Pension Development
TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT
Part 30
Occupational Pension Schemes, Retirement Annuities, Purchased Life Annuities and Certain Pensions (ss. 770-790E)
Chapter 1
Occupational pension schemes (ss. 770-782A)
770.
Interpretation and supplemental (Chapter 1).
(1)In this Chapter, except where the context otherwise requires –
“additional voluntary contributions”, means voluntary contributions made to a scheme by an employee which are –
(i)contributions made under a rule or part of a rule, as the case may be, of a retirement benefits scheme (in this definition referred to as the “main scheme”) which provides specifically for the payment of members’ voluntary contributions, other than contributions made at the rate or rates specified for members’ contributions in the rules of the main scheme, or
(ii)contributions made under a separately arranged scheme for members’ voluntary contributions which is associated with the main scheme;
“administrator”, in relation to a retirement benefits scheme, means the person or persons, established in a Member State of the European Communities or in the United Kingdom, having the management of the scheme, and references to the administrator of a scheme shall be deemed to include the person mentioned in section 772(2)(c)(ii);
“approved minimum retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C;
“approved retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;
“approved scheme” means a retirement benefits scheme for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this Chapter;
“company” includes any body corporate or unincorporated body of persons other than a partnership;
“director”, in relation to a company, includes –
(a)in the case of a company the affairs of which are managed by a board of directors or similar body, a member of that board or body,
(b)in the case of a company the affairs of which are managed by a single director or similar person, that director or person,
(c)in the case of a company the affairs of which are managed by the members themselves, a member of that company,
and includes a person who is to be or has been a director;
“employee” –
(a)in relation to a company, includes an officer of the company, any director of the company and any other person taking part in the management of the affairs of the company, and
(b)in relation to any employer, includes a person who is to be or has been an employee,
and “employer” and other cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“exempt approved scheme” has the meaning assigned to it by section 774;
“final remuneration” means the average annual remuneration of the last 3 years’ service;
“overseas pension scheme” means a retirement benefits scheme, other than a state social security scheme, which –
(a)is operated or managed by an institution for occupational retirement provision as defined by Article 6(1) of Directive (EU) 2016/2341 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 [OJ No. L354, 23.12.2016, p. 37] (in this definition referred to as ‘the Directive’) and is established in a Member State of the European Union, other than the State, which has given effect to the Directive in its national law, or
(b)is established in the United Kingdom and is subject to supervisory and regulatory arrangements at least equivalent to those applied under the Directive;
“pension” includes annuity;
“pension adjustment order” means an order made in accordance with section 12 of the Family Law Act 1995, section 17 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, or section 121 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010;
“proprietary director” means a director who, either alone or together with his or her spouse and minor children or, as the case may be, his or her civil partner, his or her minor children and the minor children of his or her civil partner is or was, at any time within 3 years of the date of –
(i)the specified normal retirement date,
(ii)an earlier retirement date, where applicable,
(iii)leaving service, or
(iv)in the case of a pension or part of a pension payable in accordance with a pension adjustment order, the relevant date in relation to that order,
the beneficial owner of shares which, when added to any shares held by the trustees of any settlement to which the director or his or her spouse or civil partner had transferred assets, carry more than 5 per cent of the voting rights in the company providing the benefits or in a company which controls that company;
“Personal Retirement Savings Account” or “PRSA” has the same meaning as in Chapter 2A of this Part;
“relevant benefits” means any pension, lump sum, gratuity or other like benefit –
(a)given or to be given on retirement or on death or in anticipation of retirement or, in connection with past service, after retirement or death, or
(b)to be given on or in anticipation of or in connection with any change in the nature of the service of the employee in question,
but does not include any benefit which is to be afforded solely by reason of the death or disability of a person resulting from an accident arising out of or in the course of his or her office or employment and for no other reason;
“relevant date” means, in relation to a pension adjustment order, the date on which the decree of separation, the decree of divorce, or the decree of dissolution, as the case may be, was granted, by reference to which the pension adjustment order in question was made;
“retirement benefits scheme” has the meaning assigned to it by section 771;
“service” means service as an employee of the employer in question and other expressions, including “retirement”, shall be construed accordingly;
“state social security scheme” means a system of mandatory protection put in place by the Government of a country or territory, other than the State, to provide a minimum level of retirement income or other benefits, the level of which is determined by that Government;
“statutory scheme” means a retirement benefits scheme established by or under any enactment.
(2)Any reference in this Chapter to the provision of relevant benefits, or of a pension, for employees of an employer includes a reference to the provision of those benefits or that pension by means of a contract between the administrator or the employer and a third person.
(3)Schedules 23 and 23C shall apply for the purposes of supplementing this Chapter and shall be construed as one with this Chapter.
771.
Meaning of “retirement benefits scheme”.
(1)In this Chapter, “retirement benefits scheme” means, subject to this section, a scheme for the provision of benefits consisting of or including relevant benefits, but does not include any scheme under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, providing such benefits.
(2)References in this Chapter to a scheme include references to a contract, deed, agreement, series of agreements or other arrangements providing for relevant benefits, notwithstanding that it relates or they relate only to –
(a)a small number of employees or to a single employee, or
(b)the payment of a pension starting immediately on the making of the arrangements.
(3)The Revenue Commissioners may if they think fit treat a retirement benefits scheme relating to employees of 2 or more different classes or descriptions as being for the purposes of this Chapter 2 or more separate retirement benefits schemes relating respectively to such one or more of those classes or descriptions of those employees as the Revenue Commissioners think fit.
(4)For the purposes of this Chapter –
(a)employees may be regarded as belonging to different classes or descriptions if they are employed by different employers, and
(b)a particular class or description of employee may consist of a single employee or any number of employees.
772.
Conditions for approval of schemes and discretionary approval.
(1)Subject to this section, the Revenue Commissioners shall approve any retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter if it satisfies all of the prescribed conditions, namely –
(a)the conditions set out in subsection (2), and
(b)the conditions as respects benefits set out in subsection (3).
(2)The conditions referred to in subsection (1)(a) are –
(a)that the scheme is bona fide established for the sole purpose of providing relevant benefits in respect of service as an employee, being benefits payable to, or to the widow, widower, surviving civil partner, children or dependants, or personal representatives, of the employee, or children of the surviving civil partner of the employee;
(b)that the scheme is recognised by the employer and employees to whom it relates, and that every employee who is or has a right to be a member of the scheme has been given written particulars of all essential features of the scheme which concern the employee;
(c)that in relation to the discharge of all duties and obligations imposed on the administrator of a scheme by this Chapter, Chapter 2C and section 125B of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 –
(i)the administrator of an overseas pension scheme has entered into a contract with the Revenue Commissioners enforceable in a Member State of the European Communities or in the United Kingdom, as the case may be, in relation to the discharge of those duties and obligations and in entering into such a contract the parties to the contract have acknowledged and agreed in writing that –
(I)it is governed solely by the laws of the State, and
(II)that the courts of the State have exclusive jurisdiction in determining any dispute arising under it,
or
(ii)there is a person resident in the State, appointed by the administrator, who will be responsible for the discharge of all of those duties and obligations and the administrator shall notify the Revenue Commissioners of the appointment of that person and the identity of that person;
(d)that the employer is a contributor to the scheme;
(e)that the scheme is established in connection with some trade or undertaking carried on in the State by a person resident in the State;
(f)that no amount can be paid, whether during the subsistence of the scheme or later, by means of repayment of an employee’s contributions under the scheme.
(3)The conditions as respects benefits referred to in subsection (1)(b) are –
(a)that any benefit for an employee is a pension on retirement at a specified age not earlier than 60 years and not later than 70 years, or on earlier retirement through incapacity, which does not exceed one-sixtieth of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years;
(b)that any pension or benefit for any widow, widower, surviving civil partner, children or dependants, or children of the surviving civil partner, of an employee who dies before retirement shall be provided for as either –
(i)a pension or pensions payable on the employee’s death of an amount that does not or, as the case may be, do not in aggregate exceed any pension or pensions which, consonant with the condition in paragraph (a), could have been provided for the employee on retirement on attaining the specified age, if the employee had continued to serve until the employee attained that age at an annual rate of remuneration equal to the employee’s final remuneration, or
(ii)benefits transferred to an approved retirement fund on the employee’s death of an amount that does not or, as the case may be, do not in aggregate exceed any benefit which, consonant with the condition in paragraph (a), could have been provided for the employee on retirement on attaining the specified age, if the employee had continued to serve until the employee attained that age at an annual rate of remuneration equal to the employee’s final remuneration;
(c)that any lump sums provided for any widow, widower, surviving civil partner, children or dependants, or personal representatives, of an employee, or children of the surviving civil partner of an employee who dies before retirement shall not exceed in the aggregate 4 times the employee’s final remuneration;
(d)that any benefit for any widow, widower, surviving civil partner, children or dependants, or children of the surviving civil partner of an employee payable on the employee’s death after retirement is a pension or pensions such that the aggregate amount of such pension or, as the case may be, pensions so payable does not exceed any pension or pensions payable to the employee;
(e)[deleted]
(f)that, subject to subsection (3A), no pension is capable in whole or in part of surrender, commutation or assignment, except in so far as the scheme allows an employee on retirement to obtain by commutation of the employee’s pension a lump sum or sums not exceeding in all three-eightieths of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years;
(g)that no other benefits are payable under the scheme.
(3A)
(a)Subject to paragraph (aa), the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter unless it appears to them that the scheme provides for any individual entitled to a pension under the scheme or, as the case may be, where the pension or part of the pension is payable in accordance with a pension adjustment order, the spouse or former spouse, or civil partner or former civil partner, of such an individual to whom the pension or part of the pension is so payable (in this subsection referred to as the “relevant individual”), to opt, on or before the date on which that pension would otherwise become payable, for the transfer, on or after that date, to –
(i)the relevant individual, or
(ii)an approved retirement fund,
of an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A – B
where –
Ais –
(I)the amount equal to the value of the relevant individual’s accrued rights under the scheme (including accrued rights which relate to additional voluntary contributions under the scheme) exclusive of any lump sum paid in accordance with subsection (3)(f), or
(II)the amount equal to the value of the relevant individual’s accrued rights under the scheme which relate to additional voluntary contributions paid by that individual exclusive of any part of that amount paid by way of lump sum in accordance with subsection (3)(f) in conjunction with the scheme rules, and
Bis the amount or value of assets which the trustees, administrators or other person charged with the management of the scheme (in this section referred to as ‘the trustees’) would, if the assumptions in paragraph (b) were made, apply in purchasing an annuity payable to the relevant individual with effect from the date of the exercise of the option.
(aa)In the case of a retirement benefits scheme that is a defined benefit arrangement within the meaning of section 787O(1), paragraph (a) shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to an individual entitled to a pension under the scheme (other than a proprietary director of a company to which the scheme relates) as if –
(i)the reference in that paragraph to any relevant individual entitled to a pension under the scheme were a reference to any individual entitled to a pension under the scheme who is an individual entitled to rights arising from additional voluntary contributions to the scheme, and
(ii)clause (I) of the construction of “A” in the formula in paragraph (a) had never been enacted.
(ab)
(i)In this paragraph “deferred annuity option” means the option provided to an individual who is a member of a retirement benefits scheme to defer, in accordance with Revenue e-Brief No. 65/08 entitled “Deferral of Annuity Purchase” issued by the Revenue Commissioners on 22 December 2008, the purchase of an annuity from a company carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life.
(ii)An individual entitled to a pension under a retirement benefits scheme approved by the Revenue Commissioners before the date of passing of the Finance Act 2011 who, before that date, has exercised a deferred annuity option may opt in accordance with paragraph (a) within the period of one month from that date, where on or after that date the rules of the scheme are altered to enable such an option.
(iii)For the purposes of this paragraph, where an individual has exercised a deferred annuity option, the purchase of the annuity may be further deferred for a period of one month from the date of passing of the Finance Act 2011.
(b)The assumptions in this paragraph are –
(i)that the retirement benefits scheme or, as the case may be, the relevant part of the scheme was an annuity contract approved in accordance with section 784,
(ii)that the trustees of the retirement benefit scheme were a person lawfully carrying on the business in the State of providing annuities on human life with whom the said contract had been made, and
(iii)that the individual had opted in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784.
(3B)Where an individual opts in accordance with subsection (3A) then –
(a)the provisions of subsection (2B) of section 784 and of sections 784A, 784B and 784E shall, with any necessary modifications, apply as if –
(i)any reference in those sections to the person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life were a reference to the trustees of the retirement benefit scheme, and
(ii)any reference in those sections to the annuity contract were references to the retirement benefit scheme.
(iia)[deleted]
(iii)[deleted]
(b)other than in the case of an individual referred to in clause (II) of the construction of “A” in the formula in subsection (3A)(a) and an individual referred to in subsection (3A)(aa), paragraph (f) of subsection (3) shall apply as if the reference to “a lump sum or sums not exceeding in all three-eightieths of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years” were a reference to “a lump sum not exceeding 25 per cent of the value of the pension which would otherwise be payable”.
(3C)Where the rules of a retirement benefits scheme provide for the purchase of an annuity from a company carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life, references in subsection (3A) to the date on which a pension would otherwise become payable shall, in relation to that retirement benefits scheme, be construed as references to the latest date on which such an annuity must be purchased in accordance with those rules.
(3D)A retirement benefits scheme shall not cease to be an approved scheme because of any provision in the rules of the scheme whereby, either or both –
(a)
a member’s entitlements under the scheme, other than an amount referred to in paragraph (b), may, either on the member’s changing employment or on the scheme being wound up, be transferred to one or more than one PRSA to which that member is the contributor if benefits have not become payable to the member under the scheme,
(b)an amount equal to the accumulated value of a member’s contributions to the scheme, which consist of additional voluntary contributions made by the member, may be transferred to one or more than one PRSA to which that member is the contributor.
(3E)A retirement benefits scheme shall neither cease to be an approved scheme nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter because of any provision in the rules of the scheme which makes provision for borrowing by the scheme.
(3F)A retirement benefits scheme shall neither cease to be an approved scheme nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter because of any provision in the rules of the scheme whereby a member’s entitlement under the scheme may be commuted, to such extent as may be necessary, for the purpose of discharging a tax liability in connection with that entitlement under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part.
(3G)A retirement benefits scheme shall not cease to be an approved scheme where the trustees of the scheme, notwithstanding anything contained in the rules of the scheme as approved, discharge liabilities of the scheme under section 59(3) of the Pensions Act 1990 (inserted by section 43 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010).
(3H)A retirement benefits scheme shall neither cease to be an approved scheme nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter because of any provision in the rules of the scheme allowing a member who comes within the provisions of section 787TA to exercise an option in accordance with that section requiring an amount representing the value of, or part of the value of, the member’s accrued rights under the scheme at the date of the exercise of the option to be transferred by the trustees of the scheme to the member.
(3I)A retirement benefits scheme shall not cease to be an approved scheme where the trustees of the scheme, notwithstanding anything contained in the rules of the scheme as approved, allow a member or, as the case may be, where the scheme is subject to a pension adjustment order, the spouse or former spouse or civil partner or former civil partner of the member, to avail of an option in accordance with section 782A.
(3J)Where benefits are provided in accordance with subsection (3)(b)(ii), sections 784A and 784B shall apply –
(a)as if the transfer of the benefits were the exercise of an option in accordance with section 784(2A), and
(b)with any necessary modifications, as if –
(i)any reference in those sections to the person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life were a reference to the trustees of the retirement benefit scheme, and
(ii)any reference in those sections to the annuity contract were references to the retirement benefit scheme.
(4)
(a)The Revenue Commissioners may if they think fit having regard to the facts of a particular case and subject to such conditions, if any, as they think proper to attach to the approval, approve a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter, notwithstanding that it does not satisfy one or more of the prescribed conditions.
(b)The Revenue Commissioners may in particular approve by virtue of this subsection a scheme which –
(i)exceeds the limits imposed by the prescribed conditions as respects benefits for less than 40 years’ service,
(ii)allows benefits to be payable on retirement within 10 years of the specified age or on earlier incapacity,
(iii)provides for the return in certain contingencies of employees’ contributions and payment of interest (if any) on the contributions, or
(iv)relates to a trade or undertaking carried on only partly in the State and by a person not resident in the State.
(c)Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a scheme unless it appears to them that the scheme complies with the provisions of subsection (3A).
(5)Where in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners the facts concerning any scheme or its administration cease to warrant the continuance of their approval of the scheme, they may at any time, by notice in writing to the administrator, withdraw their approval on such grounds, and from such date, as may be specified in the notice.
(6)Where an alteration has been made in a retirement benefits scheme, no approval given as regards the scheme before the alteration shall apply after the date of the alteration unless the alteration has been approved by the Revenue Commissioners.
(7)For the purpose of determining whether a retirement benefits scheme, in so far as it relates to a particular class or description of employees, satisfies or continues to satisfy the prescribed conditions, that scheme shall be considered in conjunction with any other retirement benefits scheme or schemes relating to employees of that class or description, and, if those conditions are satisfied in the case of both or all of those schemes taken together, they shall be taken to be satisfied in the case of each of them but otherwise those conditions shall be taken to be satisfied in the case of none of them.
772A.
Approval of retirement benefits products.
(1)In this section –
“promoter” means a person lawfully carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life and, where that person –
(a)is not resident in the State, or
(b)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business,
that person is an insurance undertaking authorised to transact insurance business in the State under Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 or, where that person is established in the United Kingdom, is authorised to transact insurance business by the authority in the United Kingdom charged by law with the duty of supervising such persons;
“retirement benefits product” means a product for the provision of relevant benefits in respect of which an application for approval has been made by a promoter to the Revenue Commissioners under this section and under which, if and when approved, a single member retirement benefits scheme may be established by way of a contract entered into with the promoter to secure the scheme;
“single member retirement benefits scheme”, in relation to a retirement benefits product, means a retirement benefits scheme that relates to a single employee;
“terms and rules”, in relation to a retirement benefits product, means the provisions governing a retirement benefits scheme to be established under the product, by whatever name such provisions are called.
(2)Subject to this section, the Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit, and subject to such conditions, if any, as they think proper to attach to the approval, approve a retirement benefits product for the purposes of this Chapter.
(3)Subject to subsection (6), a retirement benefits scheme, established under a retirement benefits product for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (2), shall be taken to be a retirement benefits scheme for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this Chapter, and the provisions of this Chapter shall apply accordingly, except as otherwise provided for by this section.
(4)For the purposes of approval under subsection (2), the promoter of a retirement benefits product shall make an application to the Revenue Commissioners in writing and the application shall be in such form and contain such information and particulars as the Revenue Commissioners may from time to time determine.
(5)The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a retirement benefits product unless the terms and rules provide that –
(a)contributions to be paid in any year, whether by an employee or by, or on behalf of, an employer in respect of that employee, may not, when aggregated, exceed the aggregate amount of annual contributions allowed to be deducted in any year by an individual in accordance with section 774(7)(c), and
(b)the provisions of section 772(3A) apply.
(6)Where an alteration has been made to the terms and rules governing a retirement benefits scheme established under a retirement benefits product for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (2), then no approval taken to be given to the scheme for the time being under subsection (3) before the date of the alteration shall apply after the date of the alteration unless the alteration has been approved by the Revenue Commissioners.
(7)Where in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners the facts concerning any retirement benefits product cease to warrant the continuance of their approval of the product, then they may at any time, by notice in writing to the promoter, withdraw their approval on such grounds, and from such date, as may be specified in the notice.
(8)Where approval of a product is withdrawn pursuant to subsection (7), there shall be made such assessments or amendment of assessments as may be appropriate for the purpose of withdrawing any relief given under this Chapter consequent on the grant of the approval.
(9)Where an alteration has been made to a retirement benefits product, then no approval given as regards the product before the alteration shall apply after the date of the alteration unless the alteration has been approved by the Revenue Commissioners.
773.
General Medical Services: scheme of superannuation.
(1)The Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit and subject to any undertakings and conditions that they think proper to attach to the approval, approve for the purposes of this Chapter a scheme of superannuation provided for under an agreement for the provision of services under section 58 of the Health Act, 1970 (in this section referred to as a “relevant scheme”) as if it were a retirement benefits scheme within the meaning of this Chapter and notwithstanding that it does not satisfy one or more of the conditions set out in subsections (2) and (3) of section 772.
(2)As respects a relevant scheme approved under this section, this Chapter and Schedule 23 shall apply subject to any necessary modifications and in particular as if in this Chapter and in that Schedule –
(a)”employee” included a registered medical practitioner providing services under an agreement for the provision of services under section 58 of the Health Act, 1970 (in this section referred to as an “agreement”),
(b)”service” included services by a registered medical practitioner under an agreement and an “office or employment” included the provision of such services, and
(c)a reference to Schedule E were a reference to Case II of Schedule D except in section 779.
(3)Chapter 2 of this Part shall apply as if a member of a relevant scheme were the holder of a pensionable office or employment and such member’s income assessable to tax under Case II of Schedule D arising from an agreement were remuneration from such an office or employment.
774.
Certain approved schemes: exemptions and reliefs.
(1)This section shall apply as respects –
(a)any approved scheme shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners to be established under irrevocable trusts,
(b)any approved scheme which is an overseas pension scheme, or
(c)any other approved scheme as respects which the Revenue Commissioners, having regard to any special circumstance, direct that this section shall apply,
and any scheme which is for the time being within paragraph (a), (b) or (c) is in this Chapter referred to as an “exempt approved scheme”.
(2)This section shall apply only as respects income arising or contributions paid at a time when a scheme is an exempt approved scheme.
(3)Exemption from income tax shall, on a claim being made in that behalf, be allowed in respect of income derived from investments or deposits of a scheme if, or to such extent as the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, it is income from investments or deposits held for the purposes of the scheme.
(4)
(a)In this subsection, “financial futures” and “traded options” mean respectively financial futures and traded options for the time being dealt in or quoted on any futures exchange or any stock exchange, whether or not that exchange is situated in the State.
(b)For the purposes of subsection (3), a contract entered into in the course of dealing in financial futures or traded options shall be regarded as an investment.
(5)Exemption from income tax shall, on a claim being made in that behalf, be allowed in respect of underwriting commissions if, or to such extent as the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, the underwriting commissions are applied for the purposes of the scheme, and in respect of which the trustees of the scheme would but for this subsection be chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(6)
(a)For the purposes of this section and section 775 –
(i)a reference to a “chargeable period” shall be construed as a reference to a “chargeable period or its basis period” (within the meaning of section 321), and
(ii)in relation to an employer whose chargeable period is a year of assessment, “basis period” means the period on the profits or gains of which income tax for that year of assessment is to be finally computed for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D in respect of the trade, profession or vocation of the employer.
(aa)For the purposes of this section –
‘relevant contributor’ means a company (‘the first-mentioned company’) which pays contributions under an exempt approved scheme for the benefit of scheme members who are not its employees, where –
(i)the contributions are paid under the terms of a legally binding agreement between the first-mentioned company and another company or companies,
(ii)the agreement was entered into –
(I)between 2 or more companies (including the first-mentioned company) within a group,
(II)under a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation,
(III)under a merger,
(IV)under a division, or
(V)under a joint venture,
(iii)the scheme members are either current or former employees of one of the parties to that agreement or of a company for the benefit of whose employees the contributions are paid under the terms of that agreement, and
(iv)the contributions would qualify for relief under paragraph (c) if the scheme members were employees of the first-mentioned company;
‘group’ means 2 or more companies which satisfy the conditions for group relief under section 411;
‘scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation’ has the same meaning as in section 615;
‘merger’ and ‘division’ have the same meaning as in section 638A;
‘joint venture’ means an agreement between 2 or more companies, other than within a group.
(b)Any sum paid by an employer or relevant contributor by means of contribution under the scheme shall for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D and of sections 83 and 707(4) be allowed to be deducted as an expense, or expense of management, incurred in the chargeable period in which the sum is paid but no other sum shall for those purposes be allowed to be deducted as an expense, or expense of management, in respect of the making, or any provision for the making, of any contributions under the scheme.
(c)The amount of an employer’s contributions which may be deducted under paragraph (b) shall not exceed the amount contributed by that employer under the scheme in respect of employees in a trade or undertaking in respect of the profits of which the employer is assessable to income tax or corporation tax, as the case may be.
(d)A sum not paid by means of an ordinary annual contribution shall for the purposes of paragraph (b) be treated, as the Revenue Commissioners may direct, either as an expense incurred in the chargeable period in which the sum is paid, or as an expense to be spread over such period of years as the Revenue Commissioners think proper.
(e)In the case of any employer for a chargeable period, being –
(i)where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, an accounting period ending on or before the 21st day of April, 1997, and
(ii)where the chargeable period is a year of assessment, any year of assessment the employer’s basis period for which ends on or before that date,
this subsection shall apply subject to paragraph 26 of Schedule 32.
(7)
(a)Any ordinary annual contribution paid under the scheme by an employee shall, in assessing income tax under Schedule E, be allowed to be deducted as an expense incurred in the year in which the contribution is paid.
(b)Any contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, paid or borne by an employee under the scheme may, as the Revenue Commissioners think proper –
(i)be treated, as respects the year in which it is paid, as an ordinary annual contribution paid in that year, or
(ii)in the case of –
(I)such a contribution made on retirement, following an application in writing made before 6 February 2003 by the employee in response to an invitation in writing under the scheme, pursuant to the rules of the scheme –
(A)to contribute towards the purchase for superannuation purposes of relevant benefits, consisting of only a pension on retirement not exceeding one-eightieth of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years and a lump sum not exceeding three-eightieths of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years, in respect of actual service by the employee before becoming a member of the scheme, and
(B)to make such purchase by way of such a contribution either on retirement or otherwise,
and as a consequence of which application the employee opted, or was treated by the scheme as opting, to make the contribution on retirement, for the purposes of receiving relevant benefits under the scheme in excess of the benefits which, if the application referred to had not been made, the employee would otherwise have been entitled to receive under those rules, or
(II)a contribution to which paragraph (ba) applies,
be apportioned among such years as the Revenue Commissioners direct, and the amount of the contribution attributed thereby to any year shall be treated as an ordinary annual contribution paid in that year.
(ba)This paragraph applies to a contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, and which –
(i)is required by the rules of the scheme to be made, in respect of a benefit to which section 772(3)(b) applies, by way of deduction from a lump sum payable to the employee in accordance with section 772(3)(f), or
(ii)is, following resumption of or change of employment, made, on retirement, in connection with the repayment by the employee to the scheme of superannuation contributions previously refunded to the employee or of relevant benefits provided to the employee on the employee’s leaving an employment in relation to service in which the superannuation contributions or, as the case may be, the relevant benefits related.
(c)The aggregate amount of annual contributions (whether ordinary annual contributions or contributions treated as ordinary annual contributions) allowed to be deducted in any year shall not exceed –
(i)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 30 years or over but had not attained the age of 40 years, 20 per cent,
(ii)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 40 years or over but had not attained the age of 50 years, 25 per cent,
(iii)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 50 years or over but had not attained the age of 55 years, 30 per cent,
(iv)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 55 years or over but had not attained the age of 60 years, 35 per cent,
(v)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 60 years or over, 40 per cent, and
(vi)in any other case, 15 per cent,
of the remuneration for that year of the office or employment in respect of which the contributions are paid.
(d)Where in any year of assessment a reduction or a greater reduction would be made under this section in the remuneration of an individual but for an insufficiency of remuneration, the amount of the reduction which would have been made but for that reason, less the amount of the reduction which is made in that year, shall be carried forward to the next year of assessment, and shall be treated for the purposes of relief under this section as the amount of an annual contribution paid in the next year of assessment.
(e)In so far as an amount once carried forward under paragraph (d) (and treated as an amount of an annual contribution paid in the next year of assessment) is not deducted from or set off against the individual’s remuneration for that year of assessment, it shall be carried forward again to the following year of assessment (and treated as the amount of an annual contribution paid in that year of assessment) and so on for succeeding years.
(7A)Subsection (7)(b)(ii) shall operate notwithstanding any limitation in section 865(4) on the time within which a claim for a repayment of tax is required to be made where the officer or employee makes a claim for relief in respect of a contribution which is not an ordinary annual contribution within 4 years from the end of the year of assessment in which such contribution is paid or borne by the officer or employee. Section 865(6) shall not prevent the Revenue Commissioners from making a repayment of tax as a consequence of such a claim, where a valid claim for a repayment of tax (within the meaning of section 865(1)(b)) has been made by the officer or employee.
(8)Subject to paragraphs (b) and (ba) of subsection (7) where in relation to a year of assessment any contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, is paid by an employee under the scheme after the end of the year of assessment but before the specified return date for the chargeable period (within the meaning of Part 41A), the contribution may, if the individual so elects on or before that date, be treated for the purposes of this section as paid in the earlier year (and not in the year in which it is paid); but where the amount of that contribution, together with any other contribution to the scheme paid by the individual in the year to which the contribution relates (or treated as so paid by virtue of any previous election under this subsection), exceeds the maximum amount of contributions allowed to be deducted in that year, the election shall have no effect as respects the excess.
775.
Certain approved schemes: provisions supplementary to section 774(6).
(1)Where –
(a)after the 21st day of April, 1997, there is an actual payment by an employer of a contribution under an exempt approved scheme,
(b)apart from this section that payment would be allowed to be deducted as an expense, or expense of management, of the employer in relation to any chargeable period, and
(c)the total of previously allowed deductions exceeds the relevant maximum,
then, the amount allowed to be so deducted in respect of the payment mentioned in paragraph (a) and of any other actual payments of contributions under the scheme which, having been made after the 21st day of April, 1997, are within paragraph (b) in relation to the same chargeable period shall be reduced by whichever is the lesser of the excess and the amount which reduces the deduction to nil.
(2)In relation to any such actual payment by an employer of a contribution under an exempt approved scheme as would be allowed to be deducted as mentioned in subsection (1) in relation to any chargeable period –
(a)the reference in that subsection to the total of previously allowed deductions is a reference to the aggregate of every amount in respect of the making, or any provision for the making, of that or any other contribution under the scheme, which has been allowed to be deducted as an expense, or expense of management, of that person in relation to all previous chargeable periods, and
(b)the reference to the relevant maximum is a reference to the amount which would have been that aggregate if the restriction on deductions for sums other than actual payments imposed by virtue of section 774(6) had been applied in relation to every previous chargeable period,
and for the purposes of this subsection an amount the deduction of the whole or any part of which is to be taken into account as allowed in relation to more than one chargeable period shall be treated as if the amount allowed were a different amount in the case of each of those periods.
(3)For the purposes of this section, any payment which is treated under paragraph (d) of section 774(6) as spread over a period of years shall be treated as actually paid at the time when it is treated as paid in accordance with that paragraph.
776.
Certain statutory schemes: exemptions and reliefs.
(1)This section shall apply to any statutory scheme established under a public statute.
(2)
(a)Any ordinary annual contribution paid under a scheme to which this section applies by any officer or employee shall, in assessing income tax under Schedule E, be allowed to be deducted as an expense incurred in the year in which the contribution is paid.
(b)Subject to paragraph (bb), any contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, paid or borne by an officer or employee under a scheme to which this section applies may, as the Revenue Commissioners think proper –
(i)be treated, as respects the year in which it is paid, as an ordinary annual contribution paid in that year, or
(ii)in the case of –
(I)such a contribution made on retirement, following an application in writing made before 6 February 2003 by the employee in response to an invitation in writing under the scheme, pursuant to the rules of the scheme –
(A)to contribute towards the purchase for superannuation purposes of relevant benefits, consisting of only a pension on retirement not exceeding one-eightieth of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years and a lump sum not exceeding three-eightieths of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years, in respect of actual service by the employee before becoming a member of the scheme, and
(B)to make such purchase by way of such a contribution either on retirement or otherwise,
and as a consequence of which application the employee opted, or was treated by the scheme as opting, to make the contribution on retirement, for the purposes of receiving relevant benefits under the scheme in excess of the benefits which, if the application referred to had not been made, the employee would otherwise have been entitled to receive under those rules, or
(II)a contribution to which paragraph (ba) applies,
be apportioned among such years as the Revenue Commissioners direct, and the amount of the contribution attributed thereby to any year shall be treated as an ordinary annual contribution paid in that year.
(ba)This paragraph applies to a contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, and which –
(i)is required by the statute under which the scheme is established or by any other statute or regulation to be made in respect of the provision of a pension for any widow, widower, surviving civil partner, children or dependants, or children of the surviving civil partner, of the officer or employee by way of a deduction from a lump sum payable to the employee on retirement or from the balance of a lump sum payable to the employee in accordance with paragraph 5 of Appendix A of the Department of Finance Circular 12/09, dated 30 April 2009, entitled ‘Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement’, or
(ii)is, following resumption of or on change of employment, made, on retirement, in connection with the repayment by the officer or employee to the scheme of superannuation contributions previously refunded to the officer or employee or of relevant benefits provided to the officer or employee on the officer or employee’s leaving the office or employment in relation to service in which the superannuation contributions or, as the case may be, the relevant benefits related.
(bb)
(i)In this paragraph –
‘fixed-term employee’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003;
‘NUIG’ means the National University of Ireland, Galway;
‘NUIG scheme’ means, as the case may be –
(I)the National University of Ireland, Galway (Closed) Pension Scheme 2010 (Joint Pension Scheme), or
(II)the National University of Ireland, Galway Pension Scheme 2005 (Model Scheme);
‘qualifying period’ means the period beginning on 1 July 2008 and ending on 31 December 2018;
‘relevant period’ means the period beginning on 14 July 2003 and ending on 30 June 2008;
‘relevant year’ means any year which falls wholly or partially within the relevant period;
‘specified employee’ means an individual who was a fixed-term employee of NUIG during the relevant period under a contract of employment which is governed by the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003.
(ii)This paragraph applies to a contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, paid or borne by a specified employee under the NUIG scheme during the qualifying period in respect of a relevant year, other than such a contribution which is –
(I)treated as an ordinary annual contribution in accordance with subparagraph (i) or (ii)(II) of paragraph (b), or
(II)following an election under subsection (3), is treated for the purposes of this section as paid in the year prior to the year in which it is paid.
(iii)Any contribution to which this paragraph applies, which has not otherwise been deducted as an expense in assessing income tax under Schedule E for any year, shall be treated as an ordinary annual contribution paid in the relevant year.
