Chapter 2

Miscellaneous

69 .— (1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2001 is amended—

(a) by inserting the following after section 108:

“Warehousing.

108A.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the following shall take place only in a tax warehouse—

(a) the production and processing of excisable products, and

(b) the holding of excisable products under a suspension arrangement.

(2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to—

(a) coal within the meaning of section 94 (as amended by Finance Act 2006) of the Finance Act 1999 ,

(b) any operation by which the user of mineral oil makes its re-use possible in his or her own undertaking, and where the mineral oil tax already paid on that mineral oil is not less than that which would be due if the mineral oil resulting from such operation was liable to excise duty,

(c) the mixing or blending of excisable products with other excisable products or other materials, but only if—

(i) the proper excise duty on such excisable products has already been paid, and

(ii) the amount so paid is not less than the amount chargeable on the mixture or blend.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(a), the Commissioners may, where a written application is made to them, exempt from that subsection—

(a) operations during which small quantities of excisable products are produced incidentally, and

(b) subject to such conditions as they deem fit to impose, production and processing operations involving excisable products on which the proper excise duty has already been paid, and where the amount so paid is not less than the excise duty that would be chargeable following such production or processing.

(4) Excisable products held under a suspension arrangement in a tax warehouse are deemed to be so held until such time as such products are removed from the tax warehouse.

(5) An authorised warehousekeeper, or any person acting on behalf of such warehousekeeper, shall provide such appliances, facilities and assistance as an officer may reasonably require to take account of any excisable products or materials, and allow an officer at any reasonable time to use anything so provided.”,

and

(b) by substituting the following for section 109:

“Authorisation of warehouse-keepers and approval of tax warehouses.

109.— (1) In this section—

‘ applicant ’ means a person who has applied in writing for authorisation under subsection (2);

‘ authorised ’ means authorised as an authorised warehousekeeper under this section;

‘ conditions of authorisation ’ means the conditions referred to in subsection (2)(c);

‘ excise law ’ means the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and the instruments relating to those duties made under statute;

‘ proprietor ’, in relation to a tax warehouse, means the authorised warehousekeeper who, for the time being, has possession or control of such tax warehouse;

‘ tenant ’, in relation to a tax warehouse, means an authorised warehousekeeper who has been accepted by a proprietor as a tenant in such tax warehouse in accordance with subsection (4).

(2) The Commissioners may, under this section, authorise a person, who has applied to them in writing,—

(a) as the proprietor of a tax warehouse or tax warehouses approved in relation to such proprietor in accordance with subsection (5), or as a tenant in accordance with subsection (4),

(b) for specific activities, in relation to specific types of excisable products, in such tax warehouse or tax warehouses, and

(c) for such periods, and subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose in any particular case.

(3) (a) An applicant shall only be authorised under subsection (2) where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that such applicant or, where the applicant is a company, any director or person having control of such company within the meaning of section 11 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), can satisfy the conditions of authorisation.

(b) An applicant shall only be authorised where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that the business activity to be carried out in the tax warehouse is to be undertaken with a view to the realisation of profits from legitimate trade in excisable products.

(c) No applicant may be authorised where such applicant or, where the applicant is a company, any director or person having control of such company within the meaning of section 11 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , has in the 10 years prior to such application been convicted of any indictable offence under the Acts referred to in section 1078 (1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , or any corresponding offence under the law of another Member State.

(d) No applicant shall be authorised who does not hold a current tax clearance certificate issued under section 1094 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 .

(e) No applicant shall be authorised for the production or processing of excisable products who does not hold a current licence for such production or processing, where such licence is required under excise law.

(4) Without prejudice to subsections (2) and (3), an applicant who has applied in relation to a tax warehouse of which he or she is not to be the proprietor, may only be so authorised where—

(a) such applicant has been accepted by the proprietor to be a tenant in that tax warehouse,

(b) the terms of that acceptance, including a statement of the responsibilities of the proprietor in relation to products to be held by the tenant, are set out in a document signed or sealed by both and approved by an officer, and

(c) a copy of such document is included in the authorisation documents of both proprietor and tenant.

(5) (a) A premises or place shall be approved as a tax warehouse in relation to the authorisation of a proprietor, and such approval shall terminate when such authorisation is revoked or, for any other reason, ceases to have effect.

(b) The approval of a tax warehouse shall be subject to such requirements as the Commissioners may think fit to impose in any particular case, and such requirements shall be included in the conditions of authorisation of the proprietor.

(6) (a) The details of the authorisation, including the conditions of authorisation, shall be set down in a document, referred to in this section as the “authorisation document”.

