the European Communities (Licensing and Supervision of Credit Institutions) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. No. 395 of 1992)) which has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland to carry on business of a credit institution in accordance with the provisions of the supervisory enactments (within the meaning of those Regulations);

‘PPS Number’, in relation to an individual, means the individual’s personal public service number (within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 );

‘relevant payment’, in relation to a specified person, means—

(a) in the case of a specified person which is an assurance company, a collective fund or a financial institution—

(i) any payment of interest or in the nature of interest,

(ii) any payment in respect of any investment,

(iii) any payment made in the nature of a return on an investment, or

(iv) any other similar payment,

of a kind or kinds specified or defined in regulations which is made or credited by or through the specified person, and

(b) in the case of any other specified person, any payment of a kind or kinds specified or defined in regulations made or credited by or through the specified person;

‘relevant person’ means—

(a) any assurance company,

(b) any financial institution,

(c) any collective fund, or

(d) any Minister of the Government, any body established by or under statute, or any other body which undertakes the disbursement of public funds;

‘Revenue officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners;

‘specified person’ means a person who is a member of a class of relevant persons specified in regulations;

‘tax’ means any tax provided for under the Tax Acts or the Capital Gains Tax Acts;

‘tax reference number’, in relation to a person, means—

(a) in the case of a person who is an individual, the individual’s PPS Number, and

(b) in any other case—

(i) the reference number stated on any return of income form or notice of assessment issued to the person by a Revenue officer, or

(ii) the registration number of the person for the purposes of value-added tax.

(2) (a) For the purposes of this section and any regulations—

(i) any amount credited, or set off against any other amount, in respect of a relevant payment shall be treated as a payment and references in this section and in regulations to a payment shall be construed accordingly, and

(ii) any reference in this section and in regulations to the amount of a payment shall be construed as a reference to the amount which would be the amount of that payment if no tax were to be deducted from that payment.

(b) A reference in this section to a regulation or regulations shall be construed as a reference to a regulation or regulations made under subsection (3).

(3) The Revenue Commissioners, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may by regulations provide that a specified person be required—

(a) to make to the Revenue Commissioners a return of information relating to relevant payments made by or through the specified person concerned for or by reference to such period or periods, other than a period beginning before 1 January 2005, as may be specified in the regulations, and

(b) subject to subsection (4)(h), to include in any such return the tax reference numbers of the persons to whom any such payments are made.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), regulations may, in particular, include provision for—

(a) notifying a person that that person is a specified person, including the means by which such notification may be made,

(b) determining the date in any year by which a return required to be made under the regulations shall be made to the Revenue Commissioners,

(c) prescribing the office of the Revenue Commissioners to which returns should be delivered,

(d) specifying or defining the kind or kinds of relevant payments to be included in returns to be made under regulations,

(e) defining, for the purposes of determining the persons or classes of persons to be included in a return to be made under regulations, the persons or classes of persons to whom relevant payments may have been made,

(f) determining, for the purposes of including persons to whom relevant payments are made in a return to be made under regulations, the identity and place of residence or establishment of a person to whom a relevant payment is made,

(g) specifying the details relating to a relevant payment to be included in a return made under regulations,

(h) imposing an obligation on—

(i) specified persons to obtain a tax reference number from persons (in this paragraph referred to as ‘customers’)—

(I) with whom they enter into contractual relationships,

(II) for whom they undertake any transaction, or

(III) in respect of whom they make a relevant payment,

on or after a date specified in regulations, which shall not be earlier than the date such regulations come into force, for the purposes of including that number in a return under regulations, and

(ii) customers to provide a specified person with their tax reference number on request by that specified person where—

(I) such customers enter into contractual relations with the specified person, or

(II) where the specified person undertakes any transaction,

on or after a date specified in regulations where the relationship or transaction may give rise to a relevant payment,

(i) defining ‘books’ and ‘records’ for the purposes of regulations,

(j) determining the manner of keeping records and setting the period for the retention of records so kept in relation to any of the matters specified in the preceding paragraphs,

(k) Revenue officers, authorised for the purpose, to—

(i) require—

(I) the production of books, records or other documents,

(II) the provision of information, explanations and particulars,

(III) persons to give all such assistance as may reasonably be required and as is specified in the regulations,

in relation to relevant payments and the persons to whom such payments were made within such time as may be specified in regulations, and

(ii) make extracts from or copies of books, records or other documents or require that copies of such books, records and documents be made available,

and

(l) such supplemental and incidental matters as appear to the Revenue Commissioners to be necessary—

(i) to enable persons to fulfil their obligations under regulations, or

(ii) for the general administration and implementation of any regulations, including—

(I) delegating to a Revenue officer the authority to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by regulations to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners, and

(II) the authorisation by the Revenue Commissioners of Revenue officers to exercise any powers, to perform any acts or to discharge any functions conferred by this section or by regulations.