(c)The aggregate amount of annual contributions (whether ordinary annual contributions or contributions treated as ordinary annual contributions) allowed to be deducted in any year shall not exceed –
(i)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 30 years or over but had not attained the age of 40 years, 20 per cent,
(ii)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 40 years or over but had not attained the age of 50 years, 25 per cent,
(iii)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 50 years or over but had not attained the age of 55 years, 30 per cent,
(iv)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 55 years or over but had not attained the age of 60 years, 35 per cent,
(v)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 60 years or over, 40 per cent, and
(vi)in any other case, 15 per cent,
of the remuneration for that year of the office or employment in respect of which the contributions are paid.
(d)Where in any year of assessment a reduction or a greater reduction would be made under this section in the remuneration of an individual but for an insufficiency of remuneration, the amount of the reduction which would have been made but for that reason, less the amount of the reduction which is made in that year, shall be carried forward to the next year of assessment, and shall be treated for the purposes of relief under this section as the amount of an annual contribution paid in the next year of assessment.
(e)In so far as an amount once carried forward under paragraph (d) (and treated as an amount of an annual contribution paid in the next year of assessment) is not deducted from or set off against the individual’s remuneration for that year of assessment, it shall be carried forward again to the following year of assessment (and treated as the amount of an annual contribution paid in that year of assessment) and so on for succeeding years.
(2A)
(a)Paragraphs (b)(ii) and (bb) of subsection (2) shall operate notwithstanding any limitation in section 865(4) on the time within which a claim for a repayment of tax is required to be made where the officer or employee makes a claim for relief in respect of a contribution which is not an ordinary annual contribution within 4 years from the end of the year of assessment in which such contribution is paid or borne by the officer or employee and section 865(6) shall not prevent the Revenue Commissioners from making a repayment of tax as a consequence of such a claim, where a valid claim for a repayment of tax (within the meaning of section 865(1)(b)) has been made by the officer or employee.
(b)For the purposes of this subsection, where a contribution to which subsection (2)(bb) applies has been paid or borne by a specified employee before 1 January 2015, it shall be treated as having been paid or borne by the employee in the year of assessment 2014.
(3)Subject to paragraphs (b), (ba) and (bb) of subsection (2), where in relation to a year of assessment any contribution, which is not an ordinary annual contribution, is paid by an employee under the scheme after the end of the year of assessment but before the specified return date for the chargeable period (within the meaning of Part 41A), the contribution may, if the individual so elects on or before that date, be treated for the purposes of this section as paid in the earlier year (and not in the year in which it is paid); but where the amount of that contribution, together with any other contribution to the scheme paid by the individual in the year to which the contribution relates (or treated as so paid by virtue of any previous election under this subsection), exceeds the maximum amount of contributions allowed to be deducted in that year, the election shall have no effect as respects the excess.
777.
Charge to income tax in respect of certain relevant benefits provided for employees.
(1)Subject to this Chapter, where pursuant to a retirement benefits scheme the employer in any year of assessment pays a sum with a view to the provision of any relevant benefits for any employee of that employer, then (whether or not the accrual of the benefits is dependent on any contingency), the sum paid, if not otherwise chargeable to income tax as income of the employee, shall be deemed for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts to be income of that employee for that year of assessment and assessable to income tax under Schedule E.
(2)Subject to this Chapter, where –
(a)the circumstances in which any relevant benefits under a retirement benefits scheme are to accrue are not such as will render the benefits assessable to income tax as emoluments of the employee in respect of whom the benefits are paid, and
(b)the provision of those benefits is not, or is not fully, secured by the payment of sums by the employer with a view to the provision of those benefits,
then (whether or not the accrual of the benefits is dependent on any contingency), an amount equal to the cost, estimated in accordance with subsection (3), of securing the provision by a third person of the benefits or, as the case may be, of the benefits in so far as not already secured by the payment of sums mentioned in subsection (1) shall be deemed for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts to be income of the employee for the year or years of assessment specified in subsection (3) and assessable to income tax under Schedule E.
(3)The cost referred to in subsection (2) shall be estimated either –
(a)as an annual sum payable in each year of assessment in which the scheme in question is in force or the employee is serving, up to and including the year of assessment in which the benefits accrue or there ceases to be any possibility of the accrual of the benefits, or
(b)as a single sum payable in the year of assessment in which falls the date when the employee acquired the right to the relevant benefits or the date when the employee acquired the right to any increase in the relevant benefits,
as may be more appropriate in the circumstances of the case.
(4)Where the employer pays any sum mentioned in subsection (1) in relation to more than one employee, the sum so paid shall for the purpose of that subsection be apportioned among those employees by reference to the separate sums which would have had to be paid to secure the separate benefits to be provided for them respectively, and the part of the sum apportioned to each of them shall be deemed for that purpose to have been paid separately in relation to that one of them.
(5)Any reference in this section to the provision for an employee of relevant benefits shall include a reference to the provision of benefits payable to the employee’s spouse, civil partner, widow, widower, surviving civil partner, children, dependants, personal representatives or children of the surviving civil partner.
778.
Exceptions to charge to tax under section 777.
(1)Neither subsection (1) nor subsection (2) of section 777 shall apply where the retirement benefits scheme in question is –
(a)an approved scheme,
(b)a statutory scheme, or
(c)a scheme set up by a Government outside the State for the benefit, or primarily for the benefit, of its employees.
(2)Neither subsection (1) nor subsection (2) of section 777 shall apply for any year of assessment where apart from those subsections the employee is under the Income Tax Acts either not assessable to income tax in respect of the emoluments of his or her employment or is so assessable in respect of those emoluments on the basis of the amount received in the State.
(3)Where, in respect of the provision for an employee of any relevant benefits, a sum has been deemed to be income of the employee by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of section 777, and subsequently the employee proves to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners –
(a)that no payment in respect of or in substitution for the benefits has been made, and
(b)that some event has occurred by reason of which no such payment will be made,
and the employee makes application for relief under this subsection within 6 years from the time when that event occurred, the Revenue Commissioners shall give relief in respect of tax on that sum by repayment or otherwise as may be appropriate, and, if the employee satisfies the Revenue Commissioners in relation to some particular part of the benefits but not the whole of the benefits, the Revenue Commissioners may give such relief as may seem to them just and reasonable.
779.
Charge to income tax of pensions under Schedule E.
(1)Subject to subsection (2), pensions paid under any scheme, including an overseas pension scheme, which is approved or is being considered for approval under this Chapter shall, notwithstanding anything in section 18 or 19, be charged to tax under Schedule E, and Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall apply accordingly.
(2)In respect of any scheme which is approved or is being considered for approval under this Chapter, the Revenue Commissioners may direct that until such date as they may specify pensions under the scheme shall be charged to tax as annual payments under Case III of Schedule D, and tax shall be deductible under section 237 or 238 accordingly.
779A.
Transactions deemed to be pensions in payment.
(1)Where the assets of a retirement benefits scheme, which is approved, or is being considered for approval, under this Chapter (in this section referred to as the “scheme”), are used in connection with any transaction which would, if the assets were the assets of an approved retirement fund, be regarded under section 784A as giving rise to a distribution for the purposes of that section, the use of the assets shall be regarded as a pension paid under the scheme and the amount so regarded shall be calculated in accordance with that section.
(2)An amount which has been regarded as a pension paid under the scheme, in accordance with this section, shall not be regarded as an asset in the scheme for any purpose.
(3)Any property, the acquisition or sale of which is regarded as giving rise to a pension payment under the scheme, shall not be regarded as an asset of the scheme.
780.
Charge to income tax on repayment of employees’ contributions.
(1)In this section and in section 781, “employee”, in relation to a statutory scheme, includes an officer.
(2)Subject to this section, tax shall be charged under this section on any repayment to an employee during his or her lifetime of any contribution (including interest on contributions, if any) if the payment is made under –
(a)a scheme which is or has at any time been an exempt approved scheme, or
(b)a statutory scheme established under a public statute.
(2A)This section shall not apply to the extent that any repayment of contributions is transferred by the administrator of the scheme to the administrator of a PRSA, by way of contribution to a PRSA to which the employee is the contributor.
(3)This section shall not apply where the employee’s employment was carried on outside the State.
(4)Subsection (2)(a) shall not apply in relation to a contribution made after the scheme ceases to be an exempt approved scheme unless it again becomes an exempt approved scheme.
(5)Where any payment is chargeable to tax under this section, the administrator of the scheme shall be charged to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D and, subject to subsection (7), the rate of the tax shall be the standard rate in force at the time of payment; but, in the case of any repayment under a statutory scheme established under a public statute, the administrator of the scheme shall be entitled to deduct the tax chargeable in respect of that repayment from the amount of that repayment.
(6)The tax shall be charged on the amount paid or, if the administrator is entitled under the rules of the relevant scheme or otherwise to deduct the tax before payment, on the amount before deduction of tax, and the amount so charged to tax shall not be treated as income for any other purpose of the Income Tax Acts.
(7)
(a)The Minister for Finance may by order from time to time increase or decrease the rate of tax under subsection (5).
(b)Every order under paragraph (a) shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
781.
Charge to income tax: commutation of entire pension.
(1)Where –
(a)a scheme which is or has at any time been an approved scheme, or
(b)a statutory scheme established under a public statute,
contains a rule allowing in special circumstances a payment in commutation of an employee’s entire pension, and any pension is commuted, whether wholly or not, under the rule, tax shall be charged on the amount by which the sum receivable exceeds –
(i)the largest sum which would have been receivable in commutation of any part of the pension if the scheme had contained a rule providing that the aggregate value of the relevant benefits payable to an employee on or after retirement, excluding any pension which was not commutable, should not exceed three-eightieths of the employee’s final remuneration for each year of service up to a maximum of 40 years, or
(ii)the largest sum which would have been receivable in commutation of any part of the pension under any rule of the scheme authorising the commutation of part (but not the whole) of the pension, or which would have been so receivable but for those circumstances,
whichever gives the lesser amount chargeable to tax.
(2)This section shall not apply where the employee’s employment was carried on outside the State.
(3)Where any amount is chargeable to tax under this section, the administrator of the scheme shall be charged to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D on that amount and, subject to subsection (6) of section 780 which shall apply as it applies to tax chargeable under that section, the rate of tax shall be 10 per cent.
(4)In applying paragraph (i) or (ii) of subsection (1) –
(a)the same considerations shall be taken into account, including the provisions of any other relevant scheme, as would have been taken into account by the Revenue Commissioners in applying section 772, and
(b)where the scheme has ceased to be an approved scheme, account shall only be taken of the rules of the scheme at the date of the cesser.
782.
Charge to tax: repayments to employer.
(1)Where any payment is made or becomes due to an employer out of funds which are or have been held for the purposes of a scheme which is or has at any time been an exempt approved scheme, then –
(a)if the scheme relates to a trade or profession carried on by the employer, the payment shall be treated for the purposes of the Tax Acts as a receipt of that trade or profession receivable when the payment is due or on the last day on which the trade or profession is carried on by the employer, whichever is the earlier;
(b)if the scheme does not relate to such a trade or profession, the employer shall be charged to tax on the amount of the payment under Case IV of Schedule D, but only in proportion to the extent that the payment represents contributions by the employer under the scheme which were allowable as deductions for tax purposes.
(2)This section shall not apply to a payment which was due before the scheme became an exempt approved scheme.
(3)References in this section to any payment include references to any transfer of assets or other transfer of money’s worth.
782A.
Pre-retirement access to AVCs.
(1)
(a)In this section –
“accumulated value”, in relation to relevant AVC contributions, means –
(i)where the contributions are contributions of a kind referred to in paragraph (i) of the definition of “relevant AVC contributions”, the amount which the administrator determines to be equal to the realisable value of the portion of the resources of the scheme that, in accordance with the rules of the scheme, represents those contributions, less the amount of so much of the expenses of the scheme as, under the rules of the scheme, are to be discharged out of that portion, and
(ii)where the contributions are contributions of a kind referred to in paragraph (ii) of the definition of “relevant AVC contributions”, the amount which the PRSA administrator determines to be equal to the realisable value of the resources of the PRSA contract that, in accordance with the terms of the contract, represents those contributions, less the amount of the expenses of the contract as, under the terms of the contract, are to be discharged out of the realisable value;
“administrator”, in relation to an AVC fund, means the person or persons having the management of the scheme to which the relevant AVC contributions comprising the AVC fund have been made or, as the case may be, the PRSA administrator;
“AVC fund” means the accumulated value of relevant AVC contributions made by a member, other than the accumulated value of relevant AVC contributions of a kind referred to in paragraph (ii) of the definition of that term where benefits have become payable to the member under the main scheme;
“designated benefit” and “pension adjustment order” have the meanings assigned to them in section 787O(5)(a);
“member”, in relation to a scheme, means any person who, having been admitted to membership under the rules of the scheme, remains entitled to any benefit under the scheme;
“PRSA administrator” has the meaning assigned to it in section 787A(1);
“PRSA contract” has the meaning assigned to it in section 787A,
“relevant AVC contributions” means –
(i)additional voluntary contributions within the meaning of section 770(1), and
(ii)additional voluntary PRSA contributions within the meaning of section 787A(1),
made for the purpose of providing relevant benefits on retirement and include such additional voluntary contributions representing a transfer of additional voluntary contributions from a retirement benefits scheme or a PRSA, as the case may be, but shall not include such additional voluntary contributions made under a purchase of notional service scheme;
“relevant individual” means a member of a scheme who has an AVC fund and, as the case may be, where the AVC fund is subject to a pension adjustment order includes the spouse or former spouse or civil partner or former civil partner of the member;
“scheme” means an approved scheme or a statutory scheme;
“specified period” means the period of 3 years from the date of passing of the Finance Act 2013.
(b)For the purposes of this section, where an AVC fund is subject to a pension adjustment order, each relevant individual shall be deemed to have a separate AVC fund the value of which shall be determined as if the designated benefit pursuant to the order was payable at the time of the transfer provided for in subsection (3).
(c)For the purposes of this section, relevant AVC contributions shall not include –
(i)any sum paid by means of contribution, howsoever described, at any time by an employer (within the meaning of section 787A) to a scheme or to a PRSA,
(ii)contributions (which are not voluntary contributions) made at any time by a member to a scheme at the rate or rates specified for member’s contributions in the rules of the scheme or otherwise, or
(iii)contributions (which are not additional voluntary contributions of a kind referred to in subparagraph (ii) of the definition of “relevant AVC contributions”) made at any time by a member to a PRSA.
(2)Notwithstanding –
(a)section 32 of the Pensions Act 1990,
(b)the rules of a scheme of which a relevant individual is a member or the terms of a PRSA contract to which a relevant individual is party, or
(c)the provisions of a pension adjustment order made in relation to a relevant individual,
a relevant individual may during the specified period irrevocably instruct in writing the administrator of his or her AVC fund to exercise, on one occasion only, the option (in this section referred to as the ‘pre-retirement access option’) provided for in subsection (3).
(3)The pre-retirement access option is the transfer by the administrator to the relevant individual, before retirement, of an amount not exceeding 30 per cent of the value, at the time of the transfer, of the relevant individual’s AVC fund.
(4)
(a)The amount transferred by an administrator to a relevant individual in accordance with subsection (3) shall, notwithstanding section 780, be treated as a payment to the individual of emoluments to which Schedule E applies and accordingly the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall apply to any such payment, and
(b)the administrator shall deduct tax from the amount transferred at the higher rate for the year of assessment in which the payment is made unless the administrator has received from the Revenue Commissioners a certificate of tax credits and standard rate cut-off point or a tax deduction card for that year in respect of the individual.
(5)Where an administrator receives an irrevocable instruction referred to in subsection (2) the administrator shall keep and retain for a period of 6 years each such instruction and on being so required by notice given to the administrator in writing by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners make available within the time specified in the notice such instructions as may be required by the notice.
(6)Where a pre-retirement access option is exercised in respect of a relevant individual in accordance with subsection (3) the amount transferred shall not be a benefit crystallisation event (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) for the purposes of Chapter 2C and Schedule 23B.
Chapter 2
Retirement annuities (ss. 783-787)
783.
Interpretation and general (Chapter 2).
(1)
(a)In this Chapter –
“approved retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;
“approved minimum retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C;
“close company” has the same meaning as in section 430;
“connected person” has the same meaning as in section 10;
“director” means –
(i)in relation to a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by a board of directors or similar body, a member of that board or body,
(ii)in relation to a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by a single director or similar person, that director or person,
(iii)in relation to a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by the members themselves, a member of the body corporate,
and includes any person who is or has been a director;
“earnings limit” shall be construed in accordance with section 790A;
“employee”, in relation to a body corporate, includes any person taking part in the management of the affairs of the body corporate who is not a director, and includes a person who is or has been an employee;
“investment company” means a company the income of which consists mainly of investment income;
“investment income”, in relation to a company, means income which, if the company were an individual, would not be earned income;
“participator” has the same meaning as in section 433;
“proprietary director” means a director of a company who is either the beneficial owner of, or able, either directly or through the medium of other companies or by any other indirect means, to control, more than 15 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the company;
“proprietary employee” in relation to a company, means an employee who is the beneficial owner of, or able, either directly or through the medium of other companies or by any other indirect means, to control, more than 15 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the company;
“sponsored superannuation scheme” means a scheme or arrangement relating to service in particular offices or employments and having for its object or one of its objects the making of provision in respect of persons serving in those offices or employments against –
(i)future retirement or partial retirement,
(ii)future termination of service through death or disability, or
(iii)similar matters,
being a scheme or arrangement under which any part of the cost of the provision so made is or has been borne otherwise than by those persons by reason of their service (whether it is the cost or part of the cost of the benefits provided, or of paying premiums or other sums in order to provide those benefits, or of administering or instituting the scheme or arrangement).
(b)For the purposes of the definitions of “proprietary director” and “proprietary employee”, ordinary share capital which is owned or controlled as is specified in those definitions by a person, being a spouse, civil partner, infant child or infant child of the civil partner of a director or employee, or by the trustee of a trust for the benefit of a person or persons, being or including any such person or such director or employee, shall be deemed to be owned or controlled by such director or employee and not by any other person.
(c)For the purposes of the definition of “sponsored superannuation scheme”, a person shall be treated as bearing by reason of his or her service the cost of any payment made or agreed to be made in respect of his or her service if that payment or the agreement to make it is treated under the Income Tax Acts as increasing the person’s income or would be so treated if he or she were chargeable to tax under Schedule E in respect of his or her emoluments from that service.
(2)
(a)For the purposes of this Chapter, an office or employment shall be a pensionable office or employment only if service in it is service to which a sponsored superannuation scheme relates (not being a scheme under which the benefits provided in respect of that service are limited to benefits of a kind referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 772(3), including any similar benefit provided under a statutory scheme established under a public statute); but references to a pensionable office or employment apply whether or not the duties are performed wholly or partly in the State or the holder is chargeable to tax in respect of the office or employment.
(b)For the purposes of paragraph (a), service in an office or employment shall not be treated as service to which a sponsored superannuation scheme relates by reason only of the fact that the holder of the office or employment might (though he or she does not) participate in the scheme by exercising or refraining from exercising an option open to him or her by virtue of that service.
(c)For the purposes of calculating the amount of any reduction in net relevant earnings in respect of any qualifying premium or of any PRSA contribution (within the meaning of Chapter 2A of this Part) or of any PEPP contribution (within the meaning of Chapter 2D of this Part) this Chapter, Chapter 2A and Chapter 2D shall apply as if any contribution by an employee to a sponsored superannuation scheme relating to service in an office or employment, which is not a pensionable office or employment within the meaning of paragraph (a), were a payment of a qualifying premium for which relief had been given under this Chapter.
(3)For the purposes of this Chapter but subject to subsection (4), “relevant earnings”, in relation to an individual, means any income of the individual chargeable to tax for the year of assessment in question, being either –
(a)income arising in respect of remuneration from an office or employment of profit held by the individual, other than a pensionable office or employment,
(b)income from any property which is attached to or forms part of the emoluments of any such office or employment of profit held by the individual, or
(c)income which is chargeable under Schedule D and is immediately derived by the individual from the carrying on or exercise by the individual of his or her trade or profession either as an individual or, in the case of a partnership, as a partner personally acting in the partnership;
but does not include any remuneration from an investment company of which the individual is a proprietary director or a proprietary employee.
(4)For the purposes of this Chapter, the relevant earnings of an individual shall not be treated as the relevant earnings of his or her spouse or civil partner, notwithstanding that the individual’s income chargeable to tax is treated as his or her spouse’s or civil partner’s income.
(5)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations prescribing the procedure to be adopted in giving effect to this Chapter in so far as such procedure is not otherwise provided for and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may by such regulations –
(a)prescribe the manner and form in which claims for relief from or repayment of tax are to be made,
(b)prescribe the time limit for the making of any such claim,
(c)require the trustees or other persons having the management of an approved trust scheme to deliver from time to time such information and particulars as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter, and
(d)apply for purposes of this Chapter or of the regulations any provision of the Income Tax Acts (with or without modifications).
(6)Where any person, for the purpose of obtaining for that person or for any other person any relief from or repayment of tax under this Chapter, makes any false statement or false representation, that person shall be liable to a penalty of €3,000.
784.
Retirement annuities: relief for premiums.
(1)
(a)Where an individual, being an individual referred to in paragraph (b), pays a premium or other consideration under an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners as being a contract by which the main benefit secured is, or would, but for the exercise of an option by the individual under subsection (2A), be a life annuity for the individual in his or her old age or under a contract for the time being approved under section 785 (in this Chapter referred to as a “qualifying premium”), relief from income tax may be given in respect of the qualifying premium under section 787.
(b)An individual referred to in this paragraph is an individual who is or was (or but for an insufficiency of profits or gains would be or would have been) for any year of assessment chargeable to tax in respect of relevant earnings from any trade, profession, office or employment carried on or held by him or her and who paid a qualifying premium in that year.
(2)
(a)Subject to subsections (2A) and (3) and to section 786, the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a contract unless it appears to them to satisfy the following conditions –
(i)that it is made by the individual with a person lawfully carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life, and, where that person –
(I)is not resident in the State, or
(II)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business,
that person is an insurance undertaking authorised to transact insurance business in the State under Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 or, where that person is established in the United Kingdom, is authorised to transact insurance business by the authority in the United Kingdom charged by law with the duty of supervising such persons,
(ii)that it includes provision securing that no annuity payable under it shall be capable in whole or in part of surrender, commutation or assignment, and
(iii)that it does not –
(I)provide for the payment by that person during the life of the individual of any sum except sums payable by means of annuity to the individual,
(II)provide for the annuity payable to the individual to commence before the individual attains the age of 60 years or after he or she attains the age of 75 years,
(III)provide for the payment by that person of any other sums except sums payable by means of annuity to the individual’s widow, widower or surviving civil partner and any sums which, in the event of no annuity becoming payable either to the individual or to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner, are payable to the individual’s personal representatives by means of return of premiums, reasonable interest on premiums or bonuses out of profits,
(IV)provide for the annuity, if any, payable to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of the individual to be of a greater annual amount than that paid or payable to the individual, or
(V)provide for the payment of any annuity otherwise than for the life of the annuitant.
(b)Notwithstanding paragraph (a) –
(i)the contract may provide for the payment to the individual, at the time the annuity commences to be payable or, where the individual opts in accordance with subsection (2A), at the time of the transfer referred to in that subsection, of a lump sum by means of commutation of part of the annuity where the individual elects, at or before the time when the annuity first becomes payable to him or her or before the date of such transfer, to be paid the lump sum, and
(ii)the amount payable under subparagraph (i) shall not exceed 25 per cent of the value of the annuity payable or the value of the annuity which would have been payable if the individual had not opted in accordance with subsection (2A).
(c)The reference in paragraph (b)(i) to the commutation of part of the annuity shall, in a case where the individual has opted in accordance with subsection (2A), be construed as a reference to the commutation of the annuity which would, but for such election, be payable if the individual opted to have the annuity paid with effect from the date of the transfer referred to in that subsection.
(2A)The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a contract unless it appears to them that the contract provides for the individual entitled to an annuity under the contract to exercise, on or before the date on which that annuity would otherwise become payable, an option for the transfer by the person with whom the contract is made, on or after that date, to –
(a)the individual, or
(b)an approved retirement fund,
of an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A – B
where –
Ais the amount equal to the value of the individual’s accrued rights under the contract exclusive of any lump sum paid in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (2), and
Bis the amount or value of assets which the person with whom the contract is made is to apply in purchasing an annuity payable to the individual with effect from the date of the exercise of the said option.
(2B)
(a)Where an individual opts in accordance with subsection (2A), any amount paid to the individual by virtue of that subsection, other than an amount payable by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), shall, notwithstanding anything in section 18 or 19, be regarded as a payment of emoluments to which Schedule E applies and, accordingly, the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall, subject to paragraph (b), apply to any such payment.
(b)The person making a payment to which paragraph (a) refers shall deduct tax from the payment at the higher rate for the year of assessment in which the payment is made unless that person has received from the Revenue Commissioners a revenue payroll notification (within the meaning of section 983) for that year in respect of the individual beneficially entitled to the payment.
(2C)Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, a retirement annuity contract shall not cease to be an approved contract because of any provision in law, whether or not contained in the contract, whereby the parties to the contract may cancel the contract and effect a transfer of assets into one or more than one PRSA of which the individual who is a party to that approved contract is the contributor.
(2D)Notwithstanding any other provisions in this Chapter, a retirement annuity contract shall neither cease to be an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving such a contract notwithstanding that the contract provides for the annuity secured by the contract for an individual to be commuted to such extent as may be necessary for the purpose of discharging a tax liability in respect of the individual, under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part, in connection with the annuity.
(2E)Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, a retirement annuity contract shall not cease to be an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners, nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving such a contract, notwithstanding that the contract provides for the annuity secured by the contract for an individual to be commuted, where the individual comes within the provisions of section 787TA, to such extent as may be necessary for the purpose of the exercise of an option by the individual in accordance with that section requiring an amount representing the value of, or part of the value of, the individual’s accrued rights under the contract at the date of the exercise of the option to be transferred to the individual by the person with whom the contract is made.
(2F)Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, a retirement annuity contract shall not cease to be an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners where, notwithstanding anything contained in the contract as approved –
(a)the person with whom the contract is made –
(i)on or before 31 March 2017 –
(I)commences payment of an annuity to the individual,
(II)pays a lump sum of a kind referred to in subsection (2)(b) to the individual, or
(III)transfers the value of the individual’s accrued rights under the contract in accordance with subsection (2A),
or
(ii)in priority to any payment or transfer referred to in subparagraph (i), makes available from the cash and other assets representing the value of the individual’s accrued rights under the contract, to such extent as may be necessary, an amount for the purposes of discharging a tax liability in relation to the individual under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part in respect of the contract,
(b)insofar as subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) is concerned, the annuity contract is deemed to be a vested RAC in accordance with section 787O(6), and
(c)insofar as subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) is concerned, the annuity contract is a vested RAC within the meaning of section 787O(1).
(3)The Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit and subject to any conditions they think proper to impose, approve a contract otherwise satisfying the conditions referred to in subsection (2), notwithstanding that the contract provides for one or more of the following matters –
(a)the payment after the individual’s death of an annuity to a dependant, not being the widow, widower or surviving civil partner of the individual;
(b)the payment to the individual of an annuity commencing before he or she attains the age of 60 years, where the annuity is payable on the individual becoming permanently incapable through infirmity of mind or body of carrying on his or her own occupation or any occupation of a similar nature for which he or she is trained or fitted;
(c)where the individual’s occupation is one in which persons customarily retire before attaining the age of 60 years, the annuity to commence before the individual attains that age (but not before he or she attains the age of 50 years);
(d)[deleted]
(e)the annuity payable to any person to continue for a term certain (not exceeding 10 years) notwithstanding his or her death within that term, or the annuity payable to any person to terminate, or be suspended, on marriage or remarriage or on entering into a civil partnership or a new civil partnership or in other circumstances;
(f)in the case of an annuity which is to continue for a term certain, the annuity to be assignable by will and, in the event of any person dying entitled to the annuity, the annuity to be assignable by his or her personal representatives in the distribution of the estate so as to give effect to a testamentary disposition, or to the rights of those entitled on intestacy or to an appropriation of the annuity to a legacy or to a share or interest in the estate.
(4)Subsections (1) to (3) shall apply in relation to a contribution under a trust scheme or part of a trust scheme approved by the Revenue Commissioners as they apply in relation to a premium under an annuity contract so approved, with the modification that for the condition in subsection (2)(a)(i) there shall be substituted a condition that the scheme (or the part of the scheme) –
(a)is established under the law of and administered in the State,
(b)is established for the benefit of individuals engaged in or connected with a particular occupation (or one or other of a group of occupations) and for the purpose of providing retirement annuities for those individuals with or without subsidiary benefits for their families, civil partners, dependants or the children of their civil partners, and
(c)is so established under irrevocable trusts by a body of persons comprising or representing the majority of the individuals so engaged in the State,
and with the necessary modifications of other references to the contract or the person with whom it is made, and exemption from income tax shall be allowed in respect of income derived from investments or deposits of any fund maintained for the purpose referred to in paragraph (b) under a scheme or part of a scheme for the time being approved under this subsection.
(4A)At any time when the person referred to in subsection (2)(a)(i) or in section 785(1) –
(a)is not resident in the State, or
(b)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business,
the person shall, in relation to the discharge of all duties and obligations imposed by this section or, as the case may be, by section 785, by Chapter 2C and by section 125B of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 –
(i)enter into a contract with the Revenue Commissioners enforceable in a Member State of the European Communities or in the United Kingdom, as the case may be, in relation to the discharge of those duties and obligations and in entering into such a contract the parties to the contract shall acknowledge and agree in writing that –
(I)it is governed solely by the laws of the State, and
(II)that the courts of the State shall have exclusive jurisdiction in determining any dispute arising under it,
or
(ii)ensure that there is a person resident in the State (referred to in this paragraph as the “appointed person”), appointed by the person, to be responsible for the discharge of those duties and obligations and the person shall notify the Revenue Commissioners of the appointment of the appointed person and the identity of the appointed person.
(4B)The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require the person to whom premiums are payable under any contract for the time being approved under this section or under section 785, or the appointed person referred to in subsection (4A)(ii), as the case may be, to provide, within 30 days of the date of such notice, such information and particulars as may be specified in the notice as they may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such information and particulars may include –
(a)the name, address and PPS Number (within the meaning of section 787A(1)) of the individual with whom the contract has been made,
(b)the name, address and PPS Number (within that meaning) of the individual or individuals to whom any payment of an annuity in respect of the contract has been made, and
(c)the amount of the annuity payments referred to in paragraph (b).
(5)The Revenue Commissioners may at any time, by notice in writing given to the persons by and to whom premiums are payable under any contract for the time being approved under this section or to the trustees or other persons having the management of any trust scheme so approved, withdraw that approval on such grounds and from such date (including a date before the date of the notice) as may be specified in the notice and, where any approval is so withdrawn, there shall be made such assessments as may be appropriate for the purpose of withdrawing any reliefs given under this Chapter consequent on the approval.
(6)Nothing in sections 4 and 6 of the Policies of Assurance Act, 1867, shall be taken to apply to any contract approved under this section.
(7)Notwithstanding anything in section 18 or section 19, any payment of an annuity made on or after 1 January 2002 in respect of an annuity contract approved under this section or under section 785 shall be regarded as a pension chargeable to tax under Schedule E, and Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall apply accordingly.
(8)Where an annuity contract is a vested RAC within the meaning of section 787O(1), the provisions of section 784A(4) shall apply to the cash and other assets representing the individual’s accrued rights under the contract at the time of death of the individual as if that cash and those other assets were assets of an approved retirement fund.
(9)Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, on and from 1 January 2024 the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve any contract under this section, save in the case of any such contract in respect of which an application has been made to the Revenue Commissioners for approval under this section before that date.
784A.
Approved retirement fund.
(1)
(a)In this section –
“approved retirement fund” means a fund which is managed by a qualifying fund manager and which complies with the conditions of section 784B;
“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement;
“EEA state” means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;
“qualifying fund manager” means –
(a)a person who is a holder of a licence granted under section 9 or an authorisation granted under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971, or a person who holds a licence or other similar authorisation under the law of an EEA state, other than the State, or of the United Kingdom, which corresponds to a licence granted under the said section 9,
(b)a building society within the meaning of the Building Societies Act 1989, or a society established in accordance with the law of a Member State of the European Union, other than the State, or of the United Kingdom, which corresponds to that Act,
(c)a trustee savings bank within the meaning of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989,
(d)[deleted]
(e)[deleted]
(f)[deleted]
(g)the Post Office Savings Bank,
(h)a credit union within the meaning of the Credit Union Act, 1997,
(i)a collective investment undertaking within the meaning of section 172A,
(j)the holder of –
(i)an authorisation under the European Union (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 485 of 2015), in respect of insurance of a class listed in Schedule 2 to those Regulations, or
(ii)an authorisation granted by the authority charged by law with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in a Member State of the European Union (other than the State), Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway in accordance with Article 14 of Directive 2009/138/EC or an authorisation granted by the authority in the United Kingdom charged by law with the duty of supervising persons carrying on the business of insurance in the United Kingdom, who is carrying on the business of life assurance in the State, or
(iii)[deleted]
(k)a person –
(i)which is an authorised member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange, within the meaning of the Stock Exchange Act, 1995, or a member firm (which carries on a trade in the State through a branch or agency) of a stock exchange of any other Member State of the European Communities or the United Kingdom, and
(ii)which has sent to the Revenue Commissioners a notification of its name and address and of its intention to act as a qualifying fund manager,
or
(l)a firm approved under section 10 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, which is authorised to hold client money, other than a firm authorised as a Restricted Activity Investment Product Intermediary, where the firm’s authorisation permits it to engage in the proposed activities, or a business firm which has been authorised to provide similar investment business services under the laws of a Member State of the European Communities or the United Kingdom which correspond to that Act;
(b)For the purposes of this Chapter, references to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as a reference to assets in an approved retirement fund which are managed for an individual by a qualifying fund manager and which are beneficially owned by the individual.
(c)Nothing in this Part shall be construed as authorising or permitting a person who is a qualifying fund manager to provide any services which that person would not otherwise be authorised or permitted to provide in the State.
(d)Any reference in this section to a distribution in relation to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as including any payment or transfer of assets out of the fund or any assignment of the fund or of assets out of the fund by any person, including a payment, transfer or assignment to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets, other than a payment, transfer or assignment to another approved retirement fund the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the first-mentioned approved retirement fund, whether or not the payment, transfer or assignment is made to the said individual.
(e)For the purposes of this section, any distribution in relation to an approved retirement fund shall be deemed to have been made by the qualifying fund manager.
(1A)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(d), where assets of an approved retirement fund are used in connection with any of the transactions referred to in subsection (1B), the transaction shall be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section of the amount specified in that subsection.