(b) The authorisation document shall be signed by the applicant and by an officer, and it shall, unless another date is specified, be effective from the date on which it is so signed.

(7) (a) The proprietor shall at all times be responsible for the excise duty on the excisable products held in the tax warehouse, and shall, where required under the conditions of authorisation, provide security, at a level specified in the authorisation document, for such excise duty.

(b) Without prejudice to paragraph (a) a tenant may be required under the conditions of authorisation, to provide security for the products held by such tenant in the tax warehouse.

(c) Any authorised warehouse-keeper who dispatches excisable products from a tax warehouse under a suspension arrangement shall, before any such dispatch, provide security, at a level specified in the authorisation document, for the excise duty on such products.

(8) An authorised warehousekeeper shall inform an officer of any changes or proposed changes that are relevant to the conditions of authorisation including, in the case of a proprietor, any changes or proposed changes to the tax warehouse.

(9) The Commissioners may at any time, following such notice as is reasonable in the circumstances, vary the conditions of authorisation.

(10) Where an authorised warehousekeeper is a company, the authorisation of such warehousekeeper, and the approval of any tax warehouse of which such warehousekeeper is the proprietor, shall expire immediately upon a change of control of such company, within the meaning of section 11 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 .

(11) Before the date when an authorised warehousekeeper ceases to act as such, all excisable products held by such authorised warehousekeeper, or by any tenant in respect of whom he or she acts as proprietor, shall be either—

(a) removed from the tax warehouse, either on payment of the proper excise duty or under a suspension arrangement, or

(b) otherwise disposed of to the satisfaction of an officer.

(12) Authorisation under this section is at all times subject to the conditions of authorisation, and the Commissioners may revoke an authorisation where the authorised warehousekeeper—

(a) contravenes or fails to comply with such conditions,

(b) contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of excise law relating to the excisable products in respect of which the authorisation has been granted, or

(c) no longer satisfies the requirements for authorisation.

(13) Where the Commissioners propose to revoke an authorisation, they shall inform the holder of that authorisation of that intention, and afford such holder an opportunity to make representations to them in relation to the matter.

(14) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), this section as amended by section 69 of the Finance Act 2008 shall, as appropriate, apply to all authorisations and approvals granted under this section prior to it being so amended.

(b) The conditions attaching to any authorisation or approval granted under this section prior to its amendment by section 69 of the Finance Act 2008 shall remain in force until such time as such conditions are varied in accordance with subsection (9).”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 October 2008.

70 .— (1) Part 2 of the Finance Act 2001 is amended—

(a) in section 121(a)(i) by inserting “108A,” after “provision of sections”,

(b) in section 124A(1)(a) by substituting “109” for “109(5)”,

(c) in section 136—

(i) in subsection (1) by inserting “, or from,” after “(other than a dwelling) in”, and

(ii) in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) by inserting “, or the supply of electricity,” after “in section 97(1)”,

and

(d) in section 144A(2) by inserting “108A,” after “by section”.

(2) This section comes into operation on 1 October 2008.

71 .— (1) The Finance Act 1999 is amended by substituting the following for Schedule 2 to that Act, as amended by section 59(a) of the Finance Act 2007 :

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Mineral Oil Tax

With effect as on and from 1 November 2008.

”.

(2) Section 59 of the Finance Act 2007 is amended by deleting paragraph (b).

(3) This section shall come into operation on 1 November 2008.

72 .— (1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 1999 is amended—

(a) in section 94(1)—

(i) by deleting the definitions of “alumina”, “leaded petrol”, “super unleaded petrol”, and “unleaded petrol”,

(ii) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “off-road dumper”:

“ ‘ petrol ’ means any light oil, other than aviation gasoline, suitable for use as a propellant;”,

(iii) by substituting the following definition for the definition of “private pleasure craft”:

“ ‘private pleasure navigation’ means navigation in any craft, by its owner or the natural or legal person who enjoys its use either through hire or through any other means, for other than commercial purposes, and in particular other than for the carriage of passengers or goods, the supply of services for consideration or for the purposes of public authorities;”,

(b) in section 96—

(i) in paragraph (a) of subsection (2A) by substituting “petrol” for “unleaded petrol” in both places where it occurs,

(ii) in paragraph (b) of subsection (2A) by deleting “with a maximum sulphur content as provided for in that Schedule”,

(c) by inserting the following after section 97—

“Private pleasure navigation.

97A.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), heavy oil which has been taxed at the rate specified in Schedule 2 for other heavy oil (referred to in this section as “marked gas oil”) may be used for private pleasure navigation.

