General Anti-Avoidance
TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT
Part 31
Taxation of Settlors, Etc., in Respect of Settled or Transferred Income (ss. 791-798)
Chapter 1
Revocable dispositions for short periods and certain dispositions in favour of children (ss. 791-793)
791.
Income under revocable dispositions.
(1)In this Chapter and in paragraph 27 of Schedule 32, except where the context otherwise requires, “disposition” includes any trust, covenant, agreement or arrangement.
(2)Any income of which any person (in this subsection referred to as “the first-mentioned person”) is able or has been able, without the consent of any other person by means of the exercise of any power of appointment, power of revocation or otherwise however by virtue or in consequence of a disposition made directly or indirectly by the first-mentioned person, to obtain for the first-mentioned person the beneficial enjoyment shall be deemed for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts to be the income of the person who is or was able to obtain such beneficial enjoyment, and not to be the income of any other person.
(3)Where any power referred to in subsection (2) may be exercised by a person with the consent of the wife, husband or civil partner of the person, the power shall for the purposes of subsection (2) be deemed to be exercisable without the consent of another person, except where the husband and wife, or civil partners, are living apart either by agreement or under an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(4)Where any power referred to in subsection (2) is exercisable by the wife or husband of the person who made the disposition, the power shall for the purposes of subsection (2) be deemed to be exercisable by the person who made the disposition.
792.
Income under dispositions for short periods.
(1)
(a)In this subsection, “relevant individual” means an individual who is –
(i)permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity, or
(ii)aged 65 years or over.
(b)Any income which, by virtue of or in consequence of any disposition made directly or indirectly by any person (other than a disposition made for valuable and sufficient consideration), is payable to or applicable for the benefit of any other person, but excluding any income which –
(i)arises from capital of which the disponer by the disposition has divested absolutely himself or herself in favour of or for the benefit of the other person,
(ii)[deleted]
(iii)[deleted]
(iv)being payable to a relevant individual for the individual’s own use, is so payable for a period which exceeds or may exceed 6 years, or
(v)being applicable for the benefit of a named relevant individual, is so applicable for a period which exceeds or may exceed 6 years,
shall be deemed for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts to be the income of the person, if living, by whom the disposition was made and not to be the income of any other person.
(2)
(a)This subsection shall apply to a disposition or dispositions of a kind or kinds referred to in subparagraphs (ii) to (v) of subsection (1)(b) made directly or indirectly by a person being an individual (in this subsection referred to as “the disponer”) except in so far as, by virtue or in consequence of such disposition or dispositions, income is payable or applicable in a year of assessment, in the manner referred to in subparagraph (iv) or (v) of that subsection, to or for the benefit of an individual referred to in subsection (1)(a)(i).
(b)Notwithstanding subsection (1), in relation to the disponer, any income which –
(i)is payable or applicable in a year of assessment by virtue or in consequence of a disposition or dispositions to which this subsection applies, and
(ii)is in excess of 5 per cent of the total income of the disponer for the year of assessment,
shall be deemed for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts to be the income of the disponer, if living, and not to be the income of any other person.
(c)Where paragraph (b) applies in relation to the disponer, for the purpose of determining for income tax purposes the amount of income which remains the income of persons other than the disponer for a year of assessment by virtue or in consequence of a disposition or dispositions to which this subsection applies, the aggregate of the income so remaining shall be apportioned amongst those other persons in proportion to their entitlements under such disposition or dispositions for that year.
(3)[deleted]
(4)As respects the year of assessment 1997-98, this section shall apply subject to paragraph 27 of Schedule 32 in respect of a disposition to which that paragraph applies by a person in so far as, by virtue or in consequence of such a disposition, income is payable in that year of assessment to or for the benefit of an individual to whom that paragraph applies.
793.
Recovery of tax from trustee and payment to trustee of excess tax recoupment.
(1)Where by virtue of section 792 any income tax becomes chargeable on and is paid by the person by whom the disposition was made, that person shall be entitled –
(a)to recover from any trustee or other person to whom the income is payable by virtue or in consequence of the disposition the amount of the tax so paid, and
(b)for that purpose to require the Revenue Commissioners to furnish to that person a certificate specifying the amount of the income in respect of which that person has so paid tax and the amount of the tax so paid, and any certificate so furnished shall be evidence until the contrary is proved of the matters of fact stated in that certificate.
(2)Where any person obtains in respect of any allowance or relief a repayment of income tax in excess of the amount of the repayment to which that person would but for section 792 have been entitled, an amount equal to the excess shall be paid by that person to the trustee or other person to whom the income is payable by virtue or in consequence of the disposition or, where there are 2 or more such persons, shall be apportioned among those persons as the case may require.
(3)Where any question arises as to the amount of any payment or as to any apportionment to be made under subsection (2), that question shall be decided by the Appeal Commissioners whose decision on that question shall be final.
(4)Any income which is deemed by virtue of this Chapter to be the income of any person shall be deemed to be the highest part of that person’s income.
Chapter 2
Settlements on children generally (ss. 794-798)
794.
Interpretation and application (Chapter 2).
(1)In this Chapter –
“income” (except where in sections 795(1), 796(2)(b) and subsections (4) and (5) of section 797 it is immediately preceded by “as” or “that person’s” and except also in section 798) includes any income chargeable to income tax by deduction or otherwise and any income which would have been so chargeable if it had been received in the State by a person resident or ordinarily resident in the State;
“settlement” includes any disposition, trust, covenant, agreement or arrangement, and any transfer of money or other property or of any right to money or other property.
(2)This Chapter shall apply to every settlement wherever and whenever made or entered into.
(3)This Chapter shall not apply in relation to any income arising under a settlement in any year of assessment for which the settlor is not chargeable to income tax as a resident in the State, and references in this Chapter to income shall be construed accordingly.
(4)This Chapter shall not apply to any income which, by virtue or in consequence of a settlement and during the life of the settlor, is in any year of assessment paid to or for the benefit of a minor, not being a child of the settlor or the settlor’s civil partner, if such minor is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity.
(5)For the purposes of this Chapter, the following provisions shall apply in relation to the construction of “irrevocable instrument”:
(a)an instrument shall not be an irrevocable instrument if the trusts of the instrument provide for all or any one or more of the following matters –
(i)the payment or application to or for the settlor for the settlor’s own benefit of any capital or income or accumulations of income in any circumstances whatever during the life of a person (in this paragraph referred to as a “beneficiary”) to or for the benefit of whom any income or accumulations of income is or are or may be payable or applicable under the trusts of the instrument,
(ii)the payment or application during the life of the settlor to or for the husband, wife or civil partner of the settlor for his own or her own benefit of any capital or income or accumulations of income in any circumstances whatever during the life of any beneficiary,
(iii)the termination of the trusts of the instrument by the act or on the default of any person, and
(iv)the payment by the settlor of a penalty in the event of the settlor failing to comply with the instrument;
(b)an instrument shall not be prevented from being an irrevocable instrument by reason only that the trusts of the instrument include any one or more of the following provisions –
(i)a provision under which any capital or income or accumulations of income will or may become payable to or applicable for the benefit of the settlor or the husband, wife or civil partner of the settlor, on the bankruptcy of a person (in this paragraph referred to as a “beneficiary”) to or for the benefit of whom any income or accumulations of income is or are or may be payable or applicable under the trusts of the instrument,
(ii)a provision under which any capital or income or accumulations of income will or may become payable to or applicable for the benefit of the settlor or the husband, wife or civil partner of the settlor, in the event of any beneficiary making an assignment of or charge on such capital or income or accumulations of income, and
(iii)a provision for the termination of the trusts of the instrument in such circumstances or manner that such termination would not, during the life of any beneficiary, benefit any person other than that beneficiary or that beneficiary’s husband, wife, civil partner or issue;
(c)”irrevocable instrument” includes instruments whenever made.
795.
Income settled on children.
(1)Where, by virtue or in consequence of a settlement and during the life of the settlor, any income is in any year of assessment paid to or for the benefit of a person, such income shall, if at the time of payment such person is a minor, be treated for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts as income of the settlor for that year and not as income of any other person.
(2)For the purposes of this Chapter, but subject to section 796 –
(a)income which, by virtue or in consequence of a settlement to which this Chapter applies, is so dealt with that it or assets representing it will or may become payable or applicable to or for the benefit of a person in the future (whether on the fulfilment of a condition, or on the happening of a contingency, or as the result of the exercise of a power or discretion conferred on any person, or otherwise) shall be deemed to be paid to or for the benefit of that person, and
(b)any income dealt with in the manner referred to in paragraph (a) which is not required by the settlement to be allocated, at the time when it is so dealt with, to any particular person or persons shall be deemed to be paid in equal shares to or for the benefit of each of the persons to or for the benefit of whom or any of whom the income or assets representing it will or may become payable or applicable.
796.
Irrevocable instruments.
(1)In this section, “property” does not include any annual or other periodical payment secured by the covenant of the settlor, or by a charge made by the settlor on the whole or any part of the settlor’s property or the whole or any part of the settlor’s future income, or by both such covenant and such charge.
(2)Where by virtue of an irrevocable instrument property is vested in or held by trustees on such trusts that in any year of assessment section 795 would but for this section apply to the income of such property, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)section 795 shall not apply –
(i)in respect of any part of such income which is in that year of assessment accumulated for the benefit of a person, or
(ii)in respect of income arising in that year of assessment from accumulations of income referred to in subparagraph (i);
(b)whenever in any year of assessment any sum whatever is paid under the trusts of such irrevocable instrument out of –
(i)such property,
(ii)the accumulations of the income of such property,
(iii)the income of such property, or
(iv)the income of those accumulations,
to or for the benefit of a person who at the time of payment is a minor, such sum shall, subject to the limitation in paragraph (c), be deemed for the purposes of this Chapter to be paid as income;
(c)paragraph (b) shall not apply to so much of such sum as is equal to the amount by which the aggregate of such sum and all other sums (if any) paid after the 5th day of April, 1937, under the trusts of such irrevocable instrument to or for the benefit of that person or any other person (being a person who at the time of payment was a minor) exceeds the aggregate amount of the income arising after the 5th day of April, 1937, from such property together with the income arising after that date from those accumulations;
(d)for the purposes of paragraph (c), the reference in that paragraph to another sum paid to or for the benefit of a person who at the time of payment was a minor shall be construed, in relation to a payment to which this paragraph applies of any such sum, as a reference to a sum so paid to or for the benefit of a person who at the beginning of the year of assessment in which such other sum was paid was a minor;
(e)paragraph (d) shall apply to any payment of any such sum –
(i)made before the 6th day of April, 1971, or
(ii)in the case of a payment to or for the benefit of a child born after the 6th day of April, 1971, and so made by virtue or in consequence of a settlement made before the 28th day of April, 1971, made in the year 1971-72;
(f)for the purposes of paragraphs (c) and (d), references in those paragraphs to a person being at a particular time a minor shall, where that time is before the 6th day of April, 1986, be construed as references to a person who at that time was under the age of 21 years and was not or had not been married.
797.
Recovery of tax from trustee and payment to trustee of excess tax recoupment.
(1)Where by virtue of this Chapter any income tax becomes chargeable on and is paid by a settlor, such settlor shall be entitled –
(a)to recover from any trustee or other person to whom the income is payable by virtue or in consequence of the settlement the amount of the tax so paid, and
(b)for that purpose to require the Revenue Commissioners to furnish to such settlor a certificate specifying the amount of the income in respect of which such settlor has so paid tax and the amount of the tax so paid, and every certificate so furnished shall be evidence until the contrary is proved of the matters of fact stated in the certificate.
(2)Where any person obtains in respect of any allowance or relief a repayment of income tax in excess of the amount of the repayment to which that person would but for this Chapter have been entitled, an amount equal to the excess shall be paid by that person to the trustee or other person to whom the income is payable by virtue or in consequence of the settlement and, where there are 2 or more such trustees or other persons, in such proportions as the circumstances may require.
(3)Where any question arises as to the amount of any payment or as to any apportionment to be made under subsection (2), that question shall be decided by the Appeal Commissioners whose decision on that question shall be final.
(4)Any income which by virtue of this Chapter is treated as income of any person shall be deemed to be the highest part of that person’s income.
(5)No repayment shall be made under paragraph 21 of Schedule 32 on account of tax paid in respect of any income which has by virtue of this Chapter been treated as income of a settlor.
798.
Transfer of interest in trade to children.
(1)Where by any means whatever (including indirect means or means consisting of a series of operations and whenever adopted) a trade, which at any time before the adoption of such means was carried on by any person solely or in partnership, becomes a trade carried on by one or more than one child of such person or such person’s civil partner or by means of a partnership in which such person and one or more than one child of such person or such person’s civil partner are partners, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)such means shall for the purposes of this Chapter be deemed to constitute a settlement as respects which such person shall be deemed to be the settlor;
(b)the profits or gains arising from the trade after the adoption of such means, in so far as they arise to one or, as the case may be, more than one child of such person or such person’s civil partner shall for the purposes of this Chapter be deemed to be the same income as would have arisen to such person had such means not been adopted;
(c)”income” where it first occurs in section 795 shall be deemed to include those profits or gains in so far as they arise to one or more than one child of such person or such person’s civil partner.
(2)The amount of the income of a person from the profits or gains of a trade deemed by virtue of subsection (1) to be income of another person shall, if the first-mentioned person is engaged actively in the carrying on of the trade, be the full amount of that income reduced by a sum (in subsection (3) referred to as “the appropriate sum”) equal to the amount which would have been allowed in computing those profits or gains in respect of the first-mentioned person if that person, instead of being a person engaged in the carrying on of the trade, had been a person employed by a person or persons carrying on the trade.
(3)The appropriate sum shall be deemed to be profits or gains arising to the first-mentioned person referred to in subsection (2) from the exercise of an office or employment within the meaning of Schedule E.
Chapter 2
Surcharge on certain income of trustees (s. 805)
805.
Surcharge on certain income of trustees.
(1)
(a)In this section –
“personal representative” has the same meaning as in section 799(1);
“trustees” does not include personal representatives, but where personal representatives, on or before the completion of the administration of the estate of a deceased person, pay to trustees any sum representing income which, if the personal representatives were trustees, would be income to which this section applies, that sum shall be deemed to be paid to the trustees as income and to have borne income tax at the standard rate.
(b)This subsection shall be construed together with Chapter 1 of this Part.
(2)This section shall apply to income arising to trustees in any year of assessment in so far as it –
(a)is income which is to be accumulated or which is payable at the discretion of the trustees or any other person, whether or not the trustees have power to accumulate the income,
(b)is neither, before being distributed, the income of any person other than the trustees nor treated for any purpose of the Income Tax Acts as the income of a settlor,
(c)is not income arising under a trust established for charitable purposes only or income from investments, deposits or other property held for the purposes of a fund or scheme established for the sole purpose of providing relevant benefits within the meaning of section 770,
(d)exceeds the income applied in defraying the expenses of the trustees in that year which are properly chargeable to income, or would be so chargeable but for any express provisions of the trust, and
(e)is not distributed to one or more persons within that year of assessment or within 18 months after the end of that year of assessment in such circumstances that the income distributed is to be treated for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts as the income of the person or persons to whom it is distributed.
(3)
(a)Income to which this section applies shall, in addition to being chargeable to income tax at the standard rate for the year of assessment for which it is so chargeable, be charged to an additional duty of income tax (in this section referred to as a “surcharge”) at the rate of 20 per cent.
(b)A surcharge to be made on trustees under this section in respect of income arising in a year of assessment (in this subsection referred to as “the first year of assessment”) shall –
(i)be charged on the trustees for the year of assessment in which a period of 18 months beginning immediately after the end of the first year of assessment ends, and
(ii)be treated as income tax chargeable for the year of assessment for which it is so charged.
(c)Subject to subsection (4), the Income Tax Acts shall apply in relation to a surcharge made under this section as they apply to income tax charged otherwise than by virtue of this section.
(4)Where income in respect of which a surcharge is made is distributed, no relief from or repayment in respect of the surcharge shall be allowed or made to the person to whom the income is distributed.
(5)A notice given to trustees under any provision specified in column 1 or 2 of Schedule 29 may require that a return of the income arising to them shall include particulars of the manner in which the income has been applied, including particulars as to the exercise by them of any discretion and of the persons in whose favour that discretion has been so exercised.
Part 33
Anti-Avoidance (ss. 806-817I)
Chapter 1
Transfer of assets abroad (ss. 806-810)
806.
Charge to income tax on transfer of assets abroad.
(1)In this section and section 807A –
“assets” includes property or rights of any kind;
“associated operation”, in relation to any transfer, means an operation of any kind effected by any person in relation to any of the assets transferred or any assets representing whether directly or indirectly any of the assets transferred, or to the income arising from any such assets, or to any assets representing whether directly or indirectly the accumulations of income arising from any such assets; and for the purposes of this definition it is immaterial whether the operation is effected before, after, or at the same time as the transfer;
“benefit” includes a payment of any kind;
“company” means any body corporate or unincorporated association;
“transfer”, in relation to rights, includes the creation of those rights.
(2)For the purposes of this section and section 807A –
(a)any body corporate incorporated outside the State shall be treated as if it were resident out of the State whether it is so resident or not,
(b)a reference to an individual shall be deemed to include the husband, wife or civil partner of the individual,
(c)references to assets representing any assets, income or accumulations of income include references to shares in or obligations of any company to which, or obligations of any other person to whom, those assets, that income or those accumulations are or have been transferred, and
(d)the income that becomes payable to, or has become income of, a person resident or domiciled out of the State that is referred to in subsection (3) or (5) or in section 807A(1) includes any income which becomes payable to, or has become income of, the person by virtue or in consequence of –
(i)the transfer,
(ii)one or more associated operations, or
(iii)the transfer and one or more associated operations,
and
(e)the income which an individual has power to enjoy, as referred to in subsection (4), includes any income which that individual has power to enjoy by virtue or in consequence of –
(i)the transfer,
(ii)one or more associated operations, or
(iii)the transfer and one or more associated operations.
(3)This section shall apply for the purpose of preventing the avoidance by individuals resident or ordinarily resident in the State of liability to income tax by means of transfers of assets by virtue or in consequence of which, either alone or in conjunction with associated operations, income becomes payable to persons resident or domiciled out of the State.
(4)Where by virtue or in consequence of any such transfer, either alone or in conjunction with associated operations, such an individual has power to enjoy (within the meaning of this section), whether forthwith or in the future, any income of a person resident or domiciled out of the State which, if it were income of that individual received by that individual in the State, would be chargeable to tax by deduction or otherwise, that income shall, whether it would or would not have been chargeable to tax apart from this section, be deemed to be income of that individual for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.
(5)
(a)In this subsection, “capital sum” means –
(i)any sum paid or payable by means of loan or repayment of a loan, and
(ii)any other sum paid or payable otherwise than as income, being a sum not paid or payable for full consideration in money or money’s worth.
(b)Where, whether before or after any such transfer, such an individual receives or is entitled to receive any capital sum the payment of which is in any way connected with the transfer or any associated operation, any income which, by virtue or in consequence of the transfer, either alone or in conjunction with associated operations, has become the income of a person resident or domiciled out of the State shall, whether it would or would not have been chargeable to tax apart from this section, be deemed to be the income of that individual for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.
(c)For the purposes of paragraph (b), there shall be treated as a capital sum which an individual receives or is entitled to receive any sum which a third person receives or is entitled to receive at the individual’s direction or by virtue of the assignment by the individual of the individual’s right to receive it.
(5A)Nothing in subsection (3) shall be taken to imply that the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) apply only if –
(a)the individual in question was resident or ordinarily resident in the State at the time when the transfer was made, or
(b)the avoidance of liability to income tax is the purpose, or one of the purposes, for which the transfer was effected.
(6)An individual shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to have power to enjoy income of a person resident or domiciled out of the State where –
(a)the income is in fact so dealt with by any person as to be calculated, at some point of time and whether in the form of income or not, to enure for the benefit of the individual,
(b)the receipt or accrual of the income operates to increase the value to the individual of any assets held by the individual or for the individual’s benefit,
(c)the individual receives or is entitled to receive at any time any benefit provided or to be provided out of that income or out of moneys which are or will be available for the purpose by reason of the effect or successive effects of the associated operations on that income and on any assets which directly or indirectly represent that income,
(d)the individual has power, by means of the exercise of any power of appointment or power of revocation or otherwise, to obtain for himself or herself, whether with or without the consent of any other person, the beneficial enjoyment of the income, or may in the event of the exercise of any power vested in any other person become entitled to the beneficial enjoyment of the income, or
(e)the individual is able, in any manner whatever and whether directly or indirectly, to control the application of the income.
(7)In determining whether an individual has power to enjoy income within the meaning of this section, regard shall be had to the substantial result and effect of the transfer and any associated operations, and all benefits which may at any time accrue to the individual (whether or not the individual has rights at law or in equity in or to those benefits) as a result of the transfer and any associated operations shall be taken into account irrespective of the nature or form of the benefits.
(8)Subject to section 807B, subsections (4) and (5) shall not apply where –
(a)the purpose of avoiding liability to taxation was not the purpose or one of the purposes for which the transfer or associated operations or any of them was effected, or
(b)the transfer and any associated operations were bona fide commercial transactions and were not designed for the purpose of avoiding liability to taxation.