(1B)The transactions referred to in subsection (1A) and the amount to be regarded as a distribution in relation to any such transaction are as follows –
(a)in the case of a loan made –
(i)to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund or to any person connected with that individual, or
(ii)to a close company, where the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund, or any person connected with that individual, is a participator in that close company,
the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets of the approved retirement fund used to make such a loan or used as security for such a loan,
(b)in the case of the acquisition of property from the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund or from any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition,
(c)in the case of the sale of any asset in an approved retirement fund to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund or to any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the asset sold,
(d)in the case of the acquisition of –
(i)any property which is to be used as holiday property, or
(ii)property which is to be used as a residence,
by the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund or by any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, but where property is acquired, on or after 6 February 2003, in relation to the acquisition of which a distribution is not treated as arising under this Chapter and that property commences to be used for one of the purposes mentioned in subparagraphs (i) or (ii) of this paragraph, the distribution shall be treated as arising at the date such use commences and the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets of the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with the acquisition together with any assets used in or in connection with any expenditure on the improvement or repair of the property in question,
(e)in the case of the acquisition of shares or any other interest in a company, which is a close company or which would be a close company but for the fact that the company is not resident in the State, in relation to which the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund or a person connected with that individual is a participator, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition,
(f)in the case of the acquisition of tangible moveable property, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition,
(g)in the case of the acquisition of property which is to be used in connection with any business of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund or in connection with any business of any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, but where property is acquired, on or after 2 February 2006, in relation to the acquisition of which a distribution is not treated as arising under this Chapter and that property commences to be used for the purpose mentioned in this paragraph, the distribution shall be treated as arising at the date such use commences and the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets of the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with the acquisition together with any assets used in or in connection with any expenditure on the improvement or repair of the property in question, and
(h)in the case of the acquisition by the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘ARF investor’) of any interest (whether solely or jointly with another person or persons) in units or shares of any description or class (in this paragraph referred to as ‘units’) in any fund, trust or scheme (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘relevant fund’), or sub-fund, sub-trust or sub-scheme of any such relevant fund (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘relevant sub-fund’), whether acquired directly or indirectly, then where the circumstances set out in both of the following subparagraphs (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘circumstances’) arise, namely –
(i)where a relevant pension arrangement (within the meaning of section 787O(1)), a member or holder of which is a person connected (within the meaning of section 10 as it applies for the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts) with the ARF investor, (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘pension investor’), acquires, at any time, any interest (whether solely or jointly with another person or persons) in units in the same relevant fund or relevant sub-fund or in any other relevant fund or relevant sub- fund, whether directly or indirectly, and
(ii)there is any arrangement whereby the value of the units held by the pension investor increases, or may increase in the future, and that increase is attributable in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to the units held by the ARF investor,
the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section (at the time the circumstances arise) is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with the acquisition of the units by the ARF investor.
(1BA)[deleted]
(1C)An amount which has been regarded as a distribution from an approved retirement fund, in accordance with this section, other than a specified amount referred to in section 790D(4), shall not be regarded as an asset in that approved retirement fund for any purpose.
(1D)Any property, the acquisition or sale of which is regarded as giving rise to a distribution of assets in an approved retirement fund, shall not be regarded as an asset in that approved retirement fund.
(1E)For the purposes of subsection (1B) references to the value of an asset in an approved retirement fund shall, except where the asset is cash, be construed as references to the market value of the asset, within the meaning of section 548.
(2)Subject to subsections (3) and (4), exemption from income tax and capital gains tax shall be allowed in respect of the income and chargeable gains arising in respect of assets held in an approved retirement fund.
(3)Subject to subsections (3A) and (4) –
(a)the amount or value of any distribution by a qualifying fund manager in respect of assets held in an approved retirement fund shall, notwithstanding anything in section 18 or 19, be treated as a payment to the person beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund of emoluments to which Schedule E applies and, accordingly, the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall apply to any such distribution, and
(b)the qualifying fund manager shall deduct tax from the distribution at the higher rate for the year of assessment in which the distribution is made unless the qualifying fund manager has received from the Revenue Commissioners a revenue payroll notification (within the meaning of section 983) for that year in respect of the person referred to in paragraph (a).
(3A)Subsection (3) shall not apply where the distribution referred to in that subsection is made for the purpose of –
(a)reimbursing, in whole or in part, an administrator (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) in respect of the payment by that administrator of income tax charged on a chargeable excess in respect of the person beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund, or
(b)payment by the qualifying fund manager of the amount, or part of the amount, of the appropriate share (within the meaning of section 787R(2A)(b)) of a non-member (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) (being the person beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund) of income tax charged on a chargeable excess,
under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part.
(4)
(a)Where the distribution referred to in subsection (3) is made following the death of the individual who was prior to death beneficially entitled to the assets of the approved retirement fund, the amount or value of the distribution shall be treated as the income of that individual for the year of assessment in which that individual dies and, subject to paragraph (b), subsection (3) shall apply accordingly.
(b)Subsection (3) shall not apply to a distribution made following the death of the individual who was prior to death beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund where the distribution is made –
(i)to another such fund (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “the second-mentioned fund”) the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the spouse or civil partner of the said individual, or
(ii)to, or for the sole benefit of, any child of the individual or any child of the civil partner of the individual, or
(c)Where, in a case referred to in paragraph (b), the distribution is made –
(i)to a person who had attained the age of 21 years at the date of death of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund, or
(ii)following the death of the beneficial owner of the second-mentioned fund, not being a distribution to or for the sole benefit of a child or child of the civil partner of that owner who at the time of death of that person had not attained the age of 21 years,
the qualifying fund manager shall deduct income tax from the distribution under Case IV of Schedule D at a rate of 30 per cent, and –
(I)the amount so charged to tax –
(A)shall not be reckoned in computing total income for the purposes of the Tax Acts, and
(B)shall be computed without regard to any amount deductible from, or deductible in computing, total income for the purposes of the Tax Acts,
(II)the charging of the distribution in such manner shall be without any relief or reduction specified in the Table to section 458, or any other deduction from that distribution, and
(III)section 188 shall not apply as regards the amount so charged.
(d)Where a qualifying fund manager deducts tax in accordance with paragraph (c), subsections (8) to (15) of section 790AA shall, with any necessary modifications, apply as if any reference in those subsections –
(i)to the administrator were a reference to the qualifying fund manager,
(ii)to a relevant pension arrangement were a reference to an approved retirement fund, and
(iii)to an excess lump sum were a reference to a distribution of a kind referred to in paragraph (c).
(5)For the purposes of this section, Chapter 1 of Part 26 shall apply as if references in that Chapter to pension business were references to moneys held in an approved retirement fund.
(6)Notwithstanding Chapter 4 of Part 8, that Chapter shall apply to a deposit (within the meaning of that Chapter) where the deposit consists of money held by a qualifying fund manager in that capacity as if such a deposit were not a relevant deposit (within the meaning of that Chapter).
(7)
(a)At any time when the qualifying fund manager –
(i)is not resident in the State, or
(ii)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business,
the qualifying fund manager shall, in relation to the discharge of all duties and obligations relating to approved retirement funds which are imposed on the qualifying fund manager by virtue of this Chapter –
(I)enter into a contract with the Revenue Commissioners enforceable in an EEA state or in the United Kingdom in relation to the discharge of those duties and obligations and in entering into such a contract the parties to the contract shall acknowledge and agree in writing that –
(A)it shall be governed solely by the laws of the State, and
(B)that the courts of the State shall have exclusive jurisdiction in determining any dispute arising under it,
or
(II)ensure that there is a person resident in the State, appointed by the qualifying fund manager, who will be responsible for the discharge of all of those duties and obligations and shall notify the Revenue Commissioners of the appointment of that person and the identity of that person.
(b)A qualifying fund manager shall be liable to pay to the Collector-General income tax which the fund manager is required to deduct from any distribution by virtue of this Chapter and the individual beneficially entitled to assets held in an approved retirement fund, including the personal representatives of a deceased individual who was so entitled prior to that individual’s death, shall allow such deduction; but where there are no funds or insufficient funds available out of which the qualifying fund manager may satisfy the tax required to be deducted, the amount of such tax for which there are insufficient funds available shall be a debt due to the qualifying fund manager from the individual beneficially entitled to the asset in the approved retirement fund or from the estate of the deceased individual, as the case may be.
(8)
(a)Within one month of commencing to act as manager of approved retirement funds, a qualifying fund manager shall give notice to that effect to the Revenue Commissioners.
(b)A qualifying fund manager who commenced to act as manager of an approved retirement fund prior to the passing of the Finance Act 2003 shall give notice to that effect to the Revenue Commissioners within three months of the passing of that Act.
(c)A notice under paragraph (a) or (b) shall specify the date the qualifying fund manager commenced to so act.
(9)The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require a qualifying fund manager or the person appointed under subsection (7)(a)(II), as the case may be, to provide within 30 days of the date of such notice, such information and particulars as may be specified in the notice as they may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such information and particulars may include –
(a)the name, address and tax reference number of the individual in whose name the approved retirement fund is or was held,
(b)the name, address and tax reference number of any individual to whom any distribution has been made, and
(c)the amount of any distributions referred to in paragraph (b).
784B.
Conditions relating to an approved retirement fund.
(1)The conditions of this section are –
(a)an approved retirement fund shall be held by a qualifying fund manager in the name of the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund,
(b)assets held in an approved retirement fund shall consist of and only of one or more of –
(i)assets transferred to the fund by virtue of an option exercised by the individual in accordance with section 784(2A),
(ii)assets which were previously held in another approved retirement fund held in the name of the individual or the individual’s deceased spouse or civil partner, and
(iii)assets derived from such assets as are referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii),
(c)the individual referred to in paragraph (a) shall, on the opening of an approved retirement fund, make a declaration of the kind mentioned in paragraph (d) to the qualifying fund manager, and
(d)the declaration referred to in paragraph (c) shall be a declaration, in writing, to the qualifying fund manager which –
(i)is made by the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund,
(ii)is made in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners,
(iii)contains the full name, address and tax reference number of the individual referred to in subparagraph (i),
(iv)declares that the assets included in the fund consist only of assets referred to in paragraph (b) to which the individual was beneficially entitled, and
(v)contains such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Act.
(2)A qualifying fund manager shall not accept any assets into an approved retirement fund unless the fund manager receives a certificate to which subsection (3) applies in relation to those assets from a person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life or from another qualifying fund manager.
(3)A certificate to which this subsection applies is a certificate stating –
(a)that the assets in relation to which the certificate refers are assets to which the individual named on the certificate is beneficially entitled and which are being transferred to the approved retirement fund, or have previously been transferred to an approved retirement fund, in accordance with subsection (2A) of section 784,
(b)that the assets in relation to which the certificate is given do not form part of an approved minimum retirement fund within the meaning of section 784C, and
(c)the amount of the balance on the income and gains account, and the residue in relation to the approved retirement fund, the assets of which are being transferred or assigned to the qualifying fund manager.
(4)Subsection (2) of section 263 shall apply to a declaration made in accordance with subsection (1)(c) or a certificate to which subsection (3) applies as it applies in relation to declarations of a kind mentioned in that section.
(5)The Minister for Finance may by order specify requirements regarding the operation of approved retirement funds.
784C.
Approved minimum retirement fund.
(1)In this section, “an approved minimum retirement fund” means a fund managed by a qualifying fund manager (within the meaning of section 784A) and which complies with the conditions of section 784D.
(2)[deleted]
(3)[deleted]
(4)[deleted]
(5)[deleted]
(6)[deleted]
(6A)[deleted]
(7)[deleted]
(7A)On 1 January 2022 an approved minimum retirement fund shall, thereupon, become an approved retirement fund and section 784A and subsections (1) and (5) of section 784B shall apply accordingly.
(8)[deleted]
(9)[deleted]
784D. Conditions relating to an approved minimum retirement fund.
(1)[deleted]
(2)[deleted]
(3)[deleted]
(4)Subsection (2) of section 263 shall apply to a declaration made in accordance with subsection (1)(c) or a certificate to which subsection (3) applies as it applies in relation to declarations of a kind mentioned in that section.
(5)The Minister for Finance may specify requirements regarding the operation of approved minimum retirement funds.
(6)On or after 1 January 2022, a qualifying fund manager shall not accept any assets into an approved minimum retirement fund.
784E.
Returns, and payment of tax, by qualifying fund managers.
(1)A qualifying fund manager shall, within 14 days of the end of the month in which a distribution is made out of the residue of an approved retirement fund, make a return to the Collector-General which shall contain details of –
(a)the name and address of the person in whose name the approved retirement fund is or was held,
(b)the tax reference number of that person,
(c)the name and address of the person to whom the distribution was made,
(d)the amount of the distribution, and
(e)the tax which the qualifying fund manager is required to account for in relation to that distribution (hereafter in this section referred to as “the appropriate tax”).
(2)The appropriate tax in relation to a distribution which is required to be included in a return shall be due at the time by which the return is to be made and shall be paid by the qualifying fund manager to the Collector-General, and the appropriate tax so due shall be payable by the qualifying fund manager without the making of an assessment; but appropriate tax which has become so due may be assessed on the qualifying fund manager (whether or not it has been paid when the assessment is made) if that tax or any part of it is not paid on or before the due date.
(3)Where it appears to the inspector that there is any amount of appropriate tax in relation to a distribution which ought to have been but has not been included in a return, or where the inspector is dissatisfied with any return, the inspector may make an assessment on the qualifying fund manager to the best of his or her judgement, and any amount of appropriate tax in relation to a distribution due under an assessment made by virtue of this subsection shall be treated for the purposes of interest on unpaid tax as having been payable at the time when it would have been payable if a correct return had been made.
(4)Where any item has been incorrectly included in a return as a distribution, the inspector may make such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his or her judgement be required for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax, including interest on unpaid tax, whether of the qualifying fund manager or any other person, are in so far as possible the same as they would have been if the item had not been so included.
(5)
(a)Any appropriate tax assessed on a qualifying fund manager under this Chapter shall be due within one month after the issue of the notice of assessment (unless that tax is due earlier under subsection (1)) subject to any appeal against the assessment, but no such appeal shall affect the date when any amount is due under subsection (1).
(b)[deleted]
(6)
(a)The provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to –
(i)assessments to income tax, and
(ii)the collection and recovery of income tax,
shall, in so far as they are applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and recovery of appropriate tax.
(b)Any amount of appropriate tax payable in accordance with this Chapter without the making of an assessment shall carry interest at the rate of 0.0322 per cent for each day or part of a day from the date when the amount becomes due and payable until payment.
(c)Subsections (3) to (5) of section 1080 shall apply in relation to interest payable under paragraph (b) as they apply in relation to interest payable under section 1080.
(d)In its application to any appropriate tax charged by any assessment made in accordance with this section, section 1080 shall apply as if subsection (2)(b) of that section were deleted.
(6A)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), a qualifying fund manager aggrieved by an assessment made on that fund manager under this section may appeal the assessment to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of assessment.
(b)Where, in accordance with this section, a qualifying fund manager is required to make a return and account for appropriate tax to the Collector-General, no appeal lies against an assessment until such time as the qualifying fund manager makes the return and pays or has paid the amount of the appropriate tax payable on the basis of that return.
(7)Every return shall be in a form prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners and shall include a declaration to the effect that the return is correct and complete.
(8)
(a)A qualifying fund manager shall, on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period, within the meaning of section 959A, prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector a return in relation to each approved retirement fund held by that fund holder at any time during the year of assessment.
(b)The return under paragraph (a) shall, in relation to each approved retirement fund, contain –
(i)the name, address and tax reference number of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund,
(ii)details of any income, profits and gains, and any chargeable gains derived from assets held in the fund and of any tax deducted from income, profits or gains received,
(iii)details of any distributions made out of the assets held in the approved retirement fund, and
(iv)such further details as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this section.
785.
Approval of contracts for dependants or for life assurance.
(1)The Revenue Commissioners may approve for the purposes of this Chapter a contract made by an individual with a person (in subsection (2) referred to as “the insurer”) lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life if –
(a)the main benefit secured by the contract is the provision of an annuity for the wife, husband or civil partner of the individual or for any one or more dependants of the individual, or
(b)the sole benefit secured by the contract is the provision of a lump sum on the death of the individual before he or she attains the age of 75 years, being a lump sum payable to the individual’s personal representatives.
(1A)For the purposes of subsection (1), the reference in subsection (1) to a person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of granting annuities on human life shall include a reference to an insurance undertaking, authorised to transact insurance business in the State under Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 or to a person authorised to transact insurance business by the authority in the United Kingdom charged by law with the duty of supervising such persons, that –
(a)is not resident in the State, or
(b)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business.
(2)The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a contract made by an individual with the insurer under subsection (1)(a) unless it appears to them to satisfy the following conditions –
(a)that any annuity payable to the wife, husband, civil partner or dependant of the individual commences on the death of the individual;
(b)that any annuity payable under the contract to the individual commences at a time after the individual attains the age of 60 years and, unless the individual’s annuity is one to commence on the death of a person to whom an annuity would be payable under the contract if that person survived the individual, cannot commence after the time when the individual attains the age of 75 years;
(c)that the contract does not provide for the payment by the insurer of any sum, other than any annuity payable to the individual’s wife, husband, civil partner or dependant or to the individual except, in the event of no annuity becoming payable under the contract, any sums payable to the individual’s personal representatives by means of return of premiums, reasonable interest on premiums or bonuses out of profits;
(d)that the contract does not provide for the payment of any annuity otherwise than for the life of the annuitant;
(e)that the contract provides that no annuity payable under it shall be capable in whole or in part of surrender, commutation or assignment.
(3)The Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit and subject to any conditions they think proper to impose, approve a contract under subsection (1)(a), notwithstanding that in one or more respects it does not appear to them to satisfy the conditions specified in subsection (2).
(4)Subsections (2) and (3) of section 784 shall not apply to the approval of a contract under this section.
(5)The Revenue Commissioners may approve a trust scheme or part of a trust scheme otherwise satisfying the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 784(4), notwithstanding that its main purpose is to provide annuities for the wives, husbands, civil partners and dependants of the individuals, or lump sums payable to the individuals’ personal representatives on death, and –
(a)subsections (1) to (4) shall apply with any necessary modifications in relation to such approval,
(b)this Chapter shall apply to the scheme or part of the scheme when so approved as it applies to a contract approved under this section, and
(c)the exemption from income tax provided in section 784(4) shall apply to the scheme or part of the scheme when so approved.
(6)Except where otherwise provided in this Chapter, any reference in the Income Tax Acts to a contract, scheme or part of a scheme approved under section 784 shall include a reference to a contract, scheme or part of a scheme approved under this section.
786.
Approval of certain other contracts.
(1)The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve an annuity contract under section 784 unless the contract provides that the individual by whom it is made may require a sum representing the value of his or her accrued rights under the contract –
(a)to be paid by the person with whom it is made to such other person as the individual may specify, and
(b)to be applied by such other person in payment of the premium or other consideration under an annuity contract made between the individual and that other person and approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section,
if the first-mentioned contract is otherwise to be approved by the Revenue Commissioners under that section.
(2)References in subsection (1) to the individual by whom a contract is made include references to any widow, widower, surviving civil partner or dependant having accrued rights under the contract.
(3)Where, in accordance with a provision of the kind referred to in subsection (1) of an annuity contract approved under section 784 or a corresponding provision of a contract approved under section 785(1)(a), a sum representing the value of accrued rights under one contract (in this subsection referred to as “the original contract”) is paid by means of premium or other consideration under another contract (in this subsection referred to as “the substituted contract”), any annuity payable under the substituted contract shall be treated as earned income of the annuitant to the same extent that an annuity under the original contract would have been so treated.
787.
Nature and amount of relief for qualifying premiums.
(1)For the purposes of relief under this section, an individual’s relevant earnings shall be those earnings before giving effect to any deduction to be made from those earnings in respect of a loss or in respect of a capital allowance (within the meaning of section 2), and references to income in this section (other than references to total income) shall be construed similarly.
(2)For the purposes of this section, “net relevant earnings”, in relation to an individual and subject to subsections (3) to (5), means the amount of the individual’s relevant earnings for the year of assessment in question less the amount of any deductions to be made from the relevant earnings in computing the individual’s total income for that year, being either –
(a)deductions in respect of payments made by the individual, or
(b)deductions in respect of losses or of such allowances mentioned in subsection (1), being losses or allowances arising from activities, profits or gains of which would be included in computing relevant earnings of the individual or of the individual’s spouse or civil partner for the year of assessment.
(2A)Notwithstanding subsection (2), for the purposes of relief under this section an individual’s net relevant earnings shall not exceed the earnings limit or such other amount as shall be specified in regulations made by the Minister for Finance.
(2B)Where regulations are proposed to be made under subsection (2A), a draft of the regulations shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann.
(3)Where in any year of assessment for which an individual claims and is allowed relief under this section there is to be made in computing the total income of the individual or of the individual’s spouse or civil partner a deduction in respect of any such loss or allowance of the individual referred to in subsection (2)(b), and the deduction or part of it is to be so made from income other than relevant earnings, then, the amount of the deduction made from that other income shall be treated as reducing the individual’s net relevant earnings for subsequent years of assessment and shall be deducted as far as may be from those of the following year, whether or not the individual claims or is entitled to claim relief under this section for that year, and in so far as it cannot be so deducted, then from those of the next year, and so on.
(4)Where an individual’s income for any year of assessment consists partly of relevant earnings and partly of other income, then, as far as may be, any deductions to be made in computing the individual’s total income, and which may be treated in whole or in part either as made from relevant earnings or as made from other income, shall be treated for the purposes of this section as being made from those relevant earnings in so far as they are deductions in respect of any such loss referred to in subsection (2)(b) and otherwise as being made from that other income.
(5)An individual’s net relevant earnings for any year of assessment shall be computed without regard to any relief to be given for that year under this section either to the individual or to the individual’s spouse or civil partner.
(6)Where relief is to be given under this section in respect of any qualifying premium paid by an individual, the amount of that premium shall, subject to this section, be deducted from or set off against the individual’s relevant earnings for the year of assessment in which the premium is paid.
(7)Where in relation to a year of assessment a qualifying premium is paid after the end of the year of assessment but on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period (within the meaning of Part 41A), the premium may, if the individual so elects on or before that date, be treated for the purposes of this section as paid in the earlier year (and not in the year in which it is paid); but where –
(a)the amount of that premium, together with any qualifying premiums paid by the individual in the year to which the assessment relates (or treated as so paid by virtue of any previous election under this subsection), exceeds the maximum amount of the reduction which may be made under this section in the individual’s relevant earnings for that year, or
(b)the amount of that premium itself exceeds the increase in that maximum amount which is due to taking into account the income on which the assessment is made,
the election shall have no effect as respects the excess.
(8)Subject to this section, the amount which may be deducted or set off in any year of assessment (whether in respect of one or more qualifying premiums and whether or not including premiums in respect of a contract approved under section 785) shall not be more than –
(a)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 30 years or over but had not attained the age of 40 years, 20 per cent,
(b)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 40 years or over but had not attained the age of 50 years, 25 per cent,
(c)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 50 years or over but had not attained the age of 55 years or who for the year of assessment was a specified individual, 30 per cent,
(d)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 55 years or over but had not attained the age of 60 years, 35 per cent,
(e)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 60 years or over, 40 per cent, and
(f)in any other case, 15 per cent,
of the individual’s net relevant earnings for that year, and the amount to be deducted shall to the greatest extent possible include qualifying premiums in respect of contracts approved under section 785.
(8A)For the purposes of this section, “specified individual”, in relation to a year of assessment, means an individual whose relevant earnings for the year of assessment were derived wholly or mainly from an occupation or profession specified in Schedule 23A.
(8B)The Minister for Finance may, after consultation with the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, by regulations extend or restrict the meaning of specified individual by adding or deleting one or more occupations or professions to or from, as the case may be, the list of occupations and professions specified in Schedule 23A.
(8C)Where regulations are proposed to be made under subsection (8B), a draft of the regulations shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann.
(9)[deleted]
(10)Where in any year of assessment a reduction or a greater reduction would be made under this section in the relevant earnings of an individual but for an insufficiency of net relevant earnings, the amount of the reduction which would have been made but for that reason, less the amount of the reduction which is made in that year, shall be carried forward to the next year of assessment, and shall be treated for the purposes of relief under this section as the amount of a qualifying premium paid in the next year of assessment.
(11)If and in so far as an amount once carried forward under subsection (10) (and treated as the amount of a qualifying premium paid in the next year of assessment) is not deducted from or set off against the individual’s net relevant earnings for that year of assessment, it shall be carried forward again to the following year of assessment (and treated as the amount of a qualifying premium paid in that year of assessment), and so on for succeeding years.
(12)[deleted]
(13)Where relief under this section for any year of assessment is claimed and allowed (whether or not relief is then to be given for that year), and afterwards there is made any assessment, amendment of an assessment, or other adjustment of the claimant’s liability to tax, there shall be made also such adjustments, if any, as are consequential thereon in the relief allowed or given under this section for that or any subsequent year of assessment.
(14)Where relief under this section is claimed and allowed for any year of assessment in respect of any payment, relief shall not be given in respect of that payment under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts for the same or a later year of assessment nor (in the case of a payment under an annuity contract) in respect of any other premium or consideration for an annuity under the same contract.
(15)Relief shall not be given under this section in respect of a qualifying premium except on a claim made to and allowed by the inspector.
(16)A person aggrieved by a decision of the inspector in relation to a claim for relief by that person may appeal the decision to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of that decision.
Chapter 2A
Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (ss. 787A-787L)
787A.
Interpretation and supplemental.
(1)In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires –
“additional voluntary PRSA contributions” means contributions made to a PRSA by an employee, who is a member of an approved scheme or of a statutory scheme, which are –
(i)contributions made under a rule or part of a rule, as the case may be, of a retirement benefits scheme (in this definition referred to as the ‘main scheme’) which provides specifically for the payment of voluntary contributions to a PRSA by members of the main scheme, or
(ii)contributions made under a separately arranged scheme approved by the Revenue Commissioners which is associated with the main scheme and which provides for voluntary contributions to a PRSA by members of the main scheme;
“approved scheme” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of this Part;
“approved retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;
“approved minimum retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C;
“contract of employment” means –
(a)a contract of service or apprenticeship, or
(b)any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency (within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971) and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not the third person is party to the contract)
whether the contract is express or implied or if express, whether it is oral or in writing;
“contributor” means an individual who enters into a PRSA contract with a PRSA provider and an individual shall be regarded as a contributor to a PRSA notwithstanding that all contributions are made by that individual’s employer;
“director” in relation to a company includes –
(a)in the case of a company the affairs of which are managed by a board of directors or similar body, a member of that board or body
(b)in the case of a company the affairs of which are managed by a single director or similar person, that director or person
(c)in the case of a company the affairs of which are managed by the members themselves, a member of that company
and includes a person who is to be or has been a director;
“distribution” has the same meaning as in the Corporation Tax Acts;
“earnings limit” shall be construed in accordance with section 790A;
“[defid:34718:title]” [;
“employer” means, in relation to an employee, the person with whom the employee has entered into, or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under), a contract of employment, subject to the qualification that the person, who under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘contract of employment’ is liable to pay the wages of the individual concerned, in respect of the work or service concerned shall be deemed to be the individual’s employer;
“market value” shall be construed in accordance with section 548;
“PPS Number” in relation to an individual, means that individual’s Personal Public Service Number within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;
“Personal Retirement Savings Account” means a personal retirement savings account established by a contributor with a PRSA provider under the terms of a PRSA contract and the expression ‘PRSA’ shall be construed accordingly;
“PRSA administrator” means the PRSA provider or a person to whom a PRSA provider delegates in pursuance of Part X of the Pensions Act, 1990, its administrative functions in relation to a PRSA, including a person appointed by the PRSA provider in accordance with section 787G(5)(ii);
“PRSA assets” means the assets held on behalf of a contributor in a PRSA and includes the value of any contributions made to that PRSA by any employer of the contributor;
“PRSA contract” means a contract entered into between a PRSA provider and a contributor in respect of a PRSA product;
“PRSA contribution” means a contribution within the meaning of Part X of the Pensions Act, 1990;
“PRSA product” means a PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of the Pensions Act, 1990) that for the time being stands approved under section 94 of that Act;
“PRSA provider” has the same meaning as in Part X of the Pensions Act, 1990;
“relevant payment” in relation to a PRSA means any payment, including a distribution, made by reason of rights arising as a result of a PRSA contract and includes any annuity payable by reason of such rights;
“retirement annuity contract” means a contract approved by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with Chapter 2 of this Part;
“retirement benefits scheme” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of this Part;
“specified individual” in relation to a year of assessment, means an individual whose relevant earnings for the year of assessment were derived wholly or mainly from an occupation or profession specified in Schedule 23A;
“statutory scheme” has the same meaning as in Chapter 1 of this Part;
(2)Subject to subsection (1), a word or expression that is used in this Chapter and is also used in Part X of the Pensions Act, 1990 has, except where the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Chapter as it has in that Part.
787B.
Relevant earnings and net relevant earnings.
(1)For the purposes of this Chapter but subject to subsection (2), ‘relevant earnings’, in relation to an individual, means any income of the individual chargeable to tax for the year of assessment in question, being any of the following –
(a)income arising in respect of remuneration from an office or employment of profit held by the individual,
(b)income from any property which is attached to or forms part of the emoluments of any such office or employment of profit held by the individual, or
(c)income which is chargeable under Schedule D and is immediately derived by the individual from the carrying on or exercise by the individual of his or her trade or profession either as an individual or, in the case of a partnership, as a partner personally acting in the partnership;
but does not include any remuneration from an investment company of which the individual is a proprietary director or a proprietary employee.
(2)For the purposes of this Chapter, the relevant earnings of an individual shall not be treated as the relevant earnings of his or her spouse or civil partner, notwithstanding that the individual’s income chargeable to tax is treated as his or her spouse’s or civil partner’s income.
(3)For the purposes of relief under this Chapter, an individual’s relevant earnings shall be those earnings before giving effect to any deduction to be made from those earnings in respect of a loss or in respect of a capital allowance (within the meaning of section 2), and references to income in this Chapter (other than references to total income) shall be construed similarly.
(4)For the purposes of this Chapter, ‘net relevant earnings’, in relation to an individual and subject to subsections (5) to (7), means the amount of the individual’s relevant earnings for the year of assessment in question less the amount of any deductions to be made from the relevant earnings in computing the individual’s total income for that year, being either –
(a)deductions in respect of payments made by the individual, or
(b)deductions in respect of losses or of such allowances mentioned in subsection (3), being losses or allowances arising from activities, profits or gains of which would be included in computing relevant earnings of the individual or of the individual’s spouse or civil partner for the year of assessment.
(5)Where in any year of assessment for which an individual claims and is allowed relief under this Chapter there is to be made in computing the total income of the individual or of the individual’s spouse or civil partner a deduction in respect of any such loss or allowance of the individual referred to in subsection (4)(b), and the deduction or part of it is to be so made from income other than relevant earnings, then, the amount of the deduction made from that other income shall be treated as reducing the individual’s net relevant earnings for subsequent years of assessment and shall be deducted as far as may be from those of the following year, whether or not the individual claims or is entitled to claim relief under this Chapter for that year, and in so far as it cannot be so deducted, then from those of the next year, and so on.
(6)Where an individual’s income for any year of assessment consists partly of relevant earnings and partly of other income, then, as far as may be, any deductions to be made in computing the individual’s total income, and which may be treated in whole or in part either as made from relevant earnings or as made from other income, shall be treated for the purposes of this section as being made from those relevant earnings in so far as they are deductions in respect of any such loss referred to in subsection (4)(b) and otherwise as being made from that other income.
(7)An individual’s net relevant earnings for any year of assessment shall be computed without regard to any relief to be given for that year under this Chapter either to the individual or to the individual’s spouse or civil partner.
(8)Notwithstanding anything in this section, for the purposes of relief under this Chapter an individual’s net relevant earnings shall not exceed the earnings limit but this subsection shall not apply as regards relief for additional voluntary PRSA contributions.
787C.
PRSAs – method of granting relief for PRSA contributions.
(1)Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, relief from income tax shall be given in respect of contributions to a PRSA by an individual chargeable to tax in respect of relevant earnings from any trade, profession, office or employment carried on or held by that individual.
(2)Where relief is to be given under this Chapter in respect of any contribution made by an individual, the amount of that contribution shall, subject to this section, be deducted from or set off against the individual’s relevant earnings for the year of assessment in which the contribution is paid.
(3)Where in relation to a year of assessment a contribution to a PRSA is made after the end of the year of assessment but on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period (within the meaning of Part 41A) the payment may, if the individual so elects on or before that date, be treated for the purposes of this section as paid in the earlier year (and not in the year in which it is paid); but where –
(a)the amount of that contribution, together with any contributions made by the individual in the year to which the assessment relates (or treated as so paid by virtue of any previous election under this subsection), exceeds the maximum amount of the reduction which may be made under this Chapter in the individual’s relevant earnings for that year, or
(b)the amount of that PRSA contribution itself exceeds the increase in that maximum amount which is due to taking into account the income on which the assessment is made,
the election shall have no effect as respects the excess.
(4)Where in any year of assessment a reduction or a greater reduction would be made under this section in the relevant earnings of an individual but for an insufficiency of net relevant earnings, the amount of the reduction which would be made but for that reason, less the amount of any reduction which is made in that year, shall be carried forward to the next year of assessment, and shall be treated for the purposes of relief under this Chapter as the amount of a qualifying contribution paid in that next year of assessment.
(5)If and in so far as an amount once carried forward under subsection (4) (and treated as the amount of a qualifying payment made in the next year of assessment) is not deducted from or set off against the individual’s net relevant earnings for that year of assessment, it shall be carried forward again to the following year of assessment (and treated as the amount of a qualifying payment made in that year of assessment), and so on for succeeding years.
(6)Where relief under this Chapter for any year of assessment is claimed and allowed (whether or not relief is then to be given for that year), and afterwards there is made any assessment, amendment of an assessment, or other adjustment of the claimant’s liability to tax, there shall be made also such adjustments, if any, as are consequential thereon in the relief allowed or given under this Chapter for that or any subsequent year of assessment.
(7)Where relief under this Chapter is claimed and allowed for any year of assessment in respect of any contribution, relief shall not be given in respect of that contribution under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts for the same or a later year of assessment.
787D.
Claims to relief.
(1)Relief shall not be given under this Chapter in respect of a contribution to a PRSA except on a claim made to and allowed by the inspector.
(2)A person aggrieved by a decision of the inspector in relation to a claim for relief by that person may appeal the decision to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of that decision.