(5) Every regulation made shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(6) A Revenue officer authorised for the purpose of regulations may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of a specified person for the purposes of—

(a) determining whether information—

(i) included in a return made under regulations by that specified person was correct and complete, or

(ii) not included in such a return was correctly not so included,

or

(b) examining the procedures put in place by that specified person for the purposes of ensuring compliance with that person’s obligations under regulations.

(7) (a) Section 898O shall apply to—

(i) a failure by a relevant person to deliver a return required under regulations, and to each and every such failure, and

(ii) the making of an incorrect or incomplete return under regulations,

as it applies to a failure to deliver a return or to the making of an incorrect or incomplete return referred to in section 898O.

(b) A person who does not comply with—

(i) the requirements of a Revenue officer in the exercise or performance of the officer’s powers or duties under this section or under regulations, or

(ii) a person who does not comply with any requirement of regulations made under subsection (3),

shall be liable to a penalty of €1,265; and, for the purposes of the recovery of a penalty under this paragraph, section 1061 shall apply in the same manner as it applies for the purposes of the recovery of a penalty under any of the sections referred to in that section.

(8) A relevant payment shall not be included in a return to be made under regulations if such payment is included or would be liable to be included in a return made in accordance with section 891A or Chapter 3A.

(9) Where a return (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned return’) is furnished by a specified person under regulations a return shall not be required to be made by that person under section 891, notwithstanding the provisions of section 894, in respect of any payment included in the first-mentioned return.”.

Transactions to avoid liability to tax: surcharge, interest and protective notifications.

126 .— The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 811(1)—

(i) in paragraph (a) by substituting “In this section and section 811A—” for “In this section—”, and

(ii) by inserting after paragraph (b) the following paragraph:

“(c) For the purposes of this section and section 811A, all appeals made under section 811(7) by, or on behalf of, a person against any matter or matters specified or described in the notice of opinion of the Revenue Commissioners that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction, if they have not otherwise been so determined, shall be deemed to have been finally determined when—

(i) there is a written agreement, between that person and an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, that the notice of opinion is to stand or is to be amended in a particular manner,

(ii) (I) the terms of such an agreement that was not made in writing have been confirmed by notice in writing given by the person to the officer of the Revenue Commissioners with whom the agreement was made, or by such officer to the person, and

(II) 21 days have elapsed since the giving of the notice without the person to whom it was given giving notice in writing to the person by whom it was given that the first-mentioned person desires to repudiate or withdraw from the agreement, or

(iii) the person gives notice in writing to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners that the person desires not to proceed with an appeal against the notice of opinion.”,

and

(b) by inserting the following after section 811:

“Transactions to avoid liability to tax: surcharge, interest and protective notification.

811A.— (1) (a) In this section references to tax being payable shall, except where the context requires otherwise, include references to tax being payable by a person to withdraw from that person so much of a tax advantage as is a refund of, or a payment of, an amount of tax, or an increase in an amount of tax, refundable, or otherwise payable, to the person.

(b) For the purposes of this section the date on which the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction becomes final and conclusive is—

(i) where no appeal is made under section 811(7) against any matter or matters specified or described in the notice of that opinion, 31 days after the date of the notice of that opinion, or

(ii) the date on which all appeals made under section 811(7) against any such matter or matters have been finally determined and none of the appeals has been so determined by an order directing that the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners to the effect that the transaction is a tax avoidance transaction is void.

(c) This section shall be construed together with section 811 and shall have effect notwithstanding any of the provisions of section 811.

(2) Where, in accordance with adjustments made or acts done by the Revenue Commissioners under section 811(5), on foot of their opinion (as amended, or added to, on appeal where relevant) that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction having become final and conclusive, an amount of tax is payable by a person that would not have been payable if the Revenue Commissioners had not formed the opinion concerned, then, subject to subsection (3)—

(a) the person shall be liable to pay an amount (in this section referred to as the ‘surcharge’) equal to 10 per cent of the amount of that tax and the provisions of the Acts, including in particular section 811(5) and those provisions relating to the collection and recovery of that tax, shall apply to that surcharge, as if it were such tax, and

(b) for the purposes of liability to interest under the Acts on tax due and payable, the amount of tax, or parts of that amount, shall be deemed to be due and payable on the day or, as respects parts of that amount, days specified in the notice of opinion (as amended, or added to, on appeal where relevant) in accordance with section 811(6)(a)(iii) construed together with subsection (4)(a) of this section,

and the surcharge and interest shall be payable accordingly.