(9)[deleted]
(10)
(a)In this subsection –
‘commercial transaction’ does not include –
(i)a transaction on terms other than those that would have been made between independent persons dealing at arm’s length, or
(ii)a transaction that would not have been entered into between independent persons dealing at arm’s length;
‘independent persons’ means persons who are not connected with each other (within the meaning of section 10);
‘relevant transactions’ means –
(i)the transfer, and
(ii)any associated operations.
(b)Subject to section 807B, subsections (4) and (5) shall not apply by reference to the relevant transactions where –
(i)it would not be reasonable to draw the conclusion, from all the circumstances of the case, that the purpose of avoiding liability to taxation was the purpose, or one of the purposes, for which the relevant transactions or any of them were effected, or
(ii)in a case where the condition in subparagraph (i) is not met,-
(I)all the relevant transactions were genuine commercial transactions, and
(II)it would not be reasonable to draw the conclusion, from all the circumstances of the case, that any one or more of those transactions was more than incidentally designed for the purpose of avoiding liability to taxation.
(c)The intentions and purposes of any person who, whether or not for consideration –
(i)designs or effects the relevant transactions or any of them, or
(ii)provides advice in relation to the relevant transactions or any of them,
are to be taken into account in determining the purposes for which those transactions or any of them were effected.
(d)A relevant transaction is a commercial transaction only if it is effected –
(i)in the course of a trade or business, or
(ii)with a view to setting up and commencing a trade or business,
and, in either cases, for the purposes of such trade or business.
(e)For the purposes of paragraph (d), the making and managing of investments, or the making or managing of investments, is not a trade or business except to the extent that-
(i)the person by whom it is done, and
(ii)the person for whom it is done,
are independent persons dealing at arm’s length.
(f)Any associated operation that would not (apart from this paragraph) fall to be taken into account for the purposes of this subsection shall be taken into account for those purposes if, were it to be so taken into account, the conditions in paragraph (b) would be failed by reference to –
(i)that associated operation, or
(ii)that associated operation taken together with the transfer or any one or more other associated operations.
(11)
(a)For the purposes of this subsection –
‘non-resident person’ means a person resident or domiciled out of the State as referred to in subsection (3) or (5);
‘relevant Member State’ means –
(i)a state, other than the State, which is a Member State of the European Union, or
(ii)not being such a Member State, a state which is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993,
and, in addition to what is specified in subparagraphs (i) and (ii), shall be deemed to include the United Kingdom;
‘relevant transactions’ has the same meaning as it has in subsection (10).
(b)Where a non-resident person is resident in a relevant Member State, subsection (10) shall apply as if the following were substituted for paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of that subsection:
‘(b)Subsections (4) and (5) shall not apply where the individual concerned shows in writing or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that genuine economic activities are carried on by the non-resident person in the relevant Member State.’
807. Deductions and reliefs in relation to income chargeable to income tax under section 806.
(1)Income tax chargeable by virtue of section 806 shall be charged under Case IV of Schedule D.
(2)In computing the liability to income tax of an individual chargeable by virtue of section 806, the same deductions and reliefs shall be allowed as would have been allowed if the income deemed to be income of the individual by virtue of that section had actually been received by the individual.
(3)Where an individual has been charged to income tax on any income deemed to be income of the individual by virtue of section 806 and that income is subsequently received by the individual, it shall be deemed not to form part of the individual’s income again for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.
(4)In any case where an individual has for the purposes of section 806 power to enjoy income of a person abroad by reason of receiving any such benefit referred to in subsection (6)(c) of that section, the individual shall be chargeable to income tax by virtue of that section under Case IV of Schedule D for the year of assessment in which the benefit is received on the whole of the amount or value of that benefit, except in so far as it is shown that the benefit derives directly or indirectly from income on which the individual has already been charged to income tax for that or a previous year of assessment.
(5)[deleted]
807A.
Liability of non-transferors.
(1)This section shall apply where –
(a)by virtue or in consequence of a transfer of assets, either alone or in conjunction with associated operations, income becomes payable to a person who is resident or domiciled out of the State, and
(b)an individual who is resident or ordinarily resident in the State and who is not liable to tax under section 806 by reference to the transfer, receives a benefit provided out of assets which are available for the purpose by virtue or in consequence of the transfer or of any associated operations.
(2)Subject to the provisions of this section, the amount or value of any such benefit as is mentioned in subsection (1), if not otherwise chargeable to income tax in the hands of the recipient, shall –
(a)to the extent to which it falls within the amount of relevant income of years of assessment up to and including the year of assessment in which the benefit is received, be treated for all the purposes of the Income Tax Acts as the income of the individual for that year of assessment,
(b)to the extent to which it is not by virtue of this subsection treated as the income of the individual for that year of assessment and falls within the amount of relevant income of the next following year of assessment, be treated for those purposes as the individual’s income for the next following year of assessment,
and so on for subsequent years of assessment, taking the reference in paragraph (b) to the year of assessment mentioned in paragraph (a) as a reference to that year of assessment and any other year of assessment before the subsequent year of assessment in question.
(3)Subject to subsection (8), the relevant income of a year of assessment, in relation to an individual, is any income which arises in that year of assessment to a person resident or domiciled out of the State and which by virtue or in consequence of the transfer or associated operations referred to in subsection (1) can directly or indirectly be used for providing a benefit for the individual or for enabling a benefit to be provided for the individual.
(4)Income tax chargeable by virtue of this section shall be charged under Case IV of Schedule D.
(5)[deleted]
(6)Where –
(a)the whole or part of the benefit received by an individual in a year of assessment is a capital payment within the meaning of section 579A or 579F(2) (by virtue of not falling within the amount of relevant income referred to in subsection (2)(a)), and
(b)chargeable gains are by reason of that payment treated under either section 579A or 579F(2) as accruing to the individual in that or a subsequent year of assessment,
subsection (2)(b) shall apply in relation to any year of assessment (in this subsection referred to as ‘a year of charge’) after one in which chargeable gains have been so treated as accruing to the individual, as if a part of the amount or value of the benefit corresponding to the amount of those gains had been treated under that subsection as income of the individual for a year of assessment before the year of charge.
(7)Subsections (8), (10) and (11) of section 806 shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of subsections (4) and (5) of that section.
(8)This section shall apply irrespective of when the transfer or associated operations referred to in subsection (1) took place, but shall apply only to relevant income arising on or after the 11th day of February, 1999.
807B.
Certain transitional arrangements in relation to transfer of assets abroad.
(1)In this section –
‘new transaction’ means a relevant transaction effected on or after the relevant date;
‘old transaction’ means a relevant transaction effected before the relevant date;
‘relevant date’ means 1 February 2007;
‘relevant transactions’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 806(10).
(2)For the purposes of applying subsection (3) of this section and subsections (8) and (10) of section 806 –
(a)if all the relevant transactions are old transactions, section 806(8) shall apply,
(b)if all the relevant transactions are new transactions, section 806(10) shall apply,
(c)if any one or more of the relevant transactions are old transactions and any one or more of the relevant transactions are new transactions, sections 806 and 807A shall apply subject to subsection (3).
(3)
(a)Where –
(i)the conditions in section 806(8) are failed by reference to the old transactions or any of them, or
(ii)the conditions in section 806(10)(b) are failed by reference to the new transactions or any of them,
then, subject to paragraph (b), sections 806 and 807A apply as they would have applied apart from any exemption by virtue of this section or by virtue of section 806(8) or section 806(10).
(b)Where paragraph (a) applies by virtue only of subparagraph (ii) of that paragraph –
(i)for the purposes of subsection (4) or (5)(b) of section 806 any income arising before the relevant date shall not be brought into account as income of the person resident or domiciled out of the State,
(ii)for the purposes of section 807A –
(I)
(A)where a benefit is received by an individual in a year of assessment ending after the relevant date, and
(B)relevant income (within the meaning of section 807A(3)) of years of assessment up to and including that year falls to be determined,
then years of assessment ending before the relevant date are to be brought into account as well as years of assessment ending after that date, and
(II)a benefit received by an individual in the year of assessment 2007 is to be left out of account to the extent that, on a time apportionment basis, it fell to be enjoyed in any part of the year that falls before the relevant date.
807C.
Supplementary provisions in relation to section 806 – apportionment in certain cases.
(1)In this section –
‘appropriate exemption’ means an exemption by virtue of subsection (8)(b) or (10)(b)(ii) of section 806;
‘exempt year of assessment’ means a year of assessment referred to in subsection (2)(b) in respect of which there was no earlier year of assessment where –
(a)the individual was liable to tax by virtue of section 806, or
(b)the individual would have been liable to tax by virtue of section 806 if there had been any deemed income of such individual under that section;
‘relevant transactions’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 806(10).
(2)This section applies where an individual is liable to income tax by virtue of section 806 for a year of assessment and –
(a)the individual is so liable by virtue of the conditions in section 806(10)(b)(ii) not being met,
(b)since the making of the transfer there have been one or more years of assessment where the circumstances were such that, so far as relating to such of the relevant transactions as were effected before the end of the year of assessment concerned, the individual –
(i)was not liable to tax by virtue of section 806 because an appropriate exemption applied, or
(ii)would not have been liable to tax by virtue of section 806 if there had been any deemed income of such individual under that section because an appropriate exemption would have applied,
and
(c)the income by reference to which the individual is so liable is attributable –
(i)partly to relevant transactions by reference to which the appropriate exemption applied for the last exempt year of assessment, and
(ii)partly to associated operations not falling within subparagraph (i) (in this section referred to as ‘chargeable operations’).
(3)Where this section applies, the liability of the individual shall be reduced as if it fell to be determined by reference to so much of the income as is justly and reasonably attributable to chargeable operations in all the circumstances of the case.
(4)The facts and matters that may be taken into account in determining for the purposes of subsection (3) whether income may be regarded as justly and reasonably attributable to chargeable operations include whether, and to what extent, the chargeable operations or any of them directly or indirectly affect –
(a)the character, description or amount of any income of any person,
(b)any person’s power to enjoy any income, or
(c)the character, description or amount of any income which a person has power to enjoy.
808.
Power to obtain information.
(1)In this section, “settlement” and “settlor” have the same meanings respectively as in section 10.
(2)The Revenue Commissioners or such officer as the Revenue Commissioners may appoint may by notice in writing require any person to furnish them within such time as they may direct (not being less than 28 days) with such particulars as they think necessary for the purposes of sections 806, 807, 807A, 807B, 807C and 809.
(3)The particulars which a person shall furnish under this section, if required by such a notice to do so, shall include particulars as to –
(a)transactions with respect to which the person is or was acting on behalf of others;
(b)transactions which in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, or of such officer as the Revenue Commissioners may appoint, it is proper that they should investigate for the purposes of sections 806, 807, 807A, 807B, 807C and 809, notwithstanding that in the opinion of the person to whom the notice is given no liability to tax arises under those sections;
(c)whether the person to whom the notice is given has taken or is taking any (and if so what) part in any (and if so what) transactions of a description specified in the notice.
(4)Notwithstanding anything in subsection (3), a solicitor shall not be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (c) of that subsection to have taken part in a transaction by reason only that the solicitor has given professional advice to a client in connection with that transaction, and shall not, in relation to anything done by the solicitor on behalf of a client, be compellable under this section, except with the consent of the client, to do more than state that the solicitor is or was acting on behalf of a client, and specify the name and address of the client and also –
(a)in the case of anything done by the solicitor in connection with the transfer of any asset by or to an individual resident or ordinarily resident in the State to or by any body corporate mentioned in subsection (5), or in connection with any associated operation in relation to any such transfer, to specify the names and addresses of the transferor and the transferee or of the persons concerned in the associated operation, as the case may be;
(b)in the case of anything done by the solicitor in connection with the formation or management of any body corporate mentioned in subsection (5), to specify the name and address of the body corporate;
(c)in the case of anything done by the solicitor in connection with the creation, or with the execution of the trusts, of any settlement by virtue or in consequence of which income becomes payable to a person resident or domiciled out of the State, to specify the names and addresses of the settlor and of that person.
(5)The bodies corporate referred to in subsection (4) are bodies corporate resident or incorporated outside the State which are, or if resident in the State would be, close companies within the meaning of sections 430 and 431.
(6)Nothing in this section shall impose on any bank the obligation to furnish any particulars of any ordinary banking transactions between the bank and a customer carried out in the ordinary course of banking business, unless the bank has acted or is acting on behalf of the customer in connection with the formation or management of any body corporate mentioned in subsection (4)(b) or in connection with the creation, or with the execution of the trusts, of any settlement mentioned in subsection (4)(c).
809.
Saver.
Where any income of any person is by virtue of the Income Tax Acts, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, by virtue of section 806 and 807A, to be deemed to be income of any other person, that income shall not be exempt from tax either –
(a)as being derived from any stock or other security to which section 43, 47, 49 or 50 applies, or
(b)by virtue of section 35 or 63,
by reason of the first-mentioned person not being resident, or not being ordinarily resident, or being neither domiciled nor ordinarily resident, in the State.
810.
Application of Income Tax Acts.
The provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to the charge, assessment, collection and recovery of tax, to appeals against assessments and to cases to be stated for the opinion of the High Court shall apply to income tax chargeable by virtue of section 806 and 807A subject to any necessary modifications.
Chapter 2 Miscellaneous (ss. 811-817C)
811.
Transactions to avoid liability to tax.
(1)
(a)In this section and section 811A –
“the Acts” means –
(i)the Tax Acts,
(ii)the Capital Gains Tax Acts,
(iii)the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act, 2010, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(iv)the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act, 2003, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(v)[deleted]
(vi)the statutes relating to stamp duty, and
(vii)Part 18D,
and any instruments made thereunder;
“business” means any trade, profession or vocation;
“notice of opinion” means a notice given by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (6);
“tax” means any tax, duty, levy or charge which in accordance with the Acts is placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners and any interest, penalty or other amount payable pursuant to the Acts;
“tax advantage” means –
(i)a reduction, avoidance or deferral of any charge or assessment to tax, including any potential or prospective charge or assessment, or
(ii)a refund of or a payment of an amount of tax, or an increase in an amount of tax, refundable or otherwise payable to a person, including any potential or prospective amount so refundable or payable, arising out of or by reason of a transaction, including a transaction where 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;
“tax avoidance transaction” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2);
“tax consequences”, in relation to a tax avoidance transaction, means such adjustments and acts as may be made and done by the Revenue Commissioners pursuant to subsection (5) in order to withdraw or deny the tax advantage resulting from the tax avoidance transaction;
“transaction” means –
(i)any transaction, action, course of action, course of conduct, scheme, plan or proposal,
(ii)any agreement, arrangement, understanding, promise or undertaking, whether express or implied and whether or not enforceable or intended to be enforceable by legal proceedings, and
(iii)any series of or combination of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii),
whether entered into or arranged by one person or by 2 or more persons –
(I)whether acting in concert or not,
(II)whether or not entered into or arranged wholly or partly outside the State, or
(III)whether or not entered into or arranged as part of a larger transaction or in conjunction with any other transaction or transactions.
(b)In subsections (2) and (3), for the purposes of the adjudication under subsection (8) of an appeal made under subsection (7) or for the purposes of the determination of a question of law arising on the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court, the references to the Revenue Commissioners shall, subject to any necessary modifications, be construed as references to the Appeal Commissioners or, to the extent necessary, to a judge of the High Court, as appropriate.
(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.
(2)For the purposes of this section and subject to subsection (3), a transaction shall be a “tax avoidance transaction” if having regard to any one or more of the following –
(a)the results of the transaction,
(b)its use as a means of achieving those results, and
(c)any other means by which the results or any part of the results could have been achieved,
the Revenue Commissioners form the opinion that –
(i)the transaction gives rise to, or but for this section would give rise to, a tax advantage, and
(ii)the transaction was not undertaken or arranged primarily for purposes other than to give rise to a tax advantage,
and references in this section to the Revenue Commissioners forming an opinion that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction shall be construed as references to the Revenue Commissioners forming an opinion with regard to the transaction in accordance with this subsection.
(3)
(a)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), in forming an opinion in accordance with that subsection and subsection (4) as to whether or not a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction, the Revenue Commissioners shall not regard the transaction as being a tax avoidance transaction if they are satisfied that –
(i)notwithstanding that the purpose or purposes of the transaction could have been achieved by some other transaction which would have given rise to a greater amount of tax being payable by the person, the transaction –
(I)was undertaken or arranged by a person with a view, directly or indirectly, to the realisation of profits in the course of the business activities of a business carried on by the person, and
(II)was not undertaken or arranged primarily to give rise to a tax advantage,
or
(ii)the transaction was undertaken or arranged for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of any relief, allowance or other abatement provided by any provision of the Acts and that the transaction would not result directly or indirectly in a misuse of the provision or an abuse of the provision having regard to the purposes for which it was provided.
(b)In forming an opinion referred to in paragraph (a) in relation to any transaction, the Revenue Commissioners shall have regard to –
(i)the form of that transaction,
(ii)the substance of that transaction,
(iii)the substance of any other transaction or transactions which that transaction may reasonably be regarded as being directly or indirectly related to or connected with, and
(iv)the final outcome and result of that transaction and any combination of those other transactions which are so related or connected.
(4)Subject to this section, the Revenue Commissioners as respects any transaction may at any time –
(a)form the opinion that the transaction is a tax avoidance transaction,
(b)calculate the tax advantage which they consider arises, or which but for this section would arise, from the transaction,
(c)determine the tax consequences which they consider would arise in respect of the transaction if their opinion were to become final and conclusive in accordance with subsection (5)(e), and
(d)calculate the amount of any relief from double taxation which they would propose to give to any person in accordance with subsection (5)(c).
(5)
(a)Where the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction becomes final and conclusive, they may, notwithstanding any other provision of the Acts, make all such adjustments and do all such acts as are just and reasonable (in so far as those adjustments and acts have been specified or described in a notice of opinion given under subsection (6) and subject to the manner in which any appeal made under subsection (7) against any matter specified or described in the notice of opinion has been finally determined, including any adjustments and acts not so specified or described in the notice of opinion but which form part of a final determination of any such appeal) in order that the tax advantage resulting from a tax avoidance transaction shall be withdrawn from or denied to any person concerned.
(b)Subject to but without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), the Revenue Commissioners may –
(i)allow or disallow in whole or in part any deduction or other amount which is relevant in computing tax payable, or any part of such deduction or other amount,
(ii)allocate or deny to any person any deduction, loss, abatement, relief, allowance, exemption, income or other amount, or any part thereof, or
(iii)recharacterize for tax purposes the nature of any payment or other amount.
(c)Where the Revenue Commissioners make any adjustment or do any act for the purposes of paragraph (a), they shall afford relief from any double taxation which they consider would but for this paragraph arise by virtue of any adjustment made or act done by them pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b).
(d)Notwithstanding any other provision of the Acts, where –
(i)pursuant to subsection (4)(c), the Revenue Commissioners determine the tax consequences which they consider would arise in respect of a transaction if their opinion that the transaction is a tax avoidance transaction were to become final and conclusive, and
(ii)pursuant to that determination, they specify or describe in a notice of opinion any adjustment or act which they consider would be, or be part of, those tax consequences,
then, in so far as any right of appeal lay under subsection (7) against any such adjustment or act so specified or described, no right or further right of appeal shall lie under the Acts against that adjustment or act when it is made or done in accordance with this subsection, or against any adjustment or act so made or done that is not so specified or described in the notice of opinion but which forms part of the final determination of any appeal made under subsection (7) against any matter specified or described in the notice of opinion.
(e)For the purposes of this subsection, an opinion of the Revenue Commissioners that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction shall be final and conclusive –
(i)if within the time limited no appeal is made under subsection (7) against any matter or matters specified or described in a notice or notices of opinion given pursuant to that opinion, or
(ii)as and when all appeals made under subsection (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.
(5A)
(a)In this subsection –
‘assessment’ includes a first assessment, an additional assessment, an additional first assessment and an estimate or estimation;
‘amendment’, in relation to an assessment, includes the adjustment, alteration or correction of the assessment.
(b)Where the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction, becomes final and conclusive, then for the purposes of giving effect to this section, any time limit provided for by Part 41 or 41A, or by any other provision of the Acts, on the making or amendment of an assessment or on the requirement or liability of a person to pay tax or to pay additional tax –
(i)shall not apply, and
(ii)shall not affect the collection and recovery of any amount of tax or additional tax that becomes due and payable.
(6)
(a)Where pursuant to subsections (2) and (4) the Revenue Commissioners form the opinion that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction, they shall immediately on forming such an opinion give notice in writing of the opinion to any person from whom a tax advantage would be withdrawn or to whom a tax advantage would be denied or to whom relief from double taxation would be given if the opinion became final and conclusive, and the notice shall specify or describe –
(i)the transaction which in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners is a tax avoidance transaction,
(ii)the tax advantage or part of the tax advantage, calculated by the Revenue Commissioners which would be withdrawn from or denied to the person to whom the notice is given,
(iii)the tax consequences of the transaction determined by the Revenue Commissioners in so far as they would refer to the person, and
(iv)the amount of any relief from double taxation calculated by the Revenue Commissioners which they would propose to give to the person in accordance with subsection (5)(c).
(b)Section 869 shall, with any necessary modifications, apply for the purposes of a notice given under this subsection or subsection (10) as if it were a notice given under the Income Tax Acts.