787E.
Extent of relief.
(1)Subject to this section, the amount which may be deducted or set off in any year in respect of contributions made by an individual to one or more PRSA products, hereafter in this section referred to as the maximum allowable contribution, shall not be more than –
(a)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age 30 years or over but had not attained the age of 40 years, 20 per cent,
(b)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age 40 years or over but had not attained the age of 50 years, 25 per cent,
(c)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 50 years or over but had not attained the age of 55 years or who for the year of assessment was a specified individual, 30 per cent,
(d)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 55 years or over but had not attained the age of 60 years, 35 per cent,
(e)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 60 years or over, 40 per cent, and
(f)in any other case, 15 per cent,
of the individual’s net relevant earnings for that year of assessment.
(2)[deleted]
(3)Where during a year of assessment an individual is a member either of an approved scheme or of a statutory scheme (hereafter referred to as a ‘scheme’) in relation to an office or employment, not being a scheme under which the benefits provided in respect of that service are limited to benefits of a kind referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 772(3), including any similar benefit provided under a statutory scheme established under a public statute, the following provisions shall apply, that is to say –
(a)relief shall be allowed under this Chapter as regards relevant earnings from that office or employment only in respect of contributions that are additional voluntary PRSA contributions,
(b)notwithstanding subsection (1), the amount which may be deducted or set off in that year of assessment in respect of such contributions against the individual’s net relevant earnings from that office or employment shall not be more than –
(i)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 30 years or over but had not attained the age of 40 years, 20 per cent,
(ii)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 40 years or over but had not attained the age of 50 years, 25 per cent,
(iii)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 50 years or over but had not attained the age of 55 years, 30 per cent,
(iv)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 55 years or over but had not attained the age of 60 years, 35 per cent,
(v)in the case of an individual who at any time during the year of assessment was of the age of 60 years or over, 40 per cent, and
(vi)in any other case, 15 per cent,
of the remuneration for that year of the office or employment in respect of which the contributions are made, reduced by the amount of any contributions of the individual in the year to any scheme related to the office or employment of which he or she is a member,
(c)the amount of the net relevant earnings of the individual in respect of which any other PRSA contributions are to be deducted or set off shall be reduced by the amount of the remuneration from such office or employment, and
(d)notwithstanding sections 787K and 787L, the aggregate benefits under –
(i)all schemes, of which the individual is a member, related to the office or employment, and
(ii)all Personal Retirement Savings Accounts to which the individual is the contributor of additional voluntary PRSA contributions,
shall not exceed the maximum benefits that could be provided for the individual by reference to section 772.
(4)Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the maximum allowable contribution would but for this subsection be less than €1,525, subsection (1) shall apply as if the said maximum allowable contribution were €1,525.
(5)Where an individual is entitled to relief for a year of assessment under –
(a)Chapter 2 of this Part in respect of a qualifying premium, or
(b)Chapter 2D of this Part in respect of a PEPP contribution,
the maximum allowable contribution for that year of assessment, other than additional voluntary PRSA contributions, shall be reduced by the amount of such relief.
787F.
Transfers to PRSAs.
To the extent that any contribution to one or more than one PRSA is made from –
(a)the value of accrued rights under a retirement annuity contract,
(b)the value of accrued rights under an approved scheme or a statutory scheme, or
(c)a repayment of contributions to which section 780(2) would, but for subsection (2A) (inserted by the Pensions (Amendment) Act, 2002) of that section, otherwise apply,
it shall not be taken into account for the purposes of section 787E and no relief shall be allowed under this Chapter in respect of such a contribution.
787G.
Taxation of payments from a PRSA.
(1)Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4) –
(a)the amount or value of any assets that a PRSA administrator makes available to, or pays to, a PRSA contributor or to any other person, including any annuity where the whole or part of the consideration for the grant of the annuity consisted of assets which, at the time of application of the said assets for the purchase of the annuity, were PRSA assets, shall, notwithstanding anything in section 18 or 19, be treated as a payment to the PRSA contributor of emoluments to which Schedule E applies and, accordingly, the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall apply to any such payment or amount treated as a payment, and
(b)the PRSA administrator shall deduct tax from the assets at the higher rate for the year of assessment in which the assets are made available unless the PRSA administrator has received from the Revenue Commissioners a revenue payroll notification (within the meaning of section 983) for that year in respect of the PRSA contributor.
(2)A PRSA administrator shall be liable to pay to the Collector-General the income tax which the PRSA administrator is required to deduct from any assets of a PRSA by virtue of this section and the individual beneficially entitled to assets held in a PRSA, including the personal representatives of a deceased individual who was so entitled prior to that individual’s death, shall allow such deduction; but where there are no funds or insufficient funds available out of which the PRSA administrator may satisfy the tax required to be deducted, the amount of such tax for which there are insufficient funds available shall be a debt due to the PRSA administrator from the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the PRSA or from the estate of the deceased individual, as the case may be.
(3)Subsection (1) shall not apply where the assets made available from a PRSA are –
(a)an amount made available, at the time assets of the PRSA are first made available to the PRSA contributor, by way of lump sum not exceeding 25 per cent of the value of the assets in the PRSA at that time or, in the case of a PRSA to which additional voluntary PRSA contributions were made, an amount not exceeding the amount that may be paid by way of lump sum in accordance with section 772(3)(f) in conjunction with the rules of the scheme,
(b)an amount transferred to an approved retirement fund or to an approved minimum retirement fund in accordance with section 787H,
(c)an amount made available to the personal representatives of the PRSA contributor in accordance with section 787K(1)(c)(iii),
(d)a transfer of assets from a PRSA to another PRSA, an approved scheme or a statutory scheme where –
(i)in relation to that other PRSA, approved scheme or statutory scheme the contributor to the first-mentioned PRSA is either a contributor or a member as the case may be, and
(ii)the first-mentioned PRSA is not a PRSA in respect of which a lump sum to which paragraph (a) applies has been paid or made available,
(e)an amount referred to in section 787K(2A),
(f)an amount made available from a PRSA, where the PRSA is a vested PRSA (within the meaning of section 790D(1)), for the purpose of –
(i)reimbursing, in whole or in part, an administrator (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) in respect of the payment by that administrator of income tax charged on a chargeable excess in respect of the PRSA contributor, or
(ii)payment by the PRSA administrator of the amount, or part of the amount, of the appropriate share (within the meaning of section 787R(2A)(b)) of a non-member (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) (being the PRSA contributor) of income tax charged on a chargeable excess,
under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part.
(4)For the purposes of this Chapter, the circumstances in which a PRSA administrator shall be treated as making assets of a PRSA (including a vested PRSA within the meaning of section 790D(1)) available to an individual shall include –
(a)the making of a relevant payment by the PRSA administrator,
(b)any circumstances whereby assets cease to be assets of the PRSA, and
(c)any circumstances whereby assets cease to be beneficially owned by the contributor to the PRSA.
(4A)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), the circumstances in which a PRSA administrator shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, be treated as making assets of a PRSA available to an individual shall include the use of those assets in connection with any transaction which would, if the assets were assets of an approved retirement fund, be regarded under section 784A as giving rise to a distribution for the purposes of that section and the amount to be regarded as made available shall be calculated in accordance with that section.
(4B)For the purposes of subsection (6), the administrator of a vested PRSA of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PRSA’ in section 790D(1) shall be treated as making the assets of the PRSA available to the PRSA contributor on the date the contributor attains the age of 75 years or, where the contributor attained the age of 75 years prior to the date of passing of the Finance Act 2016, on the date of passing of that Act.
(5)At any time when a PRSA administrator –
(a)is not resident in the State, or
(b)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business,
the PRSA administrator shall, in relation to the discharge of all duties and obligations relating to Personal Retirement Savings Accounts which are imposed on the PRSA administrator by virtue of this Chapter, Chapter 2C and section 125B of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 –
(i)enter into a contract with the Revenue Commissioners enforceable in a Member State of the European Communities in relation to the discharge of those duties and obligations and in entering into such a contract the parties to the contract shall acknowledge and agree in writing that –
(I)it shall be governed solely by the laws of the State, and
(II)that the courts of the State shall have exclusive jurisdiction in determining any dispute arising under it,
or
(ii)ensure that there is a person resident in the State, appointed by the PRSA administrator, who will be responsible for the discharge of all of those duties and obligations and shall notify the Revenue Commissioners of the appointment of that person and the identity of that person.
(5A)The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require a PRSA administrator, a PRSA provider or the person appointed under subsection (5)(ii), as the case may be, to provide, within 30 days of the date of such notice, such information and particulars as may be specified in the notice as they may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter, and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such information and particulars may include –
(a)the name, address and PPS Number of the PRSA contributor,
(b)the name, address and PPS Number of any person to whom any payments have been made, or to whom any assets have been made available, by the PRSA administrator or the PRSA provider, and
(c)the amount of any payments and the value of any assets referred to in paragraph (b).
(6)Notwithstanding subsection (1), where assets of a PRSA are treated under subsection (4) or subsection (4B) as having been made available to an individual, the provisions of section 784A(4) shall apply as if assets of that PRSA at the time of death of that individual were assets of an approved retirement fund.
787H.
Approved Retirement Fund option.
(1)At any time assets of a PRSA are allowed to be made available to a beneficiary in accordance with section 787K, that individual may opt to have those assets transferred to an approved retirement fund and the PRSA administrator shall make that transfer.
(2)The assets that a PRSA administrator shall transfer to an approved retirement fund in accordance with subsection (1) shall be the assets available in the PRSA at the time the election under that subsection is made less any lump sum the PRSA administrator is permitted to pay without deduction of tax in accordance with section 787G(3)(a).
(3)Where an individual opts in accordance with subsection (1), sections 784A and 784B shall apply as if that option were an option in accordance with section 784(2A).
787I.
Exemption of PRSA.
(1)Exemption from income tax shall, on a claim being made in that behalf, be allowed in respect of income derived from investments or deposits of a PRSA if, or to such extent as the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, it is income from investments or deposits held for the purposes of the PRSA.
(2)
(a)In this subsection, ‘financial futures’ and ‘traded options’ mean respectively financial futures and traded options for the time being dealt in or quoted on any futures exchange or any stock exchange, whether or not that exchange is situated in the State.
(b)For the purposes of subsection (1), a contract entered into in the course of dealing in financial futures or traded options shall be regarded as an investment.
(3)Exemption from income tax shall, on a claim being made in that behalf, be allowed in respect of underwriting commissions if, or to such extent as the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, the underwriting commissions are applied for the purposes of the PRSA, and in respect of which the administrator of the PRSA would, but for this subsection, be chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
787J.
Allowance to employer.
(1)For the purposes of this section –
(a)a reference to a ‘chargeable period’ shall be construed as a reference to a ‘chargeable period or its basis period’ (within the meaning of section 321), and
(b)in relation to an employer whose chargeable period is a year of assessment, ‘basis period’ means the period on the profits or gains of which income tax for that year of assessment is to be finally computed for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D in respect of the trade, profession or vocation of the employer.
(2)Subject to subsection (3), any sum paid by an employer by way of contribution under a PRSA contract of an employee shall for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D and of sections 83 and 707(4) be allowed to be deducted as an expense, or expense of management, incurred in the chargeable period in which the sum is paid but no other sum shall for those purposes be allowed to be deducted as an expense, or expense of management, in respect of the making, or any provision for the making, of any contributions under the PRSA contract.
(3)The amount of an employer’s contributions which may be deducted under subsection (2) shall not exceed the amount contributed by that employer to Personal Retirement Savings Accounts in respect of employees in a trade or undertaking in respect of the profits of which the employer is assessable to income tax or corporation tax, as the case may be.
787K.
Revenue approval of PRSA products.
(1)Subject to subsection (2) and to sections 787H and 787L, the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve, for the purposes of section 94(3) of the Pensions Act, 1990, a PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of that Act) unless it appears to them to satisfy the following conditions –
(a)that the arrangements in respect of that product will be entered into by an individual with a person lawfully carrying on in the State the business of a PRSA provider,
(b)that it includes provision securing that no annuity payable under it shall be capable in whole or in part of surrender, commutation or assignment, and
(c)that it does not –
(i)provide for the payment of any sum or the making available of PRSA assets, by that person during the life of the individual of any sum except –
(I)sums payable by means of annuity to the individual,
(II)a sum payable without deduction of tax by way of lump sum, in accordance with section 787G(3)(a), or
(III)assets transferred to an approved retirement fund in accordance with section 787H(1),
(IV)[deleted]
(ii)provide for the annuity or other sums payable to the individual to commence or for assets to be made available to the individual before the individual attains the age of 60 years,
(iii)provide for the payment by that person of any other sums except sums payable by means of annuity to the individual’s widow, widower or surviving civil partner and any sums which, in the event of no annuity or other benefits becoming payable either to the individual or to a widow or widower, are payable to the individual’s personal representatives by way of transfer of the PRSA assets to the estate of the PRSA contributor,
(iv)provide for the annuity, if any, payable to a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of the individual to be of a greater annual amount than that paid or payable to the individual, or
(v)provide for the payment of any annuity otherwise than for the life of the annuitant.
(2)The Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit and subject to any conditions they think proper to attach to the approval under section 94 of the Pensions Act, 1990, approve, for the purposes of section 94(3) of that Act, a product otherwise satisfying the conditions referred to in subsection (1), notwithstanding that the product provides for one or more of the following matters –
(a)the payment to the individual of an annuity or other sums or the making available of assets of the PRSA to the individual commencing before he or she attains the age of 60 years, where the annuity or other sums are payable on the individual becoming permanently incapable through infirmity of mind or body of carrying on his or her own occupation or any occupation of a similar nature for which he or she is trained or fitted,
(b)in the case of an individual being an employee, the payment to the individual of an annuity or other sums or the making available of assets of the PRSA to the individual commencing on retirement at age 50 or over,
(c)where the individual’s occupation is one in which persons customarily retire before attaining the age of 60 years, the payment of the annuity or other sums to commence or the making available of assets of the PRSA to commence before the individual attains that age (but not before he or she attains the age of 50 years),
(d)the annuity payable to any person to continue for a term certain (not exceeding 10 years) notwithstanding his or her death within that term, or the annuity payable to any person to terminate, or be suspended, on marriage or remarriage or on entering into a civil partnership or a new civil partnership or in other circumstances,
(e)in the case of an annuity which is to continue for a term certain, the annuity to be assignable by will and, in the event of any person dying entitled to the annuity, the annuity to be assignable by his or her personal representatives in the distribution of the estate so as to give effect to a testamentary disposition, or to the rights of those entitled on intestacy or to an appropriation of the annuity to a legacy or to a share or interest in the estate.
(2A)A PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of the Pensions Act 1990) shall neither cease to be an approved product under section 94 of that Act nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving a product under that section notwithstanding that the product permits the PRSA administrator to make available from the PRSA assets, to such extent as may be necessary, an amount for the purpose of discharging a tax liability in relation to a PRSA contributor, under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part, in connection with a relevant payment to the PRSA contributor.
(2B)A PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of the Pensions Act 1990) shall neither cease to be an approved product under section 94 of that Act nor shall the Revenue Commissioners be prevented from approving a product under that section notwithstanding that the product permits the PRSA administrator, where the PRSA contributor comes within the provisions of section 787TA, to make available from the PRSA assets to such extent as may be necessary an amount for the purposes of an option exercised by the PRSA contributor in accordance with that section requiring an amount representing the value of, or part of the value of, the PRSA contributor’s accrued rights under the product at the date of the exercise of the option to be transferred to the PRSA contributor by the PRSA administrator.
(2C)A PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of the Pensions Act 1990) approved under section 94 of that Act, shall not cease to be an approved product where, notwithstanding anything contained in the terms of the product as approved, the PRSA administrator makes an amount available from the PRSA assets to the PRSA contributor or, as the case may be, where the PRSA is subject to a pension adjustment order, to the spouse or former spouse or civil partner or former civil partner of the PRSA contributor (in this subsection referred to as the ‘relevant individual’) on foot of the relevant individual availing of an option in accordance with section 782A.
(2D)A PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of the Pensions Act 1990) approved under section 94 of that Act, shall not cease to be an approved product where, notwithstanding anything contained in the terms of the product as approved –
(a)the PRSA administrator –
(i)on or before 31 March 2017 –
(I)commences payment of an annuity to the PRSA contributor,
(II)pays a lump sum to the PRSA contributor, in accordance with section 787G(3)(a),
(III)makes assets of the PRSA available to the PRSA contributor, or
(IV)transfers assets of the PRSA to an approved retirement fund in accordance with section 787H(1),
or
(ii)in priority to any payment, making of assets available or transfer referred to in subparagraph (i), makes available from the PRSA assets, to such extent as may be necessary, an amount for the purposes of discharging a tax liability in relation to the PRSA contributor under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part in respect of the PRSA,
(b)insofar as subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) is concerned, the PRSA is deemed to be a vested PRSA in accordance with section 790D(1A), and
(c)insofar as subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) is concerned, the PRSA is a vested PRSA within the meaning of paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PRSA’ in section 790D(1).
(3)Where, having regard to the provisions of this Chapter, the Revenue Commissioners are, at any time, of the opinion that approval of a product under section 94 of the Pensions Act, 1990, ought to be withdrawn they shall give notice in writing to the Pensions Authority of that opinion and such a notice shall specify the grounds on which they formed that opinion.
(4)Where approval of a product is withdrawn pursuant to section 97 of the Pensions Act, 1990, there shall be made such assessments or amendment of assessments as may be appropriate for the purpose of withdrawing any relief given under this Chapter consequent on the grant of the approval.
787L.
Transfers to and from PRSA.
(1)In addition to the requirements imposed by section 787K for the granting of such approval, the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve, for the purposes of section 94(3) of the Pensions Act, 1990, a PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of that Act) unless the product provides that the individual who has entered into the arrangements in respect of it may require a sum representing the value of his or her accrued rights under the product –
(a)to be paid by the person with whom the individual has entered into such arrangements to such other person as the individual may specify, and
(b)to be applied by such other person in payment either of a contribution under a PRSA contract made between the individual and that other person or a contribution under an approved scheme of which the individual is a member.
(2)Without prejudice to subsection (1), the Revenue Commissioners shall not approve, for the purposes of section 94(3) of the Pensions Act, 1990, a PRSA product (within the meaning of Part X of that Act) unless the product provides that the PRSA provider may receive contributions from –
(a)another PRSA in respect of which the contributor to the first-mentioned PRSA is the contributor,
(b)either an approved scheme or a statutory scheme in respect of which the contributor to the first-mentioned PRSA is a member, or
(c)a contract approved by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with Chapter 2 of this Part to which the contributor to the first-mentioned PRSA is a party.
(3)References in subsection (1) to the individual by whom a contract is made include references to any widow, widower, surviving civil partner or dependant having accrued rights under the contract.
Chapter 2B
Overseas Pension Plans: Migrant Member Relief (ss. 787M-787N)
787M.
Interpretation and general (Chapter 2B).
(1)In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires –
“administrator” in relation to an overseas pension plan, means the person or persons having the management of the plan;
“contributions” include premia;
“certificate of contributions” means a certificate obtained by the relevant migrant member from the administrator and provided to the Revenue Commissioners, in a form to be furnished by the Revenue Commissioners for that purpose, containing for each calendar year the following particulars in respect of the relevant migrant member of the plan –
(a)his or her name, address, PPS Number and policy reference number
(b)the contributions paid by him or her under the plan in that year, and
(c)where relevant, the contributions, if any, paid under the plan in that year in respect of him or her by, or on behalf of, his or her employer;
“overseas pension plan” means a contract, an agreement, a series of agreements, a trust deed or other arrangements, other than a state social security scheme, which is established in, or entered into under the law of, the United Kingdom or a Member State of the European Communities, other than the State;
“national of a Member State of the European Communities” means any individual possessing the nationality or citizenship of a Member State of the European Communities;
“policy reference number” means the unique identifying number of a relevant migrant member in relation to an overseas pension plan;
“PPS Number” means a personal public service number within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;
“qualifying overseas pension plan” means an overseas pension plan –
(a)which is in good faith established for the sole purpose of providing benefits of a kind similar to those referred to in Chapters 1, 2, 2A or 2D of this Part,
(b)in respect of which tax relief is available under the law of the Member State of the European Communities in which the plan is established, or under the law of the United Kingdom where the plan is established in the United Kingdom, in respect of any contributions paid under the plan, and
(c)in relation to which the relevant migrant member of the plan complies with the requirements of subsection (2);
“relevant migrant member” means an individual who is a resident of the State and who is a member of a qualifying overseas pension plan and who, in relation to any contributions paid under the plan –
(a)was, at the time the individual first became a member of the pension plan –
(i)a resident of a Member State of the European Union, other than the State, or
(ii)a resident of the United Kingdom,
and entitled to tax relief in respect of contributions paid under the plan under the law of that Member State of the European Union or the United Kingdom, as the case may be,
(b)was a member of the pension plan at the beginning of the period in which the individual became a resident of the State
(c)was, immediately before the beginning of that period, resident outside of the State for a continuous period of 3 years (but this paragraph shall not apply where the contributions are to a sub-account, within the meaning of Article 2(23) of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1238 of the European Parliament and Council of 20 June 2019 [OJ No. L. 198, 25.7.2019. p.1.]), and
(d)
(i)is a national of a Member State of the European Communities or a citizen of the United Kingdom, or
(ii)not being such an individual, was a resident of a Member State of the European Communities, other than the State, or a resident of the United Kingdom, immediately before becoming a resident of the State;
“resident” means –
(a)in the case of a Member State of the European Communities, or the United Kingdom, with the Government of which arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 826(1) have been made, that the individual is regarded as being a resident of that State under those arrangements, and
(b)in any other case, that the individual is by virtue of the law of that State a resident of that State for the purposes of tax;
“state social security scheme” means a system of mandatory protection put in place by the Government of a country or territory, other than the State, to provide a minimum level of retirement income or other benefits, the level of which is determined by that Government;
“tax reference number” means, in relation to an institution operating or managing an overseas pension plan, the unique identification number allocated to the institution by a Member State of the European Communities, other than the State, or by the United Kingdom, for the purposes of taxation, and where more than one such number has been allocated, the reference number appropriate to the business in the course of which the overseas pension plan was issued.
(2)The requirements referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘qualifying overseas pension plan’ in subsection (1) are that the relevant migrant member –
(a)obtains from the administrator of the plan and provides to the Revenue Commissioners in such form and manner as they may specify –
(i)such evidence as they may reasonably require to verify the position in relation to paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition of ‘qualifying overseas pension plan’ in subsection (1), and
(ii)the following particulars in relation to the plan –
(I)the name, address and tax reference number of the institution operating or managing the plan,
(II)the policy reference number of the relevant migrant member of the plan,
(III)the date on which the relevant migrant member became a member of the plan,
(IV)the date on which contributions under the plan first became payable,
(V)the date on which benefits under the plan first become payable,
and
(b)has irrevocably instructed the administrator of the plan to provide to the Revenue Commissioners such information as they may reasonably require in relation to any payments made under the plan.
787N. Qualifying overseas pension plans: relief for contributions.
(1)Where in any year of assessment, contributions are paid to any qualifying overseas pension plan –
(a)by a relevant migrant member of that plan, or
(b)by, or on behalf of, an employer in respect of an employee (within the meaning of Chapter 1) who is a relevant migrant member of that plan,
then, where the relevant migrant member has provided a certificate of contributions, relief for that year of assessment under the provisions of subsections (6), (7) and (8) of section 774 and section 778(1) of Chapter 1 (which relates to occupational pension schemes), or, as the case may be, section 787 of Chapter 2 (which relates to retirement annuities), or sections 787C, 787E, 787F or 787J of Chapter 2A (which relates to personal retirement savings accounts) or sections 787X, 787Z or 787AD of Chapter 2D (which relates to Pan-European Personal Pension Products) and shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to those contributions as if –
(i)the qualifying overseas pension plan was an exempt approved scheme under Chapter 1 or an annuity contract for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under Chapter 2, or a PRSA product approved under Chapter 2A for the purposes of section 94(3) of the Pensions Act 1990, or a PEPP in accordance with Chapter 2D for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1238 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 , and
(ii)the relevant migrant member of the qualifying overseas pension plan was –
(I)an employee within the meaning of Chapter 1,
(II)an individual referred to in section 784(1) of Chapter 2,
(III)an individual referred to in Chapter 2A, or
(IV)an individual referred to in Chapter 2D.
(2)An individual who would be a relevant migrant member of a qualifying overseas pension plan but for the fact that he or she fails to meet the requirement in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘relevant migrant member’ in section 787M shall, notwithstanding that, be treated as a relevant migrant member if the Revenue Commissioners are of the opinion that in all the circumstances the failure of the individual to meet the condition ought to be disregarded for that purpose.
(3)
(a)The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require the administrator of a qualifying overseas pension plan who has received an irrevocable instruction as provided for in section 787M(2)(b), to provide within 30 days of the date of such notice such information and particulars, in relation to payments under the plan, as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter.
(b)The notice referred to in paragraph (a) shall specify –
(i)the information and particulars required by the Revenue Commissioners, and
(ii)the form and manner in which such information and particulars are to be provided.
Chapter 2C Limit on Tax-Relieved Pension Funds (ss. 787O-787U)
787O. Interpretation and general (Chapter 2C).
(1)In this Chapter and Schedule 23B, unless the context otherwise requires –
“accrued pension amount” in relation to a benefit crystallisation event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(a)(i) of Schedule 23B in respect of a relevant pension arrangement that is a defined benefit arrangement, means the part (if any), determined in accordance with subsection (2A), of the amount represented by P in the formula in paragraph 3(aa) of that Schedule that had accrued to the individual under the arrangement on the specified date;
“administrator” in relation to a relevant pension arrangement, means the person or persons having the management of the arrangement, and includes –
(a)an administrator, within the meaning of section 770(1),
(b)a person mentioned in section 784, lawfully carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life, including the person mentioned in section 784(4A)(ii),
(c)a PRSA administrator, within the meaning of section 787A(1),
(d)an administrator of a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraphs (e) and (f) of the definition of relevant pension arrangement, as may be specified by regulations under section 787U, and
(e)a PEPP provider within the meaning of Chapter 2D;
“amount crystallised by a benefit crystallisation event” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 23B and a reference to ‘amount of the current event’ shall be construed as the amount crystallised by the benefit crystallisation event which is that event;
“amount of uncrystallised pension rights on the specified date” in relation to an individual, shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 23B;
“annual amount of a pension” means the amount of pension payable to the individual in the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the individual becomes entitled to the pension and on the assumption that there is no increase in the pension throughout that period;
“applied” in relation to a transfer amount, means the application of the transfer amount in accordance with –
(a)subsection (5), (6), (8) or (9) of section 12 of the Family Law Act 1995
(b)subsection (5), (6), (8) or (9) of section 17 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, or
(c)subsection (1), (3), (5) or (6) of section 123 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010
as the case may be;
“approved retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;
“approved minimum retirement fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C;
“benefit crystallisation event” and the time when such an event occurs shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 2 of Schedule 23B;
“calculation A” in relation to the annual amount of a pension, means a calculation that increases that annual amount at an annual percentage rate of 5 per cent for the whole of the period beginning with the month in which the individual became entitled to the pension and ending with the month in which the individual becomes entitled to payment of the pension at an increased annual amount;
“calculation B” in relation to the annual amount of a pension, means a calculation that increases that annual amount by 2 per cent plus the movement in the All Items Consumer Price Index Number compiled by the Central Statistics Office starting in the month in which the individual first became entitled to the pension and ending in the month when the individual becomes entitled to payment of the pension at an increased annual amount;
“chargeable excess” shall be construed in accordance with section 787Q(4);
“current event” means a benefit crystallisation event occurring on or after the specified date;
“date of the current event” means the date on which –
(a)the individual acquires an actual entitlement to the payment of a benefit in respect of the current event under the relevant pension arrangement, whether or not the benefit is paid on, or commences to be paid on, that date,
(b)the annuity or, as the case may be, the pension would otherwise become payable under a relevant pension arrangement where the individual exercises an option in accordance with section 772(3A), 784(2A), 787H(1) or, as the case may be section 787AB,
(ba)the annuity would otherwise become payable under a PRSA of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ where an individual does not elect to exercise an option in accordance with section 787H(1) and instead retains the assets available in the PRSA at that date, in that PRSA or any other PRSA,
(bb)the annuity would otherwise become payable under a PEPP of a kind referred to in paragraph (g) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ where an individual does not elect to exercise an option in accordance with section 787AB(1) and instead retains the assets available in the PEPP at that date, in that PEPP or any other PEPP,
(c)a payment or transfer is made to an overseas arrangement by direction of the individual under the provisions of the Occupational Pension Schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (Overseas Transfer Payments) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 716 of 2003), or
(d)the individual, having become entitled to a pension under a relevant pension arrangement on or after the specified date, becomes entitled to the payment of that pension at an increased annual amount which exceeds by more than the permitted margin the annual amount at which it was payable on the date the individual became entitled to it;
“defined benefit arrangement” means a relevant pension arrangement other than a defined contribution arrangement;
“defined contribution arrangement” means a relevant pension arrangement that provides benefits calculated by reference to an amount available for the provision of benefits to or in respect of the member, whether the amount so available is determined solely by reference to the contributions paid into the arrangement by or on behalf of the member and the investment return earned on those contributions or otherwise, and includes a relevant pension arrangement of the kind described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’;
“designated benefit”, “retirement benefit” and “transfer amount” have the meaning assigned to them, respectively, in –
(a)section 12 of the Family Law Act 1995
(b)section 17 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, or
(c)section 121 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, as the case may be;
“excepted circumstances” means circumstances such that the increase in the annual amount of pension in payment to the individual is directly related to an increase in the rate of remuneration of all persons or of a class of persons employed in the sector in which the individual was employed and in respect of which employment the individual is entitled to the pension under the relevant pension arrangement;
“fund administrator” means a qualifying fund manager of an approved retirement fund or an approved minimum retirement fund or the PRSA administrator of a vested PRSA (within the meaning of section 790D(1)) or vested PEPP provider (within the meaning of Chapter 2D), as the case may be, (in this definition referred to as the ‘fund’) the beneficial owner of which is a non-member and the assets of which consist, in whole or in part, of –
(a)assets transferred to the fund by virtue of the exercise by the non-member of a relevant option in relation to the transfer arrangement (in this definition referred to as the ‘first-mentioned transfer’), or
(b)assets transferred to the fund which were previously held in another fund or funds the assets of which originated, in whole or in part, from the first mentioned transfer;
“market value” shall be construed in accordance with section 548;
“maximum tax-relieved pension fund” in relation to an individual, means the overall limit on the amount that may be crystallised by a benefit crystallisation event or, where there is more than one such event, the aggregate of all of such amounts on or after 7 December 2005 without giving rise to a chargeable excess;
“member” in relation to a relevant pension arrangement, means any individual who, having been admitted to membership under the rules of the arrangement, remains entitled to any benefit under the arrangement and includes an employee within the meaning of section 770(1), the individual referred to in section 784, a PRSA contributor within the meaning of Chapter 2A, a contributor within the meaning of Chapter 2D and a relevant migrant member within the meaning of section 787M(1);
“non-member” in relation to a relevant pension arrangement, means an individual (other than a dependent member of the family within the meaning of section 2 of the Family Law Act 1995 and section 2 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996) in whose favour a pension adjustment order in respect of the retirement benefit of a member of the arrangement has been made;
“overseas arrangement” means an arrangement for the provision of retirement benefits established outside the State;
“pension adjustment order” means an order made in accordance with –
(a)section 12(2) of the Family Law Act 1995,
(b)section 17(2) of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, or
(c)section 121(2) of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010,
as the case may be, or any variation of such an order made by an order under –
(i)section 18(2) of the Family Law Act 1995,
(ii)section 22(2) of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, or
(iii)section 131(3) of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010,
as the case may be, the operation of which has not been suspended (or if suspended, or further suspended, has been revived) or discharged by an order made under any of the relevant provisions referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii);
“PEPP assets” has the same meaning as in Chapter 2D;
“PEPP provider” has the same meaning as in Chapter 2D;
“permitted margin” means the amount by which the annual amount of the pension would be greater if it had been increased by whichever of calculation A and calculation B gives the greater amount;
“personal fund threshold” in relation to an individual for a year of assessment, means –
(a)
(i)where the individual is an individual to whom the Revenue Commissioners have issued a certificate or, as the case may be, a revised certificate in accordance with section 787P as that section applied at any time before the date of the passing of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2013 (in this Chapter referred to as the ‘earlier certificate’), the amount stated in the earlier certificate as being the individual’s personal fund threshold, and
(ii)in any other case, for the year of assessment 2014, the lesser of –
(I)€2,300,000, and
(II)
(A)where no benefit crystallisation event in relation to the individual has occurred on or after 7 December 2005 and the individual has uncrystallised pension rights on the specified date, the amount of the uncrystallised pension rights on the specified date in relation to the individual, where the amount of those rights on that date exceed the standard fund threshold, or
(B)where one or more than one benefit crystallisation event in relation to the individual has occurred on or after 7 December 2005 and the individual has uncrystallised pension rights on the specified date, the aggregate of the amounts crystallised by those benefit crystallisation events and the amount of the uncrystallised pension rights on the specified date in relation to the individual, where the aggregate amount of those crystallised and uncrystallised rights exceed the standard fund threshold, and
(b)for a year of assessment (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘relevant year’) after the year of assessment 2014, an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A x B
where –
Ais the personal fund threshold for the year of assessment immediately preceding the relevant year, and
Bis –
(i)the earnings adjustment factor which may be designated in writing by the Minister for Finance in December of the year of assessment preceding the relevant year, a note of which shall be published as soon as practicable in the Iris Oifigiúil, or
(ii)where no earnings adjustment factor is designated by the Minister for Finance, 1;
“previously used amount” in relation to the standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, the personal fund threshold shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 5 of Schedule 23B;
“PPS Number” in relation to an individual, means the individual’s Personal Public Service Number within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;
“relevant member” in relation to a relevant pension arrangement, means –
(a)a member of a relevant pension arrangement in respect of whose retirement benefit under the arrangement a pension adjustment order has been made in favour of a non-member, or
(b)a member of a relevant pension arrangement to which a sum representing that member’s accrued rights under the relevant pension arrangement referred to in paragraph (a) has been transferred, or subsequently transferred;
“relevant option” in relation to a non-member and a transfer arrangement, means the option referred to in section 772(3A), 784(2A), 787H(1) or 787AB(1), as the case may be, to the extent that those options refer to a transfer to an approved retirement fund, or where the transfer arrangement is a PRSA, the option to retain the assets of the transfer arrangement in that arrangement (or any other similar arrangement);
“relevant pension arrangement” means –
(a)a retirement benefits scheme, within the meaning of section 771, for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of Chapter 1,
(b)an annuity contract or a trust scheme or part of a trust scheme for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under section 784,
(c)a PRSA contract, within the meaning of section 787A, in respect of a PRSA product, within the meaning of that section,
(d)a qualifying overseas pension plan within the meaning of Chapter 2B,
(e)a public service pension scheme within the meaning of section 1 of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004,
(f)a statutory scheme, within the meaning of section 770(1), other than a public service pension scheme referred to in paragraph (e), or
(g)a PEPP contract, within the meaning of Chapter 2D, in respect of a PEPP, within the meaning of that Chapter;;
“relevant valuation factor” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2);
“specified date” means 1 January 2014;
“standard fund threshold” in relation to an individual for a year of assessment, means –
(a)for the year of assessment 2014, €2,000,000, and
(b)for a year of assessment (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘relevant year’) after the year of assessment 2014, an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A x B
where –
Ais the standard fund threshold for the year of assessment immediately preceding the relevant year, and
Bis –
(i)the earnings adjustment factor which may be designated in writing by the Minister for Finance in December of the year of assessment preceding the relevant year, a note of which shall be published as soon as practicable in the Iris Oifigiúil, or
(ii)where no earnings adjustment factor is designated by the Minister for Finance, 1;
“subsequent administrator” means the administrator of the transfer arrangement under which the non-member remains entitled to a retirement benefit under the arrangement or in respect of which the non-member’s retirement benefit under the arrangement has crystallised;
“transfer arrangement” means a relevant pension arrangement –
(a)to which a transfer amount has been applied to provide a retirement benefit for or in respect of a non-member and includes the relevant pension arrangement of the relevant member where a retirement benefit for or in respect of the non-member is provided under that arrangement of the same actuarial value as the transfer amount, or
(b)to which a sum representing the non-member’s accrued rights under an arrangement referred to in paragraph (a) has been transferred, or subsequently transferred;
“uncrystallised pension rights” in relation to an individual on any date, means pension rights in respect of which the individual was not entitled to the payment of benefits in relation to those rights on that date;
“vested RAC” means a relevant pension arrangement of a kind referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of that term in this subsection in respect of which –
(a)payment of the annuity to the individual entitled to the annuity under the contract has not commenced, or
(b)a transfer has not been made under section 784(2A),
on or before the date on which the individual attains the age of 75 years.