(2) Where subsection (1) applies, the owner of the craft used for private pleasure navigation shall, not later than the first day of March following the calendar year in which the marked gas oil was purchased for such use, deliver to an officer—

(a) a return, in such form as the Commissioners may require, of the quantity in litres of marked gas oil purchased in that calendar year, and

(b) payment of an amount of mineral oil tax calculated at the rate of 32.069 cent per litre (which is the difference between the mineral oil tax rate for marked gas oil and the rate for heavy oil used for private pleasure navigation) on such quantity.

(3) The owner referred to in subsection (2) shall, together with vouched receipts for all purchases of the marked gas oil concerned, maintain a record of such purchases, in such form as the Commissioners may require.

Private pleasure flying.

97B.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (6), heavy oil which has not been taxed at the rate specified in Schedule 2 for heavy oil used for air navigation, may be used for private pleasure flying.

(2) Where subsection (1) applies, the person who has used the heavy oil concerned shall, not later than the first day of March following the calendar year in which the heavy oil was so used, deliver to an officer—

(a) a return, in such form as the Commissioners may require, of the quantity in litres of such heavy oil purchased for private pleasure flying in that calendar year, and

(b) payment of the mineral oil tax, calculated at the rate set down in Schedule 2 for heavy oil used for air navigation, on such quantity.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that aviation gasoline, on which mineral oil tax has been paid, has been used for air navigation other than private pleasure flying, the Commissioners shall, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, repay to the user of such aviation gasoline the amount of mineral oil tax paid less an amount calculated at the rate of €166.16 per 1,000 litres.

(4) Subsection (3) shall only apply to aviation gasoline on which mineral oil tax has been paid on a date subsequent to the coming into operation of this section.

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

(b) A repayment under subsection (3) 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.

(6) For the purposes of the return and payment under subsection (2), and the repayment under subsection (3), the persons concerned shall maintain, in such form as the Commissioners may require, full and accurate records of purchase, receipt, storage and usage of the fuel concerned.”,

(d) by deleting section 99,

(e) in section 100(1)—

(i) by deleting paragraphs (e) and (j),

(ii) by substituting the following for paragraph (g):

“(g) mineral oil intended for use or which has been used for chemical reduction or in electrolytic or metallurgical processes;”,

(iii) in paragraph (h), by substituting “private pleasure navigation” for “in private pleasure craft”,

(iv) in paragraph (n), by substituting “a craft used for private pleasure navigation” for “private pleasure craft”,

(v) by inserting the following after paragraph (n):

“(o) mineral oil intended for use or which has been used to produce electricity, where such electricity is either subject to Electricity Tax under subsection (1) of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008, or is supplied for consumption outside the State.”.

(2) (a) Except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies, this section comes into operation on 1 November 2008.

(b) Subparagraph (v) of paragraph (e) of subsection (1) comes into operation on 1 October 2008.

(c) Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (e) of subsection (1) and, in so far as it relates to the deletion of paragraph (e) of section 100 (1) of the Finance Act 1999 , subparagraph (i) of that paragraph come into operation from the date of passing of this Act.

73 .— Section 78A (inserted by section 63 of the Finance Act 2005 ) of the Finance Act 2003 is amended by substituting the following for subsection (4):

“(4) (a) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) a brewery is not considered to be legally and economically independent of another brewery where such breweries are directly or indirectly owned or partly owned—

(i) by the same person, or

(ii) by associated companies within the meaning of section 432 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 or by legal entities corresponding to such associated companies.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(b) and paragraph (a), where a person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (a) directly or indirectly owns two or more breweries and the combined total quantity of the beer brewed in those breweries in the previous calendar year has not exceeded 20,000 hectolitres, they may be treated for the purposes of this section as a single brewery which is legally and economically independent of any other brewery.”.

74 .— The Finance Act 2005 is amended by substituting the following for Schedule 2 to that Act (as amended by section 62 of the Finance Act 2007 ):

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Tobacco Products Tax

”.

75 .— The duties of excise imposed by section 43 of the Finance (1909-10) Act 1910 on the licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor shall, as respects any retailer’s off-licence specified in the First Schedule to that Act which is granted on or after 1 October 2008, be charged, levied and paid at the rates specified in the second column of the Table to this section on every off-licence of a description set out in the first column of the Table opposite the rate set out in the second column, in lieu of the rates specified in column (3) of Part I of the Sixth Schedule to the Finance Act 1992 in respect of such licences.