(7)Any person aggrieved by an opinion formed or, in so far as it refers to the person, a calculation or determination made by the Revenue Commissioners pursuant to subsection (4) may appeal the opinion to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of that opinion on the grounds and, notwithstanding any other provision of the Acts, only on the grounds that, having regard to all of the circumstances, including any fact or matter which was not known to the Revenue Commissioners when they formed their opinion or made their calculation or determination, and to this section –
(a)the transaction specified or described in the notice of opinion is not a tax avoidance transaction,
(b)the amount of the tax advantage or the part of the tax advantage, specified or described in the notice of opinion which would be withdrawn from or denied to the person is incorrect,
(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 in order to withdraw or to deny the tax advantage or part of the tax advantage specified or described in the notice of opinion, or
(d)the amount of relief from double taxation which the Revenue Commissioners propose to give to the person is insufficient or incorrect.
(8)In adjudicating and determining an appeal, the Appeal Commissioners shall not enquire into any grounds of appeal other than those specified in subsection (7).
(9)
(a)On the hearing of an appeal made under subsection (7), the Appeal Commissioners shall have regard to all matters to which the Revenue Commissioners may or are required to have regard under this section, and –
(i)in relation to an appeal made on the grounds referred to in subsection (7)(a), the Appeal Commissioners shall determine the appeal, in so far as it is made on those grounds, by ordering, if they or a majority of them –
(I)consider that the transaction specified or described in the notice of opinion or any part of that transaction is a tax avoidance transaction, that the opinion or the opinion in so far as it relates to that part is to stand,
(II)consider that, subject to such amendment or addition thereto as the Appeal Commissioners or the majority of them deem necessary and as they shall specify or describe, the transaction, or any part of it, specified or described in the notice of opinion, is a tax avoidance transaction, that the transaction or that part of it be so amended or added to and that, subject to the amendment or addition, the opinion or the opinion in so far as it relates to that part is to stand, or
(III)do not so consider as referred to in clause (I) or (II), that the opinion is void,
(ii)in relation to an appeal made on the grounds referred to in subsection (7)(b), they shall determine the appeal, in so far as it is made on those grounds, by ordering that the amount of the tax advantage or the part of the tax advantage specified or described in the notice of opinion be increased or reduced by such amount as they shall direct or that it shall stand,
(iii)in relation to an appeal made on the grounds referred to in subsection (7)(c), they shall determine the appeal, in so far as it is made on those grounds, by ordering that the tax consequences specified or described in the notice of opinion shall be altered or added to in such manner as they shall direct or that they shall stand, or
(iv)in relation to an appeal made on the grounds referred to in subsection (7)(d), they shall determine the appeal, in so far as it is made on those grounds, by ordering that the amount of the relief from double taxation specified or described in the notice of opinion shall be increased or reduced by such amount as they shall direct or that it shall stand.
(b)This subsection shall, subject to any necessary modifications, apply, to the extent necessary, to the determination by the High Court of any question or questions of law arising on the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court.
(10)The Revenue Commissioners may at any time amend, add to or withdraw any matter specified or described in a notice of opinion by giving notice (in this subsection referred to as “the notice of amendment”) in writing of the amendment, addition or withdrawal to each and every person affected thereby, in so far as the person is so affected, and subsections (1) to (9) shall apply in all respects as if the notice of amendment were a notice of opinion and any matter specified or described in the notice of amendment were specified or described in a notice of opinion; but no such amendment, addition or withdrawal may be made so as to set aside or alter any matter which has become final and conclusive on the determination of an appeal made with regard to that matter under subsection (7).
(11)Where pursuant to subsections (2) and (4) the Revenue Commissioners form the opinion that a transaction is a tax avoidance transaction and pursuant to that opinion notices are to be given under subsection (6) to 2 or more persons, any obligation on the Revenue Commissioners to maintain secrecy or any other restriction on the disclosure of information by the Revenue Commissioners shall not apply with respect to the giving of those notices or to the performance of any acts or the discharge of any functions authorised by this section to be performed or discharged by them or to the performance of any act or the discharge of any functions, including any act or function in relation to an appeal made under subsection (7), which is directly or indirectly related to the acts or functions so authorised.
(12)The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions, including the forming of an opinion, authorised by this section to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners, and references in this section to the Revenue Commissioners shall with any necessary modifications be construed as including references to an officer so nominated.
(13)This section shall apply as respects any transaction where the whole or any part of the transaction is undertaken or arranged on or after the 25th day of January, 1989, and as respects any transaction undertaken or arranged wholly before that date in so far as it gives rise to, or would but for this section give rise to –
(a)a reduction, avoidance or deferral of any charge or assessment to tax, or part thereof, where the charge or assessment arises by virtue of any other transaction carried out wholly on or after a date, or
(b)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 that amount or increase in the amount would otherwise become first so refundable or otherwise payable to the person on a date,
which could not fall earlier than the 25th day of January, 1989.
(14)This section shall only apply to a transaction which was commenced on or before 23 October 2014.
811A.
Transactions to avoid liability to tax: surcharge, interest and protective notification.
(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.
(1A)Without prejudice to the generality of any provision of this section or section 811, nothing in section 959Z, 959AA or 959AB shall be construed as preventing an officer of the Revenue Commissioners from –
(a)making any enquiry, or
(b)taking any action,
at any time in connection with this section or section 811.
(1B)Where the Revenue Commissioners have received from, or on behalf of, a person, on or before the relevant date (within the meaning of subsection (3)(c)) a notification (referred to in subsections (3) and (6) as a ‘protective notification’) of full details of a transaction, then the Revenue Commissioners shall not form the opinion that the transaction is a tax avoidance transaction pursuant to subsections (2) and (4) of that section after the expiry of the period of 2 years commencing at –
(a)the relevant date, or
(b)if earlier, the date on which the notification was received by the Revenue Commissioners,
but this subsection shall not be construed as preventing an officer of the Revenue Commissioners from making any enquiry at any time in connection with this section or section 811.
(1C)[deleted]
(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 20 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.
(2A)
(a)In this subsection ‘qualifying avoidance disclosure’ means a disclosure that the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied is a disclosure of complete information in relation to, and full particulars of, a transaction that is a tax avoidance transaction or that, had the Revenue Commissioners formed the opinion that the transaction was a tax avoidance transaction, would occasion a liability to tax pursuant to section 811, made in writing to the Revenue Commissioners and signed by or on behalf of that person and which is accompanied by –
(i)a declaration, to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief, made in writing, that all matters contained in the disclosure are correct and complete, and
(ii)a payment of any tax due and payable in respect of any matter contained in the disclosure and the interest payable on the late payment of that tax.
(b)Where on or before 30 June 2015 the Revenue Commissioners receive a qualifying avoidance disclosure in relation to a transaction then –
(i)the surcharge referred to in subsection (2) shall not apply, and
(ii)the amount of any interest payable under the Acts shall be the amount that, apart from this subparagraph, would be so payable reduced by 20 per cent of that amount.
(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 19 February 2008, 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, 19 May 2008,
(ii)where –
(I)the whole of the transaction is undertaken or arranged before 19 February 2008, 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 19 February 2008,
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 19 February 2008, 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 19 February 2008,
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 81 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010,
(ii)section 46A of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003,
(iii)section 8 of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, or
(iv)section 959P 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 subsections (1B) and (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.
(6A)The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this section to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners, and references in this section to the Revenue Commissioners shall with any necessary modifications be construed as including references to an officer so nominated.
(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 19 February 2008, 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 19 February 2008, 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 19 February 2008.
(8)This section shall only apply to a transaction which was commenced on or before 23 October 2014.
811B.
Tax treatment of loans from employee benefit schemes.
(1)In this section –
‘benefit scheme’, subject to subsection (2)(c), means a trust, scheme or other arrangement and includes any settlement, disposition, covenant, agreement, transfer of money or transfer of other property or of any right to money or of any right to other property;
’employee’ includes an office holder and any person who is an employee within the definition of ’employee’ in section 983;
’employer’ includes any person connected with an employer and any person who is an employer within the definition of ’employer’ in section 983 or connected with such employer;
‘loan’ means any loan, advance or any form of credit;
‘specified rate’ means the rate specified in paragraph (iii) of the definition of ‘the specified rate’ in section 122.
(2)For the purposes of this section –
(a)any question whether a person is connected with another person shall be determined in accordance with section 10 (as it applies for the purposes of the Tax Acts),
(b)the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset shall be deemed to be a loan of an amount equal to the value of that asset at the time such loan is made or at the time such asset is provided, and
(c)an arrangement or agreement under which a loan, the provision of a benefit or the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset is made to an employee by his or her employer shall not be an arrangement or agreement within the meaning of a benefit scheme where the provisions of section 118, 118A, 121, 121A or 122 apply to such loan, the provision of such benefit or to the loan, or provision, of such asset.
(3)Where, in the year of assessment 2013 or any subsequent year of assessment, an employee or former employee who holds or has held an office or employment the profits or gains from which are or were chargeable to tax under Schedule E or under Case III of Schedule D or any person connected with that employee or former employee receives, directly or indirectly, from a benefit scheme –
(a)a payment (including a loan),
(b)a benefit, or
(c)an asset (including the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset),
and that scheme was, directly or indirectly, provided, funded, subscribed to or otherwise made available by that employee’s employer or former employer, then –
(i)the amount of that payment,
(ii)the cost of providing that benefit or the value of that benefit at the date of provision (whichever is the greater), or
(iii)the value of that asset,
shall, to the extent that it is not otherwise chargeable to income tax, be deemed to be income of that employee for that year of assessment chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(4)Where, in the year of assessment 2013 or any subsequent year of assessment, an individual or any person connected with that individual receives, directly or indirectly, from a benefit scheme –
(a)a payment (including a loan),
(b)a benefit, or
(c)an asset (including the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset),
and that scheme was, directly or indirectly, provided, funded or otherwise made available by a person who subsequently becomes that individual’s employer, then for the year of assessment in which the individual first holds with that employer an office or employment the profits or gains from which are chargeable to tax under Schedule E or under Case III of Schedule D –
(i)the amount of that payment,
(ii)the cost of providing that benefit or the value of that benefit at the date of provision (whichever is the greater), or
(iii)the value of that asset,
shall, to the extent that it is not otherwise chargeable to income tax or is not liable in a territory with the government of which arrangements are for the time being in force by virtue of section 826(1) (or in a territory with the government of which arrangements have been made which on completion of the procedures set out in section 826(1) will have the force of law) to a tax that corresponds to income tax, be deemed to be income of that individual chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(5)For the purpose of subsections (3) and (4), this section applies to the receipt, directly or indirectly, on or after 13 February 2013 of a payment (including a loan), a benefit or an asset (including the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset) from a benefit scheme.
(6)
(a)Where an individual has paid all of the tax due by virtue of subsection (3) or (4) and that individual –
(i)repays all or part of a loan,
(ii)ceases, for a period of at least 12 months, to have use of an asset, or
(iii)ceases, for a period of at least 12 months, to have use of a benefit,
in respect of which those subsections applied, then, on foot of a claim in writing from that individual, relief shall be given by way of offset or repayment of an amount equal to the difference between –
(I)where a loan has been repaid in full or where the use of the asset or benefit has ceased –
(A)the tax paid by virtue of subsection (3) or (4), and
(B)the tax that would have been payable by the individual as if section 118, 118A, 121, 121A or 122, as appropriate, had applied to such loan or to the provision of such asset or benefit up to the date that that loan is repaid or to the date that such asset or benefit ceases to be available to that individual, as the case may be,
or
(II)where a loan has not been repaid in full –
(A)the amount of that tax paid by virtue of subsection (3) or (4) as is attributable to the amount of that loan repaid, and
(B)the tax that would have been payable as if section 122 had applied in respect of the amount of the loan repaid up to the date that that amount is repaid.
(b)The relief referred to in paragraph (a) shall not apply where the loan, or part of the loan, referred to in that paragraph is, directly or indirectly –
(i)repaid by the individual referred to in that paragraph out of a payment (including a loan) or transfer of an asset to that individual, or to a person connected with that individual, from a benefit scheme that was, directly or indirectly, provided, funded, subscribed to or otherwise made available by the individual’s employer or former employer, or
(ii)replaced by another loan that is directly or indirectly, provided, funded, subscribed to or otherwise made available by the individual’s employer or former employer.
(c)Notwithstanding any limitation in section 865(4) on the time within which a claim for repayment of tax is required to be made or the provisions relating to the offset of tax in section 865B, a claim for the offset or repayment referred to in paragraph (a) shall be made within 4 years from the end of the year of assessment in which the loan, or part of the loan, is repaid or the use of the benefit or asset, as the case may be, ceases.
(7)
(a)This subsection applies for the year of assessment 2013 and each subsequent year of assessment where –
(i)before 13 February 2013, an employee or former employee who holds or has held an office or employment the profits or gains of which are or were chargeable to tax under Schedule E or under Case III of Schedule D or any person connected with that employee or former employee received, directly or indirectly, from a benefit scheme –
(I)a loan, or
(II)the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset,
and that scheme was, directly or indirectly, provided, funded, subscribed to or otherwise made available by that employee’s employer or former employer, and
(ii)at any time in the year of assessment –
(I)the loan referred to in subparagraph (i)(I), or any part thereof, remains outstanding, or
(II)the employee or former employee continues to have the loan of or the use of the asset referred to in subparagraph (i)(II).
(b)Where for any year of assessment that this subsection applies, then, in relation to a loan referred to in paragraph (a)(i)(I), an amount equal to –
(i)if no interest is paid, the amount of interest that would have been payable in that year of assessment if interest had been payable at a rate equal to the specified rate, or
(ii)if interest is paid at a rate less than the specified rate, the difference between the aggregate amount of interest paid in that year of assessment and the amount of interest which would have been payable in that year if interest had been payable at a rate equal to the specified rate,
shall, if not otherwise chargeable to income tax, be deemed to be income of that employee or former employee for that year of assessment chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D and any reference to interest paid in subparagraph (i) or (ii) does not include an increase in the outstanding balance on the loan or loans or interest paid out of a further loan or advance made, directly or indirectly, by a benefit scheme or employer referred to in paragraph (a)(i).
(c)Where for any year of assessment that this subsection applies, then, in relation to the provision of the loan of, or the provision of the use of, an asset referred to in paragraph (a)(i)(II), there shall, if not otherwise chargeable to income tax, be deemed to be income of that employee or former employee for that year of assessment chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D an amount equal to an amount that would, if section 118, 118A, 121, 121A or 122 had applied in respect of the loan of, or the provision of the use of, that asset be deemed to be an expense, emolument or perquisite chargeable to tax under Schedule E by virtue of those sections.
(8)This section shall not apply to a scheme approved for the purposes of Part 17 or 30.
811C.
Transactions to avoid liability to tax.
(1)
(a)In this section and section 811D –
‘the Acts’ means –
(i)the Tax Acts,
(ii)the Capital Gains Tax Acts,
(iii)the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(iv)the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(v)the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(va)Part 4A,
(vi)Part 18D, and
(vii)Part 22B,
and any instruments made thereunder;
‘assessment’ includes any assessment to tax made under any provision of the Acts including any amended assessment, correcting assessment and any estimate or estimation;
‘business’ means any trade, profession or vocation;
‘Revenue officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners;
‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge which in accordance with the Acts is placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners and any interest or other amount payable pursuant to the Acts;
‘tax advantage’ means –
(i)a reduction, avoidance or deferral of any charge or assessment to tax, including any potential or prospective charge or assessment, or
(ii)a refund of or a payment of an amount of tax, or an increase in an amount of tax, refundable or otherwise payable to a person, including any potential or prospective amount so refundable or payable, arising out of or by reason of a transaction, including a transaction where 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;
‘tax avoidance transaction’ has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2);
‘transaction’ means –
(i)any transaction, action, course of action, course of conduct, scheme, plan or proposal,
(ii)any agreement, arrangement, understanding, promise or undertaking, whether express or implied and whether or not enforceable or intended to be enforceable by legal proceedings, and
(iii)any series of or combination of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii),
whether entered into or arranged by one person or by 2 or more persons –
(I)whether acting in concert or not,
(II)whether or not entered into or arranged wholly or partly outside the State, or
(III)whether or not entered into or arranged as part of a larger transaction or in conjunction with any other transaction or transactions.
(b)This section and section 811D shall apply notwithstanding any other provision of the Acts.
(2)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), for the purposes of this section a transaction shall be a ‘tax avoidance transaction’ if having regard to the following matters –
(i)the form of that transaction,
(ii)the substance of that transaction,
(iii)the substance of any other transaction or transactions which that transaction may reasonably be regarded as being directly or indirectly related to or connected with, and
(iv)the final outcome of that transaction and any combination of those other transactions which are so related or connected,
and having regard to any one or more of the following matters –
(I)the results of the transaction,
(II)its use as a means of achieving those results,
(III)any other means by which the results or any part of the results could have been achieved,
it would be reasonable to consider that –
(A)the transaction gives rise to, or but for this section would give rise to, a tax advantage, and
(B)the transaction was not undertaken or arranged primarily for purposes other than to give rise to a tax advantage.
(b)For the purpose of this section, a transaction shall not be a tax avoidance transaction if, having regard to the matters set out in paragraph (a) –
(i)notwithstanding that the purpose or purposes of the transaction could have been achieved by some other transaction which would have given rise to a greater amount of tax being payable by the person, the transaction –
(I)was undertaken or arranged by a person with a view, directly or indirectly, to the realisation of profits in the course of the business activities of a business carried on by the person, and
(II)was not undertaken or arranged primarily to give rise to a tax advantage,
or
(ii)the transaction was undertaken or arranged for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of any relief, allowance or other abatement provided by any provision of the Acts and the transaction did not result directly or indirectly in a misuse of the provision or an abuse of the provision having regard to the purposes for which it was provided.
(3)A person shall not be entitled to any tax advantage arising out of or by reason of a tax avoidance transaction to which this section applies.
(4)
(a)Where a person submits any return, declaration, statement or account or makes any claim which purports to obtain the benefit of a tax advantage arising out of or by reason of a tax avoidance transaction, a Revenue officer may at any time deny or withdraw the tax advantage.
(b)Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), it shall be a lawful exercise of the powers conferred by that paragraph to do one or more of the following acts, and accordingly that paragraph shall be read as permitting, for the purposes of that paragraph, a Revenue officer to do each of the following acts, namely to –
(i)make or amend an assessment,
(ii)allow or disallow in whole or in part any credit, deduction or other amount which is relevant in computing tax payable, or any part of such credit, deduction or other amount,
(iii)allocate or deny any credit, deduction, loss, abatement, relief, allowance, exemption, income or other amount, or any part thereof,
(iv)recharacterise, for tax purposes, the nature of any payment or other amount.
(c)In paragraph (b) a reference to the doing of an act includes a reference to the making of an adjustment.
(d)Where any adjustment is made or act is done to deny or withdraw a tax advantage, relief shall be afforded from any double taxation which would, or would but for this paragraph, arise by virtue of any such adjustment made or act done pursuant to this subsection.
(5)
(a)For the purposes of this subsection, ‘alternative assessment’ means an assessment –
(i)not being an assessment made pursuant to subsection (4), and
(ii)the effect of which is to withdraw or deny, in whole or in part, any tax advantage.
(b)Where a Revenue officer makes or amends an assessment to withdraw or deny a tax advantage pursuant to this section, it shall be lawful for a Revenue officer to make or have made or to amend or have amended an alternative assessment.
(c)No appeal shall lie against an assessment made pursuant to this section or an alternative assessment on the grounds that a Revenue officer has made or amended an assessment pursuant to this section, or an alternative assessment, as the case may be.
(d)Where an assessment is made pursuant to this section and an alternative assessment is made, then only one such assessment shall, by agreement with the person on whom the assessment and the alternative assessment were made or by way of determination on appeal, as the case may be, become final and conclusive.
(6)Except as provided for in section 811D(4)(a)(i), this section and section 811D shall be read as enabling the doing of, and nothing in the Acts, in particular a provision stipulating a time limit, shall be read as preventing a Revenue officer from doing, each of the following, namely:
(a)making any enquiry;
(b)taking any action;
(c)making or amending an assessment;
(d)collecting or recovering any amount of tax;
at any time in connection with this section or section 811D.
(7)Where a tax advantage is withdrawn from or denied to 2 or more persons pursuant to this section, any obligation on the Revenue Commissioners to maintain secrecy or any other restriction on the disclosure of information by the Revenue Commissioners shall not apply with respect to the making of any adjustment, the performance of any other acts or the discharge of any functions authorised by this section to be made, performed or discharged by a Revenue officer or to the making of any adjustment, the performance of any other acts or the discharge of any functions (including any act or function in relation to an appeal made to the Appeal Commissioners) which is directly or indirectly related to the adjustment, acts or functions so authorised.
(8)A transaction shall not be a tax avoidance transaction for the purposes of this section if it was commenced on or before 23 October 2014.
811D.
Transactions to avoid liability to tax: surcharge, interest and protective notifications.