(2)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), for the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B, the relevant valuation factor in relation to a relevant pension arrangement that is a defined benefit arrangement (in this subsection referred to as the ‘pension arrangement’) is –
(i)on the specified date, 20, and
(ii)after the specified date, where at the date of the current event relating to the pension arrangement the individual has attained the age included in an entry in column (1) of the Table to Schedule 23B, the figure in column (2) of that Table opposite that entry (in this Chapter and Schedule 23B referred to as the ‘relevant age-related factor’).
(b)Where the administrator of a pension arrangement has, with the prior agreement of the Revenue Commissioners, used (before the specified date) a valuation factor (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first-mentioned factor’) greater than the relevant valuation factor referred to in paragraph (a) (i) then, in such a case, for the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B, the relevant valuation factor in relation to the pension arrangement is –
(i)on the specified date, the first-mentioned factor, and
(ii)after the specified date, the greater of the first-mentioned factor and the relevant age-related factor and the reference to the meaning of ‘A’ in the formula in paragraph 3(a) of Schedule 23B shall be construed accordingly.
(2A)For the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B –
(a)where the individual has made a PFT notification (within the meaning of section 787P), the accrued pension amount shall be the annual amount of pension included in the statement from the administrator referred to in subsection (2)(a) of section 787P, and
(b)in any other case, the accrued pension amount shall be an amount equivalent to the annual amount of pension which would be represented by AP in the formula in paragraph 1(2)(b) of Schedule 23B, if the individual’s uncrystallised pension rights under the arrangement on the specified date were being calculated.
(3)For the purposes of this Chapter, where more than one benefit crystallisation event occurs in relation to an individual on the same day, the individual shall decide the order in which they are to be deemed to occur.
(4)Schedule 23B shall apply for the purposes of supplementing this Chapter and shall be construed as one with this Chapter.
(5)For the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B, where, on or after 7 December 2005, an individual is a relevant member of a relevant pension arrangement (in this subsection referred to as the ‘arrangement’) then, notwithstanding the pension adjustment order, the administrator of the arrangement shall, in calculating –
(a)the relevant member’s pension rights (within the meaning of section 787P(2)(a)(i)) in respect of the arrangement for the purposes of the statement certifying those rights (referred to in that section), and
(b)the amount crystallised by a benefit crystallisation event occurring on or after 7 December 2005 in relation to the relevant member under the arrangement,
include in those calculations –
(i)the designated benefit payable pursuant to the order, or
(ii)where the transfer amount has been applied, the designated benefit that would otherwise have been payable pursuant to the order if the transfer amount had not been so applied,
as if the pension adjustment order had not been made, and where the administrator is the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement to which a sum representing the relevant member’s accrued rights under the relevant pension arrangement in respect of which the pension adjustment order has been made, has been transferred, or subsequently transferred, in whole or in part, the calculations referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) shall reflect the sum that would otherwise have been transferred, or subsequently transferred, if no pension adjustment order had been made.
(6)Where an individual of a kind referred to in the definition of ‘vested RAC’ attains the age of 75 years prior to the date of passing of the Finance Act 2016, the relevant pension arrangement is deemed to become a vested RAC on the date of passing of that Act.
787P.
Maximum tax-relieved pension fund.
(1)An individual’s maximum tax-relieved pension fund shall not exceed –
(a)the standard fund threshold, or
(b)the personal fund threshold, where –
(i)the conditions set out in subsection (2) are met and the Revenue Commissioners have issued a certificate in accordance with subsection (7) or a revised certificate in accordance with subsection (8), or
(ii)the Revenue Commissioners have issued an earlier certificate.
(2)The conditions referred to in subsection (1)(b)(i) are –
(a)that the individual requests and obtains from the administrator of each relevant pension arrangement of which he or she is a member a statement –
(i)certifying the amount of the crystallised or, as the case may be, uncrystallised pension rights in respect of the arrangement on the specified date, in relation to the individual (in this subsection referred to as the ‘individual’s pension rights’), calculated in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and Schedule 23B,
(ii)where the arrangement is a defined benefit arrangement, certifying the annual amount of pension represented by AP in the formula in paragraph 1(2)(b) of Schedule 23B included in the calculation of the individual’s pension rights, and
(iii)where the arrangement is an arrangement of a kind described in paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ in section 787O(1), specifying the Revenue Approval Reference Number (in this subsection referred to as the ‘reference number’) of the arrangement,
and
(b)that the individual notifies the Revenue Commissioners, by such electronic means (within the meaning of section 917EA) as are required by the Commissioners, within the period of 12 months from the date the electronic means are made available by the Commissioners, or before the first benefit crystallisation event occurs after the specified date, whichever is the earlier, that he or she has a personal fund threshold and provides the following information (in this section referred to as the ‘PFT notification’)-
(i)his or her full name, address, telephone number and PPS Number,
(ii)the following particulars of each relevant pension arrangement in respect of which the personal fund threshold arises:
(I)the name, address and telephone number of the administrator;
(II)the name and reference number of the arrangement;
(III)whether the arrangement is a defined benefit or defined contribution arrangement;
(IV)
(A)the amount of the individual’s pension rights in respect of the arrangement as certified by the administrator for the purposes of paragraph (a), and
(B)where the arrangement is a defined benefit arrangement, the annual amount of pension referred to in subsection (2)(a)(ii) as certified by the administrator for the purposes of paragraph (a);
and
(V)such other information and particulars as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B.
(3)A statement referred to in subsection (2)(a) shall-
(a)be kept and retained by-
(i)the administrator, for the period of 6 years after the date of the benefit crystallisation event arising under the relevant pension arrangement or, where there is more than one such event, the date of the latest event, and
(ii)the individual, for the period of 6 years after the date of the last benefit crystallisation event arising in respect of the relevant pension arrangement or arrangements included in the PFT notification,
and
(b)on being so required by notice given to the administrator or, as the case may be, the individual in writing by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, be made available to the officer within the time specified in the notice.
(4)Where a PFT notification is required to be made before the electronic means referred to in subsection (2)(b) are made available the notification shall be made in a manner approved by the Revenue Commissioners.
(5)A PFT notification made by electronic means shall be deemed to include a declaration to the effect that the notification is correct and complete.
(6)The administrator of each relevant pension arrangement of which an individual is a member shall comply with a request from the individual to provide a statement referred to in subsection (2)(a).
(7)Subject to subsection (8), the Revenue Commissioners, on receipt of a PFT notification, shall within 30 days of receipt, or such longer period as they may require for the purposes of this subsection, issue a certificate to the individual stating the amount of the personal fund threshold.
(8)The Revenue Commissioners may at any time withdraw a certificate issued in accordance with subsection (7) (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned certificate’) and, where appropriate, issue a revised certificate if, following the issue of the first-mentioned certificate, the Commissioners are satisfied that –
(a)the information included in the PFT notification is incorrect, or
(b)the individual is not entitled to a certificate.
787Q.
Chargeable excess.
(1)Income tax shall be charged in accordance with section 787R where, on or after 7 December 2005, a benefit crystallisation event occurs (in this section referred to as the ‘current event’) in relation to an individual who is a member of a relevant pension arrangement and either of the conditions in subsection (2) are met.
(2)The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are –
(a)that all or any part of the individual’s standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, personal fund threshold is available at the date of the current event but the amount of that event exceeds the amount of the standard fund threshold or personal fund threshold which is available at that date, or
(b)that none of the individual’s standard fund threshold or personal fund threshold, as the case may be, is available at the date of the current event.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2), the amount of an individual’s standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, personal fund threshold that is available at the date of the current event shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 23B.
(4)Subject to subsection (5), where either of the conditions in subsection (2) are met, the amount of the current event or, as the case may be, the amount by which the amount of that event exceeds the amount of the standard fund threshold or personal fund threshold that is available at that date in relation to the individual, shall be known as the ‘chargeable excess’.
(5)Where the amount of tax arising on a chargeable excess in accordance with section 787R is paid by the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement in whole or in part, then so much of the tax that is paid by the administrator shall itself be treated as forming part of the chargeable excess unless the individual’s rights under the relevant pension arrangement are reduced so as to fully reflect the amount of tax so paid or the administrator is reimbursed by the individual in respect of any tax so paid.
(5A)
(a)Notwithstanding section 59B of the Pensions Act 1990, where, in accordance with section 787S(3), a non-member’s appropriate share (within the meaning of section 787R(2A)(b)) of tax arising on a chargeable excess is paid by the subsequent administrator, in whole or in part, and the non-member was in receipt of a pension benefit payable from the transfer arrangement at the date the subsequent administrator received the certificate referred to in section 787R(3B), then so much of the tax that is paid by the subsequent administrator shall itself be treated as forming part of the non-member’s appropriate share unless the non-member’s pension benefit payable under the transfer arrangement is reduced so as to fully reflect the amount of tax so paid or the subsequent administrator is reimbursed by the non-member in respect of any tax so paid.
(b)Where, in accordance with section 787S(3), a subsequent administrator or a fund administrator (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘administrator’) is liable to pay the amount of a non-member’s appropriate share (within the meaning of section 787R(2A)(b)) of tax arising on a chargeable excess, or a part of that amount, the administrator shall, for the purposes of payment of the tax, be entitled to dispose of or appropriate such assets of –
(i)the transfer arrangement as represent the non-member’s accrued rights under that arrangement, or
(ii)the approved retirement fund, approved minimum retirement fund (or where the non-member has an approved retirement fund and an approved minimum retirement fund, of both funds), a vested PRSA (or vested PRSAs, where the non-member has more than one vested PRSA) or a vested PEPP (or vested PEPPs, where the non-member has more than one vested PEPP), as the case may be, (in this subsection referred to as the ‘fund’),
as are required to meet the amount of the tax so payable and the non-member shall allow such disposal or appropriation.
(c)Where in pursuance of this subsection and section 787S(3) a subsequent administrator reduces a non-member’s pension benefit or disposes of or appropriates an asset of the transfer arrangement, or a fund administrator disposes of or appropriates an asset of the fund, then no action shall lie against the subsequent administrator or the fund administrator in any court by reason of such reduction, disposal or appropriation.
(6)Where the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement, of a kind described in paragraphs (e) and (f) of the definition of relevant pension arrangement in section 787O(1), pays an amount of tax arising on a chargeable excess in accordance with section 787S(3), then –
(a)the amount of tax so paid shall be a debt due to the administrator from the individual, and
(b)the administrator shall be reimbursed by the individual for the tax so paid in accordance with subsection (7).
(6A)Where the provisions of section 787R(2A) apply in relation to a relevant pension arrangement referred to in subsection (6), then –
(a)where no transfer amount has been applied, or
(b)where a transfer amount has been applied to provide a retirement benefit for or in respect of the non-member under the arrangement of the same actuarial value as the transfer amount,
the provisions of subsections (6), (7), (8) and (9) shall apply, as if the references in those subsections to –
(i)the individual were a reference to the relevant member or the non-member, as the case may be, and
(ii)the rules of the scheme were a reference to the rules of the scheme having regard to the provisions of the pension adjustment order.
(7)An administrator referred to in subsection (6) shall be reimbursed for the payment of tax arising on a chargeable excess in the following manner –
(a)where the amount of tax paid is 20 per cent or a lesser percentage of the amount of the lump sum payable to the individual under the rules of the relevant pension arrangement reduced by the amount of tax charged under subsection (3)(a)(i) or (3)(b)(i)(I) of section 790AA on an excess lump sum (within the meaning of subsection (1)(e) of that section), if any, in respect of that lump sum (in this subsection referred to as the ‘net lump sum’) –
(i)by appropriating that percentage of the net lump sum,
(ii)by payment by the individual of an amount to the administrator that is equal to the amount of tax paid,
(iii)by a combination of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) such that the aggregate of the percentage of the net lump sum appropriated and the amount paid by the individual to the administrator is equal to the amount of tax paid, or
(iv)by the individual exercising the option referred to in subsection (8),
(b)where the amount of tax paid is greater than 20 per cent of the net lump sum, by the individual exercising the option referred to in subsection (8), or –
(i)
(I)by appropriating not less than 20 per cent of the net lump sum, or such higher percentage as the administrator and the individual may agree,
(II)by payment by the individual of an amount to the administrator that is not less than 20 per cent of the net lump sum, or such higher amount as the administrator and the individual may agree, or
(III)by a combination of clauses (I) and (II) such that the aggregate of the percentage of the net lump sum appropriated and the amount paid by the individual to the administrator is not less than 20 per cent of the net lump sum,
and
(ii)
(I)by reducing the gross annual amount of pension payable to the individual under the rules of the relevant pension arrangement (in this subsection referred to as the ‘pension reduction’), for a period agreed between the individual and the administrator that does not exceed 20 years from the date of first payment of the pension (in this subsection referred to as the ‘agreed period’), such that the pension reduction over the agreed period is sufficient to reimburse the administrator for that portion of the tax paid as was not reimbursed under subparagraph (i), if any, (in this subsection referred to as the ‘balance’),
(II)by payment by the individual of an amount equal to the balance to the administrator within the period of 3 months from the date of the benefit crystallisation event that gave rise to the chargeable excess, or
(III)by a combination of a pension reduction over an agreed period as provided for in clause (I) and payment of an amount by the individual as provided for in clause (II) where the aggregate of the amount of the reduction in the pension over the agreed period and the amount payable by the individual equals the balance,
(c)[deleted]
(8)The option referred to in paragraphs (a)(iv) and (b) of subsection (7) is the option to have the gross annual amount of pension payable to the individual under the rules of the relevant pension arrangement reduced for a period that does not exceed 20 years from the date of first payment of the pension, such that the reduction in the pension over the period is sufficient to reimburse the administrator for the tax paid.
(9)A payment by an individual to an administrator referred to in subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (a) of subsection (7) and in clauses (II) and (III) of paragraph (b) (i) of that subsection (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned payment’) shall be made before the administrator pays the amount of the net lump sum or, as the case may be, such amount of the net lump sum as has not been appropriated to reimburse the administrator for the payment of tax arising on the chargeable excess and the administrator may withhold payment of that amount until such time as the first-mentioned payment is made by the individual.
787R.
Liability to tax and rate of tax on chargeable excess.
(1)Without prejudice to any other provisions of the Tax Acts including, in particular, any other provision of those Acts relating to a charge to tax –
(a)the whole of the amount of a chargeable excess calculated in accordance with section 787Q, without any relief or reduction specified in the Table to section 458 or any other deduction from that amount, shall be chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D at the higher rate for the tax year (within the meaning of section 787TA(1)) in which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess occurs, and
(b)section 188 shall not apply as regards income tax so charged.
(2)Subject to subsection (2A)(d), the persons liable for income tax charged under subsection (1) shall be the administrator of the relevant pension arrangement under which the benefit crystallisation event arises and the individual in relation to whom the benefit crystallisation event occurs and their liability shall be joint and several.
(2A)
(a)Where an individual is a relevant member of a relevant pension arrangement, income tax charged under subsection (1) (in this subsection referred to as the ‘tax’) in respect of a chargeable excess arising on a benefit crystallisation event in respect of the relevant member under that arrangement shall be apportioned by the administrator between the relevant member and the non-member (in this subsection referred to as the ‘relevant parties’) in accordance with paragraph (b), and the persons liable for the tax so apportioned and the extent of their liability shall be the persons referred to in paragraph (d) and the liabilities referred to therein.
(b)Subject to the assumption in paragraph (c), the tax referred to in paragraph (a) shall be apportioned between the relevant parties such that each party’s share of the tax (in this Chapter referred to as the ‘appropriate share’) shall not exceed such part of the tax as would bear to that tax the same proportion as each party’s share of the retirement benefit (arising under the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the tax) bears to that retirement benefit, having regard to the designated benefit payable to the non-member pursuant to the pension adjustment order.
(c)The assumption referred to in paragraph (b) is that, where a transfer amount has been applied to provide a retirement benefit for or in respect of the non-member, each party’s share of the retirement benefit arising under the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the tax shall be determined as follows:
(i)in the case of the non-member –
(I)where the relevant pension arrangement referred to in paragraph (a) is a defined benefit arrangement and is the arrangement in respect of which the pension adjustment order has been made, it shall be the designated benefit on which the transfer amount was calculated, and
(II)in any other case, it shall be the transfer amount, and
(ii)in the case of the relevant member, it shall be an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A – B
where –
Ais the retirement benefit arising under the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the tax, and
Bis the non-member’s share determined in accordance with clause (I) or (II), as the case may be, of subparagraph (i).
(d)The persons liable for the tax apportioned in accordance with paragraph (b) and the extent of their liability shall be –
(i)the administrator and the relevant member in respect of the relevant member’s appropriate share, and
(ii)
(I)where no transfer amount has been applied to provide a retirement benefit for or in respect of the non-member (and notwithstanding the provisions of the pension adjustment order), the administrator and the non-member in respect of the non-member’s appropriate share, or
(II)where a transfer amount has been applied to provide a retirement benefit for or in respect of the non-member and –
(A)the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement has not crystallised at the date the subsequent administrator receives the certificate referred to in subsection (3B) or where the administrator and the subsequent administrator are the same person (in this section referred to as the ‘alternative circumstance’) at the date of the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess (in this section referred to as the ‘alternative date’), the subsequent administrator and the non-member in respect of the non-member’s appropriate share, or
(B)the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement has crystallised at the date the subsequent administrator receives the certificate referred to in subsection (3B) or where the alternative circumstance arises at the alternative date and the non-member is in receipt of a pension payable from the transfer arrangement, the subsequent administrator and the non- member in respect of the non-member’s appropriate share, or
(C)the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement has crystallised at the date the subsequent administrator receives the certificate referred to in subsection (3B) or where the alternative circumstance arises at the alternative date and the non-member has exercised a relevant option under the transfer arrangement, the fund administrator and the non-member in respect of the non-member’s appropriate share, or
(III)in any other case, the non-member in respect of his or her appropriate share,
and the liability of the persons referred to in subparagraph (i) and in clauses (I) and (II) of subparagraph (ii) shall be joint and several.
(e)Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(ii)(II), the liability of a subsequent administrator or a fund administrator shall not exceed the lesser of the non-member’s appropriate share and –
(i)in the case of a subsequent administrator, the amount or value of the assets in the transfer arrangement (in this subparagraph referred to as the ‘first-mentioned arrangement’) representing the non-member’s accrued rights under the arrangement at the time those rights are transferred to another relevant pension arrangement or at the time the non-member’s retirement benefit under the first-mentioned arrangement crystallise, as the case may be, or
(ii)in the case of a fund administrator, the amount or value of the assets in the approved retirement fund, approved minimum retirement fund (or the aggregate of those amounts or values where the non-member has an approved retirement fund and an approved minimum retirement fund) or vested PRSA (or the aggregate of those amounts or values where the non-member has more than one vested PRSA), as the case may be, at the date the fund administrator receives the certificate or copy certificate referred to in subsection (3C).
(3)A person referred to in subsection (2) or paragraph (d) of subsection (2A) shall be liable for any income tax charged in accordance with subsection (1) or, as the case may be, for the appropriate share of that tax, whether or not that person, or any other person who is liable to the charge, is resident or ordinarily resident in the State.
(3A)The references in subsections (2), (2A)(d) and (3) to income tax charged under subsection (1) or to the appropriate share of that tax, shall be deemed to be references to the amount of income tax so charged or to the appropriate share of that tax, as the case may be, reduced, as appropriate, in accordance with section 787RA.
(3B)Where the provisions of subsection (2A) apply and a transfer amount has been applied, the administrator (other than where the alternative circumstance referred to in subsection (2A)(d)(ii)(II)(A) arises) shall establish the identity of the subsequent administrator and, within 21 days from the end of the month in which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess occurs, provide to the subsequent administrator a certificate stating –
(a)the name, address and telephone number of the administrator,
(b)details of the transfer arrangement, where known,
(c)details of the relevant pension arrangement under which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess occurred,
(d)the nature of the benefit crystallisation event referred to in paragraph (c) and the date on which it occurred,
(e)the full name, last known address and, where known, the PPS Number of the non-member,
(f)the amount of, and the basis of calculation of, the non-member’s appropriate share, and
(g)such other information and particulars as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter.
(3C)
(a)Where –
(i)the provisions of subsection (2A) apply and a transfer amount has been applied, and
(ii)at the date the subsequent administrator receives the certificate referred to in subsection (3B) the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement has crystallised and the non-member has exercised a relevant option under the transfer arrangement,
then, where the subsequent administrator and the fund administrator are not the same person, the subsequent administrator shall establish the identity of the fund administrator and, within 21 days from receipt of the certificate, forward a copy of the certificate (in this section referred to as the ‘copy certificate’) to the fund administrator.
(b)Where –
(i)the provisions of subsection (2A) apply and a transfer amount has been applied,
(ii)at the date of the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess tax (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘event’) the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement has crystallised and the non-member has exercised a relevant option under the transfer arrangement, and
(iii)the alternative circumstance referred to in subsection (2A)(d)(ii)(II)(A) arises,
then, where the administrator and the fund administrator are not the same person, the administrator shall establish the identity of the fund administrator and, within 21 days from the end of the month in which the event occurs, provide to the fund administrator the certificate referred to in subsection (3B).
(3D)An administrator, subsequent administrator or fund administrator, as the case may be, shall within 21 days from –
(a)in the case of an administrator (including an administrator who is either or both the subsequent administrator and the fund administrator), the end of the month in which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess tax occurs, or
(b)in the case of a subsequent administrator or fund administrator, the date of receipt of a certificate or copy certificate, as the case may be,
inform the non-member by way of a notification in writing of the non- member’s liability for the non-member’s appropriate share of the chargeable excess tax and, where at the time the notification is due to be made the administrator or the subsequent administrator, as the case may be, is aware that the non-member is the person solely liable for the non-member’s appropriate share, inform the non-member as part of the notification of that fact and of the fact that the tax is due and payable by the non-member to the Collector-General in accordance with section 787S(3) within 3 months of the date of the notification.
(3E)Where a notification referred to in subsection (3D) is sent to a non-member in circumstances where the non-member is solely liable for the non-member’s appropriate share of the chargeable excess tax, a copy of the notice shall be sent by the administrator or the subsequent administrator, as the case may be, to the Revenue Commissioners at the same time.
(4)Where a benefit crystallisation event is due to occur (in this subsection referred to as the ‘future event’) in relation to an individual under a relevant pension arrangement, the administrator of that arrangement may request the individual to make, before the date of the future event, a declaration in writing to the administrator, in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners for that purpose, which contains –
(a)the individual’s full name, address and PPS Number,
(b)in respect of each benefit crystallisation event that has occurred in relation to the individual on or after 7 December 2005 –
(i)the date on which that event occurred, and
(ii)the amount crystallised by that event,
(c)in respect of a benefit crystallisation event or benefit crystallisation events that is or are due to occur from the date of the declaration made by the individual under this subsection up to and including the date of the future event –
(i)the expected date of each such event, and
(ii)the estimated amount to be crystallised by each such event,
(d)where relevant, the amount of the individual’s personal fund threshold together with a copy of the certificate issued by the Revenue Commissioners under section 787P(7) or, as the case may be, a copy of the revised certificate issued by the Commissioners under section 787P(8) (or, where relevant, a copy of the earlier certificate),
(e)where the administrator of the arrangement is an administrator of a kind referred to in paragraph (d) of the definition of ‘administrator’ in section 787O(1) and where relevant, details of the amount of unpaid tax required to be paid by the administrator and remitted to the Collector-General under subsections (18) and (19) of section 787TA, and
(f)such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter.
(5)Where an individual has been requested to provide a declaration in writing to the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement in accordance with subsection (4) and fails to provide that declaration, the administrator may –
(a)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind described at subparagraph (a) or (d) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 23B, withhold the payment of any benefit or, as the case may be, any increased annual amount of pension,
(b)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind described at subparagraph (b), (ba) or (c) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 23B, refuse to transfer an amount to the individual, or to any of the funds referred to in the said subparagraph (b), refuse to make assets of the PRSA referred to in the said subparagraph (ba) available to the PRSA contributor or, as the case may be, refuse to make a payment or transfer referred to in the said subparagraph (c), and
(c)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind described at subparagraph (bd) or (be) of paragraph 2 of Schedule 23B, refuse to transfer an amount to the individual or refuse to make assets of the PEPP referred to in the said subparagraph (bd) available to the PEPP contributor,
until such time as a declaration in writing containing the information specified in paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (4) is provided to the administrator, in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of that subsection.
(5A)
(a)In this subsection –
‘relevant administrator’ means –
(i)in the case of a vested PRSA of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PRSA’ in section 790D(1), the administrator of that vested PRSA,
(ii)in the case of a vested RAC within the meaning of section 787O(1), the person with whom the individual (referred to in the definition of ‘vested RAC’ in that section) made the annuity contract; and
(iii)in the case of a vested PEPP of a kind referred to in paragraph (v) of the definition of ‘vested PEPP’ in section 790D(1), the PEPP provider of that vested PEPP;
‘relevant person’ means –
(i)in the case of a vested PRSA of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PRSA’ in section 790D(1), a PRSA contributor of a kind referred to in that paragraph,
(ii)in the case of a vested RAC within the meaning of section 787O(1), an individual of a kind referred to in the definition of ‘vested RAC’ in that section, and
(iii)in the case of a vested PEPP of a kind referred to in paragraph (x) of the definition of ‘vested PEPP’ in section 790D(1), a PEPP contributor of a kind referred to in that paragraph;
‘date of the benefit crystallisation event’ means, as the case may be, the date the relevant person attains the age of 75 years or, where the relevant person attains that age prior to the date of passing of the Finance Act 2016, the date of passing of that Act.
(b)Notwithstanding subsection (4), where a benefit crystallisation event of a kind referred to in subparagraph (bb) or (bc), as the case may be, of paragraph 2 of Schedule 23B occurs in relation to a relevant person, the relevant person shall, within the period of 30 days from the date of the benefit crystallisation event, provide a declaration containing the details referred to in subsection (4) to the relevant administrator.
(c)Where a relevant person fails to comply with paragraph (b), section 787Q shall apply to the benefit crystallisation event referred to in that paragraph as if the condition referred to in subsection (2)(b) of that section is met.
(6)An administrator of a relevant pension arrangement shall –
(a)keep and retain for a period of 6 years, and
(b)on being so required by notice given to the administrator in writing by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, make available to the officer within the time specified in the notice,
a declaration, or declarations, of the kind mentioned in subsections (4), (5) and (5A).
(6A)
(a)A subsequent administrator or a fund administrator, as the case may be, shall keep and retain a certificate referred to in subsection (3B) or a copy certificate referred to in subsection (3C), as appropriate, and
(b)an administrator, subsequent administrator and fund administrator shall keep and retain a copy of a notification referred to in subsection (3D),
for a period of 6 years following –
(i)in the case of an administrator, the date of the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess tax or, where a transfer amount has been applied and the administrator and the subsequent administrator are the same person, the later of that date and the date of crystallisation of the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement,
(ii)in the case of a subsequent administrator in any other circumstance, the later of the date of crystallisation of the non-member’s retirement benefit under the transfer arrangement and the date of receipt of the certificate, or
(iii)in the case of a fund administrator, where the administrator and the fund administrator are the same person, the date of the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess tax, and in any other circumstance, the date of receipt of the certificate or copy certificate, as the case may be,
and on being so required by a notice given to the administrator in writing by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners make available to the officer within the time specified in the notice such certificates, copy certificates or notifications specified therein.
787RA. Credit for tax paid on an excess lump sum.
(1)Where, on or after 1 January 2011, a benefit crystallisation event that gives rise to a chargeable excess in accordance with section 787Q occurs in relation to an individual in respect of a relevant pension arrangement (including, where the provisions of section 787R(2A) apply, an individual who is a relevant member of a relevant pension arrangement), then, in so far as income tax has been charged under subsection (3)(a)(i) or (3)(b)(i)(I) of section 790AA on an excess lump sum (within the meaning of subsection (1)(e) of that section) in respect of a lump sum paid, on or after that date, to the individual –
(a)by the administrator of that relevant pension arrangement (in this section referred to as the ‘first-mentioned admin-istrator’), whether under that relevant pension arrangement, or under any other relevant pension arrangement administered by the first-mentioned administrator, or
(b)where the condition in subsection (2) is met, by the administrator of another relevant pension arrangement,
the income tax on the chargeable excess or the relevant individual’s appropriate share of that tax, as the case may be, charged in accordance with section 787R (in this section referred to as the ‘chargeable excess tax’) shall be reduced by the aggregate of the amount of income tax charged under subsection (3)(a)(i) or (3)(b)(i)(I) of section 790AA on the excess lump sum and deducted by the first-mentioned administrator and the amount of such income tax charged on the excess lump sum and deducted by the other administrator (in this section referred to as the ‘lump sum tax’).
(2)The condition referred to in subsection (1)(b) is that the first-mentioned administrator obtains from the other administrator a certificate stating –
(a)the name and address of the administrator,
(b)the individual’s full name, address and PPS Number,
(c)the relevant pension arrangement in respect of which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the excess lump sum arose,
(d)the date of payment of the lump sum in respect of which tax on the excess lump sum was deducted under section 790AA and the amount of the lump sum, and
(e)the amount of the lump sum tax in respect of the excess lump sum charged to tax in accordance with subsection (3)(a)(i) or (3)(b)(i)(I) of section 790AA and deducted by, and remitted to the Collector-General by the administrator in accordance with subsection (8) of that section.
(3)Subject to subsection (4), where the lump sum tax referred to in subsection (1) is greater than the chargeable excess tax or the appropriate share of that tax, as the case may be, referred to in that subsection, the amount by which the lump sum tax exceeds the chargeable excess tax or the appropriate share of that tax, as the case may be, may be carried forward and aggregated with the lump sum tax on a lump sum (if any) paid to the individual under the next benefit crystallisation event that occurs in relation to that individual (in this section referred to as the ‘tax balance’) and, so far as may be, used to reduce the amount of the chargeable excess tax or the appropriate share of that tax, as the case may be, arising on that benefit crystallisation event (in this section referred to as the ‘future chargeable excess tax’) and so on in respect of each successive benefit crystallisation event until the tax balance is fully used.
(4)Where a future chargeable excess tax referred to in subsection (3) is in respect of a benefit crystallisation event under a relevant pension arrangement which is not administered by the first-mentioned administrator and the tax balance has not been fully used, the administrator of that relevant pension arrangement shall obtain from the first-mentioned administrator a certificate stating –
(a)the name and address of the first-mentioned administrator,
(b)the individual’s full name, address and PPS Number, and
(c)the amount of the unused tax balance.
(5)Where an administrator receives a certificate referred to in subsection (4), the future chargeable excess tax may be reduced by the aggregate of the amount of the unused tax balance referred to in that certificate and the lump sum tax, if any, charged by that administrator in respect of the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the future chargeable excess tax.
(6)Subsections (4) and (5) shall apply as appropriate, and with any necessary modifications, on each successive occasion on which a benefit crystallisation event occurs in relation to the individual where the administrator of that benefit crystallisation event and the administrator of the immediately preceding benefit crystallisation event are not the same person.
(7)Subsection (6) of section 787R shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to an administrator who obtains a certificate under subsection (2) or (4) as if the reference in that subsection (6) to a declaration, or declarations were a reference to a certificate, or certificates, to which subsection (2) or (4) applies.
(8)Any lump sum tax or tax balance referred to in this section –
(a)shall be used only once to reduce a chargeable excess tax or the appropriate share of that tax, as the case may be, and
(b)shall be used for no other purpose.
(9)Where the provisions of section 787R(2A) apply, this section shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to the non-member in respect of the non-member’s appropriate share of the chargeable excess tax.
787S.
Payment of tax due on chargeable excess.