(3) (a) Subject to subsection (6), neither a surcharge nor interest shall be payable by a person in relation to a tax avoidance transaction finally and conclusively determined to be such a transaction if the Revenue Commissioners have received from, or on behalf of, that person, on or before the relevant date (within the meaning of paragraph (c)), notification (referred to in this subsection and subsection (6) as a ‘protective notification’) of full details of that transaction.

(b) Where a person makes a protective notification, or a protective notification is made on a person’s behalf, then the person shall be treated as making the protective notification—

(i) solely to prevent any possibility of a surcharge or interest becoming payable by the person by virtue of subsection (2), and

(ii) wholly without prejudice as to whether any opinion that the transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction, if such an opinion were to be formed by the Revenue Commissioners, would be correct.

(c) Regardless of the type of tax concerned—

(i) where the whole or any part of the transaction, which is the subject of the protective notification, is undertaken or arranged on or after 2 February 2006, then the relevant date shall be—

(I) the date which is 90 days after the date on which the transaction commenced, or

(II) if it is later than the said 90 days, 2 May 2006,

(ii) where—

(I) the whole of the transaction is undertaken or arranged before 2 February 2006, and would give rise to, or would but for section 811 give rise to, a reduction, avoidance, or deferral of any charge or assessment to tax, or part thereof, and

(II) that charge or assessment would arise only by virtue of one or more other transactions carried out wholly on or after 2 February 2006,

then the relevant date shall be the date which is 90 days after the date on which the first of those other transactions commenced, or

(iii) where—

(I) the whole of the transaction is undertaken or arranged before 2 February 2006, and would give rise to, or would but for section 811 give rise to, a refund or a payment of an amount, or of an increase in an amount of tax, or part thereof, refundable or otherwise payable to a person, and

(II) that amount or increase in the amount would, but for section 811, become first so refundable or otherwise payable to the person on a date on or after 2 February 2006,

then the relevant date shall be the date which is 90 days after that date.

(d) Notwithstanding the receipt by the Revenue Commissioners of a protective notice, paragraph (a) shall not apply to any interest, payable in relation to a tax avoidance transaction finally and conclusively determined to be such a transaction, in respect of days on or after the date on which the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners in relation to that transaction becomes final and conclusive.

(4) (a) The determination of tax consequences, which would arise in respect of a transaction if the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, that the transaction was a tax avoidance transaction, were to become final and conclusive, shall, for the purposes of charging interest, include the specification of—

(i) a date or dates, being a date or dates which is or are just and reasonable to ensure that tax is deemed to be due and payable not later than it would have been due and payable if the transaction had not been undertaken, disregarding any contention that another transaction would not have been undertaken or arranged to achieve the results, or any part of the results, achieved or intended to be achieved by the transaction, and

(ii) the date which, as respects such amount of tax as is due and payable by a person to recover from the person a refund of or a payment of tax, including an increase in tax refundable or otherwise payable, to the person, is the day on which the refund or payment was made, set off or accounted for,

and the date or dates shall be specified for the purposes of this paragraph without regard to—

(I) when an opinion of the Revenue Commissioners that the transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction was formed,

(II) the date on which any notice of that opinion was given, or

(III) the date on which the opinion (as amended, or added to, on appeal where relevant) became final and conclusive.

(b) Where the grounds of an appeal in relation to tax consequences refer to such a date or dates as are mentioned in paragraph (a), subsection (7) of section 811 shall apply, in that respect, as if the following paragraph were substituted for paragraph (c) of that subsection:

‘(c) the tax consequences specified or described in the notice of opinion, or such part of those consequences as shall be specified or described by the appellant in the notice of appeal, would not be just and reasonable to ensure that tax is deemed to be payable on a date or dates in accordance with subsection (4)(a) of section 811A,’

and the grounds of appeal referred to in section 811(8)(a) shall be construed accordingly.

(5) A surcharge payable by virtue of subsection (2)(a) shall be due and payable on the date that the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction becomes final and conclusive and interest shall be payable in respect of any delay in payment of the surcharge as if the surcharge were an amount of that tax by reference to an amount of which the surcharge was computed.

(6) (a) A protective notification shall—

(i) be delivered in such form as may be prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners and to such office of the Revenue Commissioners as—

(I) is specified in the prescribed form, or

(II) as may be identified, by reference to guidance in the prescribed form, as the office to which the notification concerned should be sent, and

(ii) contain—

(I) full details of the transaction which is the subject of the protective notification, including any part of that transaction that has not been undertaken before the protective notification is delivered,

(II) full reference to the provisions of the Acts that the person, by whom, or on whose behalf, the protective notification is delivered, considers to be relevant to the treatment of the transaction for tax purposes, and

(III) full details of how, in the opinion of the person, by whom, or on whose behalf, the protective notification is delivered, each provision, referred to in the protective notification in accordance with clause (II), applies, or does not apply, to the transaction.