(1)For the purposes of this section –
‘chargeable period’ has the meaning assigned to it in Part 41A;
‘disclosable transaction’ has the meaning assigned to it in Chapter 3 of this Part but for the purposes of this section, a transaction shall not be a disclosable transaction if –
(a)the transaction was disclosable by a promoter, pursuant to Chapter 3 of this Part, and not by a person who enters into any transaction which is or forms part of a transaction which is disclosable under section 817F, 817G or 817H,
(b)by the specified return date, within the meaning of Part 41A, for a return referred to in section 817HA(3), the transaction was not assigned a transaction number, within the meaning of Chapter 3 of this Part, or the person, in whose name or on whose behalf a qualifying avoidance disclosure or a protective notification is made, was not provided with a transaction number by a promoter or marketer, within the meaning of Chapter 3 of this Part,
(c)the person in whose name or on whose behalf a qualifying avoidance disclosure or a protective notification is made provides a Revenue officer with the specified information, within the meaning of Chapter 3 of this Part, and
(d)the person in whose name or on whose behalf a qualifying avoidance disclosure or a protective notification is made, without unreasonable delay, provides a Revenue officer with any other information that the officer may reasonably require for the purposes of deciding if an application should be made to the relevant court under section 817O(3)(a);
‘protective notification’ means a notification –
(a)which is 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,
(b)which contains –
(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,
(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 subparagraph (ii), applies, or does not apply, to the transaction, and
(iv)full details of why, in the opinion of the person, by whom, or on whose behalf, the protective notification is delivered, section 811C does not apply,
(c)which includes copies of all documentation pertaining to the transaction which is the subject of the protective notification,
(d)which is received by the Revenue Commissioners on or before the relevant date, and
(e)which does not relate to a disclosable transaction, and subsection (2) supplements this definition;
‘qualifying avoidance disclosure’ means a disclosure that a Revenue officer is satisfied is a disclosure of complete information in relation to, and full particulars of, all matters occasioning a liability to tax that gives rise to a surcharge referred to in subsection (3), made in writing to the Revenue officer and signed by or on behalf of that person and which is accompanied by –
(a)a declaration, to the best of that person’s knowledge, information and belief, made in writing, that all matters contained in the disclosure are correct and complete, and
(b)a payment of any tax due and payable in respect of any matter contained in the disclosure and the interest payable on the late payment of that tax;
‘relevant date’ in relation to a transaction means the date which is 90 days after the date on which that transaction was commenced;
‘specific anti-avoidance provision’ means a provision specified in Schedule 33.
(2)
(a)Where the condition set out in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘protective notification’ in this section cannot be complied with by reason of the fact that part of the transaction is undertaken after the relevant date, the condition shall be deemed to have been complied with if copies of the documentation pertaining to that part of the transaction are delivered to the office referred to in paragraph (a) of that definition within 30 days from their execution.
(b)Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘protective notification’, the specifying, under –
(i)section 81 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010,
(ii)section 46A of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003,
(iii)section 8C of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, or
(iv)section 959P 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 this section.
(3)
(a)Subject to subsections (4) and (5), where –
(i)a transaction has been undertaken or arranged which would, but for section 811C or a specific anti-avoidance provision, as the case may be, give rise to a tax advantage, and
(ii)a person submits any return, declaration, statement or account or makes any claim which purports to obtain the benefit of that tax advantage,
then that person shall be liable to pay an amount (in this section referred to as the ‘surcharge’) equal to 30 per cent of the amount of the tax advantage and the provisions of Chapter 3A of Part 47, as they apply to penalties, shall apply with any necessary modifications to that surcharge.
(b)Paragraph (a) shall not apply in relation to a transaction where a person has, in submitting any return, declaration, statement or account or making any claim which purports to obtain the benefit of that tax advantage, incurred a penalty under subsection (2) or (5), as the case may be, of section 1077E or subsection (2) of section 1077F, as appropriate, subsection (2) or (5), as the case may be, of section 116 or subsection (2) of section 116A of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, as appropriate, section 134A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 or section 58 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003.
(4)
(a)Where the Revenue Commissioners have received a protective notification from, or on behalf of, a person then in relation to the transaction which was the subject of the protective notification –
(i)paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 811C(6) shall not apply, and
(ii)where a Revenue officer, pursuant to section 811C(4), makes or amends an assessment to withdraw or deny a tax advantage arising out of or by reason of a tax avoidance transaction –
(I)the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall not apply, and
(II)any tax due and payable by a person as a result of the tax advantage being withdrawn or denied shall be deemed to be due and payable not later than one month from the date of the assessment or amended assessment as appropriate.
(b)Where a notification which purports to be a protective notification has been received by the Revenue Commissioners and a Revenue officer determines that the notification is not a protective notification, because it does not comply with one or more of the requirements set out in the definition of protective notification in this section, and –
(i)commences carrying out enquiries as if section 811C(6)(a) applied, a taxpayer who is aggrieved by such enquiries, on the grounds that the person considers that the officer was precluded from making that enquiry by reason of paragraph (a)(i), may appeal to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the officer commences carrying out enquiries and section 959AJ shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to that appeal, or
(ii)makes or amends an assessment as if section 811C(6)(c) applied, a taxpayer who is aggrieved by the making of such an assessment, or, as the case may be, such amendment, on the grounds that the person considers that the officer was precluded from making the assessment or, as the case may be, the amendment, by reason of paragraph (a)(i), may appeal to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of assessment and subsections (2) and (3) of section 949AK shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to that appeal.
(5)
(a)Where a person makes a qualifying avoidance disclosure in relation to a transaction which is not a disclosable transaction, then –
(i)if a Revenue officer has not commenced any inquiry into the transaction and the disclosure is made within a period of 24 months from the end of the chargeable period in which the transaction was commenced, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall not apply,
(ii)if a Revenue officer has not withdrawn or denied a tax advantage under section 811C or a specific anti-avoidance provision, as the case may be, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 3 per cent,
(iii)if a Revenue officer has withdrawn or denied a tax advantage under section 811C or a specific anti-avoidance provision, as the case may be, and no appeal in relation to that withdrawal or denial has been made, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 5 per cent,
(iv)if a person has made an appeal in relation to the withdrawal or denial of a tax advantage under section 811C or a specific anti- avoidance provision, as the case may be, and that appeal has not yet been heard by the Appeal Commissioners, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 10 per cent,
and, if the case does not fall within any of subparagraphs (i) to (iv), then the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 30 per cent.
(b)Where a person makes a qualifying avoidance disclosure in relation to a transaction which is a disclosable transaction, then –
(i)if a Revenue officer has not commenced any inquiry into the transaction and the disclosure is made within a period of 24 months from the end of the chargeable period in which the transaction was commenced, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 3 per cent,
(ii)if a Revenue officer has not withdrawn or denied a tax advantage under section 811C or a specific anti-avoidance provision, as the case may be, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 6 per cent,
(iii)if a Revenue officer has withdrawn or denied a tax advantage under section 811C or a specific anti-avoidance provision, as the case may be, and no appeal in relation to that withdrawal or denial has been made, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 10 per cent,
(iv)if a person has made an appeal in relation to the withdrawal or denial of a tax advantage under section 811C or a specific anti-avoidance provision, as the case may be, and that appeal has not yet been heard by the Appeal Commissioners, the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 20 per cent,
and, if the case does not fall within any of subparagraphs (i) to (iv), then the surcharge referred to in subsection (3) shall be 30 per cent.
(6)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 –
(a)solely, by virtue of the operation of subsection (4)(a)(ii), to prevent a surcharge or interest becoming payable by the person, and
(b)wholly without prejudice as to whether the transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction.
(7)This section shall not apply to a transaction if any part of it was commenced on or before 23 October 2014.
812.
Taxation of income deemed to arise from transfers of right to receive interest from securities.
(1)In this section –
“interest” includes dividends, annuities and shares of annuities;
“securities” include stocks and shares of all descriptions.
(2)Where in any year of assessment or accounting period an owner (in this section referred to as “the owner”) of any securities sells or transfers the right to receive any particular interest payable (whether before or after such sale or transfer) in respect of those securities without selling or transferring those securities, then, and in every such case, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)for the purposes of the Tax Acts that interest (whether it would or would not be chargeable to tax if this section had not been enacted) –
(i)shall be deemed to be the income of the owner or, where the owner is not the beneficial owner of the securities and some other person (in this section referred to as “the beneficiary”) is beneficially entitled to the income arising from the securities, the income of the beneficiary,
(ii)shall be deemed to be income of the owner or the beneficiary, as the case may be, for that year of assessment or accounting period, as the case may be, and
(iii)[deleted]
(iv)shall, where the proceeds of the sale or transfer are chargeable to tax under Schedule C or under Chapter 2 of Part 4, be deemed to be equal in amount to the amount of those proceeds;
(b)[deleted]
(c)where the securities are of such character that the interest payable in respect of the securities may be paid without deduction of tax, then, unless the owner or beneficiary, as the case may be, shows that the proceeds of any sale or other realisation of the right to receive the interest, which is deemed to be income of the owner or of the beneficiary, as the case may be, by virtue of this section, have been charged to tax under Schedule C or under Chapter 2 of Part 4, the owner or beneficiary, as the case may be, shall be chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D in respect of that interest, but shall be entitled to credit for any tax which that interest is shown to have borne;
(d)where in any case to which paragraph (c) applies the computation of the tax in respect of the interest which is made chargeable under Case IV of Schedule D by that paragraph would, if that interest had been chargeable under Case III of Schedule D, have been made by reference to the amount received in the State, the tax chargeable pursuant to paragraph (c) shall be computed on the full amount of the sums received in the State in the year of assessment or in any subsequent year of assessment in which the owner remains the owner of the securities;
(e)nothing in this subsection shall affect any provision of the Tax Acts authorising or requiring the deduction of tax from any interest which is deemed by virtue of this subsection to be income of the owner or of the beneficiary or from the proceeds of any subsequent sale, transfer or other realisation mentioned in this subsection of the right to receive that particular interest.
(3)In relation to corporation tax –
(a)subsection (2)(c) shall apply (subject to the provisions of the Corporation Tax Acts relating to distributions) to any interest, whether or not the securities are of such character that the interest may be paid without deduction of tax, and as if “, but shall be entitled to credit for any tax which that interest is shown to have borne” were deleted, and
(b)subsection (2)(d) shall not apply.
(4)The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require any person to furnish them, within such time (not being less than 28 days from the service of the notice) as shall be specified in the notice, with such particulars in relation to all securities of which such person was the owner at any time during the period specified in the notice as the Revenue Commissioners may consider to be necessary for the purposes of this section or for the purpose of discovering whether –
(a)tax has been borne in respect of the interest payable in respect of those securities, or
(b)the proceeds of any sale, transfer or other realisation of the right to receive the interest in respect of those securities has been charged to tax under Schedule C or under Chapter 2 of Part 4.
(5)This section shall not apply –
(a)where the interest would not be chargeable to tax in the State had it been received by the owner or the beneficiary, as the case may be, at any time in the period commencing with the date of the sale or transfer of the right to receive the interest and ending on the date the interest was paid, or
(b)where the owner or the beneficiary, as the case may be, is a person carrying on a trade, profession or business, the profits of which are chargeable to income tax or corporation tax computed in accordance with the provisions or principles applicable to Case I or Case II of Schedule D, and the consideration for the sale or transfer is taken into account in computing, for the purposes of assessment to income tax or corporation tax, the profits of that trade, profession or business.
813.
Taxation of transactions associated with loans or credit.
(1)This section shall apply as respects any transaction effected with reference to the lending of money or the giving of credit, or the varying of the terms on which money is loaned or credit is given, or which is effected with a view to enabling or facilitating any such arrangement concerning the lending of money or the giving of credit.
(2)Subsection (1) shall apply whether the transaction is effected between the lender or creditor and the borrower or debtor, or between either of them and a person connected with the other or between a person connected with one and a person connected with the other.
(3)Where the transaction provides for the payment of any annuity or other annual payment, not being interest but being a payment chargeable to tax under Schedule D, the payment shall be treated for the purposes of the Tax Acts as if it were a payment of annual interest.
(4)Where the transaction is one by which an owner of any securities or other property carrying a right to income (in this subsection referred to as “the owner”) agrees to sell or transfer the property, and by the same or any collateral agreement –
(a)the purchaser or transferee (in this subsection referred to as “the buyer”) or a person connected with the buyer agrees to sell or transfer at a later date the same or any other property to the owner or a person connected with the owner, or
(b)the owner or a person connected with the owner acquires an option, which the owner or the person connected with the owner subsequently exercises, to buy or acquire the same or any other property from the buyer or a person connected with the buyer,
then, without prejudice to the liability of any other person, the owner shall be chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D on an amount equal to any income which arises from the first-mentioned property at any time before the repayment of the loan or the termination of the credit.
(5)Where under the transaction a person assigns, surrenders or otherwise agrees to waive or forego income arising from any property (without a sale or transfer of the property), then, without prejudice to the liability of any other person, the first-mentioned person shall be chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D on a sum equal to the amount of income assigned, surrendered, waived or foregone.
(6)Where credit is given for the purchase price of any property and the rights attaching to the property are such that during the subsistence of the debt the purchaser’s rights to income from the property are suspended or restricted, the purchaser shall be treated for the purposes of subsection (5) as having surrendered a right to income of an amount equivalent to the income which the purchaser has in effect foregone by obtaining the credit.
(7)The amount of any income payable subject to deduction of tax at the standard rate shall be taken for the purposes of subsection (5) as the amount before deduction of that tax.
814.
Taxation of income deemed to arise from transactions in certificates of deposit and assignable deposits.
(1)In this section –
“assignable deposit” means a deposit of money in any currency, which has been deposited with any person, whether it is to be repaid with or without interest and which at the direction of the depositor may be assigned with or without interest to another person;
“certificate of deposit” means a document relating to money in any currency, which has been deposited with the issuer or some other person, being a document which recognises an obligation to pay a stated amount to bearer or to order, with or without interest, and being a document by the delivery of which, with or without endorsement, the right to receive that stated amount, with or without interest, is transferable.
(2)This section shall apply to any right –
(a)to receive from any person an amount of money, with or without interest, which is stated in a certificate of deposit issued to the person who has deposited the money or to any other person, or
(b)to receive from any person an amount of money, with or without interest, being a right arising from an assignable deposit which may be assigned or transferred to another person by the person who has deposited the money or by any person who has acquired the right to do so.
(3)Where after the 3rd day of April, 1974, a person acquires a right to which this section applies, any gain arising to the person from the disposal of that right or, except in so far as it is a right to receive interest, from its exercise shall, if not to be taken into account as a trading receipt, be deemed for the purposes of the Tax Acts to be annual profits or gains chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D and shall be charged to tax accordingly.
(4)Where on or before the 3rd day of April, 1974, a person acquired a right to which this section applies and disposes or disposed of, or exercises or exercised, the right after that date, so much of any gain arising to the person from that disposal, or, except in so far as it is a right to receive interest, from that exercise, as bears to the total amount of the gain the same proportion as the number of days from the 3rd day of April, 1974, to the date of the disposal or exercise bears to the total number of days from the date of the acquisition to the date of the disposal or exercise, shall, if not to be taken into account as a trading receipt, be deemed for the purposes of the Tax Acts to be annual profits or gains chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D and shall be charged to tax accordingly.
(5)Where a person sustains a loss in a transaction which if profits had arisen from it would be chargeable to tax by virtue of subsection (3) or (4), then, if the person is chargeable to tax under Schedule C or D in respect of the interest payable on the amount of money the right to which has been disposed of, the amount of that interest shall be included in the amounts against which the person may claim to set off the amount of the loss under section 383 or 399, as the case may be.
(6)For the purposes of this section, profits or gains shall not be treated as falling to be taken into account as a trading receipt by reason only that they are included in the computation required by section 707.
815.
Taxation of income deemed to arise on certain sales of securities.
(1)In this section –
“owner”, in relation to securities, means at any time the person who would be entitled, if the securities were redeemed at that time by the person who issued them, to the proceeds of the redemption;
“securities” includes –
(a)assets which are not chargeable assets for the purposes of capital gains tax by virtue of section 607, and
(b)stocks, bonds and obligations of any government, municipal corporation, company or other body corporate, whether creating or evidencing a charge on assets or not,
but does not include shares (within the meaning of the Companies Act 2014) of a company (within the meaning of that Act) or similar body.
(2)
(a)Subject to paragraphs (b) to (d) and subsection (3), where the owner of a security (in this subsection referred to as “the owner”) sells or transfers, or causes or authorises to be sold or transferred, the security and where any interest payable in respect of the security is receivable otherwise than by the owner, then, for the purposes of this section –
(i)interest payable in respect of the security shall be deemed for the purposes of the Tax Acts to have accrued on a day to day basis from the date on which the owner acquired the security, and
(ii)the owner shall be chargeable under Case IV of Schedule D on interest so deemed to have accrued from that date up to the date of the contract for sale or transfer of the security or the date of payment of the consideration in respect of the sale or transfer, whichever is the later.
(b)Where during the owner’s period of ownership of the security the owner has received interest in respect of the security in respect of which the owner is chargeable to tax under any other provision of the Tax Acts, the amount of interest on which the owner is chargeable under this section shall be reduced by the amount in respect of which the owner is so chargeable under that other provision.
(c)Where under the terms of the sale or transfer of the security or an associated agreement, arrangement, understanding, promise or undertaking, whether express or implied, the owner –
(i)agrees to buy back or reacquire the security, or
(ii)acquires an option which the owner subsequently exercises to buy back or reacquire the security,
the charge to tax imposed under this section shall be based on the interest deemed to have accrued up to the next date after that sale or transfer on which interest is payable in respect of the security.
(d)Where the owner subsequently resells or retransfers, or causes or authorises to be resold or retransferred, the security, any further charge to tax under this section in respect of that subsequent resale or retransfer shall be based on interest deemed to have accrued from a date not earlier than that next payment date.
(3)This section shall not apply –
(a)where the security has been held by the same owner for a continuous period of at least 2 years immediately before the date of such contract for sale or transfer or the date of such payment of consideration, whichever is the later, as is referred to in subsection (2)(a), the personal representatives of a deceased person whose estate is in the course of administration and the deceased person being regarded for the purposes of this paragraph as being the same owner,
(b)where the owner is a person carrying on a trade which consists wholly or partly of dealing in securities, the profits of which are chargeable to income tax or corporation tax under Case I of Schedule D for the year of assessment or, as the case may be, the accounting period in respect of which the consideration for the sale is taken into account in computing for the purposes of assessment to income tax or corporation tax for that year or accounting period the profits of the trade,
(c)where –
(i)the owner is an undertaking for collective investment (within the meaning of section 738), and
(ii)any gain or loss accruing to the owner on the sale or transfer is a chargeable gain or an allowable loss, as the case may be,
(d)where the sale or transfer is a sale or transfer –
(i)by a wife to her husband at a time when she is treated as living with him for income tax purposes as provided in section 1015, or a sale or transfer by a husband to a wife at such time, or
(ii)by a civil partner to his or her civil partner at a time when one civil partner is treated as living with the other for income tax purposes as provided in section 1031A,
the husband and the wife, or the civil partners, as the case may be, being regarded for the purposes of paragraph (a), in the case of such a transaction or in the case of a sale or transfer by the husband or the wife, or either civil partner, as the case may be, to any other person after such a transaction or transactions, as being the same owner, or
(e)where the security is a security the interest on which is treated as a distribution for the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts.
(4)The reference in subsection (2)(c) to buying back or reacquiring the security shall be deemed to include references to buying or acquiring a similar security, and securities shall be so deemed to be similar if they entitle their holders to the same rights against the same persons as to capital and interest and the same remedies for the enforcement of those rights, notwithstanding any difference in the total nominal amounts of the respective securities or in the form in which they are held or the manner in which they can be transferred.
(5)
(a)For the purposes of identifying securities acquired by an owner with securities included in a sale or transfer by the owner, in so far as the securities are of the same class, securities acquired at a later date shall be deemed to be so included before securities acquired at an earlier date.
(b)Securities shall be regarded as being of the same class where they entitle their owners to the same rights against the same person as to capital and interest and the same remedies for the enforcement of those rights.
(6)
(a)Without prejudice to any other provision of the Tax Acts requiring the disclosure of information, an inspector may by notice in writing require any person to whom paragraph (b) applies to furnish within the time specified in the notice such particulars as the inspector considers necessary for the purposes of this section and for the purpose of determining whether a charge to tax arises under this section.
(b)This paragraph shall apply to –
(i)a person who issues a security,
(ii)any agent of such a person, and
(iii)an owner of a security.
816.
Taxation of shares issued in place of cash dividends.
(1)In this section –
“company” means any body corporate;
“quoted company” means a company whose shares or any class of whose shares –
(a)are listed in the official list of the Irish Stock Exchange or any other stock exchange, or
(b)are quoted on the market known as the Developing Companies Market, or the market known as the Exploration Securities Market, of the Irish Stock Exchange or on any similar or corresponding market of any other stock exchange;
“share” means share in the share capital of a company and includes stock and any other interest in the company.
(2)Where any person as a consequence of the exercise (whether before, on or after the declaration of a distribution of profits by a company) of an option to receive in respect of shares in the company either a sum in cash or additional share capital of the company, receives such additional share capital, then, an amount equal to the amount which that person would have received if that person had received the distribution in cash instead of such share capital shall for the purposes of the Tax Acts –
(a)where the company is resident outside the State, be deemed to be income received by the person from the company, and such income shall be treated as income from securities and possessions outside the State and be assessed and charged to tax under Case III of Schedule D,
(b)where the company is resident in the State and is a quoted company –
(i)be treated as a distribution made by the company, and
(ii)be deemed to be a distribution received by the person,
and
(c)where the company is resident in the State and is not a quoted company, be deemed to be profits or gains of the person, being profits or gains not within any other Case of Schedule D and not charged by virtue of any other Schedule, and be assessed and charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(3)Where a company is treated under subsection (2)(b)(i) as making a distribution to a person, section 152 shall apply with any necessary modifications as if the distribution were a dividend to which subsection (1) of that section applies.