(1)The administrator of a relevant pension arrangement shall, within 3 months from the end of the month in which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess occurs, make a return to the Collector-General which shall contain –
(a)the name and address of the administrator,
(b)the name, address and PPS Number of the individual in relation to whom the benefit crystallisation event has occurred,
(c)details of the relevant pension arrangement under which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess has occurred,
(d)the amount of, and the basis of calculation of, the chargeable excess arising in respect of the benefit crystallisation event, and
(e)details of the tax which the administrator is required to account for in relation to the chargeable excess, and where the administrator is the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement to which section 787R(2A) applies the return shall also contain –
(i)where no transfer amount has been applied –
(I)the name, address and PPS Number of the non-member, and
(II)instead of the details referred to in paragraph (e), details of the relevant member’s and non-member’s appropriate share of the tax which the administrator is required to account for in relation to the chargeable excess,
and
(ii)where a transfer amount has been applied –
(I)other than where the administrator, subsequent administrator and fund administrator are the same person, the name, address and telephone number of the subsequent administrator or fund administrator, as the case may be,
(II)the name, last known address and, where known, the PPS Number of the non-member, and
(III)instead of the details referred to in paragraph (e), the amount of, and the basis of calculation of –
(A)the relevant member’s appropriate share of the tax that the administrator is required to account for, and
(B)the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax that the subsequent administrator or fund administrator, as the case may be, is required to account for by way of a separate return under this section.
(1A)Where the provisions of section 787R(2A) apply and a transfer amount has been applied, then –
(a)where the transfer arrangement is the relevant pension arrangement of the relevant member, the subsequent administrator, within 3 months from –
(i)the end of the month in which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess tax occurs where, at the date of that event, the non-member is in receipt of a pension payable from the transfer arrangement,
(ii)the end of the month in which a sum representing the non-member’s accrued rights under the transfer arrangement (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first-mentioned arrangement’) is transferred (in whole or in part) to another relevant pension arrangement, or
(iii)the end of the month in which the non-member’s retirement benefit under the first-mentioned arrangement crystallises,
or
(b)where the transfer arrangement is not the relevant pension arrangement of the relevant member and the subsequent administrator has received a certificate referred to in section 787R(3B), the subsequent administrator, within 3 months from –
(i)the end of the month in which the subsequent administrator receives the certificate where, at the date of receipt of the certificate, the non-member is in receipt of a pension payable from the transfer arrangement,
(ii)the end of the month in which a sum representing the non- member’s accrued rights under the transfer arrangement (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first-mentioned arrangement’) is transferred (in whole or in part) to another relevant pension arrangement, or
(iii)the end of the month in which the non-member’s retirement benefit under the first-mentioned arrangement crystallises,or
(c)where –
(i)the fund administrator has received a certificate or copy certificate referred to in section 787R(3C), the fund administrator within 3 months from the end of the month in which the certificate or copy certificate is received, or
(ii)the fund administrator and the administrator of the pension arrangement in respect of which the benefit crystallisation event giving rise to the chargeable excess tax arises, are the same person, the fund administrator within 3 months from the end of the month in which the benefit crystallisation event occurs,
as the case may be, shall –
(i)make a return to the Collector-General which shall contain –
(I)the name, address and telephone number of the subsequent or fund administrator, as the case may be,
(II)the name, address and PPS Number of the non-member,
(III)the name, address and telephone number of the administrator of the relevant pension arrangement from which the transfer amount arose,
(IV)the amount of, and the basis of calculation of, the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax, and
(V)the amount of the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax which the subsequent or fund administrator, as the case may be, is required to account for,and
(ii)where the amount of the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax which the subsequent or fund administrator is required to account for is less than the amount of that share, notify the non-member in writing at the time the return to the Collector-General is made of that fact and that the balance (being the difference between the amount of the appropriate share and the amount of that share to be accounted for by the subsequent or fund administrator) is due and payable by the non-member to the Collector-General in accordance with this section within 3 months from the date of the notification.
(1B)Where a notification referred to in subsection (1A)(ii) is sent to a non- member, a copy of the notice shall be sent by the fund administrator or the subsequent administrator, as the case may be, to the Revenue Commissioners at the same time.
(1C)Where a non-member receives a notification referred to in subsection (1A)(ii) or a notification referred to in section 787R(3D) (in the circumstance referred to in section 787R(3E)), he or she shall within 3 months from the date of the notification make a return to the Collector-General which shall contain –
(a)the name, address and telephone number of the subsequent or fund administrator, as the case may be,
(b)the name, address and PPS Number of the non-member,
(c)the amount of the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax,
(d)the amount of the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax accounted for by the subsequent or fund administrator, as the case may be, and
(e)the amount of the non-member’s appropriate share of the tax which the non-member is required to account for.
(2)[deleted]
(3)The tax (including a relevant member’s or non-member’s appropriate share of that tax) which a person is required to account for, in whole or in part, in relation to a chargeable excess (in this section referred to as the ‘appropriate tax’) and which is required to be included in a return shall be due at the time by which the return is due to be made and shall be paid by that person to the Collector-General. The appropriate tax so due shall be payable by that person without the making of an assessment; but appropriate tax that has become so due may be assessed on that person (whether or not it has been paid when the assessment is made) if that tax or any part of it is not paid on or before the due date.
(4)Where it appears to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners that there is any amount of appropriate tax in relation to a chargeable excess which ought to have been but has not been included in a return, or where the officer is dissatisfied with any return, then the officer may make an assessment on the person liable for the appropriate tax to the best of his or her judgement, and any amount of appropriate tax in relation to a chargeable excess due under an assessment made by virtue of this subsection shall be treated for the purposes of interest on unpaid tax as having been payable at the time by which the return concerned was due to be made.
(5)Where any item –
(a)has been incorrectly included in a return as a chargeable excess, or
(b)has been included in a return as a chargeable excess in accordance with the application of paragraph (c) of subsection (5A) of section 787R in circumstances where, if a declaration referred to in paragraph (b) of that subsection had been provided to the relevant administrator (within the meaning of that subsection), no chargeable excess or a lesser chargeable excess would have arisen in respect of the benefit crystallisation event concerned,
then, on a case being made, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners may make such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his or her judgement be required for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax, including interest on unpaid tax, whether of the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement or the individual or, where the provisions of section 787R(2A) apply, whether of the subsequent administrator, fund administrator, relevant member or non-member, as the case may be, are, so far as possible, the same as they would have been if the item had not been so included.
(6)
(a)Any appropriate tax assessed on a person under this Chapter shall be due within one month after the issue of the notice of assessment (unless that tax is due earlier under subsection (1)) subject to –
(i)any appeal against the assessment, or
(ii)any application under section 787T,
but no such appeal or application, as the case may be, shall affect the date when any amount is due under subsection (1).
(b)[deleted]
(7)
(a)The provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to –
(i)assessments to income tax, and
(ii)the collection and recovery of income tax,
shall, in so far as they are applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and recovery of appropriate tax.
(b)Any amount of appropriate tax payable in accordance with this Chapter without the making of an assessment shall carry interest at the rate of 0.0219 per cent for each day or part of a day from the date when the amount becomes due and payable until payment.
(c)Subsections (3) to (5) of section 1080 shall apply in relation to interest payable under paragraph (b) as they apply in relation to interest payable under section 1080.
(d)In its application to any appropriate tax charged by any assessment made in accordance with this section, section 1080 shall apply as if subsection (2)(b) of that section were deleted.
(7A)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), a person aggrieved by an assessment made on that person under this section may appeal the assessment to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of assessment.
(b)Where, in accordance with this section, a person is required to make a return and account for appropriate tax to the Collector-General, no appeal lies against an assessment until such time as the person makes the return and pays or has paid the amount of the appropriate tax payable on the basis of that return.
(8)Every return referred to in this section shall be in a form prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners and shall include a declaration to the effect that the return is correct and complete.
787T.
Discharge of administrator from tax.
(1)Where the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement reasonably believed, in respect of a benefit crystallisation event, that –
(a)the benefit crystallisation event did not give rise to an income tax liability, or
(b)the amount of the income tax liability was less than the actual amount,
the administrator may apply to the Revenue Commissioners in writing to have that tax liability, or as the case may be, the amount of the difference between the amount which the administrator believed to be the amount of the tax liability and the actual amount (in this section referred to as the ‘relevant tax liability’) discharged.
(2)Where, following receipt of an application referred to in subsection (1), the Revenue Commissioners are of the opinion that in all of the circumstances it would not be just and reasonable for the administrator to be made liable to the relevant tax liability they may discharge the administrator from that liability and shall notify the administrator in writing of that decision.
(3)Without prejudice to any other circumstance in which an individual will be liable to discharge a tax liability due in respect of a chargeable excess, where an administrator of a relevant pension arrangement is discharged from a relevant tax liability in accordance with subsection (2), the individual in respect of whom the income tax charge arises shall become liable for the charge.
787TA.
Encashment option.
(1)In this section –
‘active member’, in relation to a public sector scheme, means a member of the scheme who is in reckonable service within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Pensions Act 1990;
‘AMRF’ means an approved minimum retirement fund;
‘ARF’ means an approved retirement fund;
‘Personal Retirement Savings Account’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 787A and the expression ‘PRSA’ shall be construed accordingly;
‘private sector scheme’ means a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’;
‘PRSA administrator’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 787A;
‘public sector scheme’ means a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraphs (e) and (f) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’;
‘qualifying fund manager’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;
‘relevant individual’ means an individual who on 8 February 2012 –
(a)
(i)is a member of one or more than one private sector scheme or was such a member before that date and one or more than one benefit crystallisation event has occurred in respect of the scheme or schemes in the relevant period, and
(ii)is a member of one or more than one public sector scheme,
or
(b)is a member of one or more than one private sector scheme or becomes such a member after that date and who subsequently becomes a member of one or more than one public sector scheme,
and who continues as an active member of his or her public sector scheme until his or her retirement date;
‘relevant manager’, in relation to a relevant individual, means a qualifying fund manager of an ARF or an AMRF or, as the case may be, a PRSA administrator of a PRSA, the assets in which are beneficially owned by that individual;
‘relevant period’ means the period starting on 7 December 2005 and ending on 7 February 2012;
‘retirement date’, in relation to a public sector scheme, means the earlier of –
(a)the date on which a member of the scheme retires where that date is on or after the date on which the member reaches the age of 60 years, and
(b)the date on which a member of the scheme retires on grounds of incapacity under the rules of the scheme;
‘tax year’ means a year of assessment for income tax purposes.
(2)Subject to subsection (11), this section shall apply in relation to a relevant individual where –
(a)no benefit crystallisation event has occurred in relation to the relevant individual in the relevant period,
(b)the aggregate of the amounts to be crystallised by benefit crystallisation events in relation to the relevant individual under his or her private sector scheme or schemes and his or her public sector scheme or schemes would, but for this section, exceed the standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, the relevant individual’s personal fund threshold (in this section referred to as the ‘specified amount’), and
(c)the benefit crystallisation events in relation to the public sector scheme or schemes of the relevant individual occur after the occurrence of all other benefit crystallisation events in relation to the private sector scheme or schemes of that individual.
(3)
(a)Where the conditions set out in subsection (4) are met, an individual in relation to whom subsection (2) may apply may irrevocably instruct in writing the administrator of the private sector scheme or schemes to exercise the option (in this section referred to as the ‘encashment option’) provided for in subsection (6).
(b)The encashment option may be exercised in respect of a relevant individual on one occasion only and on the same date in relation to each of the private sector schemes of the individual in respect of which he or she has irrevocably instructed the administrator to exercise the option.
(c)Where an administrator referred to in paragraph (a) or subsection (11)(a) or, as the case may be, a relevant manager referred to in subsection (11)(a) (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘relevant administrator’) receives an irrevocable instruction in writing from an individual the relevant administrator shall keep and retain for a period of 6 years each such instruction and on being so required by notice given to the relevant administrator in writing by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners make available within the time specified in the notice such instructions as may be required by the notice.
(4)The conditions are that the relevant individual –
(a)notifies the Revenue Commissioners in writing of his or her intention to have the encashment option exercised at least 3 months before the date on which the first benefit crystallisation event in relation to the public sector scheme or schemes is to occur and provides the following information –
(i)his or her full name, address and PPS Number,
(ii)an estimate of the value of the accrued rights in respect of which the encashment option is to be exercised or, as the case may be, the specified amount,
(iii)particulars of the private sector scheme or schemes in respect of which the encashment option is to be exercised,
(iv)the name, address and telephone number of the administrator of each such scheme, and
(v)such other information and particulars as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of this section,
and
(b)notifies the Revenue Commissioners in writing, within 7 working days of the exercise of the encashment option, that the option has been exercised and provides a schedule, with the notification, setting out the aggregate amount in respect of which the option was exercised and the amounts in respect of each of the private sector schemes concerned.
(5)A notification referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (4) shall be in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners and shall include a declaration to the effect that the notification is correct and complete.
(5A)An individual shall be taken to have satisfied the conditions in subsection (4) notwithstanding that the notification referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection has been made after the time limited by the said paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, has elapsed if the Revenue Commissioners consider that, in all of the circumstances, the failure of the individual to meet the conditions within the time limit concerned should be disregarded.
(6)
(a)The exercise of the encashment option is the transfer by the administrator of the private sector scheme or schemes to the relevant individual –
(i)where the relevant individual’s retirement date is the date referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘retirement date’, on that date, or
(ii)in any other case, on or before the relevant individual’s retirement date but not before the date on which the relevant individual attains the age of 60 years,
of the amount of the value of the relevant individual’s accrued rights under the private sector scheme or schemes, including rights, if any, which relate to additional voluntary contributions under the scheme or schemes, equal to –
(I)where the condition referred to in paragraph (b) applies, the value of those rights, and
(II)in any other case, the specified amount.
(b)The condition needed is that the amount to be crystallised by the benefit crystallisation events in relation to the relevant individual under his or her public sector scheme or schemes exceeds the standard fund threshold, or, as the case may be, the relevant individual’s personal fund threshold.
(c)
(i)In this paragraph –
‘rules’ means anything contained in the rules of a scheme or the terms and conditions of any contract in respect of a scheme;
‘tax-free lump sum’ means the lump sum of a kind that would under the rules have been payable tax-free to a relevant individual if section 790AA had never been enacted;
‘restricted tax-free lump sum’ means an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A x (1 – B)
C
where –
Ais the amount of the tax-free lump sum,
Bis –
(I)the specified amount, or
(II)where the encashment option is exercised in respect of any other private sector scheme or schemes of the relevant individual, an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
D – E
where –
Dequals the specified amount, and
Eequals the encashment amount or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the encashment amounts arising from the exercise of the encashment option in respect of the other private sector scheme or schemes,
and
Cis the amount equal to the value of the relevant individual’s accrued rights under the scheme.
(ii)Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part or anything contained in the rules, where an encashment option is exercised in respect of a scheme and –
(I)the encashment amount is equal to the value of the relevant individual’s accrued rights under the scheme, the tax-free lump sum shall not be payable, or
(II)the encashment amount is less than the value of the relevant individual’s accrued rights under the scheme, the tax-free lump sum shall be restricted to the restricted tax-free lump sum.
(7)Where an encashment option is exercised in respect of a relevant individual, the whole of the encashment amount in respect of each of the private sector schemes of the relevant individual in respect of which the encashment option is exercised shall be regarded as income of the individual for the tax year in which the amount is paid and shall be chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(8)Income tax chargeable in accordance with subsection (7) shall be charged at the higher rate for the tax year in which the payment is made (in this section referred to as the ‘encashment tax’) and the administrator of each of the private sector schemes referred to in subsection (7) shall deduct the income tax due from the encashment amount and remit it to the Collector-General in accordance with subsection (10).
(9)Where an encashment amount is regarded as income of the individual under subsection (7) and charged to tax in accordance with subsection (8) –
(a)such income shall be computed without regard to any amount deductible from, or deductible in computing, total income for the purposes of the Tax Acts,
(b)the charging of that income to tax in such manner shall be without any relief or reduction specified in the Table to section 458, or any other deduction from that income, and
(c)section 188 shall not apply as regards the amount so charged.
(10)Where the administrator of a private sector scheme or, as the case may be, a relevant manager referred to in subsection (16) deducts encashment tax in accordance with subsection (8) or, as the case may be, subsection (16), subsections (1) to (8) of section 787S shall, with any necessary modifications, apply as if any reference in those subsections –
(a)to an administrator included a reference to a relevant manager,
(b)to a relevant pension arrangement were a reference to a relevant individual’s private sector scheme,
(c)to a benefit crystallisation event were a reference to an encashment option,
(d)to a chargeable excess were a reference to an encashment amount, or as the case may be, a deemed encashment amount, and
(e)to tax were a reference to encashment tax.
(11)
(a)
(i)Where the conditions set out in subsection (4), as modified by subsection (12) (in this section referred to as the ‘modified conditions’), are met, an individual in relation to whom the circumstances described in paragraph (b) may apply, may irrevocably instruct in writing the administrator or, as the case may be, the relevant manager of the private sector scheme or schemes to exercise the encashment option as if the benefit crystallisation event or events referred to in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) had not occurred.
(ii)Where the encashment option is exercised in respect of a private sector scheme or schemes of a kind referred to in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b), subsection (6) (a) shall apply as if the reference in that subsection to an administrator were a reference to a relevant manager.
(b)The circumstances referred to in paragraph (a) are that in relation to a relevant individual –
(i)one or more than one benefit crystallisation event has occurred within the relevant period in relation to one or more than one private sector scheme of that relevant individual, and
(ii)the aggregate of –
(I)the amounts so crystallised, and
(II)the amounts to be crystallised in the future by benefit crystallisation events in relation to the relevant individual –
(A)under his or her other private sector scheme or schemes, if any, and
(B)under his or her public sector scheme or schemes,
would, but for this section, exceed the standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, the relevant individual’s personal fund threshold (referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) of subsection (4), as modified by subsection (12), and in the construction of ‘B’ in the formula in subsection (15)(b) as the ‘other specified amount’), and
(iii)the benefit crystallisation events in relation to the public sector scheme or schemes of the relevant individual occur after the occurrence of all other benefit crystallisation events in relation to the private sector scheme or schemes of that individual.
(12)The modified conditions are that the individual complies with subsection (4) as if the following were substituted for subparagraphs (ii), (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (a) of that subsection:
‘(ii)an estimate of the value of the accrued rights in respect of which the encashment option is to be exercised or, as the case may be, the other specified amount,
(iii)notwithstanding that one or more than one benefit crystallisation event has occurred in relation to one or more than one private sector scheme within the relevant period, particulars of the private sector scheme or schemes in respect of which the encashment option is to be exercised, and
(iv)the name, address and telephone number of the administrator or, as the case may be, the relevant manager of each such scheme,’.
(13)Where an encashment option is exercised in respect of an individual referred to in subsection (11)(a) being at that time a relevant individual, then in so far as the exercise of that option relates to –
(a)one or more than one private sector scheme of the individual in respect of which no benefit crystallisation event has occurred in the relevant period, subsections (7) to (10) shall apply, and
(b)one or more than one private sector scheme of the individual in respect of which one or more than one benefit crystallisation event has occurred in the relevant period, subsection (14) or (15), as the case may be, shall apply.
(14)
(a)Where an encashment option relates to a scheme referred to in subsection (13)(b), the value of the individual’s accrued rights under the scheme for the purposes of the exercise of the option shall be the amount crystallised by the benefit crystallisation events and where the encashment option has been exercised in respect of the whole of the scheme the part of the encashment amount from which encashment tax is to be deducted (in this section referred to as the ‘deemed encashment amount’) shall be the amount referred to in paragraph (b).
(b)Where the benefit crystallisation event is –
(i)a lump sum paid under the rules of the scheme (of a kind that would, if section 790AA had never been enacted, have been paid tax-free to the individual and in this section referred to as the ‘tax-free lump sum paid’), the deemed encashment amount shall be the amount of that tax-free lump sum paid,
(ii)the transfer of an amount to an ARF the assets in which are beneficially owned by the relevant individual, the deemed encashment amount shall be the lesser of the amount transferred to the ARF at the time the benefit crystallisation event occurred and the value of the assets in the ARF at the date of the exercise of the encashment option,
(iii)the transfer of an amount to an AMRF the assets in which are beneficially owned by the relevant individual, the deemed encashment amount shall be the lesser of the amount transferred to the AMRF at the time the benefit crystallisation event occurred and the value of the assets in the AMRF at the date of the exercise of the encashment option,
(iv)the retention of the assets of a PRSA in the PRSA (in this section referred to as the ‘vested PRSA’) beneficially owned by the relevant individual, the deemed encashment amount shall be the lesser of the value of the assets retained in the vested PRSA at the time the benefit crystallisation event occurred and the value of the assets in the vested PRSA at the date of the exercise of the encashment option, and
(v)in any other case, the deemed encashment amount shall be nil.
(c)The whole of the deemed encashment amount –
(i)shall be regarded as income of the individual for the tax year in which the encashment option is exercised, and
(ii)the amount so regarded as income shall be chargeable to income tax in accordance with subsection (16) or, as the case may be, subsection (19).
(15)
(a)Where an encashment option relates to a scheme referred to in subsection (13)(b) and that option is exercised in respect of only part of the scheme –
(i)the encashment amount shall be an amount equivalent to B in the formula in paragraph (b), and
(ii)where the benefit crystallisation event was in respect of any one or more of the events described in subsection (14)(b), the deemed encashment amount in respect of each of those events shall be an amount equivalent to the amount determined by that formula.
(b)The formula is –
A x B
C
where –
Ais –
(i)the amount of the tax-free lump sum paid,
(ii)the lesser of the amount transferred to the ARF at the time the benefit crystallisation event occurred and the value of the assets in the ARF at the date of the exercise of the encashment option (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘encashment date’),
(iii)the lesser of the amount transferred to the AMRF at the time the benefit crystallisation event occurred and the value of the assets in the AMRF at the encashment date, or
(iv)the lesser of the value of the assets retained in the vested PRSA at the time the benefit crystallisation event occurred and the value of the assets in the vested PRSA at the encashment date,
Bhas the meaning assigned to it in the formula in the definition of ‘restricted tax-free lump sum’ in subsection (6)(c)(i) as if in that meaning a reference to specified amount were a reference to other specified amount,
and
Cis the amount crystallised by the benefit crystallisation events under the scheme.
(c)Paragraph (c) of subsection (14) shall apply to the deemed encashment amounts referred to in paragraph (a).
(16)
(a)Any deemed encashment amount shall be charged to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(b)The relevant manager shall deduct income tax from the deemed encashment amount at the higher rate for the tax year in which the encashment option is exercised and remit it to the Collector-General in accordance with subsection (10).
(c)Paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (9) shall apply to a deemed encashment amount regarded as income of the relevant individual under subsection (14)(c) or (15)(c) and charged to income tax in accordance with paragraph (a).
(d)
(i)The deduction of income tax by a relevant manager in accordance with paragraph (b) shall include a deduction for a deemed encashment amount in respect of a tax-free lump sum paid under the rules of the private sector scheme from which the assets were, in whole or in part, transferred to the ARF or the AMRF or, as the case may be, in the case of a scheme that is a PRSA, within which the assets were retained in whole or in part.
(ii)
(I)In so far as income tax has been charged under subsection (3)(a)(i) or (3)(b)(i)(I) of section 790AA on an excess lump sum (within the meaning of subsection (1)(e) of that section) (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘standard rate income tax’) in respect of a lump sum referred to in subparagraph (i) and deducted by and remitted to the Collector-General by the administrator of the private sector scheme in accordance with subsection (8) of that section, the income tax to be deducted by the relevant manager from the deemed encashment amount in respect of the lump sum shall, where the condition in subparagraph (iii) is met, be reduced by the amount of the standard rate income tax, and
(II)where a deemed encashment amount in respect of a tax-free lump sum has been calculated in accordance with the formula in subsection (15), then in so far as standard rate income tax has been charged in respect of the lump sum, the income tax to be deducted by the relevant manager from the deemed encashment amount shall, where the condition in subparagraph (iii) is met, be reduced by an amount of income tax equivalent to the amount determined by that formula if ‘A’ in the formula was the amount of the standard rate income tax.
(iii)The condition referred to in clauses (I) and (II) of subparagraph (ii) is that the relevant manager obtains from the administrator of the private sector scheme a certificate giving the information set out in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (2) of section 787RA.
(iv)Where income tax on a deemed encashment amount is reduced by an amount of standard rate income tax in accordance with clause (I) or (II) of subparagraph (ii), that amount of standard rate income tax shall not be available for the purposes of section 787RA.
(v)Subsection (6) of section 787R shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to a relevant manager who obtains a certificate under subparagraph (ii) as if the reference in that subsection to a declaration, or declarations, were a reference to a certificate, or certificates, to which subparagraph (ii) applies.
(17)The tax required to be deducted by the relevant manager under subsection (16) shall be satisfied out of the funds in the ARF, the AMRF or, as the case may be, the vested PRSA beneficially owned by the relevant individual and the individual shall allow such deduction and where there are no funds or insufficient funds available out of which the relevant manager may satisfy the tax required to be deducted, the amount of such tax for which there are insufficient funds available (in this section referred to as the ‘unpaid tax’) shall be discharged in accordance with subsection (18).
(18)
(a)The unpaid tax referred to in subsection (17) shall be deemed to be tax on a chargeable excess in respect of the relevant individual and shall be paid and remitted to the Collector-General by the administrator of the relevant individual’s public sector scheme at the time of the occurrence of the first benefit crystallisation event in respect of the individual in relation to that scheme and the amount so paid shall be a debt due to the administrator from the individual, or where the individual is deceased, from his or her estate.
(b)The administrator referred to in paragraph (a) shall be reimbursed by the relevant individual for the payment of the unpaid tax that is deemed to be tax on a chargeable excess in the manner provided for in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 787Q(7).
(c)The deemed tax on a chargeable excess referred to in paragraph (a) shall not be tax on a chargeable excess for any other purpose of this Chapter.
(19)
(a)Where an encashment option is exercised in relation to a private sector scheme of a relevant individual in circumstances where a tax-free lump sum was paid and the remainder of that individual’s accrued rights under the scheme were applied by way of –
(i)the purchase of an annuity for the individual, or
(ii)the payment of a pension to the individual from the scheme, or
(iii)the transfer to the individual under the rules of the scheme of an amount on the exercise of an option by the individual under section 772(3A)(a) or 784(2A) and taxed in accordance with section 784(2B) (or, as the case may be, taxed in accordance with that section by virtue of section 772(3B)), or an amount transferred to the individual at the time assets of the PRSA are first made available from the PRSA and taxed in accordance with section 787G(1),
then income tax charged under subsection (16)(a) on the deemed encashment amount in relation to the tax-free lump sum shall be chargeable to tax at the higher rate for the tax year in which the encashment option is exercised and the encashment tax so charged shall, subject to paragraph (c), be deemed to be unpaid tax for the purposes of subsection (18) and discharged in accordance with that subsection as if the reference in paragraph (b) of that subsection to paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 787Q(7) were a reference only to paragraph (b) of section 787Q(7).
(b)Subparagraphs (ii) and (iv) of paragraph (d) of subsection (16) shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to encashment tax referred to in paragraph (a), where the relevant individual obtains from the administrator of the private sector scheme a certificate giving the information set out in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (2) of section 787RA.
(c)Subsection (6) of section 787R shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to a relevant individual who obtains a certificate under paragraph (b) as if the reference in that subsection to a declaration, or declarations, were a reference to a certificate, or certificates, to which paragraph (b) applies.
(20)Where a benefit crystallisation event has occurred in relation to a relevant individual under a private sector scheme in respect of which an encashment option is exercised and the benefit crystallisation event has resulted in the individual being the beneficial owner of the assets in an ARF, an AMRF or, as the case may be, a vested PRSA (in this subsection referred to as the ‘fund’), then where the exercise of the option was in respect of –
(a)the whole of the private sector scheme, the value of the assets in the fund, or
(b)a part of the private sector scheme, the value of the assets in the fund that are deemed to be an encashment amount in accordance with subsection (15),
shall for the purposes of this Part no longer be regarded as assets held in an ARF, an AMRF or, as the case may be, a vested PRSA from the date of the exercise of the option.
(21)Where an encashment option is exercised in respect of a relevant individual the encashment amount or, as the case may be, the deemed encashment amount shall not be –
(a)a benefit crystallisation event for the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B and where that amount relates to a private sector scheme in respect of which one or more than one benefit crystallisation event has occurred before the exercise of the option such benefit crystallisation events or, as the case may be, the portion of such benefit crystallisation events represented by the amount of ‘B’ in the formula in subsection (15)(b), shall be disregarded for the purposes of this Chapter and Schedule 23B,
(b)used by the relevant individual as a contribution to, or the payment of a premium under, a relevant pension arrangement, and
(c)regarded under the provisions of Chapter 2 or 2A as a distribution from an ARF or an AMRF or, as the case may be, as the making available to, or paying to, a PRSA contributor of assets of that amount or value from a PRSA.
(22)Where an encashment option is exercised in respect of a relevant individual in relation to a private sector scheme in respect of which one or more than one benefit crystallisation event has occurred in the relevant period and the deemed encashment amount is the amount of the tax-free lump sum paid or, as the case may be, a part of the tax-free lump sum paid, that amount, or that part, shall be disregarded in determining an excess lump sum (within the meaning of subsection (1)(e) of section 790AA) in respect of a lump sum (within the meaning of that section) that is paid to that individual on or after 8 February 2012.
(23)
(a)The persons liable for income tax charged in accordance with subsection (8) or (16) shall be the relevant individual and the administrator of the private sector scheme, the relevant manager referred to in subsection (16) or, as the case may be, the administrator of the public sector scheme referred to in subsection (18) and their liability shall be joint and several.
(b)A person liable for income tax charged in accordance with subsection (8) or (16) shall be so liable whether or not that person or any other person who is liable for the charge is resident or ordinarily resident in the State.
787TB.
Penalties.
A person who fails to comply with any of the obligations imposed on that person by this Chapter and any regulations made under it and by Schedule 23B shall, for each such failure, be liable to a penalty of €3,000.
787U.
Regulations (Chapter 2C).
(1)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations prescribing 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, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, regulations under this section may include provision for specifying, for the purposes of this Chapter, the person who shall be treated as the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraphs (e) and (f) of the definition of relevant pension arrangement in section 787O(1).
(2)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 resolution is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
Chapter 3
Purchased life annuities (ss. 788-789)
788.
Capital element in certain purchased annuities.
(1)In this section –
“life annuity” means an annuity payable for a term ending with (or at a time ascertainable only by reference to) the end of a human life, whether or not there is provision for the annuity to end during the life on the expiration of a fixed term or on the happening of any event or otherwise, or to continue after the end of the life in particular circumstances;
“purchased life annuity” means a life annuity granted for a consideration in money or money’s worth in the ordinary course of a business of granting annuities on human life.
(2)This section shall not apply to –
(a)any annuity which apart from this section would be treated for the purposes of the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to tax on annuities and other annual payments as consisting to any extent in the payment or repayment of a capital sum,
(b)any annuity purchased under or for the purposes of any sponsored superannuation scheme within the meaning of section 783(1), or any scheme approved under section 784, or in pursuance of any obligation imposed or offer or invitation made under or in connection with any such scheme, or any other annuity purchased by any person in recognition of another’s services (or past services) in any office or employment,
(c)any annuity payable under a substituted contract within the meaning of section 786(3),
(d)any annuity where the whole or part of the consideration for the grant of the annuity consisted of sums satisfying the conditions for relief from tax under section 787,
(e)any annuity purchased in pursuance of any direction in a will, or to provide for an annuity payable by virtue of a will or settlement out of income of property disposed of by the will or settlement (whether with or without resort to capital),
(f)any annuity where the whole or part of the consideration for the grant of the annuity consisted of assets which, at the time of application of the said assets for the purchase of the annuity, were assets in an approved retirement fund, within the meaning of section 784A, or in an approved minimum retirement fund, within the meaning of section 784C,
(g)any annuity where the whole or part of the consideration for the grant of the annuity consisted of assets which, at the time of the application of the said assets for the purchase of the annuity, were PRSA assets, within the meaning of Chapter 2A of this Part, or
(h)any annuity where the whole or part of the consideration for the grant of the annuity consisted of assets which, at the time of the application of the said assets for the purchase of the annuity, were PEPP assets, within the meaning of Chapter 2D.
(3)A purchased life annuity (not being of a description excepted by subsection (2)) shall, for the purposes of the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to tax on annuities and other annual payments, be treated as containing a capital element and, to the extent of the capital element, as not being an annual payment or in the nature of an annual payment; but the capital element in such an annuity shall be taken into account in computing profits or gains or losses for other purposes of the Income Tax Acts in any circumstances in which a lump sum payment would be taken into account.
(4)In the case of any purchased life annuity to which this section applies –
(a)the capital element shall be determined by reference to the amount or value of the payments made or other consideration given for the grant of the annuity,
(b)the proportion which the capital element in any annuity payment bears to the total amount of that payment shall be constant for all payments on account of the annuity,
(c)where neither the term of the annuity nor the amount of any annuity payment depends on any contingency other than the duration of a human life or lives, that proportion shall be the same proportion which the total amount or value of the consideration for the grant of the annuity bears to the actuarial value of the annuity payments as determined in accordance with subsection (5), and
(d)where paragraph (c) does not apply, that proportion shall be such as may be just, having regard to that paragraph and to the contingencies affecting the annuity.
(5)For the purposes of subsection (4) –
(a)any entire consideration given for the grant of an annuity and for some other matter shall be apportioned as appears just (but so that a right to a return of premiums or other consideration for an annuity shall not be treated for this purpose as a distinct matter from the annuity),
(b)where it appears that the amount or value of the consideration purporting to be given for the grant of an annuity has affected, or has been affected by, the consideration given for some other matter, the aggregate amount or value of those considerations shall be treated as one entire consideration given for both and shall be apportioned under paragraph (a) accordingly, and
(c)the actuarial value of any annuity payments shall be taken to be their value as at the date when the first of those payments begins to accrue, that value being determined by reference to the prescribed tables of mortality and without discounting any payment for the time to elapse between that date and the date it is to be made.
(6)Where a person making a payment on account of any life annuity has been notified in the prescribed manner of any decision as to its being or not being a purchased life annuity to which this section applies or as to the amount of the capital element, if any, and has not been notified of any alteration of that decision, the notice shall be evidence until the contrary is proved as to those matters for the purpose of determining the amount of income tax which the person is entitled or required to deduct from the payment, or for which the person is liable in respect of the payment.
(7)Where a person making a payment on account of a purchased life annuity to which this section applies has not been notified in the prescribed manner of the amount of the capital element, the amount of income tax which the person is entitled or required to deduct from the payment, or for which the person is liable in respect of it, shall be the same as if the annuity were not a purchased life annuity to which this section applies.