(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), the specifying, under—

(i) section 19B of the Value-Added Tax Act 1972 ,

(ii) section 46A of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 ,

(iii) section 8 of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 , or

(iv) section 955(4) of this Act,

of a doubt as to the application of law to, or the treatment for tax purposes of, any matter to be contained in a return shall not be regarded as being, or being equivalent to, the delivery of a protective notification in relation to a transaction for the purposes of subsection (3).

(c) Where the Revenue Commissioners form the opinion that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction and believe that a protective notification in relation to the transaction has not been delivered by a person in accordance with subsection (6)(a) by the relevant date (within the meaning of subsection (3)(c)) then, in giving notice under section 811(6)(a) to the person of their opinion in relation to the transaction, they shall give notice that they believe that a protective notification has not been so delivered by the person and section 811 shall be construed, subject to any necessary modifications, as if—

(i) subsection (7) of that section included as grounds for appeal that a protective notification in relation to the transaction was so delivered by the person, and

(ii) subsection (9) of that section provided that an appeal were to be determined, in so far as it is made on those grounds, by ordering that a protective notification in relation to the transaction was so delivered or that a protective notification in relation to the transaction was not so delivered.

(7) This section shall apply—

(a) as respects any transaction where the whole or any part of the transaction is undertaken or arranged on or after 2 February 2006, and

(b) as respects any transaction, the whole of which was undertaken or arranged before that date, in so far as it gives rise to, or would but for section 811 give rise to—

(i) a reduction, avoidance, or deferral of any charge or assessment to tax, or part thereof, where the charge or assessment arises only by virtue of another transaction or other transactions carried out wholly on or after 2 February 2006, or

(ii) a refund or a payment of an amount, or of an increase in an amount of tax, or part thereof, refundable or otherwise payable to a person where, but for section 811, that amount or increase in the amount would become first so refundable or otherwise payable to the person on or after 2 February 2006.”.

Miscellaneous technical amendments in relation to tax.

127 .— The enactments specified in Schedule 2

(a) are amended to the extent and in the manner specified in paragraphs 1 to 8 of that Schedule, and

(b) apply and come into operation in accordance with paragraph 9 of that Schedule.

Capital Services Redemption Account.

128 .— (1) In this section—

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

“ fifty-fourth additional annuity ” means the sum charged on the Central Fund under subsection (3);

“ 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 31 December 2006, subsection (3) of section 148 of the Finance Act 2005 shall have effect with the substitution of “€00.00” for “€43,454,359”.

(3) A sum of €28,037,169 to redeem borrowings, and interest on such sum, in respect of capital services shall be charged annually on the Central Fund or the growing produce of that Fund in the thirty successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on 31 December 2006.

(4) The fifty-fourth 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.

(5) Any amount of the fifty-fourth additional annuity, not exceeding €21,550,000 in any financial year, may be applied toward defraying the interest on the public debt.

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

Care and management of taxes and duties.

129 .— All taxes and duties imposed by this Act are placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

Short title, construction and commencement.

130 .— (1) This Act may be cited as the Finance Act 2006 .

(2) Part 1 shall be construed together with—

(a) in so far as it relates to income tax, the Income Tax Acts,

(b) in so far as it relates to corporation tax, the Corporation Tax Acts, and

(c) in so far as it relates to capital gains tax, the Capital Gains Tax Acts.

(3) Part 2 , in so far as it relates to duties of excise, shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to those duties and to the management of those duties.

(4) Part 3 shall be construed together with the Value-Added Tax Acts 1972 to 2005 and may be cited together with those Acts as the Value-Added Tax Acts 1972 to 2006.

(5) Part 4 shall be construed together with the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(6) Part 5 shall be construed together with the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(7) Part 6 in so far as it relates to—

(a) income tax, shall be construed together with the Income Tax Acts,

(b) corporation tax, shall be construed together with the Corporation Tax Acts,

(c) capital gains tax, shall be construed together with the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(d) customs, shall be construed with the Custom Acts,

(e) duties of excise, shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to duties of excise and the management of those duties,

(f) value-added tax, shall be construed together with the Value-Added Tax Acts 1972 to 2006,

(g) stamp duty, shall be construed together with the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

(h) residential property tax, shall be construed together with Part VI of the Finance Act 1983 and the enactments amending or extending that Part, and

(i) gift tax or inheritance tax, shall be construed together with the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(8) Except where otherwise expressly provided in Part 1 , that Part is deemed to have come into force and takes effect as on and from 1 January 2006.

(9) Except where otherwise expressly provided for, where a provision of this Act is to come into operation on the making of an order by the Minister for Finance, that provision shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance shall appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.