(4)For the purposes of this section, an option to receive either a dividend in cash or additional share capital shall be conferred on a person not only where that person is required to choose one or the other, but also where that person is offered the one subject to a right, however expressed, to choose the other instead, and a person’s abandonment of, or failure to exercise, such a right shall be treated for those purposes as an exercise of the option.
817.
Schemes to avoid liability to tax under Schedule F.
(1)
(a)In this section –
“close company” has the same meaning as it has, by virtue of sections 430 and 431, for the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts;
“market value” shall be construed in accordance with section 548;
“new consideration” has the same meaning as in section 135;
“shares” includes loan stock, debentures and any interest or rights in or over, or any option in relation to, shares, loan stock or debentures, and references to “shareholder” shall be construed accordingly.
(b)
(i)For the purposes of this section, there shall be a disposal of shares by a shareholder where the shareholder disposes of shares or is treated under the Capital Gains Tax Acts as disposing of shares, and references to a disposal of shares shall include references to a part disposal of shares within the meaning of those Acts.
(ii)Where under any arrangement between a close company (in this subparagraph referred to as “the first-mentioned company”) and its, or some of its, shareholders (being any arrangement similar to an arrangement entered into for the purposes of or in connection with a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation) another close company issues shares to those shareholders in respect of or in proportion to (or as nearly as may be in proportion to) their holdings of shares in the first-mentioned company, but the shares in the first-mentioned company are either retained by the shareholders or are cancelled, then, those shareholders shall for the purposes of this section be treated as making a disposal or a part disposal, as the case may be, of the shares in the first-mentioned company in exchange for those shares held by them in consequence of such arrangement.
(c)For the purposes of this section, the interest of a shareholder in a trade or business shall not be significantly reduced following a disposal of shares, or the carrying out of a scheme or arrangement of which the disposal of shares is a part, only if at any time after the disposal the percentage of –
(i)the ordinary share capital of the close company carrying on the trade or business at such time which is beneficially owned by the shareholder at such time,
(ii)any profits, which are available for distribution to equity holders, of the close company carrying on the trade or business at such time to which the shareholder is beneficially entitled at such time, or
(iii)any assets, available for distribution to equity holders on a winding up, of the close company carrying on the trade or business at such time to which the shareholder would be beneficially entitled at such time on a winding up of the close company, is not significantly less than the percentage of that ordinary share capital or those profits or assets, as the case may be, of the close company carrying on the trade or business at any time before the disposal –
(I)which the shareholder beneficially owned, or
(II)to which the shareholder was beneficially entitled,
at such time before the disposal, and sections 413 to 415 and section 418 shall apply, but without regard to section 411(1)(c) in so far as it relates to those sections, with any necessary modifications, to the determination for the purposes of this paragraph of the percentage of share capital or other amount which a shareholder beneficially owns or is beneficially entitled to, as they apply to the determination for the purposes of Chapter 5 of Part 12 of the percentage of any such amount which a company so owns or is so entitled to.
(ca)For the purposes of this section, following a disposal of shares in a close company by a shareholder or the carrying out of a scheme or arrangement of which the disposal is a part, the interest of the shareholder in any trade or business which was carried on by the close company shall be deemed –
(i)to include the interest, or interests as the case may be, in that trade or business of one or more persons connected with the shareholder, if increasing that interest of the shareholder by such interest, or interests as the case may be, would result in the interest of the shareholder in the trade or business not having been significantly reduced,
(ii)notwithstanding paragraph (c), not to have been significantly reduced where –
(I)the business carried on by the close company, taking account of any trade carried on by that company, consisted wholly or mainly of the holding of shares in another company carrying on a trade or business or in more than one such other company, and
(II)the interest of the shareholder in any such trade or business last-mentioned in clause (I), whether or not that trade or business continues to be carried on by such other company after the disposal, is not significantly reduced,
(iii)notwithstanding paragraph (c), not to have been significantly reduced where the gain realised, or the proceeds in either or both money or money’s worth received, by the shareholder on that disposal is or are wholly or mainly attributable to payments or other transfers of value from another company or companies, which is or are controlled (within the meaning of section 432) by that shareholder or by that shareholder and persons connected with him or her, to the close company, and
(iv)not to have been significantly reduced where –
(I)it would not have been so reduced if the shareholder were to be treated as beneficially entitled to any shares to which he or she could, at any time, become so entitled by the exercise of a discretion by trustees,
(II)the acquisition of those shares by the trustees was directly or indirectly related to a disposal, including a prior or subsequent disposal, of such shares by the shareholder, and
(III)the shares were acquired by the trustees with the direct or indirect financial assistance of a company or companies, which is or are controlled by the shareholder or by the shareholder and persons connected with the shareholder.
(d)The value of any amount received in money’s worth shall for the purposes of this section be the market value of the money’s worth at the time of its receipt.
(e)For the purposes of this section, the holding of money by a company shall be deemed to be a business carried on by the company, regardless of how that money was contributed to, or acquired by, the company.
(2)This section shall apply for the purposes of counteracting any scheme or arrangement undertaken or arranged by a close company, or to which the close company is a party, being a scheme or arrangement the purpose of which, or one of the purposes of which, is to secure that any shareholder in the close company avoids or reduces a charge or assessment to income tax under Schedule F by directly or indirectly extracting, or enabling such extracting of, either or both money and money’s worth from the close company, for the benefit of the shareholder, without the close company paying a dividend, or (apart from subsection (4)) making a distribution, chargeable to tax under Schedule F.
(3)Subject to subsection (7), this section shall apply to a disposal of shares in a close company by a shareholder if, following the disposal or the carrying out of a scheme or arrangement of which the disposal is a part, the interest of the shareholder in any trade or business (in this section referred to as “the specified business”) which was carried on by the close company at the time of the disposal, whether or not the specified business continues to be carried on by the close company after the disposal, is not significantly reduced.
(4)Subject to subsection (5) and notwithstanding section 130(1) or any provision of the Capital Gains Tax Acts, the amount of –
(a)the proceeds in either or both money and money’s worth received by a shareholder in respect of a disposal of shares in a close company to which this section applies, or
(b)if it is less than those proceeds, the excess of those proceeds over any consideration, being consideration which –
(i)is new consideration received by the close company for the issue of those shares, and
(ii)has not previously been taken into account for the purposes of this subsection, shall be treated for the purposes of the Tax Acts as a distribution (within the meaning of the Corporation Tax Acts) made at the time of the disposal by the close company to the shareholder.
(5)
(a)In this subsection, “capital receipt” means, as appropriate in the circumstances, any amount of either or both money and money’s worth (other than shares issued by a close company carrying on the specified business) which –
(i)is received by a shareholder in respect of a disposal of shares or by reason of any act done pursuant to a scheme or arrangement of which the disposal is a part, and
(ii)apart from this section is not chargeable to income tax in the hands of the shareholder.
(b)The amount which at any time may be treated under subsection (4) as a distribution made by a close company to a shareholder in respect of any disposal of shares in the close company shall not exceed the amount of the capital receipt, or the aggregate of the amounts of the capital receipts, which at such time has or have been received by the shareholder –
(i)in respect of the disposal, or
(ii)by reason of any act done pursuant to a scheme or arrangement of which the disposal is a part.
(c)A capital receipt received by a shareholder at any time on or after the disposal shall in respect of such time result in so much of the amount mentioned in subsection (4) being treated as a distribution (which is made by the close company to the shareholder at the time of the disposal) as does not exceed the amount of the capital receipt, or the aggregate of the amounts of such capital receipts, which at such time on or after the disposal has or have been received by the shareholder.
(d)Where as a result of a shareholder having received a capital receipt a close company is treated as having made a distribution to the shareholder under subsection (4), any provision of the Income Tax Acts in respect of interest on unpaid tax shall apply for the purposes of tax due in respect of that distribution as if the tax were due and payable only from the day on which the shareholder received the capital receipt.
(6)[deleted]
(7)This section shall not apply as respects a disposal of shares in a close company by a shareholder where the disposal was made for bona fide commercial reasons and not as part of a scheme or arrangement the purpose or one of the purposes of which was the avoidance of tax.
817A.
Restriction of relief for payments of interest.
(1)Relief shall not be given to any person under Part 8 in respect of any payment of interest, including interest treated as a charge on income, if a scheme has been effected or arrangements have been made such that the sole or main benefit that might be expected to accrue to that person from the transaction under which the interest is paid is the obtaining of a reduction in tax liability by means of any such relief.
(2)Where relief in respect of interest paid, being interest treated as a charge on income, is claimed by virtue of section 420(6), any question under this section as to what benefit might be expected to accrue from the transaction under which that interest is paid shall be determined by reference to the claimant company (within the meaning of section 411(2)) and the surrendering company (within the meaning of that section) taken together.
817B.
Treatment of interest in certain circumstances.
(1)
(a)In this section –
‘chargeable period’ means an accounting period of a company or a year of assessment, and a reference to a chargeable period or its basis period is a reference to the chargeable period if it is an accounting period and to the basis period for it if it is a year of assessment;
‘basis period’ means the period on the profits or gains of which income tax is to be finally computed under Schedule D or, where by virtue of the Income Tax Acts the profits or gains of any other period are to be taken to be the profits or gains of that period, that other period.
(b)For the purposes of this section, in relation to interest which is to be taken into account in computing income chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D –
(i)where 2 basis periods overlap, the period common to both shall be deemed to fall in the first basis period only,
(ii)where there is an interval between the end of the basis period for one year of assessment and the basis period for the next year of assessment, the interval shall be deemed to be part of the first basis period, and
(iii)the reference in subparagraph (i) to the overlapping of 2 periods shall be construed as including a reference to the coincidence of 2 periods or to the inclusion of one period in another, and the reference to the period common to both shall be construed accordingly.
(2)Notwithstanding any other provision of the Tax Acts, where, in relation to a chargeable period (in this subsection referred to as the ‘earlier chargeable period’), a person receives interest in the chargeable period or its basis period, so much of the amount of the interest as, apart from this section –
(a)would not be taken into account in computing the person’s income chargeable to tax under Schedule D for the earlier chargeable period, and
(b)would be so taken into account for a subsequent chargeable period or subsequent chargeable periods,
shall be taken into account in computing the person’s income so chargeable for the earlier chargeable period and shall not be so taken into account for the subsequent chargeable period or, as the case may be, the subsequent chargeable periods.
817C.
Restriction on deductibility of certain interest.
(1)In this section –
‘chargeable period’ and ‘basis period’ have the same meanings as they have for the purposes of section 817B;
‘relevant date’, in relation to a chargeable period, means the date on which the basis period for the chargeable period ends;
‘relevant liability’ means a liability of one person to another person.
(2)Subject to subsection (2A), this section applies where –
(a)interest is payable by a person, directly or indirectly, to a connected person (being interest which, if it were paid, would be chargeable to tax under Schedule D),
(b)the interest would, apart from this section, be allowable in computing trading income of a trade carried on by the person, and
(c)
(i)in a case where the connected person is chargeable to tax in respect of the interest, the interest does not fall to be taken into account, or
(ii)in any other case, if the connected person were resident in the State the interest would not fall to be taken into account,
in computing the trading income of a trade carried on by the connected person.
(2A)
(a)This section does not apply where the connected person referred to in subsection (2) is a company which –
(i)is not resident in the State, and
(ii)is not under the control, whether directly or indirectly, of a person who is, or persons who are, resident in the State.
(b)For the purposes of this subsection –
(i)’control’ shall be construed in accordance with subsections (2) to (6) of section 432 as if in subsection (6) of that section for ‘5 or fewer participators’ there were substituted ‘persons resident in the State’, and
(ii)a company shall not be treated as under the control whether directly or indirectly, of a person or persons if that person is or those persons are, in turn under the control of another person or other persons.
(3)Where this section applies, so much of any interest payable, or treated under subsection (4) as payable, by a person, directly or indirectly, to a connected person in respect of a relevant liability shall not be allowable in computing trading income chargeable on the person for a chargeable period (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned chargeable period’) as is greater than the excess of A over B where –
Ais the aggregate of amounts of interest on the relevant liability which are chargeable to tax as income of the connected person, or would be so chargeable but for the provisions of section 198 or of arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 826(1), for all chargeable periods the basis periods for which end on or before the relevant date in relation to the first-mentioned chargeable period, and
Bis the aggregate of the amounts of interest on the relevant liability which have been allowed as deductions in computing trading income for the purposes of tax for, or have otherwise been allowed or relieved for the purposes of tax in, chargeable periods the basis periods for which end before the relevant date in relation to the first-mentioned chargeable period.
(4)Interest which, by virtue of subsection (3), is not allowable in computing trading income for a chargeable period shall be treated as being payable in the basis period for the following chargeable period.
(5)Where under arrangements made by any person (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first person’)
(a)interest is payable by the first person to another person such that this section does not apply by virtue only of the fact that the persons concerned are not connected, and
(b)interest is payable by some other person to a person (in this subsection referred to as the ‘second person’) connected with the first person such that this section does not apply by virtue only of the fact that the other person and the second person are not connected,
then, subsections (3) and (4) shall apply as if the interest had been payable by the first person to the second person.
Chapter 3
Mandatory Disclosure of Certain Transactions (ss. 817D-817R)
817D.
Interpretation and general (Chapter 3).
(1)In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires –
“the Acts” means –
(a)the Tax Acts,
(b)the Capital Gains Tax Acts,
(c)[deleted]
(d)the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(e)the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(f)the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(g)the statutes relating to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties, and
(h)Part 18D,
and any instruments made thereunder and any instruments made under any other enactment relating to tax;
“disclosable transaction” means –
(a)any transaction, or
(b)any proposal for any transaction, which –
(i)falls within any specified description
(ii)enables, or might be expected to enable, any person to obtain a tax advantage, and
(iii)is such that the main benefit, or one of the main benefits, that might be expected to arise from the transaction or the proposal is the obtaining of that tax advantage
whether the transaction or the proposal for the transaction relates to a particular person or to any person who may seek to take advantage of it;
“emoluments” means emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 applies;
“employee” means any person in receipt of emoluments;
“employer” means any person paying emoluments;
“marketer”, in relation to any disclosable transaction, means any person who is not a promoter but who has made a marketing contact in relation to the disclosable transaction;
“marketing contact”, in relation to a disclosable transaction, means the communication by a person of the general nature of the disclosable transaction to another person with a view to that person or any other person considering whether –
(a)to ask for further details of the disclosable transaction, or
(b)to seek to have the disclosable transaction made available for implementation;
and “makes a marketing contact” shall be construed accordingly;
“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;
“promoter”, in relation to a disclosable transaction, means a person who in the course of a relevant business –
(a)is to any extent responsible for the design of the disclosable transaction
(b)has specified information relating to the disclosable transaction and makes a marketing contact in relation to the disclosable transaction
(c)makes the disclosable transaction available for implementation by other persons, or
(d)is to any extent responsible for the organisation or management of the disclosable transaction;
“quarter”, means a period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December;
“relevant business” means any trade, profession, vocation or business which –
(a)includes the provision to other persons of services relating to taxation, or
(b)is carried on by a bank (within the meaning of section 124(1)(a) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999), and for the purposes of this definition –
(i)anything done by a company is to be taken to be done in the course of a relevant business if it is done for the purposes of a relevant business referred to in paragraph (b) carried on by another company, where both companies are members of the same group, and
(ii)’group’ has the meaning that would be given by section 616 if in that section references to residence in a relevant Member State were omitted and for references to ’75 per cent subsidiaries’ there were substituted references to ’51 per cent subsidiaries’, and references to a company being a member of a group shall be construed accordingly;
“relevant date”, in relation to a disclosable transaction, means the earliest of the following dates –
(a)the date on which the promoter has specified information relating to the disclosable transaction and first makes a marketing contact in relation to the disclosable transaction,
(b)the date on which the promoter makes the disclosable transaction available for implementation by any other person, or
(c)the date on which the promoter first becomes aware of any transaction which is or forms part of the disclosable transaction having been implemented;
“return”, means any return, claim, application, notification, election, declaration, nomination, statement, list, registration, particulars or other information, which a person is or may be required by the Acts to give to the Revenue Commissioners or any Revenue officer;
“Revenue officer”, means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners;
“specified date”, means –
(a)in relation to a promoter, the relevant date, and
(b)in relation to a person other than a promoter, the date the person first enters into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction;
“specified description” has the meaning assigned to it by section 817DA;
“specified information” means, in respect of a disclosable transaction, the information set out in subsection (2)(a) and subparagraphs (i) to (iii), as the case may be, of subsection (2)(b);
“tax” means any tax, duty, levy or charge which, in accordance with the Acts, is placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners;
“tax advantage” means –
(a)relief or increased relief from, or a reduction, avoidance or deferral of, any assessment, charge or liability to tax, including any potential or prospective assessment, charge or liability
(b)a refund or repayment of, or a payment of, an amount of tax, or an increase in an amount of tax refundable, repayable or otherwise payable to a person, including any potential or prospective amount so refundable, repayable or payable, or an advancement of any refund or repayment of, or payment of, an amount of tax to a person, or
(c)the avoidance of any obligation to deduct or account for tax
arising out of or by reason of a transaction, including a transaction where 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;
“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 in any return of income form or notice of assessment issued to the person by the Revenue Commissioners, or
(ii)the registration number of the person for the purposes of value-added tax;
“transaction” means –
(a)any transaction, action, course of action, course of conduct, scheme or plan
(b)any agreement, arrangement, understanding, promise or undertaking, whether express or implied and whether or not enforceable or intended to be enforceable by legal proceedings, and
(c)any series of or combination of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), whether entered into or arranged by one person or by two or more persons –
(i)whether acting in concert or not
(ii)whether or not entered into or arranged wholly or partly outside the State, or
(iii)whether or not entered into or arranged as part of a larger transaction or in conjunction with any other transaction or transactions, and any proposal for any transaction shall be construed accordingly;
“transaction number” means the number assigned to a transaction by the Revenue Commissioners under section 817HB.
(2)For the purposes of the definition of ‘specified information’ in the preceding subsection, the following provisions specify the information concerned:
(a)such information as might reasonably be expected to enable the manner in which the disclosable transaction operates, or is intended to operate, to be fully understood by a Revenue officer, and, in all cases, includes –
(i)full reference to the provisions of this Chapter by virtue of which the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the information is being provided considers that the transaction is disclosable,
(ii)a summary of the disclosable transaction and the name (if any) by which it is known,
(iii)full reference to the provisions of the Acts that are considered by the person to be relevant to the treatment of the disclosable transaction for tax purposes, and
(iv)full details of the disclosable transaction explaining each element of the transaction (including the way in which the transaction is structured) from which the tax advantage expected to be obtained under the transaction arises and how, in the opinion of the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the information is being provided, each provision of the Acts referred to in subparagraph (iii) applies, or as the case may be, does not apply to the transaction,
(b)where –
(i)the information is required to be disclosed by a promoter under section 817E, the following information, namely, the name, address, telephone number and tax reference number of the promoter,
(ii)the information is required to be disclosed by a person under section 817F, 817H(1) or 817L, the following information, namely –
(I)the name, address, telephone number and tax reference number of the person, and
(II)the name, address and telephone number of the promoter, or
(iii)the information is required to be disclosed by a person under section 817G, the following information, namely, the name, address, telephone number and tax reference number of the person;
817DA.
References to ‘specified description’ – classes of transaction for purposes of that expression.
(1)For the purposes of this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a specified description shall be construed as a reference to a class of transaction to which any of subsections (2) to (10) applies.
(2)This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where, but for the provisions of this Chapter, a promoter or person would, or might reasonably be expected to, wish to keep the transaction or any element of the transaction (including the way in which the transaction is structured) which gives rise to the tax advantage expected to be obtained, confidential from –
(a)the Revenue Commissioners, at any time after the specified date, and a purpose for doing so would be –
(i)to facilitate repeated or continued use of the same, or substantially the same, transaction in the future,
(ii)to prevent the Revenue Commissioners from using the information relating to the transaction to enquire into any return, or
(iii)to prevent the Revenue Commissioners from using the information relating to the transaction to withhold a refund or repayment of, or a payment of, any amount claimed separately from a return under any of the provisions of the Acts,
(b)any other promoter, at any time after the specified date, and a purpose for doing so would be to maintain competitive advantage.
(3)
(a)This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where it might reasonably be expected that a promoter, or a person connected (within the meaning of section 10) with a promoter, of transactions that are the same as, or substantially the same as, the transaction concerned, would, but for the requirements of this Chapter, be able to obtain a premium fee from, or charge a premium fee to, a person implementing such transaction, being a person experienced in receiving services of the type being provided.
(b)For the purposes of this subsection –
‘premium fee’, in relation to a transaction, means a fee chargeable by virtue of the transaction from which the tax advantage expected to be obtained arises and which is –
(i)to a significant extent attributable to that tax advantage, or
(ii)to any extent contingent upon the obtaining of that tax advantage;
‘fee’, in relation to a transaction, includes any consideration, in whatever form, which is attributable to the provision of the transaction, whether the consideration is provided directly or indirectly.
(4)
(a)This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, which is a standardised tax product.