(8)Any person, other than a company which is within the charge to corporation tax, carrying on a business of granting annuities on human life shall be entitled to repayment of any income tax borne by that person by deduction or otherwise for any year of assessment up to the amount of income tax which, if this section had not been enacted, that person would have been entitled to deduct and retain on making payments due in that year of assessment on account of life annuities and which in accordance with this section that person has not deducted.
(9)This section shall apply to life annuities whenever purchased or commencing, and the reference to section 787 in subsection (2)(d) shall be construed accordingly.
789.
Supplementary provisions (Chapter 3).
(1)Any question as to whether an annuity is a purchased life annuity to which section 788 applies, or what is the capital element in such an annuity, shall be determined by the inspector, but any person aggrieved by any determination of the inspector on any such question 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.
(2)Except where otherwise provided in this Chapter, the procedure to be adopted in giving effect to this Chapter shall be such as may be prescribed.
(3)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations for prescribing anything which is to be prescribed under this Chapter, and the regulations may apply, for the purposes of this Chapter or of the regulations, any provision of the Income Tax Acts (with or without modifications).
(4)Regulations under subsection (3) may in particular make provision as to the time limit for making any claim for relief from or repayment of tax under this Chapter and as to all or any of the following matters –
(a)the information to be given in connection with the determination of any question whether an annuity is a purchased life annuity to which section 788 applies, or what is the capital element in an annuity, and the persons who may be required to give any such information;
(b)the manner of giving effect to the decision on any such question, and the making of assessments for the purpose on the person entitled to the annuity (notwithstanding anything in section 237);
(c)the extent to which any decision on any such question is to be binding and the circumstances in which it may be reviewed.
(5)Where any person, for the purpose of obtaining for that person or for any other person any relief from or repayment of tax under this Chapter, makes any false statement or false representation, that person shall be liable to a penalty of €3,000.
Chapter 4
Miscellaneous (s. 790-790F)
790.
Liability of certain pensions, etc. to tax.
Where an individual has ceased to hold an office or employment and a pension, annuity or other annual payment is paid to the individual or to the individual’s widow, widower or surviving civil partner, or to the individual’s child or the child of the surviving civil partner or any of the individual’s relatives or dependants by the person or the heirs, executors, administrators or successors of the person under whom the individual held such office or by whom the individual was so employed, such pension, annuity or other annual payment shall, notwithstanding that it is paid voluntarily or is capable of being discontinued, be deemed to be income for the purpose of assessment of income tax and shall be assessed and charged under Schedule D or E, as the case may require.
790A.
Limit on earnings.
(1)Notwithstanding anything in this part, for the purposes of giving relief to an individual under –
(a)Chapter 1 in respect of an employee’s contribution to a retirement benefits scheme,
(b)Chapter 2 in respect of a qualifying premium under an annuity contract,
(c)Chapter 2A in respect of a PRSA contribution,
(d)Chapter 2B in respect of a contribution by a relevant migrant member to a qualifying overseas pension plan, and
(e)Chapter 2D in respect of a PEPP contribution,
the aggregate of the individual’s remuneration, within the meaning of Chapter 1 and that Chapter as applied by Chapter 2B, and net relevant earnings, within the meaning of Chapters 2 and 2A and those Chapters as applied by Chapter 2B shall not exceed €254,000 (in this section referred to as the ‘earnings limit’).
(2)For a year of assessment (in this subsection referred to as the ‘relevant year’) after the year of assessment 2006 the earnings limit shall be an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A x B
where –
Ais the earnings limit for the year of assessment immediately preceding the relevant year, and
Bis –
(i)the earnings adjustment factor which may be designated in writing by the Minister for Finance in December of the year of assessment preceding the relevant year, a note of which shall be published as soon as practicable in the Iris Oifigiúil, or
(ii)where no earnings adjustment factor is designated by the Minister for Finance, 1.
(3)Notwithstanding subsection (2), for the purposes of subsection (1) the earnings limit for the year of assessment 2009 shall be €150,000.
(4)Notwithstanding subsection (2), for the purposes of subsection (1) the earnings limit for the year of assessment 2011 shall be €115,000.
(5)Notwithstanding subsection (2), for the purposes of subsection (1) the earnings limit for the year of assessment 2010 shall be deemed to be €115,000 for the purpose of determining how much of a contribution or qualifying premium, as the case may be, paid by an employee or an individual in the year of assessment 2011, is to be treated by virtue of section 774(8), 776(3), 787(7), 787C(3) or 787X(3), as the case may be, as paid in the year of assessment 2010.
790AA.
Taxation of lump sums in excess of the tax free amount.
(1)
(a)In this section –
‘administrator’, in relation to a relevant pension arrangement, means the person or persons having the management of the arrangement and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, references to the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement include –
(i)an administrator within the meaning of section 770(1),
(ii)a person mentioned in section 784, lawfully carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life, including the appointed person mentioned in section 784(4A)(ii),
(iii)a PRSA administrator within the meaning of section 787A(1), and
(iv)a PEPP provider within the meaning of Chapter 2D;
‘excess lump sum’ shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (e);
‘relevant pension arrangement’ means any one or more of the following –
(i)a retirement benefits scheme, within the meaning of section 771, approved by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of Chapter 1,
(ii)an annuity contract or a trust scheme or part of a trust scheme approved by the Revenue Commissioners under section 784,
(iii)a PRSA contract, within the meaning of section 787A, in respect of a PRSA product, within the meaning of that section,
(iv)a statutory scheme, within the meaning of section 770(1), other than a public service pension scheme referred to in paragraph (v),
(v)a public service pension scheme within the meaning of section 1 of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004,
(vi)a statutory scheme, within the meaning of the meaning of section 787A(1),
(vii)a PEPP contract, within the meaning of Chapter 2D, in respect of a PEPP, within the meaning of that Chapter;
‘specified date’ means 1 January 2011;
‘standard chargeable amount’ means the amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
where –
SFTis the standard fund threshold, within the meaning of section 787O(1), for the year of assessment in which the lump sum is paid, and
TFAis the tax free amount;
‘standard rate’ means the standard rate of income tax in force at the time the lump sum is paid;
‘tax free amount’ means €200,000;
‘tax year’ means a year of assessment within the meaning of the Tax Acts.
(b)
(i)For the purposes of this section, a reference to a lump sum is a reference to a lump sum that is paid to an individual under the rules of a relevant pension arrangement by means of commutation of part of a pension or of part of an annuity or otherwise.
(ii)Without prejudice to the generality of subparagraph (i), the reference in that subparagraph to the commutation of part of a pension or of part of an annuity shall, in a case where an individual opts in accordance with section 772(3A) or, as the case may be, section 784(2A), be construed as a reference to the commutation of part of the pension or, as the case may be, part of the annuity which would, but for the exercise of that option, be payable to the individual.
(c)For the purposes of this section references to a lump sum that is paid to an individual include references to a lump sum that is obtained by, given to, or made available to, an individual and references to a lump sum which was, or has, or had been paid to an individual shall be construed accordingly.
(d)For the purposes of this section –
(i)a lump sum (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned lump sum’) shall be treated as paid before another lump sum (in this subsection referred to as the ‘second-mentioned lump sum’) if the first-mentioned lump sum is paid before the second-mentioned lump sum on the same day, and
(ii)a lump sum shall not be treated as paid at the same time as one or more than one other lump sum and, where but for this subsection they would be so treated, the individual to whom the lump sums are paid shall decide on the order in which they are to be deemed to be paid.
(e)For the purposes of this section the excess lump sum, if any, in respect of a lump sum that is paid to an individual on or after the specified date (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘current lump sum’) shall be –
(i)where no other lump sum has been paid to the individual on or after 7 December 2005, the amount by which the current lump sum exceeds the tax free amount, and
(ii)where, before the current lump sum was paid, one or more than one lump sum had been paid to the individual on or after 7 December 2005 (in this section referred to as the ‘earlier lump sums’), then –
(I)where the amount of the earlier lump sums is less than the tax free amount, the amount by which the aggregate of the amounts of the earlier lump sums and the current lump sum exceeds the tax free amount, and
(II)where the amount of the earlier lump sums is equal to or greater than the tax free amount, the amount of the current lump sum.
(f)For the purposes of paragraphs (d) and (e), references to lump sums shall include foreign lump sums referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 200A construed in accordance with paragraph (c) of that subsection that are paid to an individual on or after the specified date referred to in that subsection.
(2)Where a lump sum is paid to an individual on or after the specified date, the excess lump sum shall be regarded as income of the individual for the tax year in which the lump sum is paid and shall be chargeable to income tax in accordance with subsection (3).
(3)Subject to subsection (7)(b) –
(a)where the excess lump sum arises in accordance with subsection (1)(e)(i), (1)(e)(ii)(I) or (1)(e)(ii)(II) (in so far as the amount of the earlier lump sums referred to in subsection (1)(e)(ii)(II) is equal to the tax free amount), then –
(i)so much of the excess lump sum as does not exceed the standard chargeable amount shall be charged to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D at the standard rate, and
(ii)so much of the excess lump sum, if any, as exceeds the standard chargeable amount shall be regarded as –
(I)profits or gains accruing from an office or employment (and accordingly tax under Schedule E shall be charged on those payments, and tax so chargeable shall be computed under section 112(1)), and
(II)emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 applies, (in this section referred to as ‘relevant emoluments’).
(b)Where the excess lump sum arises in accordance with subsection (1)(e)(ii)(II) (in so far as the amount of the earlier lump sums referred to in that subsection is greater than the tax free amount), then –
(i)where the amount by which the earlier lump sums is greater than the tax free amount (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first-mentioned amount’) is less than the standard chargeable amount –
(I)so much of the excess lump sum as does not exceed an amount equivalent to the difference between the standard chargeable amount and the first-mentioned amount shall be charged to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D at the standard rate, and
(II)so much of the excess lump sum, if any, as exceeds an amount equivalent to the difference between the standard chargeable amount and the first-mentioned amount, shall be relevant emoluments,
and
(ii)in any other case, the excess lump sum shall be relevant emoluments.
(4)The persons liable for income tax charged in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) or (b)(i)(I) of subsection (3) shall be the administrator of the relevant pension arrangement under which the lump sum arises and the individual in relation to whom the lump sum is paid and their liability shall be joint and several.
(5)A person referred to in subsection (4) shall be liable for any income tax referred to in that subsection whether or not that person, or any other person who is liable to the charge, is resident or ordinarily resident in the State.
(6)Where tax arising on an excess lump sum in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) or (b)(i)(I) of subsection (3) is paid –
(a)by the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement in whole or in part, then so much of the tax that is paid by the administrator shall itself be treated as forming part of the excess lump sum unless the lump sum paid to the individual under the relevant pension arrangement is reduced so as to fully reflect the amount of tax so paid or the administrator is reimbursed by the individual in respect of any tax so paid, or
(b)by the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraphs (v) and (vi) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ in subsection (1), then –
(i)the amount of tax so paid shall be a debt due to the administrator from the individual or, where the individual is deceased, from his or her estate, and
(ii)the administrator may appropriate so much of the individual’s lump sum entitlements under that relevant pension arrangement, and the individual shall allow such appropriation, for the purposes of reimbursing the administrator in respect of the tax so paid.
(7)
(a)The administrator of a relevant pension arrangement shall deduct tax from an excess lump sum payment in accordance with this section and remit such tax to the Collector-General.
(b)In so far as any part of an excess lump sum –
(i)is to be regarded as income of the individual for a tax year and charged to income tax at the standard rate in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) or (b)(i)(I) of subsection (3) –
(I)such income –
(A)shall not be reckoned in computing total income for the purposes of the Tax Acts, and
(B)shall be computed without regard to any amount deductible from, or deductible in computing, income for the purposes of the Tax Acts,
(II)the charging of that income in such manner shall be without any relief or reduction specified in the Table to section 458 or any other deduction from that income, and
(III)section 188 shall not apply as regards income so charged,
or
(ii)is to be regarded by virtue of this section as relevant emoluments, the administrator of the relevant pension arrangement under which the lump sum is paid shall deduct tax from the payment at the higher rate for the tax year in which the payment is made unless the administrator has received from the Revenue Commissioners a revenue payroll notification (within the meaning of section 983) for that year in respect of the individual.
(8)The administrator of a relevant pension arrangement who deducts tax from an excess lump sum in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) or (b)(i)(I) of subsection (3) shall, within 3 months of the end of the month in which the lump sum giving rise to the excess lump sum is paid, make a return to the Collector-General which shall contain –
(a)the name and address of the administrator,
(b)the name, address and PPS Number of the individual in relation to whom the lump sum has been paid,
(c)details of the relevant pension arrangement under which the lump sum giving rise to the excess lump sum has been paid,
(d)the amount of, and the basis of calculation of, the excess lump sum arising in respect of the lump sum, and
(e)details of the tax which the administrator is required to account for in relation to the excess lump sum.
(9)The tax which the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement is required to account for in relation to an excess lump sum (hereinafter referred to as the ‘relevant tax’) and which is required to be included in a return in accordance with subsection (8), shall be due at the time by which the return is due to be made and shall be paid by the administrator to the Collector-General and the relevant tax so due shall be payable by the administrator without the making of an assessment; but relevant tax that has become so due may be assessed on any person liable for the tax (whether or not it has been paid when the assessment is made) if that tax or any part of it is not paid on or before the due date.
(10)Where it appears to an officer of the Revenue Commissioners that there is any amount of relevant tax in relation to an excess lump sum which ought to have been but has not been included in a return, or where the officer is dissatisfied with any return, then the officer may make an assessment on any person liable for the relevant tax to the best of his or her judgment, and any amount of relevant tax in relation to an excess lump sum due under an assessment made by virtue of this subsection shall be treated for the purposes of interest on unpaid tax as having been payable at the time by which the return concerned was due to be made.
(11)Where any item has been incorrectly included in a return as an excess lump sum, then an officer of the Revenue Commissioners may make such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may in his or her judgment be required for securing that the resulting liabilities to tax, including interest on unpaid tax, whether of the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement or the individual, are, so far as possible, the same as they would have been if the item had not been so included.
(12)Any relevant tax assessed on a person under this section shall be due within one month after the issue of the notice of assessment (unless that tax is due earlier under subsection (9)) subject to –
(a)any appeal against the assessment, or
(b)any application under subsection (14),
but no such appeal or application, as the case may be, shall affect the date when any amount is due under subsection (9).
(13)
(a)The provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to –
(i)assessments to income tax, and
(ii)the collection and recovery of income tax,
shall, in so far as they are applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and recovery of relevant tax.
(b)Any amount of relevant tax payable in accordance with this section without the making of an assessment shall carry interest at the rate of 0.0219 per cent for each day or part of a day from the date when the amount becomes due and payable until payment.
(c)Subsections (3) to (5) of section 1080 shall apply in relation to interest payable under paragraph (b) as they apply in relation to interest payable under section 1080.
(d)In its application to any relevant tax charged by any assessment made in accordance with this section, section 1080 shall apply as if subsection (2)(b) of that section were deleted.
(13A)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b), a person aggrieved by an assessment made on that person under this section may appeal the assessment to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of assessment.
(b)Where, in accordance with this section, an administrator of a relevant pension arrangement is required to make a return and account for relevant tax to the Collector-General, no appeal lies against an assessment until such time as the administrator makes the return and pays or has paid the amount of the relevant tax payable on the basis of that return.
(14)
(a)Where the administrator of a relevant pension arrangement reasonably believed, in respect of a lump sum paid to an individual, that –
(i)the lump sum did not give rise to an income tax liability, or
(ii)the amount of the income tax liability arising on the excess lump sum was less than the actual amount,
the administrator may apply to the Revenue Commissioners in writing to have that tax liability or, as the case may be, the amount of the difference between the amount which the administrator believed to be the amount of the tax liability and the actual amount (in this subsection referred to as the ‘referable tax liability’) discharged.
(b)Where, following receipt of an application referred to in paragraph (a), the Revenue Commissioners are of the opinion that in all of the circumstances it would not be just and reasonable for the administrator to be made liable to the referable tax liability they may discharge the administrator from that liability and shall notify the administrator in writing of that decision.
(c)Without prejudice to any other circumstance in which an individual will be liable to discharge a tax liability due in respect of an excess lump sum, where an administrator of a relevant pension arrangement is discharged from a referable tax liability in accordance with paragraph (b), the individual in respect of whom the income tax charge arises shall become liable for the tax.
(15)Every return referred to in this section shall be in a form specified or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners and shall include a declaration to the effect that the return is correct and complete.
(16)Subsection (2) of section 787G shall apply in respect of any income tax deducted from an excess lump sum by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, by an administrator of a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraph (iii) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ in subsection (1)(a) of this section, as it applies to income tax referred to in subsection (2) of section 787G.
(17)Where a lump sum is paid to an individual, on or after the specified date, under the rules of a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraph (iv) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ in subsection (1)(a), the excess lump sum, if any, shall be charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D for the tax year in which the lump sum is paid to that individual at the rate or rates determined in accordance with subsection (3).
(18)This section shall not apply to –
(a)a lump sum that is paid to –
(i)a widow or widower,
(ii)a surviving civil partner,
(iii)children,
(iv)dependants,
(v)personal representatives, or
(vi)children of the civil partner
of a deceased individual, or
(b)the balance of a lump sum paid to an individual in accordance with paragraph 5 of Appendix A of the Department of Finance Circular 12/09, dated 30 April 2009, entitled ‘Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement’.
(19)Section 781 shall have effect notwithstanding the provisions of this section.
(20)Subsection (2) of section 787AA shall apply in respect of any income tax deducted from an excess lump sum by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, by an administrator of a relevant pension arrangement of a kind described in paragraph (vii) of the definition of ‘relevant pension arrangement’ in subsection (1)(a) of this section, as it applies to income tax referred to in subsection (2) of section 787AA.
790B.
Exemption of cross-border scheme.
(1)In this section –
‘competent authority’, in relation to the State, means the national authority designated to carry out the duties provided for in the Directive arising from the transposition of the Directive into the law of the State;
‘Directive’ means Directive (EU) 2016/2341 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) (recast);
‘European undertaking’, in relation to a scheme, means an undertaking located in a European State which makes or proposes to make contributions to a scheme in respect of European members;
‘European members’ means individuals who are or have been employed or self-employed in a European State and in respect of which employment or self employment the trustees of the scheme have accepted or propose to accept contributions from the European undertaking;
‘European State’ means –
(a)a Member State of the European Union, other than the State, or
(b)the United Kingdom;
‘scheme’ means an occupational pension scheme established in the State under irrevocable trusts which provides, or is capable of providing, retirement benefits (within the meaning of Article 6(4) of the Directive) in relation to European members;
‘trustees’, in relation to a scheme, means the trustees of the scheme;
‘undertaking’ means any undertaking or other body, regardless of whether it includes or consists of one or more persons, which acts as an employer or as an association, or other representative body, of self employed persons.
(2)Subsections (3) and (4) shall apply to any scheme in respect of which, arising from the transposition of the Directive into the law of the State, the trustees have received from the competent authority –
(a)an authorisation, and
(b)an approval,
to accept contributions from a European undertaking in respect of European members, which authorisation has not been revoked.
(3)
(a)Exemption from income tax shall, on a claim being made in that behalf, be allowed in respect of income derived from investments or deposits of a scheme, if or to such extent as the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, it is income from investments or deposits held for the purposes of the scheme.
(b)
(i)In this subsection ‘financial futures’ and ‘traded options’ mean respectively financial futures and traded options for the time being dealt in or quoted on any futures exchange or any stock exchange, whether or not that exchange is situated in the State.
(ii)For the purposes of paragraph (a), a contract entered into in the course of dealing in financial futures or traded options shall be regarded as an investment.
(c)Exemption from income tax shall, on a claim being made in that behalf, be allowed in respect of underwriting commissions if, or to such extent as the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, the underwriting commissions are applied for the purposes of the scheme, and in respect of which the trustees of the scheme would but for this subsection be chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D.
(4)For the purposes of sections 172A(1), 256(1) and 739B(1), the reference to ‘an exempt approved scheme within the meaning of section 774’ in the definition of ‘pension scheme’ in those sections shall be deemed to include a reference to a scheme referred to in subsection (2).
790C.
Relief for deduction under Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009.
Any deduction made under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 in respect of a public servant (within the meaning of that Act) shall, in assessing income tax under Schedule E, be allowed to be deducted as an expense incurred in the year in which the deduction is made.
790CA.
Relief for additional superannuation contribution under Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017
Any additional superannuation contribution payable under the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 by a public servant (within the meaning of that Act) shall, in assessing income tax under Schedule E, be allowed to be deducted as an expense incurred in the year in which the contribution is paid.
790D.
Imputed distribution from certain funds.
(1)In this section –
‘additional voluntary PRSA contributions’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 787A(1);
‘approved minimum retirement fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784C and for the purposes of this section the expression ‘AMRF’ shall be construed accordingly;
‘approved retirement fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A and for the purposes of this section the expression ‘ARF’ shall be construed accordingly;
‘contributor’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 787A;
‘excluded distributions’ means one or more of the following:
(a)a specified amount regarded as a distribution or the making available of PRSA assets under subsection (4);
(b)a payment, transfer or assignment of the assets of an ARF to another ARF the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the first-mentioned ARF, whether or not the payment, transfer or assignment is made to the individual;
(c)a transaction regarded as a distribution for the purposes of section 784A by virtue of subsection (1A) of that section;
(d)a transfer referred to in section 784C(5)(a);
(e)assets made available from a PRSA, being assets of a kind referred to in section 787G(3);
(f)the circumstances set out in section 787G(4A) in which a PRSA administrator is treated as making assets of a PRSA available to an individual;
(g)a distribution made for any of the purposes set out in section 784A(3A);
(h)a specified amount regarded as a distribution or the making available of PEPP assets under subsection (4);
(i)assets being made available from a PEPP, being assets of a kind referred to in section 787AA(3);
(j)the circumstances set out in section 787AA(4)(a) in which a PEPP provider is treated as making assets of a PEPP available to an individual;
‘other manager’, in relation to an individual who has a relevant fund, means a person, other than the nominee, that is –
(a)a qualifying fund manager,
(b)a PRSA administrator,
(c)both a qualifying fund manager and a PRSA administrator, or
(d)a PEPP provider,
and which manages or administers, as the case may be, on the specified date –
(i)one or more than one ARF,
(ii)one or more than one vested PRSA,
(iii)one or more than one ARF and one or more than one vested PRSA, or
(iv)one or more than one vested PEPP,
the assets in which are beneficially owned by the individual;
‘PEPP’ has the same meaning as in Chapter 2D;
‘PEPP assets’ has the same meaning as in Chapter 2D;
‘PEPP contract’ has the same meaning as in Chapter 2D;
‘PEPP provider’ has the same meaning as in Chapter 2D;
‘Personal Retirement Savings Account’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 787A and for the purposes of this section the expression ‘PRSA’ shall be construed accordingly;
‘PRSA administrator’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 787A;
‘qualifying fund manager’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 784A;
‘relevant distributions’, in relation to an individual, means the aggregate of the amount or value of –
(a)the distributions, if any, made during the tax year by a qualifying fund manager in respect of assets held in –
(i)an ARF, or, as the case may be, ARFs the assets of which are beneficially owned by the individual and managed by that qualifying fund manager, and
(ii)an AMRF, if any, the assets of which are beneficially owned by the individual and managed by that qualifying fund manager, (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘funds’) being funds the assets in which were first accepted into the funds by the qualifying fund manager on or after 6 April 2000,
and
(b)the assets, if any, that a PRSA administrator makes available to, or pays to, the individual or to any other person during the tax year from one or more than one vested PRSA that is beneficially owned by that individual and administered by that PRSA administrator,
and
(c)the assets, if any, that a PEPP provider makes available to, or pays to, the individual or to any other person during the tax year from one or more than one vested PEPP that is beneficially owned by that individual and administered by that PEPP provider,
less the aggregate of the amount or value of any excluded distributions made during the tax year in respect of assets which are beneficially owned by the individual;
‘relevant fund’ means all of the –
(a)ARFs,
(b)vested PRSAs, and
(c)vested PEPPs,
beneficially owned by the same individual on the specified date other than ARFs the assets in which were first accepted into the funds by the qualifying fund manager before 6 April 2000;
‘specified amount’, for a tax year, means an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
(A x B) – C
100
where the amount so determined is greater than zero and where –
Ais the value (in this section referred to as the ‘relevant value’) of the assets in a relevant fund on the specified date, excluding, where appropriate, the value of assets retained by the PRSA administrator as would be required to be transferred to an AMRF if the beneficial owner of the PRSA had opted in accordance with section 787H(1),
Bis –
(a)where the relevant value is not greater than €2,000,000 –
(i)4, where the individual is not aged 70 years or over for the whole of the tax year, or
(ii)5, where the individual is aged 70 years or over for the whole of the tax year,
or
(b)6, where the relevant value is greater than €2,000,000,
Cis the amount or value of relevant distributions, if any, made in the tax year;
‘specified date’ means 30 November in the tax year;
‘tax year’ means a year of assessment for income tax purposes;
‘vested PEPP’ means –
(a)a PEPP in respect of which assets of the PEPP have been made available to, or paid to, the PEPP contributor or to any other person, by the PEPP provider, other than assets of a kind referred to in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of section 787AA(3), and for the purposes of this definition the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) of section 787AA shall apply, or
(b)a PEPP in respect of which the PEPP contributor has attained the age of 75 years where, up to and including the date on which the PEPP contributor attained that age, no assets of the PEPP have been made available to, or paid to, the PEPP contributor or to any other person, other than a transfer of part of the assets to another PEPP to which the contributor to the first mentioned PEPP is the contributor;
‘vested PRSA’ means –
(a)a PRSA in respect of which assets of the PRSA have been made available to, or paid to, the PRSA contributor or to any other person, by the PRSA administrator on or after 7 November 2002, other than assets of a kind referred to in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of section 787G(3), and for the purposes of this definition the provisions of subsections (4) and (4A) of section 787G shall apply,
(b)in the case of a PRSA that is a PRSA to which an individual is or was the contributor of additional voluntary PRSA contributions, such a PRSA where benefits become payable to the individual under the main scheme on or after 7 November 2002, or
(c)a PRSA in respect of which the PRSA contributor has attained the age of 75 years where, up to and including the date on which the contributor attained that age, no assets of the PRSA have been made available to, or paid to, the PRSA contributor or to any other person, other than a transfer of part of the assets to another PRSA to which the contributor to the first mentioned PRSA is the contributor.
(1A)Where a PRSA contributor of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PRSA’ attains the age of 75 years in the circumstances referred to in that paragraph prior to the date of passing of the Finance Act 2016, the PRSA is deemed to become a vested PRSA on the date of passing of that Act.
(2)For the purposes of this section, references to the value of an asset in a relevant fund shall, except where the asset is cash, be construed as a reference to the market value of the asset within the meaning of section 548.
(3)This section applies for any tax year in which an individual –
(a)has a relevant fund, and
(b)is aged 60 years or over for the whole of that tax year.
(4)Subject to the other provisions of this section, the specified amount shall for the purposes of subsections (3) and (7)(b) of section 784A or, as the case may be, subsections (1) and (2) of section 787G, or subsections (1) and (2) of section 787AA be regarded as –
(a)where the relevant fund comprises one or more than one ARF, a distribution of that amount from an ARF,
(b)where the relevant fund comprises one or more than one vested PRSA, the making available to, or paying to, the PRSA contributor of assets of that amount or value from a PRSA,
(ba)where the relevant fund comprises of one or more than one vested PEPP, the making available to, or paying to, the PEPP contributor of assets of that amount or value from a PEPP,
(c)where the relevant fund comprises one or more than one ARF, one or more than one vested PEPP, and one or more than one vested PRSA and –
(i)the qualifying fund manager, the PEPP provider and PRSA administrator of each ARF, of each PEPP and of each PRSA concerned are the same person, a distribution of that amount from an ARF,
(ii)the nominee appointed in accordance with subsection (5) is a qualifying fund manager, a distribution of that amount from an ARF,
(iii)the nominee appointed in accordance with subsection (5) is a PRSA administrator, the making available to, or paying to, the PRSA contributor of assets of that amount or value from a PRSA,
(iv)the nominee appointed in accordance with subsection (5) is both a qualifying fund manager and a PRSA administrator, a distribution of that amount from an ARF,
(v)the nominee appointed in accordance with subsection (5) is a qualifying fund manager, a PEPP provider and PRSA administrator, a distribution of that amount from an ARF,
not later than the second month of the tax year following the tax year in respect of which the specified amount is determined.
(5)Where –
(a)an individual has a relevant fund and –
(i)the relevant value is €2,000,000 or less,
(ii)the relevant fund comprises –
(I)more than one ARF, or
(II)more than one vested PRSA, or
(III)more than one vested PEPP, or
(IV)one or more than one ARF, one or more than one vested PEPP, and one or more than one vested PRSA,
and
(iii)in relation to each such relevant fund the qualifying fund manager of each ARF concerned, the PEPP provider of each vested PEPP concerned and the PRSA administrator of each vested PRSA concerned are not the same person,
or
(b)where an individual has a relevant fund and the relevant value is greater than €2,000,000 and subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of subsection (a) apply,
then the individual referred to in paragraph (a) may, and the individual referred to in paragraph (b) shall, appoint one of those persons (in this section referred to as the ‘nominee’) for the purposes of this section.
(6)Where an individual appoints a nominee in accordance with subsection (5) the individual shall –
(i)inform the other manager or the other managers, as the case may be, of such appointment for the purposes of this section,
(ii)where the appointment under subsection (5) is compulsory, advise the other manager or the other managers, as the case may be, of that fact, and
(iii)provide the other manager or the other managers, as the case may be, with the full name, address and telephone number of the nominee.
(7)Where an individual appoints a nominee in accordance with subsection (5) –
(a)the other manager or the other managers, as the case may be, shall within 14 days of the specified date provide the nominee with a certificate for that tax year stating the aggregate value (subject to paragraph (b)) of the assets on that date in, and the relevant distributions from –
(i)the ARF or ARFs, or
(ii)the vested PRSA or vested PRSAs, or
(iii)the vested PEPP or vested PEPPs, or
(iv)the ARF or ARFs, and the vested PEPP or vested PEPPs and the vested PRSA or vested PRSAs
managed or administered by the other manager or the other managers,
(b)the aggregate value of the assets referred to in paragraph (a) shall, where the assets are in one or more than one vested PRSA, exclude the value of such assets, if any, retained by the PRSA administrator as would be required to be transferred to an AMRF if the beneficial owner of the PRSA had opted in accordance with section 787H(1), and
(c)the nominee shall keep and retain for a period of 6 years each certificate so provided and on being so required by notice given to the nominee in writing by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, make available within the time specified in the notice such certificates as may be required by the notice.
(8)Where an individual appoints a nominee in accordance with subsection (5) and the nominee receives a certificate or, as the case may be, certificates provided in accordance with subsection (7)(a), from the other manager or from one or more of the other managers, the specified amount shall be determined by the nominee as if the value of the assets and the relevant distributions stated in each certificate so received were the value of assets in and relevant distributions from an ARF, a vested PEPP or a vested PRSA managed or administered by the nominee in that tax year.
(9)Where an individual appoints a nominee in accordance with subsection (5) in respect of a relevant fund of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection and –
(a)the nominee does not receive a certificate referred to in subsection (7)(a) from the other manager, or
(b)the nominee does not receive a certificate referred to in subsection (7)(a) –
(i)from any of the other managers, or
(ii)from any one or more of the other managers, but not all of them,
then –
(I)where paragraph (a) or (b)(i) applies, the nominee and the other manager or, as the case may be, the nominee and each of the other managers, and
(II)where paragraph (b)(ii) applies, each of the other managers in respect of which the nominee has not received a certificate,
(in this subsection referred to as the ‘relevant manager’) shall determine the specified amount in accordance with this section as if the relevant fund of the individual was comprised solely, as the case may be, of –
(A)the ARF or ARFs,
(B)the vested PRSA or vested PRSAs,
(C)the vested PEPP or vested PEPPs, or
(D)the ARF or ARFs, the vested PEPP or vested PEPPs and the vested PRSA or vested PRSAs,
managed or administered by the relevant manager.
(10)Where an individual appoints a nominee in accordance with subsection (5) in respect of a relevant fund of a kind referred to in paragraph (b) of that subsection and paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (9) applies, the specified amount shall be determined in accordance with subsection (9) as if B in the formula for the specified amount was 6.
(11)Where an individual has a relevant fund of a kind referred to in subsection (5)(a) and the individual opts not to appoint a nominee as provided for in that subsection, then each person who on the specified date is –
(a)a qualifying fund manager,
(b)a PRSA administrator,
(c)a PEPP provider, or
(d)a qualifying fund manager, and a PRSA administrator and a PEPP provider,
of, as the case may be –
(i)one or more than one ARF,
(ii)one or more than one vested PRSA,
(iii)one or more than one vested PEPP, or
(iv)one or more than one ARF and one or more than one vested PRSA and one or more than one vested PEPP,
comprised in that relevant fund shall determine the specified amount 10 in accordance with this section as if the relevant fund was comprised solely, as the case may be, of –
(I)the ARF or ARFs,
(II)the vested PRSA or vested PRSAs,
(III)the vested PEPP or vested PEPPs, or
(IV)the ARF or ARFs and the vested PRSA or vested PRSAs and the vested PEPP or vested PEPPs,
managed or administered by each such person.
790E.
Taxation of certain investment returns to relevant pension arrangements.
(1)Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Part or Part 19, where the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of section 784A is determined in accordance with subsection (1B)(h) of that section, then the provisions of section 774(3), 784(4), 785(5), 787I(1), 608(2) or 608(3) shall not apply to any income or gains, to which those provisions would, but for this section, otherwise apply, that arise to the pension investor (within the meaning of subsection (1B)(h) of section 784A) where the circumstances described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of subsection (1B)(h) of section 784A arise.
(2)The income or gains referred to in subsection (1) shall be chargeable to tax on the trustees or administrator of the pension investor, referred to in that subsection, under Case IV of Schedule D.
790F.
Exemption from income tax of rental income subject to registration with Residential Tenancies Board.