TABLE

76 .— (1) The enactments set out in Part 1 and Part 2 of Schedule 3 are repealed in the case of those set out in Part 1, and revoked in the case of those set out in Part 2, to the extent mentioned in the third column of those Parts opposite the reference to the enactment concerned.

(2) Subsection (1) comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order or orders, either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

77 .— (1) Subject to subsection (2), in each provision specified in column (1) of the Table to this section for the amount set out in column (2) of that Table at that entry there is substituted the amount set out at the corresponding entry in column (3) of that Table.

(2) Subsection (1) applies as respects an offence committed on a day after the passing of this Act.

TABLE

78 .— Section 130 of the Finance Act 1992 is amended by inserting the following definition after the definition of “conversion”:

“ ‘ CO ₂ emissions ’ means the level of carbon dioxide (CO ₂) emissions for a vehicle measured in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 80/1268/EEC of 16 December 1980 (as amended) and listed in Annex VIII of Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 (as amended) and contained in the relevant EC type-approval certificate or EC certificate of conformity or any other appropriate documentation which confirms compliance with any measures taken to give effect in the State to any act of the European Communities relating to the approximation of the laws of Member States in respect of type-approval for the type of vehicle concerned;”.

79 .— (1) Section 132 of the Finance Act 1992 is amended in subsection (3)—

(a) by substituting the following for paragraphs (a), (aa) and (b):

“(a) in case the vehicle the subject of the registration or declaration concerned is a category A vehicle—

(i) by reference to the Table to this subsection, or

(ii) where—

(I) the level of CO₂ emissions cannot be confirmed by reference to the relevant EC type-approval certificate or EC certificate of conformity, and

(II) the Commissioners are not satisfied of the level of CO ₂ emissions by reference to any other document produced in support of the declaration for registration,

at the rate of an amount equal to the highest percentage specified in the Table to this subsection of the value of the vehicle or €720, whichever is the greater,”,

and

(b) by inserting the following Table after paragraph (f):

“TABLE

”.

(2) This section comes into effect on 1 July 2008.

80 .— Section 134 of the Finance Act 1992 is amended in subsection (11) by substituting the following for paragraph (b) (other than for the proviso to that paragraph):

“(b) In paragraph (a) ‘short-term self-drive contracts’ means contracts under which vehicles are hired to persons for the purpose of being driven by them for any term or part of a term which, when added to the term of any such hiring of the same vehicle or any other vehicle to the same person does not exceed 5 weeks in any period of 12 months from the date of the commencement of the last hiring:”.

81 .— Chapter IV of Part II of the Finance Act 1992 is amended by substituting the following for section 135C (substituted by section 65 of the Finance Act 2007 ):

“135C.— (1) In this section—

‘ hybrid electric vehicle ’ means a vehicle that derives its motive power from a combination of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine and is capable of being driven on electric propulsion alone for a material part of its normal driving cycle;

‘ flexible fuel vehicle ’ means a vehicle that derives its motive power from an internal combustion engine that is capable of using a blend of ethanol and petrol, where such blend contains a minimum of 85 per cent ethanol;

‘ electric vehicle ’ means a vehicle that derives its motive power exclusively from an electric motor;

‘ electric motorcycle ’ means a motorcycle that derives its motive power exclusively from an electric motor.

(2) Where a person first registers a category A vehicle or a category B vehicle during the period from 1 January 2008 to 30 June 2008 and the Commissioners are satisfied that the vehicle is—

(a) a series production hybrid electric vehicle, or

(b) a series production flexible fuel vehicle,

then the Commissioners may remit or repay to that person 50 per cent of the vehicle registration tax payable or paid in accordance with paragraphs (a), (aa), (b) or (c) of section 132(3).

(3) (a) Where a person first registers a category A vehicle or a category B vehicle during the period from 1 July 2008 to 31 December 2010 and the Commissioners are satisfied that the vehicle is—

(i) a series production hybrid electric vehicle, or

(ii) a series production flexible fuel vehicle,

then the Commissioners may remit or repay to that person up to a maximum amount of €2,500 of the vehicle registration tax payable or paid by reference to the Table to this subsection in accordance with paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of section 132(3).

(b) In this subsection “age”, in relation to a vehicle means the time that has elapsed since the date on which the vehicle first entered into service.

TABLE

(4) A category A electric vehicle or a category B electric vehicle first registered during the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010 is exempt from vehicle registration tax where the Commissioners are satisfied that such vehicle is a series production electric vehicle.

(5) An electric motorcycle first registered during the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010 is exempt from vehicle registration tax where the Commissioners are satisfied that such vehicle is a series production electric motorcycle.”.