(b)For the purposes of this subsection, a transaction is a standardised tax product if a promoter makes, or intends to make, the transaction available for implementation by more than one person and the transaction is –
(i)one which has, or is intended to have standardised, or substantially standardised, documentation –
(I)the purpose of which is to enable the implementation, by a person, of the transaction, and
(II)the form of which is determined by the promoter and not tailored, to any material extent, to reflect the circumstances of the person implementing the transaction,
and
(ii)one which requires the person implementing it to enter into a specific transaction, or series of transactions, that are standardised, or substantially standardised, in form.
(c)Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a standardised tax product where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.
(5)This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where the promoter expects more than one individual to implement the same, or substantially the same, transaction and the transaction is such that an informed observer, having examined it, could reasonably conclude –
(a)that a main outcome of the transaction that could be expected for some or all of the individuals participating in it is the provision of losses, and
(b)that those individuals would be expected to use such losses to reduce their liability to income tax or capital gains tax.
(6)
(a)This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where one of the parties to the transaction is a company that has, or expects to have, unrelieved losses at the end of an accounting period and an informed observer, having examined the transaction, could reasonably conclude that a main benefit of the transaction is –
(i)that the company transfers those losses to another party who would be expected to use them to reduce its corporation tax liability, or
(ii)that the company is able to use those losses to reduce its corporation tax liability.
(b)For the purposes of this subsection, ‘unrelieved losses at the end of an accounting period’ means trading losses in respect of which relief could not have been given (but for the transaction) for that, or any previous, accounting period.
(7)
(a)This subsection applies to a transaction, or any part of a transaction, where a tax advantage is obtained, or might be expected to be obtained, by virtue of a transaction, or any part of a transaction, by way of a reduction in, or deferment of, liability to tax, by the employer or the employee or by any other person by reason of the employee’s employment –
(i)where the tax advantage relates to employment income, in any year of assessment, or
(ii)in any other case, in any period of account.
(b)For the purposes of this subsection ’employment income’ means salaries, fees, wages, perquisites, benefits or profits (by whatever name called, including expenses) from an office or employment.
(c)Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a transaction of a kind described in this subsection where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.
(8)
(a)This subsection applies to a transaction where, as a consequence of the transaction, or part of the transaction, a person who would otherwise incur, or be expected to incur, a liability to income tax in any tax year, will –
(i)incur, or be expected to incur, a lesser or nil liability to income tax chargeable in that year, and
(ii)acquire an asset, the disposal of which would, in principle, give rise to a chargeable gain.
(b)For the purposes of paragraph (a) a chargeable gain includes a gain on the disposal of assets that are exempt from capital gains tax or relieved from capital gains tax under any of the provisions of the Acts.
(c)Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a transaction of a kind described in this subsection where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.
(9)This subsection applies to a transaction where, as a consequence of the transaction, or part of a transaction, a person who would otherwise incur, or be expected to incur, a liability to income tax in any tax year will –
(a)incur, or be expected to incur, a lesser or nil liability to income tax chargeable in that year, and
(b)be deemed to take a gift by virtue of section 5(1) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003.
(10)
(a)This subsection applies to a transaction, or part of a transaction, where a party to that transaction is a trustee of a discretionary trust.
(b)Notwithstanding paragraph (a) and without prejudice to subsection (2) or (3), a transaction shall not be a transaction of a kind described in this subsection where it is a transaction of a kind specified in the Schedule to regulations made under section 817Q.
817E.
Duties of promoter.
Subject to this Chapter, a promoter shall –
(a)within 5 working days after the specified date, provide the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to any disclosable transaction, and
(b)provide any person –
(i)to whom the promoter has made a disclosable transaction available for implementation, or
(ii)who markets or seeks to market the disclosable transaction, with the transaction number for that disclosable transaction within 5 working days after receipt of the transaction number from the Revenue Commissioners or within 5 working days after making the scheme available to the person, whichever is the later.
817F.
Duty of person where promoter is outside the State.
Any person who enters into any transaction which is or forms part of any disclosable transaction in relation to which –
(a)a promoter is outside the State, and
(b)no promoter is in the State,
shall, within 5 working days after the specified date, provide the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to the disclosable transaction.
817G.
Duty of person where there is no promoter.
Any person who enters into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction as respects which neither that person nor any other person in the State has an obligation to comply with section 817E or 817F shall within 30 working days after the specified date provide the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to the disclosable transaction.
817H.
Duty of person where legal professional privilege claimed.
(1)Any person who enters into a transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction as respects which the promoter, by virtue of section 817J, does not comply with section 817E, shall within 5 working days after the specified date, provide the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to the disclosable transaction.
(2)A promoter who by virtue of section 817J does not comply with section 817E shall inform each person to whom the promoter has made the disclosable transaction available for implementation of the obligations placed on that person by virtue of subsection (1).
(3)A promoter who by virtue of section 817J does not comply with section 817E shall inform the Revenue Commissioners accordingly within 5 working days after the specified date.
817HA.
Duty of person who obtains tax advantage.
(1)Any person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a disclosable transaction shall be a chargeable person for the purposes of Part 41A.
(2)A person who enters into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction shall, in a timely manner, provide any other person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from that disclosable transaction with the transaction number for that disclosable transaction so as to allow that person comply with their obligations under this section.
(3)A person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a disclosable transaction shall include the transaction number relating to the disclosable transaction in the return, within the meaning of Part 41A, for any chargeable period, within the meaning of Part 41A, in which the person –
(a)entered into any transaction which is or forms part of a disclosable transaction, or
(b)obtains, or seeks to obtain, a tax advantage from the disclosable transaction.
(4)Where a person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a disclosable transaction which was not assigned a transaction number, or where that person was not provided with a transaction number, then that person shall be deemed to have complied with the obligation under subsection (3) if that person –
(a)did not have an obligation to disclose that transaction under section 817F, 817G or 817H,
(b)provides a Revenue officer, by the specified return date for the chargeable period, within the meaning assigned to it by section 959A, with the specified information in relation to that transaction, and
(c)without unreasonable delay, provides a Revenue officer with any other information that the officer may reasonably require for the purposes of deciding if an application should be made to the relevant court under section 817O(3)(a).
817HB.
Duty of Revenue Commissioners.
(1)Subject to subsection (2), where the Revenue Commissioners receive specified information in relation to a disclosable transaction under section 817E, 817F, 817G, 817H or 817L they shall, within 90 days after such receipt –
(a)assign a unique transaction number to the disclosable transaction and notify the promoter, or the person who entered into the transaction, as the case may be, of that transaction number, or
(b)determine whether or not the transaction was a disclosable transaction and notify the promoter, or person who entered into the transaction, as the case may be, accordingly.
(2)Where the Revenue Commissioners request supplemental information in relation to a transaction under section 817K, the reference in subsection (1) to 90 days after receipt of the specified information shall be construed as a reference to 90 days after the day on which the Revenue Commissioners receive all such supplemental information.
817I.
Pre-disclosure enquiry.
(1)Where the Revenue Commissioners have reasonable grounds for believing that –
(a)a person is the promoter of a transaction that may be a disclosable transaction, or
(b)a person has entered into a transaction that may form part of a disclosable transaction, which if it were such a transaction would require the person to comply with section 817G,
the Commissioners may by written notice (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘ pre-disclosure enquiry ‘) require the person to state –
(i)whether, in that person’s opinion, the transaction is a disclosable transaction, and
(ii)if in that person’s opinion the transaction is not considered to be a disclosable transaction, the reasons for that opinion.
(2)A notice under subsection (1) shall specify the transaction to which it relates.
(3)The reasons referred to in subsection (1)(ii) (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘statement of reasons’) shall demonstrate, by reference to this Chapter and regulations made under it, why the person holds the opinion that the transaction is not a disclosable transaction and, in particular, if the person asserts that the transaction does not fall within any specified description, the reasons shall provide sufficient information to enable the Revenue Commissioners to affirm the assertion.
(4)For the purposes of this section, it is not sufficient for the person to state that they have received an opinion given by a barrister or solicitor or a person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) of section 817P(5)(a) to the effect that the transaction is not a disclosable transaction.
(5)A person to whom the Revenue Commissioners have issued a notice under subsection (1) shall comply with the notice within the period of time specified in the notice, not being less than 21 days from the date of the notice, or such longer period as the Commissioners may agree.
817J.
Legal professional privilege.
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as requiring a promoter to disclose to the Revenue Commissioners information with respect to which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained by that promoter in legal proceedings.
817K.
Supplemental information.
(1)Where a person has provided the Revenue Commissioners with information in purported compliance with section 817E, 817F, 817G or 817H(1) and the Commissioners have reasonable grounds for believing that the person has not provided all of the specified information, the Commissioners may by notice in writing require the person to provide the information, specified in the notice, that the Commissioners have reasonable grounds for believing form part of the specified information.
(2)Where a person has provided the Revenue Commissioners with specified information in compliance with section 817E, 817F, 817G or 817H(1) the Commissioners may by notice in writing require the person to provide such other information about, or documents relating to, the disclosable transaction, as the Commissioners may reasonably require in support of or in explanation of the specified information.
(3)A person to whom the Revenue Commissioners have issued a notice under subsection (1) or (2) shall comply with the notice within the period of time specified in the notice, not being less than 21 days from the date of the notice, or such longer period as the Commissioners may agree.
817L.
Duty of marketer to disclose.
(1)Where the Revenue Commissioners have reason to believe that a person is a marketer in relation to a transaction that may be a disclosable transaction, the Commissioners may by written notice require the person to provide the Commissioners with the name, address and, where known to the person, the tax reference number of each person who has provided that person with any information in relation to the transaction.
(2)A notice under subsection (1) shall specify the transaction to which it relates.
(3)A person to whom the Revenue Commissioners have issued a notice under subsection (1) shall comply with the notice within the period of time specified in the notice, not being less than 21 working days from the date of the notice or such longer period as the Commissioners may agree.
(4)
(a)Where a person is a marketer of a transaction that it would be reasonable to consider is a disclosable transaction and the promoter of that transaction has not provided the marketer with a transaction number for that transaction in accordance with section 817E, then within 30 working days from making the first marketing contact in relation to that transaction, the marketer shall provide the Revenue Commissioners with –
(i)the name and address of the promoter of the transaction,
(ii)details of the transaction, and
(iii)all materials, whether provided by the promoter or otherwise, used to make a marketing contact in relation to the transaction.
(b)Where a marketer provides information to Revenue in accordance with this subsection, then this shall be wholly without prejudice as to whether or not the transaction is a disclosable transaction.
817M.
Duty of promoter to provide client list.
(1)A person who is a promoter shall, subject to subsection (2), in relation to each disclosable transaction in respect of which specified information has been provided by that promoter under section 817E, provide to the Revenue Commissioners –
(a)within the period of 30 days beginning on the day after the day on which –
(i)the promoter first makes the transaction concerned available to a person for implementation, or
(ii)in a case where the relevant date is the date referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘relevant date’, the promoter first becomes aware of any transaction which is or forms part of the disclosable transaction having been implemented,
and
(b)subject to subsection (3), within the period of 5 days beginning on the day after the end of each quarter thereafter,
the name, address and, where known to the person, the tax reference number of each person to whom that person has made the disclosable transaction available for implementation (in this Chapter referred to as the ‘client list’).
(2)A client list provided to the Revenue Commissioners under paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, of subsection (1) shall not include the name, address or tax reference number of any person to whom the promoter has made the disclosable transaction available for implementation where the promoter is satisfied, at the time of providing the client list, that such person has not entered into any transaction forming part of the disclosable transaction.
(3)Subsection (1)(b) shall not apply to a quarter during which the promoter –
(a)has not made the disclosable transaction available to a person for implementation, or
(b)has provided the Revenue Commissioners with a client list in accordance with subsection (1)(a) and has not made the disclosable transaction available to any other person for implementation in the period from the date the client list was provided to the Revenue Commissioners to the last day of the quarter concerned.
(4)A client list required to be provided to the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (1)(b) (in this subsection referred to as the ‘latest client list’) shall not include the name, address and tax reference number of any person who has been included in a client list in respect of the disclosable transaction to which the latest client list relates, in any preceding quarter.
817N.
Supplemental matters.
(1)Where a promoter provides the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to a disclosable transaction and the client list in respect of that disclosable transaction, the provision of that information shall, as respects any person included on the client list who implements the transaction, be wholly without prejudice as to whether or not the disclosable transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction within the meaning of section 811C.
(2)Where a person, other than a promoter, provides the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to a disclosable transaction the person shall be treated as making that information available wholly without prejudice as to whether or not the disclosable transaction concerned was a tax avoidance transaction within the meaning of section 811C.
(3)Where a person provides the Revenue Commissioners with specified information relating to a disclosable transaction, the provision of that information shall not be regarded as being, or being equivalent to, the delivery of a protective notification by that person in relation to the transaction for the purposes of section 811A or 811D.
(4)Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as preventing the Revenue Commissioners from –
(a)making any enquiry, or
(b)taking any action,
at any time in connection with section 811, 811A, 811C or 811D.
817O.
Penalties.
(1)A person who fails to comply with any of the obligations imposed on that person by this Chapter and any regulations made under it shall –
(a)where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person under section 817H(2), 817H(3), 817HA(2), 817I, 817K(1), 817K(2), 817L or 817M, be liable to –
(i)a penalty not exceeding €4,000, and
(ii)if the failure continues after a penalty is imposed under subparagraph (i) to a further penalty of €100 per day for each day on which the failure continues after the day on which the penalty is imposed under that subparagraph,
(b)where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person under section 817E(a), 817E(b), 817F, 817G or 817H(1), be liable to –
(i)a penalty not exceeding €500 for each day during the initial period, and
(ii)if the failure continues after a penalty is imposed under subparagraph (i) to a further penalty of €500 per day for each day on which the failure continues after the day on which the penalty is imposed under that subparagraph,
and
(c)where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person under section 817HA(3), be liable to a penalty not exceeding €5,000.
(2)In subsection (1)(b) –
‘the initial period’ means the period –
(a)beginning on the relevant day, and
(b)ending on the day on which an application referred to in subsection (3) is made;
‘relevant day’ means the first day after the end of the period specified in section 817E(a), 817E(b), 817F, 817G or 817H(1), as the case may be, during which the obligation imposed on a person by section 817E(a), 817E(b), 817F, 817G or 817H(1), as the case may be, shall be discharged.
(3)
(a)Notwithstanding section 1077B, the Revenue Commissioners shall, in relation to a failure referred to in subsection (1), make an application to the relevant court for that court to determine whether the person named in the application has failed to comply with the obligation imposed on that person by a section referred to in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c), as the case may be.
(b)In paragraph (a) ‘relevant court’ means the District Court, the Circuit Court or the High Court, as appropriate, by reference to the jurisdictional limits for civil matters laid down in the Courts of Justice Act 1924, as amended, and the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961, as amended.
(4)A copy of any application under subsection (3) shall be issued to the person to whom the application relates.
(5)The relevant court shall determine whether the person named in the application referred to in subsection (3) is liable to the penalty provided for in subsection (1) and the amount of that penalty, and in determining the amount of the penalty the court shall have regard to paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (6), as the case may be.
(6)In determining the amount of a penalty under subsection (5) the court shall have regard –
(a)in the case of a person who is a promoter, to the amount of any fees received, or likely to have been received, by the person in connection with the disclosable transaction, and
(b)in any other case, to the amount of any tax advantage gained, or sought to be gained, by the person from the disclosable transaction.
(7)Section 1077C shall apply for the purposes of a penalty under subsection (1).
(8)[deleted]
817P.
Appeal Commissioners.
(1)Notwithstanding that an appealable matter (within the meaning of section 949A) has not been appealed, the Revenue Commissioners may, by notice in writing, make an application to the Appeal Commissioners for a determination in relation to any of the following matters –
(a)requiring information or documents to be made available by a person in support of a statement of reasons (to the effect that a transaction is not a disclosable transaction) given by that person to the Revenue Commissioners in compliance with a notice under section 817I,
(b)requiring information, that the Revenue Commissioners have reasonable grounds for believing forms part of the specified information relating to a disclosable transaction, to be made available by a person to the Revenue Commissioners, following the failure of the person to comply with a notice under section 817K(1),
(c)requiring information about, or documents relating to, a disclosable transaction to be made available by a person to the Revenue Commissioners, following the failure of the person to comply with a notice under section 817K(2),
(d)that a transaction is to be treated as a disclosable transaction, or
(e)that a transaction is a disclosable transaction.
(2)On the hearing of an application made –
(a)on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(a), the Appeal Commissioners shall determine the application by ordering if they –
(i)consider that the information or documents should be so made available, that the information or documents should be so made available,
(ii)consider that the information or documents should not be so made available, that the information or documents should not be so made available,
(b)on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(b), the Appeal Commissioners shall determine the application by ordering if they –
(i)consider that the Revenue Commissioners have reasonable grounds for so believing, that the information be so made available to the Revenue Commissioners,
(ii)consider that the Revenue Commissioners do not have reasonable grounds for so believing, that the information not be made available to the Revenue Commissioners,
(c)on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(c), the Appeal Commissioners shall determine the application by ordering if they –
(i)consider that the information or documents (or, as the case may be, a part of that information or some of those documents) should be so made available, that the information or documents (or, as the case may be, a part of that information or some of those documents) should be so made available,
(ii)consider that the information or documents should not be so made available, that the information or documents should not be so made available,
(d)on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(d), the Appeal Commissioners shall determine the application by ordering if they –
(i)are satisfied that the Revenue Commissioners have taken all reasonable steps to establish whether the transaction is a disclosable transaction and have reasonable grounds for believing that the transaction may be disclosable, that the transaction is to be treated as a disclosable transaction,
(ii)are not satisfied that the Revenue Commissioners have taken all reasonable steps to establish whether the transaction is a disclosable transaction or have reasonable grounds for believing that the transaction may be disclosable, that the transaction is not to be treated as a disclosable transaction,
(e)on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(e), the Appeal Commissioners shall determine the application by ordering if they –
(i)are satisfied that the transaction is a disclosable transaction, that it is a disclosable transaction,
(ii)are satisfied that the transaction is not a disclosable transaction, that it is not a disclosable transaction.
(3)For the purposes of the hearing of an application made on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(d) –
(a)reasonable steps may (but need not) include the making of a pre-disclosure enquiry or the making of an application by the Revenue Commissioners on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(a), and
(b)reasonable grounds for believing may include –
(i)the fact that the transaction falls within a specified description,
(ii)an attempt by the promoter to avoid or delay providing information or documents about the transaction on foot of a pre-disclosure enquiry or on foot of a determination of the Appeal Commissioners following the making of an application by the Revenue Commissioners on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(a),
(iii)the failure of the promoter to comply with a pre-disclosure enquiry or a determination of the Appeal Commissioners following the making of an application by the Revenue Commissioners on the grounds referred to in subsection (1)(a), in relation to another transaction.
(4)An application under subsection (1) shall, with any necessary modifications, be treated by the Appeal Commissioners as if it were an appeal made in accordance with section 949I.
(5)Where the Appeal Commissioners make a determination in accordance with paragraph (a)(i), (b)(i), (c)(i), (d)(i) or (e)(i), as the case may be, of subsection (2) –
(a)the information or documents to be made available to the Revenue Commissioners by a person on foot of the determination (where the determination is made in accordance with paragraph (a)(i), (b)(i) or (c)(i) of that subsection), or
(b)the specified information to be made available to the Revenue Commissioners by a person in consequence of the determination (where the determination is made in accordance with paragraph (d)(i) or (e)(i) of that subsection),
shall be made available within the period of 5 days beginning on the day after the date of the determination.
817Q.
Regulations (Chapter 3).
(1)The Revenue Commissioners may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make regulations –
(a)[deleted]
(b)[deleted]
(c)[deleted]
(d)[deleted]
(e)[deleted]
(f)[deleted]
(g)[deleted]
(h)specifying the circumstances in which a person is not to be treated as a promoter in relation to a disclosable transaction,
(i)specifying the procedure to be adopted in giving effect to this Chapter, in so far as such procedure is not otherwise provided for, and providing generally as to the administration of this Chapter including –
(i)the form and manner of delivery of information to be provided under the regulations, and
(ii)such supplemental and incidental matters as appear to the Revenue Commissioners to be necessary, and
(j)specifying transactions which are not disclosable transactions.
(2)[deleted]
(3)Every regulation made under this section 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 under the regulation.
817R.
Nomination of Revenue Officers.
The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this Chapter and regulations made under it to be performed or discharged by the Revenue Commissioners, and references in this Chapter to the Revenue Commissioners shall with any necessary modifications be construed as including references to an officer so appointed.
Chapter 3A
Implementation of Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018 [OJ No. L139, 5.6.2018, p.1] amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to
Reportable cross-border arrangements (ss. 817RA-817RH)
817RA.
Interpretation (Chapter 3A).