(1)In this section –
‘Act of 2004’ means the Residential Tenancies Act 2004;
‘approved retirement fund’ has the same meaning as in section 784A;
‘Board’ means the Residential Tenancies Board;
‘exempt approved scheme’ shall be construed in accordance with section 774;
‘lease’ means any lease or tenancy agreement in respect of –
(a)a residential premises required to be registered under Part 7 of the Act of 2004 by the person chargeable, or
(b)a dwelling referred to in section 3(2) of the Act of 2004;
‘PEPP’ and ‘PEPP provider’ have the same meaning, respectively, as in Chapter 2D of this Part;
‘person chargeable’, in respect of the rental income or the profits or gains arising from any rent in respect of a residential property, means –
(a)in the case of an exempt approved scheme, the trustees of the scheme,
(b)in the case of a RAC, the persons by and to whom premiums are payable under any contract for the time being approved under section 784,
(c)in the case of a RAC established under trust, the trustees or other persons having the management of any trust scheme so approved,
(d)in the case of an approved retirement fund, the qualifying fund manager acting on behalf of the person beneficially entitled to the assets of the approved retirement fund,
(e)in the case of a PRSA, the PRSA administrator, or
(f)in the case of a PEPP, a PEPP provider;
‘PRSA’ and ‘PRSA administrator’ has the same meaning, respectively, as in Chapter 2A of this Part;
‘qualifying fund manager’ has the same meaning as in section 784A;
‘qualifying lease’ means a lease granted by the person chargeable to a tenant residing in a residential property;
‘RAC’ means an annuity contract or a trust scheme or part of a trust scheme for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under section 784;
‘register’ means the residential tenancies register established and maintained by the Board under section 127 of the Act of 2004;
‘residential property’, in relation to a qualifying lease, means a residential property in respect of which rent or similar payments are payable to the person chargeable.
(2)With effect from 1 January 2024, where a person chargeable is allowed an exemption from income tax under section 774(3), 784(4), 784A(2), 787I(1) or 787AC(1), or an exemption from capital gains tax under section 784A(2), as the case may be, in relation to rents receivable from a qualifying lease, the exemption concerned shall not be allowed unless the tenancy is registered under Part 7 of the Act of 2004 in respect of the qualifying lease.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2) –
(a)the Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require the person chargeable to provide, within 30 days of the date of such notice, evidence that the qualifying lease has been registered under Part 7 of the Act of 2004, and
(b)provision by the person chargeable of a copy of the entry in respect of the residential property concerned in the published register provided under section 132 of the Act of 2004 shall be accepted as evidence that the registration requirement referred to in subsection (2) has been complied with.
Part 36B
Pensions: incentive tax credits (ss. 848V-848AG)
848V.
Interpretation (Part 36B).
In this Part –
“additional voluntary contributions” have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 770;
“retirement benefits scheme” have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 770;
“administrator” means, subject to section 848AD –
(a)in the case of a PRSA, a PRSA administrator,
(b)in the case of a retirement benefits scheme, an administrator within the meaning of section 770, and
(c)in the case of an annuity contract, a person mentioned in section 784 who is lawfully carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life, including the person mentioned in section 784(4A)(ii);
“annuity contract” means an annuity contract or a trust scheme or part of a trust scheme for the time being approved by the Revenue Commissioners under section 784;
“gross funds” in relation to a special savings incentive account have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 848H(5);
“maturity date” in relation to a special savings incentive account have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 848H(5);
“maturity statement” in relation to a special savings incentive account have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 848H(5);
“maturity tax” in relation to a special savings incentive account have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 848H(5);
“net funds” in relation to a special savings incentive account have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 848H(5);
“gross income” in relation to an individual for a year of assessment, means the aggregate of –
(a)the income of the individual from all sources for the year of assessment before any reduction is made from that income in respect of allowances, losses, deductions and other reliefs, including reductions by virtue of sections 372AP, 372AR and 372AU and, otherwise than where such allowances are made in taxing a trade, allowances under Part 9, and
(b)the amount of income for the year of assessment which is exempt from tax under the Tax Acts;
“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;
“PRSA administrator” have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in Chapter 2A of Part 30;
“PRSA contribution” have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in Chapter 2A of Part 30;
“special savings incentive account” has the meaning assigned to it in section 848C and ‘account’ shall be construed accordingly.
848W.
Transfer of funds on maturity of SSIA.
This Part applies to an individual –
(a)whose gross income, for the year of assessment (in this section referred to as the ‘previous year’) immediately before the year of assessment in which the maturity date of the individual’s special savings incentive account falls, does not exceed €50,000, and
(b)none of whose taxable income for the previous year is chargeable to tax at the higher rate, or in the case of an individual who is married, none of whose taxable income for that year would be so chargeable if, where it is not the case, the individual had made an application under section 1023 and that application had effect for that year, and who –
(i)within the 3 month period commencing on the maturity date –
(I)furnishes his or her maturity statement to an administrator, and
(II)subscribes an amount (in this Part referred to as a ‘pension subscription’) being equal to all or part of the net funds, in relation to his or her special savings incentive account, to the administrator –
(A)as an additional voluntary contribution,
(B)as a PRSA contribution, or
(C)as a premium under an annuity contract,
(ii)makes a declaration of a kind referred to in section 848X,
(iii)does not make a claim, under any provision of the Tax Acts, to a deduction for income tax purposes in respect of the pension subscription other than in respect of the amount by which it exceeds €7,500, the tax credit in relation to the pension subscription or the additional tax credit, and
(iv)does not reduce any amount which he or she is required to pay, in the year in which he or she becomes entitled to be credited with tax credits under section 848Y, under a retirement benefits scheme, or as a PRSA contribution or as a premium under an annuity contract.
848X.
Declaration.
The declaration, referred to in section 848W, is a declaration in writing made by an individual to an administrator which –
(a)is made and signed by the individual,
(b)is made in such form –
(i)as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners, and
(ii)which contains a reference to the offence of making a false declaration under section 848AF,
(c)contains the individual’s –
(i)name,
(ii)address of his or her permanent residence,
(iii)PPS Number,
(iv)date of birth, and
(v)amount of pension subscription,
and
(d)declares that –
(i)the individual’s gross income, for the year of assessment immediately before the year of assessment in which the maturity date of his or her special savings incentive account falls, does not exceed €50,000,
(ii)none of the individual’s taxable income for the previous year is chargeable to tax at the higher rate, or in the case of an individual who is married, none of the individual’s taxable income for that year would be so chargeable if, where it is not the case, the individual had made an application under section 1023 and that application had effect for that year,
(iii)the individual will not make a claim under any provision of the Tax Acts, to a deduction for income tax purposes in respect of the pension subscription other than in respect of the amount by which it exceeds €7,500, the tax credit in relation to the pension subscription or the additional tax credit, and
(iv)the individual has not and will not reduce any amount which he or she is required to pay, in the year in which he or she becomes entitled to be credited with tax credits under section 848Y, under a retirement benefits scheme, or as a PRSA contribution or as a premium under an annuity contract.
848Y.
Entitlement to pension tax credit.
Where an individual has made a declaration of a kind referred to in section 848X, and furnished to the administrator a maturity statement and a pension subscription, the individual shall, when the pension subscription is irrevocable –
(a)subject to this Part, be treated for the purposes of the Tax Acts as having paid to the administrator a grossed up amount, which amount, after deducting income tax at the rate of 25 per cent, leaves the amount of the pension subscription, and
(b)subject to section 848Z, be entitled to be credited, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and not under any other provision of the Tax Acts, with the amount of income tax (in this Part referred to as the ‘tax credit’, in relation to the pension subscription) treated as having been so deducted.
848Z.
Tax credits.
(1)A tax credit in relation to a pension subscription shall not exceed €2,500.
(2)An individual, who is entitled to a tax credit in relation to his or her pension subscription, shall be entitled to be credited, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and not under any other provision of the Tax Acts, with a further amount (in this Part referred to as an ‘additional tax credit’).
(3)The amount of the additional tax credit shall be determined by the formula –
where –
Ais the maturity tax in relation to the individual’s account,
Bis the net funds, in relation to the individual’s account, and
Cis the amount of the pension subscription.
848AA.
Payment of tax credits.
Where an individual becomes entitled to a tax credit, in relation to his or her pension subscription, and an additional tax credit, and the administrator complies with section 848AB –
(a)the Revenue Commissioners shall, subject to that section, pay to the administrator, the tax credit and the additional tax credit,
(b)those tax credits shall, on receipt, be immediately treated by the administrator as an additional voluntary contribution, a PRSA contribution, or as the case may be, a premium under an annuity contract, made by the individual, and
(c)the pension subscription to the extent that it does not exceed €7,500 and the amount of those tax credits shall be disregarded for the purposes of any claim by the individual to relief under Chapters 1, 2, 2A and 2B of Part 30.
848AB.
Monthly return.
An administrator who is or was registered in accordance with section 848AD, shall, within 15 days of the end of every month, make a return (including, where it is the case, a nil return) to the Revenue Commissioners, which –
(a)specifies in respect of all individuals who in the previous month became entitled, under this Part, to be credited with tax credits –
(i)the aggregate amount of tax credits in relation to pension subscriptions,
(ii)the aggregate amount of additional tax credits, and
(iii)the number of pension subscriptions concerned, distinguishing between additional voluntary contributions, PRSA contributions and premiums under an annuity contract,
and
(b)contains a declaration in a form prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners that, to the best of the administrator’s knowledge and belief, the information referred to in paragraph (a) is correct.
848ABA.
Withdrawal of tax credits.
(1)In this section –
‘requested amount’ has the meaning assigned to it in subsection (2);
‘retained amount’, in relation to a requested amount and subject to subsection (4), means the amount determined by the formula –
where –
Ris the requested amount,
Cis the aggregate of the tax credit and the additional tax credit, in relation to the pension subscription made by the individual, and
Sis the amount of the pension subscription;
‘vesting day’, in relation to an individual’s pension product, means the day on which an administrator, in accordance with section 848AA, treats tax credits as an additional voluntary contribution, a PRSA contribution, or as the case may be, a premium under an annuity contract, made by the individual.
(2)Where the vesting day in relation to an individual’s pension product is on or after 29 September 2006, and, within a period of 1 year commencing on the vesting day, the individual requires the administrator to pay an amount (in this section referred to as a ‘requested amount’) to him or her –
(a)where payment is to be made on or after 10 April 2007, the administrator shall deduct from the requested amount, the retained amount in relation to the requested amount, and
(b)where payment is made before 10 April 2007, the individual shall be assessed to income tax for the year of assessment 2007 in such an amount as would ensure that the individual is liable to pay to the Revenue Commissioners an amount equal to the retained amount, in relation to the requested amount.
(3)Where in accordance with subsection (2)(a) an administrator deducts a retained amount, the administrator is liable to pay that amount to the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with arrangements determined by them.
(4)The retained amount, in relation to any part of a requested amount or the aggregate of requested amounts that exceeds the aggregate of the tax credit, the additional tax credit and the pension subscription, shall be a nil amount.
(5)An administrator shall, when requested to do so by the Revenue Commissioners, furnish to them in respect of each individual who required the administrator to pay a requested amount –
(a)the name of the individual,
(b)the address of the individual,
(c)the PPS Number of the individual,
(d)the amount of tax credit in relation to the pension subscription made by the individual, that was claimed and paid,
(e)the amount of additional tax credit that was claimed and paid,
(f)the requested amount,
(g)the amount deducted by the administrator from the requested amount,
(h)the date on which payment was made to the individual, and
(i)such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may require.
848AC.
Other returns.
An administrator who is or was registered in accordance with section 848AD, shall, in respect of each of the 4 month periods ending on 30 September 2006, 31 January 2007, 31 May 2007 and 30 September 2007, on or before the 28th day of the month following the end of the period, make a return to the Revenue Commissioners (including, where it is the case, a nil return) which specifies –
(a)in respect of each individual for whom tax credits were claimed in the period –
(i)the name of the individual,
(ii)the address of the individual,
(iii)the PPS Number of the individual,
(iv)the maturity date in relation to the individual’s special savings incentive account,
(v)the gross funds in relation to the account,
(vi)the net funds in relation to the account,
(vii)the maturity tax in relation to the account,
(viii)the amount of the pension subscription,
(ix)the amount of the tax credit in relation to the pension subscription that was claimed and paid,
(x)the amount of the additional tax credit that was claimed and paid, and
(xi)whether the tax credits were treated as an additional voluntary contribution, a PRSA contribution or a premium under an annuity contract,
and
(b)in relation to tax credits claimed in the period –
(i)the total amount of tax credits, in relation to pension subscriptions, and
(ii)the total amount of additional tax credits.
848AD.
Registration and audit of administrators.
(1)A person cannot be an administrator for the purposes of this Part unless the person is included in a register maintained by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this Part.
(2)The Revenue Commissioners may –
(a)audit the returns made by administrators under sections 848AB and 848AC, and
(b)examine the procedures put in place by the administrator for the purpose of ensuring that the returns are correct.
848AE.
Regulations (Part 36B).
(1)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations providing generally as to the administration of this Part and those regulations may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, include provision –
(a)as to the manner in which an administrator is to be registered under section 848AD,
(b)as to the manner in which a return is to be made under section 848AB, and how errors in such a return are to be corrected,
(c)as to the manner in which a return is to be made under section 848AC, and how errors in such a return are to be corrected,
(d)as to the manner in which tax credits are to be claimed and paid,
(e)as to the period for which the documents referred to in section 848AG are required to be retained, and
(f)as to the manner in which the Revenue Commissioners may examine the procedures put in place by an administrator to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Part.
(2)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 thereunder.
848AF.
Offences (Part 36B).
A person who makes a declaration under section 848X or 848AB which is false, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of €3,000, or at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.
848AG. Retention of declarations.
An administrator shall retain in respect of each individual to whom this Part applies –
(a)the maturity statement in relation to the individual’s special savings incentive account, and
(b)the declaration of a kind referred to in section 848X made by the individual,
for such period and in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may by regulation provide.
Schedule 3 Reliefs in Respect of Income Tax Charged on Payments on Retirement, Etc
Schedule 3, Part 1 Interpretation and preliminary (paras. 1-5)
Section 201.
1.
(1)In this Schedule –
“the relevant capital sum in relation to an office or employment” means, subject to subparagraph (2), the aggregate of –
(a)the amount of any lump sum (not chargeable to income tax) received
(b)the amount equal to the value at the relevant date of any lump sum (not chargeable to income tax) receivable, and
(c)the amount equal to the value at the relevant date of any lump sum (not chargeable to income tax) which, on the exercise of an option or a right to commute, in whole or in part, a pension in favour of a lump sum, may be received in the future
by the holder in respect of the office or employment in pursuance of any scheme or fund described in section 778(1);
“the standard capital superannuation benefit”, in relation to an office or employment, means a sum determined as follows:
(a)the average for one year of the holder’s taxable emoluments of the office or employment for the last 3 years of his or her service before the relevant date (or for the whole period of his or her service if less than 3 years) shall be ascertained
(b)one-fifteenth of the amount ascertained in accordance with clause (a) shall be multiplied by the whole number of complete years of the service of the holder in the office or employment, and
(c)an amount equal to the relevant capital sum in relation to the office or employment shall be deducted from the product determined in accordance with clause (b).
(2)
(a)The relevant capital sum in relation to an office or employment shall include the amount mentioned in clause (c) of the definition of “the relevant capital sum in relation to an office or employment” whether or not the option or right referred to in that clause is exercised.
(b)Where, under the conditions or terms of any scheme or fund described in section 778(1), the holder of the office or employment is entitled to surrender irrevocably the option or right referred to in clause (c) of the definition of “the relevant capital sum in relation to an office or employment” and has done so at the relevant date, the relevant capital sum in relation to an office or employment shall not include the amount mentioned in that clause.
2.Any reference in this Schedule to a payment in respect of which income tax is chargeable under section 123 is a reference to so much of that payment as is chargeable to tax after deduction of the relief applicable to that payment under section 201(5).
3.Any reference in this Schedule to the amount of income tax to which a person is or would be chargeable is a reference to the amount of income tax to which the person is or would be chargeable either by assessment or by deduction.
4.Relief shall be allowed in accordance with this Schedule in respect of income tax chargeable by virtue of section 123 where a claim is duly made in accordance with section 201.
5.A claimant shall not be entitled to relief under this Schedule in respect of any income the tax on which he or she is entitled to charge against any other person, or to deduct, retain or satisfy out of any payment which he or she is liable to make to any other person.
Schedule 3, Part 2 Relief by reduction of sums chargeable (paras. 6-9A)
Section 201.
6.In computing the charge to tax in respect of a payment chargeable to income tax under section 123, a sum equal to the amount (if any) by which the standard capital superannuation benefit for the office or employment in respect of which the payment is made exceeds the basic exemption shall be deducted from the payment.
7.Where income tax is chargeable under section 123 in respect of 2 or more payments to which paragraph 6 applies, being payments made to or in respect of the same person in respect of the same office or employment or in respect of different offices or employments held under the same employer or under associated employers, then –
(a)paragraph 6 shall apply as if those payments were a single payment of an amount equal to their aggregate amount and, where they are made in respect of different offices or employments, as if the standard capital superannuation benefit were an amount equal to the sum of the standard capital superannuation benefits for those offices or employments, and
(b)where the payments are treated as income of different years of assessment, the relief to be granted under paragraph 6 in respect of a payment chargeable for any year of assessment shall be the amount by which the relief computed in accordance with subparagraph (a) in respect of that payment and any payments chargeable for previous years of assessment exceeds the relief in respect of those payments chargeable for previous years of assessment,
and, where the standard capital superannuation benefit for an office or employment in respect of which 2 or more of the payments are made is not the same in relation to each of those payments, it shall be treated for the purposes of this paragraph as equal to the higher or highest of those benefits.
8.In computing the charge to tax in respect of a payment chargeable to income tax under section 123 in the case of a claimant, if the claimant has not in the previous 10 years of assessment made a claim under section 201 and the relevant capital sum (if any) in relation to the office or employment in respect of which the payment is made does not exceed €10,000, subsection (5) of section 201 and paragraph 6 shall apply to that payment as if each reference in that subsection and in that paragraph to the basic exemption were a reference to the basic exemption increased by the amount by which €10,000 exceeds that relevant capital sum.
9.[deleted]
9A.Paragraph 9 ceases to have effect for payments made on or after the date of the passing of the Finance Act 2013.
Schedule 3, Part 3 Relief by reduction of tax (paras. 10-14)
Section 201.
10.In the case of any payment in respect of which income tax is chargeable under section 123, relief shall be allowed by means of deduction from the tax chargeable by virtue of that section of an amount equal to the amount determined by the formula –
where –
Ais the amount of income tax which apart from this paragraph would be chargeable in respect of the total income of the holder or past holder of the office or employment for the year of assessment of which the payment is treated as income after deducting from that amount of tax the amount of tax which would be so chargeable if the payment had not been made,
Pis the amount of that payment after deducting any relief applicable to that payment under the preceding provisions of this Schedule,
Tis the aggregate of the amounts of income tax payable in respect of the total income of the holder or past holder of the office or employment for the 3 years of assessment preceding the year of assessment of which the payment is treated as income before taking account of any relief provided by section 826, and
Iis the aggregate of the taxable incomes of the holder or past holder of the office or employment for the 3 years of assessment preceding the year of assessment of which the payment is treated as income.
11.Where income tax is chargeable under section 123 in respect of 2 or more payments to or in respect of the same person in respect of the same office or employment and is so chargeable for the same year of assessment, those payments shall be treated for the purposes of paragraph 10 as a single payment of an amount equal to their aggregate amount.
12.Where income tax is chargeable under section 123 in respect of 2 or more payments to or in respect of the same person in respect of different offices or employments and is so chargeable for the same year of assessment, paragraphs 10 and 11 shall apply as if those payments were made in respect of the same office or employment.
13.
(a)Notwithstanding section 201, paragraph 10 shall cease to apply to any payment of €200,000 or more which is made on or after 1 January 2013 and which is chargeable to income tax under section 123.
(b)Paragraphs 11 and 12 shall apply for the purposes of this paragraph.
14.Notwithstanding section 201, paragraph 10 shall cease to apply to any payment which is made on or after 1 January 2014 and which is chargeable to income tax under section 123.
Schedule 23 Occupational Pension Schemes
Schedule 23, Part 1 General
Section 770.
Application for approval of a scheme
1.An application for the approval for the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 30 (in this Schedule referred to as “Chapter 1”) of any retirement benefits scheme shall be made in writing by the administrator of the scheme to the Revenue Commissioners in such form and manner as they may specify before the end of the first year of assessment for which approval is required, and shall be supported by –
(a)a copy of the instrument or other document constituting the scheme,
(b)a copy of the rules of the scheme and, except where the application is being made on the setting up of the scheme, a copy of the accounts of the scheme for the last year for which such accounts have been made up, and
(c)such other information and particulars (including copies of any actuarial report or advice given to the administrator or employer in connection with the setting up of the scheme) as the Revenue Commissioners may consider relevant.
Information about payments under approved schemes
2.In the case of every approved scheme, the administrator of the scheme and every employer who pays contributions under the scheme shall, within 30 days from the date of the notice from the inspector requiring them so to do –
(a)furnish to the inspector a return containing such particulars of contributions paid under the scheme as the notice may require;
(b)prepare and deliver to the inspector a return containing particulars of all payments under the scheme, being –
(i)payments by means of the return of contributions (including interest on contributions, if any),
(ii)payments by means of the commutation of, or in place of, pensions or other lump sum payments,
(iii)other payments made to an employer, and
(iv)payments by means of pension, gratuity or other like benefits;
(c)furnish to the inspector a copy of the accounts of the scheme to the last date previous to the notice to which such accounts have been made up, together with such other information and particulars (including copies of any actuarial report or advice given to the administrator or employer in connection with the conduct of the scheme in the period to which the accounts relate) as the inspector considers relevant.
2A.Any such return, copy of accounts, information and particulars required to be provided under paragraph 2 shall be in such form and manner as may be specified in the notice under that paragraph.
Information to be provided in electronic format
2B.In the case of an approved scheme in respect of which the administrator has to deliver annual scheme accounts to the Revenue Commissioners, the administrator shall deliver the accounts by such electronic means as are required or approved by the Commissioners.
Information to be provided in respect of pre-retirement access to additional voluntary contributions
2C.
(1)An administrator (within the meaning of section 782A(1)(a)) shall, within 15 working days of the end of each quarter commencing with the quarter ending on 30 June 2013, deliver to the Revenue Commissioners, by such electronic means as are required or approved by the Commissioners, the following information in respect of amounts transferred under section 782A during the quarter –
(a)the number of transfers made,
(b)the aggregate value of the transfers made, and
(c)the tax deducted from the aggregate value of the transfers made.
(2)In this paragraph ‘quarter’ means a period of 3 consecutive months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December.
Information about schemes other than approved schemes or statutory schemes
3.
(1)This paragraph shall apply as respects a retirement benefits scheme which is neither an approved scheme nor a statutory scheme.
(2)It shall be the duty of every employer –
(a)if there subsists in relation to any of that employer’s employees any such scheme, to deliver particulars of that scheme to the inspector within 3 months beginning on the date on which the scheme first comes into operation in relation to any of that employer’s employees, and
(b)when required to do so by notice given by the inspector to furnish within the time limited by the notice such particulars as the inspector may require with regard to –
(i)any retirement benefits scheme relating to the employer, or
(ii)the employees of that employer to whom any such scheme relates.
(3)It shall be the duty of the administrator of any such scheme, when required to do so by notice given by the inspector, to furnish within the time limited by the notice such particulars as the inspector may require with regard to the scheme.
Responsibility of administrator of a scheme
4.
(1)Where the administrator of a retirement benefits scheme defaults, cannot be traced or dies, the employer shall be responsible in place of the administrator for the discharge of all duties imposed on the administrator under Chapter 1 and this Schedule and shall be liable for any tax due from the administrator in the capacity as administrator.
(2)No liability incurred under Chapter 1 or this Schedule by the administrator of a scheme, or by an employer, shall be affected by the termination of the scheme or by its ceasing to be an approved scheme or an exempt approved scheme, or by the termination of the appointment of the person mentioned in section 772(2)(c) (ii).
(3)References in this paragraph to the employer include, where the employer is resident outside the State, references to any factor, agent, receiver, branch or manager of the employer in the State.
Regulations
5.
(1)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations generally for the purpose of carrying Chapter 1 and this Schedule into effect.
(2)Every regulation made under this paragraph shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
Schedule 23, Part 2 Charge to tax in respect of unauthorised and certain other payments
Section 770.
6.This Part shall apply to any payment to or for the benefit of an employee, otherwise than in course of payment of a pension, being a payment made out of funds which are or have been held for the purposes of a scheme which is or has at any time been approved for the purposes of Chapter 1.
7.Where the payment –
(a)is not expressly authorised by the rules of the scheme, or
(b)is made at a time when the scheme is not approved for the purposes of Chapter 1 and would not have been expressly authorised by the rules of the scheme when it was last so approved,
the employee (whether or not he or she is the recipient of the payment) shall be chargeable to tax on the amount of the payment under Schedule E for the year of assessment in which the payment is made.
8.Any payment chargeable to tax under this Part shall not be chargeable to tax under section 780 or 781.
9.References in this Part to any payment include references to any transfer of assets or other transfer of money’s worth.
Schedule 23A Specified Occupations and Professions
Section 787.
Athlete
Badminton Player
Boxer
Cricketer
Cyclist
Footballer
Golfer
Jockey
Motor Racing Driver
Rugby Player
Squash Player
Swimmer
Tennis Player
Schedule 23B Limit on Tax-Relieved Pension Funds
Part 30, Chapter 2C.
Calculation of the uncrystallised pension rights of an individual on the specified date
1.
(1)For the purposes of Chapter 2C the amount of uncrystallised pension rights on the specified date in relation to an individual shall be the aggregate of the amounts of such rights on that date in respect of each of the relevant pension arrangements of which the individual is a member; but, where a benefit crystallisation event occurred in relation to the individual under a relevant pension arrangement on the specified date then it shall be deemed for the purposes of this paragraph to have occurred on the day following that date.
(2)Where a relevant pension arrangement referred to in subparagraph (1) is –
(a)a defined contribution arrangement, the individual’s uncrystallised pension rights under that arrangement shall be so much of the aggregate of –
(i)the amount of any cash sums, and
(ii)the market value of any other assets,
held for the purposes of the arrangement on the specified date as represent the individual’s rights under the arrangement,
(b)a defined benefit arrangement, the individual’s uncrystallised pension rights under that arrangement shall be an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
(RVF x AP) + LS
where –
RVFis the relevant valuation factor on the specified date,
APis the annual amount of the pension to which the individual would, on the valuation assumptions, be entitled under the arrangement on the specified date if, on that date, the individual acquired an actual rather than a prospective right to receive a pension in respect of the uncrystallised pension rights, and
LSis the amount of any lump sum to which the individual would, on the valuation assumptions, be entitled under the arrangement on the specified date (otherwise than by way of commutation of pension) if, on that date the individual acquired an actual rather than a prospective right to payment of a lump sum in respect of the rights.
(3)The valuation assumptions referred to in subparagraph (2)(b) are –
(a)if the individual has not reached such age, if any, as the individual is required to have reached under the relevant pension arrangement to avoid any reduction in the benefits on account of age, the assumption that the individual reached that age on the specified date, and
(b)the assumption that the individual’s right to receive the benefits under the relevant pension arrangement had not been occasioned by incapacity of mind or body.
Occurrence of benefit crystallisation event
2.For the purposes of Chapter 2C, a benefit crystallisation event, in relation to an individual, under a relevant pension arrangement of which the individual is a member shall occur where –
(a)the individual becomes entitled under the relevant pension arrangement to any one or more of the following benefits –
(i)a pension,
(ii)an annuity,
(iii)a lump sum,
(b)the individual exercises an option in accordance with section 772(3A), 784(2A), 787H(1) or 787AB(1) for the transfer, on the date the annuity or, as the case may be, the pension would otherwise become payable, of an amount to any one or more of the following –
(i)the individual,
(ii)an approved retirement fund, or
(iii)an approved minimum retirement fund,
(ba)the individual does not elect to exercise an option in accordance with section 787H(1) and instead retains the assets of the PRSA in that PRSA or any other PRSA,
(bb)the individual is a PRSA contributor and the PRSA becomes a vested PRSA of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PRSA’ in section 790D(1),
(bc)the relevant pension arrangement becomes a vested RAC within the meaning of section 787O(1),
(bd)the individual does not elect to exercise an option in accordance with section 787AB(1) and instead retains the assets of the PEPP in that PEPP,
(be)the individual is a PEPP contributor and the PEPP becomes a vested PEPP of a kind referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘vested PEPP’ in section 790D(1),
(c)a payment or transfer is made to an overseas arrangement by direction of the individual under the provisions of the Occupational Pension Schemes and Personal Retirement SavingsAccounts (Overseas Transfer Payments) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 716 of 2003),
(d)the individual, having become entitled to a pension under a relevant pension arrangement on or after 7 December 2005, becomes entitled to the payment of that pension, other than in excepted circumstances, at an increased annual amount which exceeds by more than the permitted margin the annual amount at which it was payable on the day the individual became entitled to it.
Calculation of amount crystallised by a benefit crystallisation event
3.For the purposes of Chapter 2C, the amount crystallised by a benefit crystallisation event referred to in paragraph 2 shall be –
(a)subject to subparagraph (aa), where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(a)(i), an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
P x A
where –
Pis the amount of pension which would be payable to the individual, on the assumption that there is no commutation of part of the pension for a lump sum, in the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the individual becomes entitled to it and on the assumption that there is no increase in the pension throughout that period, and
Ais the relevant age-related factor,
(aa)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(a)(i) and the administrator of the relevant pension arrangement is satisfied, based on information and records available to the administrator, that there is an accrued pension amount in respect of that event, an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
(APA x B) + ((P – APA) x A)
where ‘P’ and ‘A’ have the meanings given to them respectively in the formula in subparagraph (a) and where –
APAis the accrued pension amount, and
Bis the relevant valuation factor on the specified date,
and the administrator shall keep and preserve for a period of 6 years after the date of the event such information and records as may be required for the purposes of demonstrating to the satisfaction of an officer of the Revenue Commissioners that there was an accrued pension amount in respect of the event,
(b)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(a)(ii), the aggregate of the amount of so much of the cash sums, and the market value of such of the other assets, representing the individual’s rights under the relevant pension arrangement, as are applied to purchase the annuity,
(c)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(a)(iii), the amount of the lump sum paid to the individual,
(d)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind referred to in paragraph 2(b), the aggregate of the amount of so much of the cash sums and the market value of such of the assets as are to be transferred following the exercise of an option referred to in that paragraph,
(da)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind referred to in paragraph 2(ba), the aggregate of the amount of so much of the cash sums and the market value of such of the assets as are retained in the PRSA or in any other PRSA,
(db)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind referred to in paragraph 2(bb), the aggregate of the amount of any cash sums and the market value of the assets in the PRSA at the date the individual attains the age of 75 years or, where the individual attained the age of 75 years prior to the date of passing of the Finance Act 2016, on the date of passing of that Act,
(dc)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind referred to in paragraph 2(bc), the aggregate of so much of the cash sums and the market value of such of the other assets representing the individual’s rights under the relevant pension arrangement at the date the individual attains the age of 75 years or, where the individual attained the age of 75 years prior to the date of passing of the Finance Act 2016, on the date of passing of that Act,
(dd)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind referred to in paragraph (2)(bd), the aggregate of the amount of so much of the cash sums and the market value of such of the assets as are retained in the PEPP or in any other PEPP,
(de)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of a kind referred to in paragraph (2)(be), the aggregate of the amount of any cash sums and the market value of the assets in the PEPP at the date the individual attains the age of 75 years,
(e)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(c), the amount of the payment made, or as the case may be, the market value of the assets transferred, to an overseas arrangement in accordance with the provisions of the Occupational Pension Schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (Overseas Transfer Payments) Regulations 2003, and
(f)where the benefit crystallisation event is an event of the kind referred to in paragraph 2(d), an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula –
A x IP
where –
Ais the relevant age–related factor, and
IPis the amount (in this assignment of meaning referred to as the ‘relevant amount’) by which the increased annual amount of the pension exceeds the annual amount at which it was payable on the day the individual became entitled to it, as increased by the permitted margin, but, if one or more benefit crystallisation events has or have previously occurred by reason of the individual having become entitled to payment of the pension at an increased annual amount, there shall be deducted from the relevant amount the amount crystallised by that event or the aggregate of the amounts crystallised by those events.
Amount of a standard fund threshold or personal fund threshold that is available at the date of a current event
4.For the purposes of Chapter 2C, the amount of the standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, personal fund threshold, for an individual, that is available at the date of the current event shall be determined as follows –
(a)if, prior to the current event, no benefit crystallisation event has occurred in relation to the individual on or after 7 December 2005, the whole of the standard or personal fund threshold,
(b)if, prior to the current event, one or more benefit crystallisation events have occurred in relation to the individual on or after 7 December 2005, and the previously used amount is equal to or greater than the amount of the individual’s standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, personal fund threshold, none of the standard fund threshold or the personal fund threshold, and
(c)in any other case, so much of the individual’s standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, personal fund threshold as is left after deducting the previously used amount.
Meaning of previously used amount
5.
(1)For the purposes of paragraph 4 the previously used amount means –
(a)where one benefit crystallisation event has occurred in relation to the individual before the current event, the amount crystallised by the previous benefit crystallisation event adjusted in accordance with subparagraph (2), or
(b)where 2 or more benefit crystallisation events have occurred before the current event, the aggregate of the amounts crystallised by each previous crystallisation event each of those amounts having been adjusted in accordance with subparagraph (2).
(2)The adjustment referred to in subparagraph (1) is the amount crystallised by the previous benefit crystallisation event multiplied by the higher of 1 and the number determined by the formula –
A
B
where –
Ais the standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, the personal fund threshold at the date of the current event, and
Bis the standard fund threshold or, as the case may be, the personal fund threshold at the date of the previous benefit crystallisation event,
and where an individual did not have a personal fund threshold at the date of the previous benefit crystallisation event, the standard fund threshold at that date shall be used for B in the formula.
Table
Age
Relevant age–related factor
(1)
(2)
Up to and including 50
37
51
36
52
36
53
35
54
34
55
33
56
33
57
32
58
31
59
30
60
30
61
29
62
28
63
27
64
27
65
26
66
25
67
24
68
24
69
23
70 and over
22
Schedule 23C Pre-retirement access to PRSA AVCs Information to be provided in respect of pre-retirement access to additional voluntary PRSA contributions
Part 30, Chapter 1
1.An administrator (within the meaning of section 782A(1)(a)), who is a PRSA administrator (within the meaning of that provision), shall, within 15 working days of the end of each quarter commencing with the quarter ending on 30 June 2013, deliver to the Revenue Commissioners, by such electronic means as are required or approved by the Commissioners, the following information in respect of amounts transferred under section 782A during the quarter –
(a)the number of transfers made,
(b)the aggregate value of the transfers made, and
(c)the tax deducted from the aggregate value of the transfers made.
2.In this Schedule ‘quarter’ means a period of 3 consecutive months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December.