(1)In this Chapter –
“AML Directive” means Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 [OJ No. L141, 5.6.2015, p. 73] on the prevention of and the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 [OJ No. L156, 19.6.2018, p. 43];
“arrangement” means –
(a)any transaction, action, course of action, course of conduct, scheme, plan or proposal,
(b)any agreement, arrangement, understanding, promise or undertaking, whether express or implied and whether or not enforceable or intended to be enforceable by legal proceedings, and
(c)any series of or combination of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b),
whether entered into or arranged by one or two or more persons –
(i)whether acting in concert or not,
(ii)whether or not entered into or arranged wholly or partly outside the State, or
(iii)whether or not entered into or arranged as part of a larger arrangement or in conjunction with any other arrangement or arrangements,
but does not include an arrangement referred to in section 826;
“associated enterprise” has the same meaning as it has in Article 3(23) of the Directive;
“authorised DAC officer” means an authorised officer whose authorisation under section 817RE includes authorisation for the purpose of exercising the powers set out in section 817REA(3);
“authorised officer” means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised under section 817RE;
“beneficial owner” has the same meaning it has in the AML Directive;
“competent authority” means the authority designated as such by a Member State for the purposes of the Directive and, in relation to the State, means the Revenue Commissioners;
“cross-border arrangement” means an arrangement concerning either more than one Member State or a Member State and a third country where at least one of the following conditions is met:
(a)not all of the participants in the arrangement are resident for tax purposes in the same jurisdiction;
(b)one or more of the participants in the arrangement is simultaneously resident for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction;
(c)one or more of the participants in the arrangement carries on a business in another jurisdiction through a permanent establishment situated in that jurisdiction and the arrangement forms part or the whole of the business of that permanent establishment;
(d)one or more of the participants in the arrangement carries on an activity in another jurisdiction without being resident for tax purposes or creating a permanent establishment situated in that jurisdiction;
(e)such arrangement has a possible impact on the automatic exchange of information or the identification of beneficial ownership;
“designated person” has the same meaning it has in Part 4 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010;
“Directive” means Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011 [OJ No. L64, 11.3.2011, p. 1] on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and repealing Directive 77/799/EEC, as amended by Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014 [OJ No. L359, 16.12.2014, p. 1], Council Directive (EU) 2015/2376 of 8 December 2015 [OJ No. L332, 18.12.2015, p. 1], Council Directive (EU) 2016/881 of 25 May 2016 [OJ No. L146, 3.6.2016, p. 1], Council Directive (EU) 2016/2258 of 6 December 2016 [OJ No. L342, 16.12.2016, p. 1], Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018 [OJ No. L139, 5.6.2018, p. 1], Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020 [OJ No. L204, 26.6.2020, p. 1] and Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 of 22 March 2021 [OJ No. L104. 25.3.2021 p. 1];
“electronic means” has the same meaning as it has in section 917EA(1);
“hallmark”, “marketable arrangement” and “person” have the same meanings respectively as they have in Article 3 of the Directive;
“intermediary” means any person –
(a)that –
(i)designs, markets, organises or makes available for implementation or manages the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement, or
(ii)having regard to the relevant facts and circumstances and based on available information and the relevant expertise and understanding required to provide such services, knows or could be reasonably expected to know that such person has undertaken to provide, directly or by means of other persons, aid, assistance or advice with respect to designing, marketing, organising, making available for implementation or managing the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement,
and
(b)that meets at least one of the following conditions:
(i)the person is resident for tax purposes in a Member State;
(ii)the person has a permanent establishment in a Member State through which the services with respect to the arrangement are provided;
(iii)the person is incorporated in, or governed by the laws of, a Member State;
(iv)the person is registered with a professional association related to legal, taxation or consultancy services in a Member State;
“reference number” means the number assigned to a reportable cross-border arrangement by the Revenue Commissioners or by the competent authority of another Member State;
“Regulations of 2012” means the European Union (Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 549 of 2012);
“relevant taxpayer” means any person to whom a reportable cross-border arrangement is made available for implementation, or who is ready to implement a reportable cross-border arrangement or has implemented the first step of such an arrangement;
“reportable cross-border arrangement” means any cross-border arrangement that contains at least one of the hallmarks set out in Annex IV of the Directive;
“return” has the same meaning as it has in section 917D(1);
“specified information” means, in respect of a reportable cross-border arrangement, the information set out in subsection (3);
“tax advantage” means –
(a)relief or increased relief from, or a reduction, avoidance or deferral of, any assessment, charge or liability to tax, including any potential or prospective assessment, charge or liability,
(b)a refund or repayment of, or a payment of, an amount of tax, or an increase in an amount of tax refundable, repayable or otherwise payable to a person, including any potential or prospective amount so refundable, repayable or payable, or an advancement of any refund or repayment of, or payment of, an amount of tax to a person, or
(c)the avoidance of any obligation to deduct or account for tax,
arising out of or by reason of an arrangement, including an arrangement where another arrangement 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 arrangement;
“taxpayer identification number” means the tax identification number (TIN) allocated to a person by the tax administration of the jurisdiction of residence of the person and, in relation to the State, means a tax reference number within the meaning of section 885;
“the Acts” means –
(a)Parts 18C and 18D,
(b)the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(c)the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 and the enactments amending or extending that Act,
(d)the Capital Gains Tax Acts,
(e)the Tax Acts, and
(f)any instruments made under any of the enactments referred to in paragraphs (a) to (e).
(2)For the purposes of this Chapter, a person referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) of the definition of ‘intermediary’ in subsection (1) shall have the right to provide evidence that such person did not know and could not reasonably be expected to know that that person was involved in a reportable cross-border arrangement and, for this purpose, that person may refer to all relevant facts and circumstances as well as available information and that person’s relevant expertise and understanding.
(3)The following is the information referred to in the definition of ‘specified information’ in subsection (1):
(a)information in relation to the identity of each intermediary and relevant taxpayer, including –
(i)the name of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer,
(ii)whether each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer is an individual or entity,
(iii)the date and place of birth (in the case of an individual) of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer,
(iv)the residence for tax purposes of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer,
(v)the taxpayer identification number of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer,
(vi)the country of issuance of the taxpayer identification number of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer,
(vii)if the information referred to in either or both subparagraph (v) or (vi) is not known to the person who is required to make a return under this Chapter of the specified information, the address of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer, and
(viii)where appropriate, the persons that are associated enterprises to each such relevant taxpayer;
(b)details of each hallmark that makes the cross-border arrangement reportable;
(c)a summary of the content of the reportable cross-border arrangement, including the name by which it is commonly known, if any, and a description in abstract terms of the relevant business activities or arrangements, without leading to the disclosure of a commercial, industrial or professional secret or of a commercial process, or of information the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy;
(d)the reference number assigned to the reportable cross-border arrangement, if any;
(e)details of the national provisions that form the basis of the reportable cross-border arrangement;
(f)the value of the reportable cross-border arrangement;
(g)the date on which the first step was taken or will be taken in implementing the reportable cross-border arrangement;
(h)the identification of the Member State of each such relevant taxpayer and any other Member States which are likely to be concerned by the reportable cross-border arrangement; and
(i)the identification of any other person in a Member State likely to be affected by the reportable cross-border arrangement, indicating to which Member States such person is linked.
(4)A word or expression which is used in this Chapter and which is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Chapter as it has in the Directive.
817RB.
Application of Chapter 3A.
(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Chapter applies to all taxes of any kind levied by, or on behalf of, a Member State or its territorial or administrative subdivisions, including local authorities.
(2)
The reference in subsection (1) to ‘taxes’ shall not include, nor be construed as including, a reference to any of the following:
(a)value-added tax, customs duties, or excise duties covered by other legislation of the European Union on administrative cooperation between Member States;
(b)compulsory social security contributions payable to a Member State or a subdivision of a Member State or to social security institutions established under public law;
(c)fees, such as for certificates and other documents issued by public authorities;
(d)dues of a contractual nature, such as consideration for public utilities.
817RC.
Duties of intermediary.
(1)Subject to subsection (1A), an intermediary within the meaning of paragraph (a)(i) of the definition of ‘intermediary’ in section 817RA(1) shall make a return to the Revenue Commissioners of the specified information within 30 days beginning –
(a)on the day after the reportable cross-border arrangement is made available for implementation,
(b)on the day after the reportable cross-border arrangement is ready for implementation, or
(c)when the first step in the implementation of the reportable cross-border arrangement was taken,
whichever occurs first.
(1A)Notwithstanding the time limit specified in subsection (1), the period of 30 days for making a return under that subsection shall begin on 1 January 2021 where –
(a)the reportable cross-border arrangement is made available for implementation,
(b)the reportable cross-border arrangement is ready for implementation, or
(c)the first step in the implementation of the reportable cross-border arrangement was taken,
whichever occurs first, during the period beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 31 December 2020.
(2)Subject to subsection (2A), an intermediary within the meaning of paragraph (a)(ii) of the definition of ‘intermediary’ in section 817RA(1) shall make a return to the Revenue Commissioners of the specified information within 30 days beginning on the day after such intermediary provided, directly or by means of other persons, aid, assistance or advice referred to in the said paragraph (a)(ii).
(2A)Notwithstanding the time limit specified in subsection (2), the period of 30 days for making a return under that subsection shall begin on 1 January 2021 where the aid, assistance or advice referred to in that subsection is provided, directly or by means of other persons as referred to in that subsection, during the period beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 31 December 2020.
(3)In the case of a marketable arrangement, an intermediary shall –
(a)when making a return under subsection (1), (1A), (2) or (2A), as the case may be (in this subsection referred to as ‘the return’), state in the return that it is a marketable arrangement, and
(b)not later than 3 months after the date of the return and every 3 months thereafter, notify the Revenue Commissioners, by amending the return, of any new information that has become available in respect of the specified information referred to in paragraphs (a), (g), (h) and (i) of section 817RA(3).
(4)A return (including an amended return under subsection (3)) required under this section shall be made by electronic means and the relevant provisions of Chapter 6 of Part 38 shall apply.
(5)An intermediary shall provide, in writing, to any other intermediary and each relevant taxpayer involved in the arrangement, the reference number assigned to the arrangement by the Revenue Commissioners within 5 working days of the later of –
(a)the date on which the intermediary is notified by the Revenue Commissioners of the reference number, or
(b)the date on which such other intermediary or a relevant taxpayer becomes involved in the arrangement.
(6)An intermediary shall be exempt from making a return to the Revenue Commissioners under this section if the intermediary has received, in writing, from any other intermediary involved in the same reportable cross-border arrangement –
(a)confirmation that such other intermediary has provided the specified information to the Revenue Commissioners in a return made under this section, and
(b)the reference number assigned to the arrangement by the Revenue Commissioners.
(6A)An intermediary shall be exempt from making a return to the Revenue Commissioners under this section if the intermediary has received, in writing, from any other intermediary involved in the same reportable cross-border arrangement –
(a)confirmation that such other intermediary has provided the specified information to the competent authority of another Member State,
(b)a copy of the specified information provided to the competent authority referred to in paragraph (a), and
(c)the reference number assigned to the arrangement by the competent authority referred to in paragraph (a).
(7)Subject to subsection (8), where an intermediary is required to provide the specified information on a reportable cross-border arrangement to the competent authority of more than one Member State, such information shall be provided only to the competent authority of the Member State referred to in whichever of the following paragraphs first applies:
(a)the competent authority of the Member State where the intermediary is resident for tax purposes;
(b)the competent authority of the Member State where the intermediary has a permanent establishment through which the services with respect to the arrangement are provided;
(c)the competent authority of the Member State which the intermediary is incorporated in or governed by the laws of;
(d)the competent authority of the Member State where the intermediary is registered with a professional association related to legal, taxation or consultancy services.
(8)Where subsection (7) applies, an intermediary shall be exempt from making a return under this section if the intermediary has –
(a)a copy of the specified information provided to the competent authority of another Member State, and
(b)confirmation, in writing, provided to the intermediary by the competent authority of another Member State that a reference number has been assigned to the arrangement by that competent authority.
(9)Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring an intermediary to disclose to the Revenue Commissioners –
(a)information that is not within the knowledge, possession or control of the intermediary, or
(b)information with respect to which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained by the intermediary in legal proceedings.
(10)Where subsection (9)(b) applies, the intermediary concerned shall, without delay, notify the relevant taxpayer of the obligations imposed on that relevant taxpayer under this Chapter.
817RD.
Duties of relevant taxpayer.
(1)Subject to subsection (1A), where there is no intermediary, or the relevant taxpayer has been notified by an intermediary under section 817RC(10), the relevant taxpayer shall make a return to the Revenue Commissioners of the specified information within 30 days beginning –
(a)on the day after the reportable cross-border arrangement is made available for implementation to the relevant taxpayer,
(b)on the day after the reportable cross-border arrangement is ready for implementation by the relevant taxpayer, or
(c)when the first step in the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement was taken in relation to the relevant taxpayer, whichever occurs first.
(1A)Notwithstanding the time limit specified in subsection (1), the period of 30 days for making a return under that subsection shall begin on 1 January 2021 where –
(a)the reportable cross-border arrangement is made available for implementation to the relevant taxpayer,
(b)the reportable cross-border arrangement is ready for implementation by the relevant taxpayer, or
(c)the first step in the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement was taken in relation to the relevant taxpayer,
whichever occurs first, during the period beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 31 December 2020.
(2)A return required under this section shall be made by electronic means and the relevant provisions of Chapter 6 of Part 38 shall apply.
(3)Where a relevant taxpayer is required to make a return under this section and there is more than one relevant taxpayer involved in the same reportable cross-border arrangement, the return shall be made by the relevant taxpayer referred to in whichever of the following paragraphs first applies:
(a)the relevant taxpayer that agreed the reportable cross-border arrangement with the intermediary;
(b)the relevant taxpayer that manages the implementation of the arrangement.
(4)Where a relevant taxpayer is required to make a return under this section (‘the first relevant taxpayer’) and there is more than one relevant taxpayer involved in the same reportable cross-border arrangement, the first relevant taxpayer shall provide, in writing, to each such other relevant taxpayer, the reference number assigned to the arrangement by the Revenue Commissioners within 5 working days of the later of –
(a)the date on which the first relevant taxpayer is notified by the Revenue Commissioners of the reference number, or
(b)the date on which such other relevant taxpayer becomes involved in the arrangement.
(5)A relevant taxpayer shall be exempt from making a return to the Revenue Commissioners under this section if the relevant taxpayer has received, in writing, from an intermediary or any other relevant taxpayer involved in the same reportable cross-border arrangement, as the case may be –
(a)confirmation that such intermediary or such other relevant taxpayer, as the case may be, has provided the specified information to the Revenue Commissioners in a return made under this Chapter, and
(b)the reference number assigned to the arrangement by the Revenue Commissioners.
(6)Subject to subsection (7), where a relevant taxpayer is required to provide the specified information on a reportable cross-border arrangement to the competent authority of more than one Member State, such information shall be provided only to the competent authority of the Member State referred to in whichever of the following paragraphs first applies:
(a)the competent authority of the Member State where the relevant taxpayer is resident for tax purposes;
(b)the competent authority of the Member State where the relevant taxpayer has a permanent establishment benefitting from the arrangement;
(c)the competent authority of the Member State where the relevant taxpayer receives income or generates profits, although the relevant taxpayer is not resident for tax purposes and has no permanent establishment in any Member State;
(d)the competent authority of the Member State where the relevant taxpayer carries on an activity, although the relevant taxpayer is not resident for tax purposes and has no permanent establishment in any Member State.
(7)Where subsection (6) applies, a relevant taxpayer shall be exempt from making a return under this section if the relevant taxpayer has –
(a)a copy of the specified information provided to the competent authority of another Member State, and
(b)confirmation, in writing, provided to the relevant taxpayer by the competent authority of another Member State that a reference number has been assigned to the arrangement by that competent authority.
(8)Any person who obtains or seeks to obtain a tax advantage from a reportable cross-border arrangement shall be a chargeable person for the purposes of Part 41A where such tax advantage is in respect of a tax, duty, levy or charge which is placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with the Acts.
(9)A relevant taxpayer shall include the reference number assigned to a reportable cross-border arrangement in the return, within the meaning of Part 41A, for any chargeable period, within the meaning of Part 41A, in which the relevant taxpayer –
(a)entered into any transaction which is or forms part of a reportable cross-border arrangement, or
(b)obtains, or seeks to obtain, a tax advantage from a reportable cross-border arrangement.
(10)Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a relevant taxpayer to disclose to the Revenue Commissioners information that is not within the knowledge, possession or control of the relevant taxpayer.
817RE.
Duties of Revenue Commissioners.
(1)Where a return is made to the Revenue Commissioners under this Chapter, the Revenue Commissioners shall assign a reference number to the reportable cross-border arrangement if no such number has already been assigned to it by the Revenue Commissioners or by the competent authority of another Member State.
(2)The fact that the Revenue Commissioners do not react to a reportable cross-border arrangement shall not imply any acceptance of the validity or tax treatment of the arrangement.
(3)The Revenue Commissioners may authorise any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this Chapter.
817
REA. Revenue powers.
(1)Subject to subsections (2) and (3), an authorised officer may make such enquiries as he or she considers necessary for the purpose of satisfying himself or herself as to whether information –
(a)included in a return made in accordance with section 817RC or 817RD, as appropriate, was correct and complete, or
(b)not included in such a return was correctly not so included.
(1A)An authorised officer may, at all reasonable times, enter any premises or place of business of an intermediary or relevant taxpayer for the purpose of carrying out the enquiries referred to in subsection (1).
(2)Where section 817RC(9)(b) applies to any information that was not included in a return made in accordance with section 817RC, any enquiry under subsection (1) shall be limited to the information relevant to the intermediary’s compliance with its obligations under section 817RC(10).
(3)Where an enquiry under subsection (1) is in respect of a cross-border arrangement that contains, or that an authorised DAC officer believes may contain, one or more specific hallmarks concerning automatic exchange of information and beneficial ownership, then such authorised DAC officer shall also have access to the mechanisms, procedures, documents and information referred to in –
(a)Articles 13, 30, 31, 32a and 40 of the AML Directive, and
(b)any provisions of the law of the State transposing the said Articles 13, 30, 31, 32a and 40.
(4)For the purposes of an enquiry referred to in subsection (3), an authorised DAC officer, in particular –
(a)shall have access to the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies, the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles, Credit Unions and Unit Trusts , the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts and the Central Mechanism of Ownership of Bank and Payment Accounts and Safe-Deposit Boxes, and
(b)may, by notice in writing, require a designated person to deliver to the officer, within a period specified in the notice, such information (including copies of any relevant books, records or other documents) as is relevant to the compliance with any obligation imposed on the designated person by Chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 and retained by that designated person under section 55 of that Act.
(5)For the purposes of a notice served under subsection (4)(b) the period to be specified in it shall not be less than 14 days.
(6)Where an authorised DAC officer –
(a)accesses any of the registers referred to in subsection (4)(a), the beneficial owner concerned shall be notified in writing by the authorised DAC officer of the access to the register –
(i)in a case where the identity of the beneficial owner concerned is known to the authorised DAC officer at the time the register is accessed, at that time or as soon as practicable thereafter, and
(ii)in any other case, as soon as practicable after the identity of the beneficial owner concerned becomes known to the authorised DAC officer,
or
(b)serves a notice under subsection (4)(b), the beneficial owner concerned shall be notified in writing by the authorised DAC officer of the service of the notice and of the name of the person upon whom it was served –
(i)in a case where the identity of the beneficial owner concerned is known to the authorised DAC officer at the time the notice is served, at that time or as soon as practicable thereafter, and
(ii)in any other case, as soon as practicable after the identity of the beneficial owner concerned becomes known to the authorised DAC officer.
(7)The Data Protection Act 2018 shall apply to the access that this section affords to an authorised DAC officer in respect of the information in the registers referred to in subsection (4)(a) and the information referred to in subsection (4)(b).
(8)On there being made of –
(a)the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies,
(b)the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership of Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles, Credit Unions and Unit Trusts,
(c)the Registrar of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts, or
(d)in the case of the Central Mechanism of Ownership of Bank and Payment Accounts and Safe-Deposit Boxes, the Central Bank of Ireland,
as the case may be, by an authorised DAC officer, a request for access, in accordance with subsection (4)(a), to a register or the Central Mechanism of Ownership of Bank and Payment Accounts and Safe-Deposit Boxes, as the case may be, referred to in subsection (4)(a), the Registrar concerned or the Central Bank of Ireland, as the case may be, shall afford the authorised DAC officer access, in a timely manner, to the register or the Central Mechanism of Ownership of Bank and Payment Accounts and Safe-Deposit Boxes, as the case may be.
(9)An authorised DAC officer may require a designated person to provide any such additional information, explanations and particulars and to give all assistance to him or her which the authorised DAC officer may reasonably require for the purpose of inspecting the information delivered to him or her under subsection (4)(b).
817RF.
Arrangements implemented before 1 July 2020.
(1)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), section 817RC shall apply to reportable cross-border arrangements the first step of which was implemented during the period beginning on 25 June 2018 and ending on 30 June 2020.
(b)Where paragraph (a) applies, a return of the specified information shall be made to the Revenue Commissioners under section 817RC not later than 28 February 2021 and the time limit specified in section 817RC(1) or (2), as the case may be, shall not apply.
(2)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), section 817RD shall apply to reportable cross-border arrangements the first step of which was implemented during the period beginning on 25 June 2018 and ending on 30 June 2020.
(b)Where paragraph (a) applies, a return to the Revenue Commissioners of the specified information shall be made under section 817RD not later than 28 February 2021 and the time limit specified in section 817RD(1) shall not apply.
817RG. Exchange of information.
The Revenue Commissioners, when communicating the information specified in Article 8ab(14) of the Directive to the competent authorities of all other Member States in accordance with the Regulations of 2012, may disclose the following information connected with or supplementary to the information so specified:
(a)the reference number assigned to the reportable cross-border arrangement concerned;
(b)in relation to each intermediary and relevant taxpayer concerned –
(i)the country of issuance of the taxpayer identification number of each such intermediary and relevant taxpayer,
(ii)whether each such intermediary or relevant taxpayer is an individual or entity, and
(iii)the address of each such intermediary or relevant taxpayer.
817RH.
Penalties.
(1)A person who fails to comply with any of the obligations imposed on such person by this Chapter shall –
(a)where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person under subsection (3) or (10) of section 817RC, or section 817RD(4) or 817RF, be liable to –
(i)a penalty not exceeding €4,000, and
(ii)if the failure continues after a penalty is imposed under subparagraph (i), to a further penalty of €100 per day for each day on which the failure continues after the day on which the penalty is imposed under that subparagraph,
(b)where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person under subsection (1), (1A), (2), (2A) or (5) of section 817RC or subsection (1) or (1A) of section 817RD, be liable to –
(i)a penalty not exceeding €500 for each day during the initial period, and
(ii)if the failure continues after a penalty is imposed under subparagraph (i), to a further penalty of €500 per day for each day on which the failure continues after the day on which the penalty is imposed under that subparagraph,
(c)where the failure relates to the obligation imposed on a person by section 817RD(9), be liable to a penalty not exceeding €5,000.
(2)For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) –
‘the initial period’ means the period –
(a)beginning on the relevant day, and
(b)ending on the day on which an application referred to in subsection (3) is made;
‘relevant day’ means the first day after the end of the period specified in subsection (1), (1A), (2), (2A) or (5) of section 817RC or subsection (1) or (1A) of section 817RD, as the case may be, during which the obligation imposed on a person by the said subsection (1), (1A), (2), (2A) or (5) of section 817RC or subsection (1) or (1A) of section 817RD, as the case may be, shall be discharged.
(3)
(a)Notwithstanding section 1077B, the Revenue Commissioners shall, in relation to a failure referred to in subsection (1), make an application to the relevant court for that court to determine whether the person named in the application has failed to comply with the obligation imposed on that person by a provision referred to in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c), as the case may be.
(b)In paragraph (a) ‘relevant court’ means the District Court, the Circuit Court or the High Court, as appropriate, by reference to the jurisdictional limits for civil matters laid down in Courts of Justice Act 1924 and the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961.
(4)A copy of an application under subsection (3) shall be given to the person to whom the application relates.
(5)The relevant court shall determine whether the person named in the application made under subsection (3) is liable to the penalty provided for in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), as the case may be, of subsection (1) and the amount of that penalty, and in determining the amount of the penalty the court shall have regard to paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, of subsection (6).
(6)In determining the amount of a penalty under subsection (5) the court shall have regard –
(a)in the case of a person who is an intermediary, to the amount of any fees received, or likely to have been received, by the person in connection with the reportable cross-border arrangement, and
(b)in any other case, to the amount of any tax advantage gained, or sought to be gained, by the person from the reportable cross-border arrangement.
(7)Section 1077C shall apply for the purposes of a penalty under subsection (1).
Chapter 4
Payment notices and scheme participants (ss. 817S-817I)
817S.
Payment notices.
(1)In this Chapter –
“assessment” has the meaning given to it in section 960A;
“disclosable transaction” has the meaning given to it in section 817D;
“Revenue officer” means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners;
“specified information” has the meaning given to it in section 817D;
“specific anti-avoidance provision” means a provision specified in Schedule 33;
“tax advantage”
(a)subject to paragraph (b), has the meaning given to it in section 817D, or
(b)where this Chapter falls to be applied to a tax avoidance transaction, has the meaning given to it in section 811C(1),
and a proposal for a transaction shall be construed accordingly;
“tax avoidance transaction” has the meaning given to it in section 811C(1);
“transaction”
(a)subject to paragraph (b), has the meaning given to it in section 817D, or
(b)where this Chapter falls to be applied to a tax avoidance transaction, has the meaning given to it in section 811C(1),
and a proposal for a transaction shall be construed accordingly;
“transaction number” has the meaning given to it in section 817D;
(2)This subsection applies where, as a result of a person entering into a transaction that is –
(a)a tax avoidance transaction,
(b)a disclosable transaction, or
(c)a transaction to which a specific anti-avoidance provision applies,
a Revenue officer makes or amends an assessment the effect of which is to deny or withdraw a tax advantage arising out of the transaction.
(3)Where –
(a)subsection (2) applies, and
(b)an assessment referred to in that subsection has been appealed to the Appeal Commissioners,
and –
(i)the Appeal Commissioners have determined the appeal, and
(ii)the Appeal Commissioners have made a determination other than one that the assessment should be reduced by the full amount of the tax advantage,
a Revenue officer may send, or cause to be sent, a notice (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘payment notice’) to the appellant requiring immediate payment of the amount stated in the payment notice.
(4)For the purpose of subsection (3), the amount stated in the payment notice shall be the lower of –
(a)the amount charged by the assessment resulting from the denial or withdrawal of the tax advantage referred to in subsection (2), or
(b)the tax that would be due and payable under an assessment if no notice was given under section 949AP.
(5)A person to whom a payment notice is sent shall pay the amount stated in the notice notwithstanding that that person may be entitled to appeal a determination referred to in subsection (3) to the High Court in accordance with section 949AP.
(6)Where tax stated in a payment notice is paid and the assessment in respect of which the tax was paid subsequently becomes final and conclusive for a lower amount of tax than was paid –
(a)the amount overpaid shall be repaid with interest in accordance with section 865A, section 159B of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, section 105 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 or section 57(6) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, as if a valid claim to repayment was made on a day that is 93 days before the date payment was received by the Revenue Commissioners on foot of the payment notice, but no such repayment shall be made until such time as an assessment has become final and conclusive, and
(b)section 865(4), section 159A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, section 99(4) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 or section 57(3) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 shall not apply in relation to any repayment to be made.
(7)Section 960E(2) shall apply as if a payment notice sent by a Revenue officer was a demand made by the Collector-General for tax that is due and payable.
817T.
Payment notices and scheme participants.
(1)In this section –
(a)a reference to a ‘scheme’ is a reference to a transaction to which section 817S(2) applies, and
(b)a reference to a ‘scheme participant’ is a reference to a person who enters into such transaction or a substantially similar transaction.
(2)For the purpose of this section, a transaction (‘the second transaction’) shall be the same transaction or substantially similar to another transaction (‘the first transaction’) where –
(a)section 817S(3) applies in relation to the first transaction and in the opinion of a Revenue officer, the provisions of the Acts or the principles and reasoning given by the Appeal Commissioners in making a determination in relation to the first transaction would, if applied in making a determination in an appeal against an assessment, being an assessment –
(i)made or amended by a Revenue officer in relation to the second transaction, and
(ii)the effect of which is to deny or withdraw a tax advantage arising out of the second transaction,
result in a determination other than one that that assessment should be reduced by the full amount of the tax advantage,
(b)both transactions were assigned the same transaction number under section 817HB(1)(a),
(c)a transaction is one to which section 817J applies, and two or more transactions would have been assigned the same transaction number if they had been disclosed by a promoter under section 817E rather than by the person who entered into the transaction under section 817H, or
(d)specified information was not provided to the Revenue Commissioners and the transactions were not assigned a transaction number, but had they been assigned a transaction number, both transactions would have been assigned the same transaction number.
(3)Where a person to whom a Revenue officer may send, or cause to be sent, a payment notice under section 817S(3) is a scheme participant, a Revenue officer may send a payment notice to any other scheme participants notwithstanding that an assessment made in respect of those scheme participants has been appealed and the appeal has not yet been determined by the Appeal Commissioners.
(4)The payment notice referred to in subsection (3) shall –
(a)state the amount of the tax assessed on a scheme participant resulting from the denial or withdrawal of a tax advantage, having had regard to the determination referred to in section 817S(3),
(b)state the transaction number, if any, which was assigned to the scheme,
(c)state the reasons why the transaction entered into by the scheme participant in receipt of the payment notice and the scheme participant who has received a determination from the Appeal Commissioners is the same or substantially similar, and
(d)have appended to it a copy of the determination.
(5)A scheme participant may request a Revenue officer to review the payment notice by submitting a notice (in this section referred to as a ‘review notice’) in writing within 30 days from the payment notice giving reasons why the scheme participant does not consider a transaction entered into by that person to be the same as, or substantially similar to, the transaction in respect of which another scheme participant has received a payment notice under section 817S(3).
(6)A Revenue officer shall consider a review notice received from a scheme participant and shall make a determination that either confirms or withdraws a payment notice.
(7)A scheme participant aggrieved by a determination made under subsection (6) in respect of that scheme participant may appeal the determination to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of that determination.
(8)Where more than one scheme participant in the same scheme has submitted a notice of appeal under subsection (7), the Appeal Commissioners may in adjudicating and determining an appeal if they consider it appropriate to do so –
(a)have regard to any determination previously made in respect of scheme participants,
(b)consolidate or hear together two or more appeals, or
(c)determine not to hold a hearing.
(9)The Appeal Commissioners’ determination of an appeal made under subsection (7) shall be final and conclusive.
(10)Any obligation on the Revenue Commissioners to maintain secrecy or any other restriction on the disclosure of information by the Revenue Commissioners shall not apply with respect to the giving of a payment notice under subsection (3).
(11)Subsections (5), (6) and (7) of section 817S shall apply to a payment notice issued under this section as if it were a notice issued under section 817S.
817RI.
Specified arrangements
(1)For the purposes of this section, ‘specified arrangement’ means an arrangement that is within one of the classes of arrangements specified in Schedule 34.
(2)A specified arrangement which –
(a)would, but for the operation of this section, contain the hallmark described in paragraph (3) of category A of the hallmarks,
(b)satisfies the main benefit test referred to in Annex IV of the Directive, and
(c)meets the conditions specified in subsection (3),
shall be deemed not to contain the hallmark described in paragraph (3) of category A of the hallmarks.
(3)The conditions referred to in subsection (2) are that –
(a)the tax advantage arises solely by virtue of the arrangement being within one of the classes of arrangements specified in Schedule 34, and
(b)the specified arrangement is not a tax avoidance transaction within the meaning of section 811C.
Chapter 5
Outbound payments defensive measures (ss. 817U-817Z)
817U.
Interpretation.
(1)In this Chapter –
“arrangement” has the same meaning as it has in Part 35A;
“associated entities” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (3);
“controlled foreign company charge” has the same meaning as it has in Part 35B;
“domestic tax” means income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax;
“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993;
“EEA State” means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;
“entity” has the same meaning as it has in Part 35C;
“excluded payment” means a payment, or a portion thereof, made by a company to the extent that it is reasonable to consider that –
(a)an amount of income, profits or gains arising from the payment is within the charge to –
(i)supplemental tax,
(ii)foreign tax at a nominal rate greater than zero per cent, or
(iii)domestic tax, other than as applied by this Chapter,
or
(b)the payment is made out of an amount of income, profits or gains where –
(i)that income, profits or gains are within the charge to foreign tax at a nominal rate greater than zero per cent, and
(ii)in calculating the amount of foreign tax to which that income, profits or gains are subject, no account is taken of that payment or any amount in respect of that payment,
and includes a payment which would be a payment to which paragraph (a) or (b) applies but for the fact that the entity which would be within the charge to tax –
(I)in respect of that payment, or
(II)in respect of the income, profits or gains out of which the payment is made,
is a pension fund, government body or other entity, resident in a territory other than a specified territory, that, under the laws of that territory, is exempted from tax which generally applies to profits, income or gains in that territory;
“foreign company charge” has the same meaning as it has in Part 35B;
“foreign tax” has the same meaning as it has in Part 35C;
“permanent establishment” , in respect of a company, means a fixed place of business situated in a territory other than where that company is resident, through which the business of a company is wholly or partly carried on;
“qualified IIR”, “qualified UTPR”, and “qualified domestic top-up tax” have the same meaning, respectively, as they have in Part 4A;
“relevant distribution” has the same meaning as it has in Chapter 8A of Part 6;
“relevant Member State” means –
(a)a Member State of the European Union, or
(b)not being such a Member State, an EEA State;
“relevant payment” means a payment made by a company of an amount of interest or royalties which has been, or may be, in any accounting period, deducted, allowed or relieved in computing its or another company’s profits or losses for the purposes of corporation tax;
“royalty” means a payment of any kind for –
(a)the use of, or the right to use –
(i)any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work, including cinematograph films,
(ii)any patent, trademark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process,
or
(b)information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience;
“specified territory” means a territory, other than a relevant Member State, which is a listed territory or a zero-tax territory;
“supplemental tax” means –
(a)a foreign company charge,
(b)a qualified IIR,
(c)a qualified UTPR,
(d)a qualified domestic top-up tax, or
(e)any other tax which is similar to any of the taxes referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d);
“tax period” has the same meaning as it has in section 835Z;
“zero-tax territory” means a territory that, other than in respect of an entity whose income, profits or gains are treated by that territory, or would be so treated but for an insufficiency of income, profits or gains, as arising or accruing to another entity –
(a)generally subjects entities to tax at a rate of zero per cent on income, profits and gains, or
(b)does not generally subject entities, whether on a remittance basis or otherwise, to a tax on income, profits and gains.
(2)In this Chapter, “listed territory” has the same meaning as in section 835YA subject to the modification that references to ‘an accounting period beginning’ shall be read as references to ‘the making of a payment or distribution’.
(3)In this Chapter, two entities shall be “associated entities” in respect of each other where –
(a)one entity, directly or indirectly, possesses or is beneficially entitled to –
(i)where the other entity is an entity having share capital, more than 50 per cent of the issued share capital of the other entity, or
(ii)where the other entity is an entity not having share capital, an interest of more than 50 per cent of the ownership rights in the other entity,
(b)one entity, directly or indirectly, is entitled to exercise more than 50 per cent of the voting power in the other entity,
(c)one entity (in this paragraph referred to as ‘the first-mentioned entity’), directly or indirectly, holds such rights as would –
(i)where the other entity is a company, if the whole of the profits of that other entity were distributed, entitle the first-mentioned entity, directly or indirectly, to receive more than 50 per cent of 30 the profits so distributed, or
(ii)where the other entity is an entity other than a company, if the share of the profits of that other entity to which the first- mentioned entity is entitled, directly or indirectly, is more than 50 per cent,
(d)one entity has definite influence in the management of the other entity, or
(e)there is another entity in respect of which the two entities are, in accordance with paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), associated entities.
(4)For the purposes of subsection (3)(d), one entity (in this subsection referred to as ‘the first-mentioned entity’) shall be considered to have definite influence in the management of another entity (in this subsection referred to as ‘the second-mentioned entity’) where the first-mentioned entity has the ability to participate, on the board of directors or equivalent governing body of the second-mentioned entity, in the financial and operating policy decisions of the second mentioned entity, where that ability causes, or could cause, the affairs of the second-mentioned entity to be conducted in accordance with the wishes of the first-mentioned entity.
(5)For the purposes of this Chapter, an entity shall be regarded as being a resident of a territory if –
(a)in a case where the territory is a territory with the government of which arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 826(1) have been made, the entity is regarded as being a resident of that territory under those arrangements, and
(b)in any other case, the entity is by virtue of the law of a territory resident for the purposes of tax in that territory,
but where an entity is not resident in any territory in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b) it shall be regarded as being resident in the territory under whose laws it was created.
(6)For the purposes of this Chapter, where a relevant payment or a relevant distribution is made to an entity or a permanent establishment (in this subsection referred to as ‘the first-mentioned entity or permanent establishment’) and some or all of that payment or distribution is treated as arising or accruing to another entity or permanent establishment (in this section referred to as ‘the second-mentioned entity or permanent establishment’) or an individual, that is resident or situated in a different territory, under the tax law of the territory where –
(a)the first-mentioned entity or permanent establishment is resident or situated, as the case may be, and
(b)the second-mentioned entity or permanent establishment or such individual is resident or situated, as the case may be,
then, for the purposes of this Chapter, the payment or distribution, or the relevant portion thereof, shall be treated as if it had been made to the second-mentioned entity or permanent establishment or that individual.
817V.
Payment of interest.
(1)This section applies to a relevant payment of interest paid by a company to –
(a)an associated entity that is resident in a specified territory and is not resident in another territory that is not a specified territory, or
(b)a permanent establishment of an associated entity which is situated in a specified territory,
to the extent that the relevant payment of interest is not an excluded payment.
(2)Sections 64(2), 198(1)(c), 246(3), 246A(3)(a)(A) and 246A(3)(b)(A) shall not apply to a relevant payment of interest to which this section applies.
(3)Subsection (2) of section 246 shall apply to a relevant payment of interest to which this section applies as if a reference to a payment of yearly interest in that subsection were a reference to a relevant payment of interest to which this section applies.
(4)Where this section applies to a relevant payment of interest on a security referred to in section 37(2), section 36(2) shall apply as if ‘shall be paid without the deduction of tax, but all such interest’ were omitted.
(5)Where an arrangement is entered into by any person and it is reasonable to consider that the main purpose or one of the main purposes of the arrangement, or any part of the arrangement, is the avoidance of the application of any of the provisions of this section to a relevant payment of interest, directly or indirectly, to an associated entity in a specified territory, then this section shall apply as if the arrangement, or that part of the arrangement, had not been entered into.
(6)Subject to subsection (5), this section shall not apply to a relevant payment of interest by a company where that relevant payment of interest is a payment –
(a)to which section 64(2)(b)(i) or 246A(3)(a)(A) would apply, but for subsection (2), or
(b)to which section 246A(3)(b)(A) would apply, but for subsection (2), solely by virtue of section 246A(3)(b)(ii)(I),
where it is reasonable to consider that the company is not, and should not be, aware that any portion of the relevant payment of interest is made to an associated entity.
(7)This section shall not apply to the portion of the relevant payment of interest made by a company to an entity to the extent that –
(a)a corresponding amount has been paid by that entity to another person in a tax period which commences within 12 months of the end of the tax period in which the payment is made by the company,
(b)the corresponding amount referred to in paragraph (a) would have been an excluded payment had that corresponding amount been paid directly by the company to that other person referred to in that paragraph, and
(c)all payments were made for bona fide commercial purposes.
(8)Nothing in this section shall result in the application of section 246(2) to an entity other than a company which makes a relevant payment of interest.
817W.
Payment of royalties.
(1)This section applies to a relevant payment of a royalty by a company to –
(a)an associated entity that is resident in a specified territory and is not resident in another territory that is not a specified territory, or
(b)a permanent establishment of an associated entity which is situated in a specified territory,
to the extent that the relevant payment of a royalty is not an excluded payment.
(2)
(a)The receipt of a relevant payment of a royalty to which this section applies shall be deemed to be annual profits arising to the associated entity, or permanent establishment of the associated entity, referred to in subsection (1), as the case may be, from property in the State for the purposes of section 18(1).
(b)A relevant payment of a royalty to which this section applies shall be an annual payment charged with tax under Schedule D for the purposes of section 238(2).
(c)Subsections (3) and (4) of section 242A shall not apply to a relevant payment of a royalty to which this section applies.
(3)Section 757(2) shall not apply to a relevant payment of a royalty to which this section applies.
(4)Where an arrangement is entered into by any person and it is reasonable to consider that the main purpose or one of the main purposes of the arrangement, or any part of the arrangement, is the avoidance of the application of any of the provisions of this section to a relevant payment of a royalty, directly or indirectly, to an associated entity in a specified territory, then this section shall apply as if the arrangement, or that part of the arrangement, had not been entered into.
817X.
Making of distribution.
(1)This section applies to a relevant distribution where –
(a)a company resident in the State makes a relevant distribution to –
(i)an associated entity that is resident in a specified territory and is not resident in another territory that is not a specified territory, or
(ii)a permanent establishment of an associated entity which is situated in a specified territory,
(b)to the extent that the relevant distribution is not an excluded payment, and
(c)to the extent that the relevant distribution is made out of income, profits or gains which have not been chargeable, directly or indirectly, to –
(i)domestic tax,
(ii)foreign tax at a nominal rate greater than zero per cent,
(iii)a controlled foreign company charge,
(iv)a supplemental tax, or
(v)any other tax which is similar to any of the taxes referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iv).
(2)Sections 140(3)(a), 142(2), 153(4), 172B(7), 172D(2) and 172E(1) shall not apply to a relevant distribution to which this section applies.
(3)Where an arrangement is entered into by any person and it is reasonable to consider that the main purpose or one of the main purposes of the arrangement, or any part of the arrangement, is the avoidance of the application of any of the provisions of this section to the making of a relevant distribution, directly or indirectly, to an associated entity in a specified territory, then this section shall apply as if the arrangement, or that part of the arrangement, had not been entered into.
817Y.
Reporting.
(1)In this section –
‘chargeable period’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 959A;
‘specified return date for the chargeable period’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 959A.
(2)Every company who makes a payment of interest or a royalty, or makes a relevant distribution to –
(a)an associated entity that is resident in a specified territory and is not resident in another territory that is not a specified territory, or
(b)a permanent establishment of an associated entity which is situated in a specified territory,
in a chargeable period shall, in the return required to be delivered under Chapter 3 of Part 41A, provide the following details in respect of each payment or distribution –
(i)the amount of the payment or distribution,
(ii)the amount of tax withheld on the payment or distribution, and
(iii)the territory where the entity or permanent establishment is resident, or situated, as the case may be.
817Z.
Scope of application.
(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Chapter shall apply to a payment of interest or royalties, or the making of a distribution, on or after 1 April 2024.
(2)Where arrangements are in place on or before 19 October 2023, in respect of which there is a payment of interest or royalties, or the making of a distribution, then this Chapter shall apply to such payment or distribution made, as the case may be, on or after 1 January 2025.