S.I. No. 354/1973 - Social Welfare (Pay-Related Contributions) Regulations, 1973.

S.I. No. 354 of 1973.

SOCIAL WELFARE (PAY-RELATED CONTRIBUTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1973.

The Minister for Social Welfare, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 3 , 6 and 9 of the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952 ) and by sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 and 15 of the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973 (No. 2 of 1973) hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1 Citation and Commencement.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Pay Related Contributions) Regulations, 1973, and shall come into operation on the 6th day of April, 1974.

2 Interpretation.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Act of 1952" means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 ;

"the Act of 1967" means the Income Tax Act, 1967 (No. 6 of 1967);

"the Act of 1973" means the Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973;

"the Collector" means the Collector-General appointed under section 162 of the Act of 1967;

"Schedule E" means Schedule E referred to in the Act of 1967;

"employee" means an employed contributor in receipt of reckonable earnings;

"income tax month" means a month beginning on the 6th day of any of the months of April to March in any income tax year and ending on the 5th day of the following month;

"income tax year" means a year of assessment within the meaning of the Act of 1967;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Social Welfare;

"pay-related contribution" means a contribution under section 5 of the Act of 1973;

"tax deduction card" means a tax deduction card as defined in section 124 of the Act of 1967.

3 Determination of reckonable earning.

3. (1) In this Article "emoluments" means pecuniary emoluments which are assessable to income tax under Schedule E and paid in respect of employment in respect of which employment contributions are payable at a rate of employment contribution specified in paragraphs 1, 2 or 2A of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1952.

(2) The amount of an employed contributor's reckonable earnings within the meaning of the Act of 1973 for any income tax year shall, subject to the provisions of sub-article (3) of this article, be the amount of the emoluments which are paid to or for the benefit of that contributor in that income tax year.

(3) For the purpose of determining an employed contributor's reckonable earnings under sub-article (2) of this article, the amount of that contributor's emoluments shall be taken to be the amount of his emoluments reduced by the amount of any contribution to a superannuation fund or scheme payable by the contributor and deductible by the employer from the contributor's emoluments, where such contribution is allowable as a deduction from such emoluments for the purposes of assessment under Schedule E by virtue of section 222 or 233 of the Act of 1967 or by virtue of section 16 , 17 or 25 of the Finance Act, 1972 (No. 19 of 1972).

(4) For the purposes of sub-article (2) of this article and save as provided in sub-article (3) of this article, any sums deducted for any reason from any payment on account of a person's emoluments which is or would, but for such deduction, be made in any income tax year shall be treated as paid to or for the benefit of the person in that income tax year.

4 Rates of pay-related contributions and provisions for deductions by employers.

4. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-articles (2) and (3) of this article, where in any employment a payment is made to or for the benefit of an employed contributor on account of reckonable earnings in any income tax year—

( a ) a pay-related contribution at the rate of one per cent of the amount of the payment of reckonable earnings shall be payable by the employed contributor, and

( b ) a pay-related contribution at the rate of two per cent of the amount of the payment of reckonable earnings shall be payable by his employer in that employment.

(2) Where an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to a sum of £2,500 in any income tax year and pay-related contributions under the provisions of sub-article (1) of this article have been paid in respect of such reckonable earnings, no further pay-related contributions shall be payable in respect of any reckonable earnings of that employed contributor in that income tax year.

(3) Where an employed contributor is concurrently employed in two or more employments by two or more employers each of those employers shall be treated as his employer for the purposes of these Regulations notwithstanding the provisions of article 14 of the Social Welfare (Collection of Contributions) Regulations, 1967 ( S.I. No. 90 of 1967 ).

5 Payment of pay-related contributions by employer.

5. (1) Pay-related contributions shall be paid to and collected by the Collector and accounted for by him.

(2) Pay-related contributions in respect of reckonable earnings to which Chapter IV, Part V, of the Act of 1967 applies, shall be paid, recovered and accounted for in like manner as and with income tax deducted from such reckonable earnings by virtue of Regulations made under section 127 of the Act of 1967 and, accordingly, those Regulations in so far as they relate to the payment and recovery of and accounting for income tax shall apply to the payment and recovery of and accounting for pay-related contributions subject to the modification that references to tax in those Regulations shall, where the context so requires, be construed as references to pay-related contributions.

(3) Pay-related contributions in respect of reckonable earnings to which Rule 5 of the Rules applicable to Schedule E in Schedule 2 to the Act of 1967 applies shall be paid, recovered and accounted for in like manner as and with income tax deducted from such reckonable earnings by virtue of those rules.

(4) The return by virtue of the provisions of section 9 of the Act of 1952 of sums found to have been paid in error by way of pay-related contributions shall in appropriate cases be made by the Collector.

6 Deduction of pay-related contributions by employer.

6. (1) An employer shall, at the time of making any payment of reckonable earnings in respect of which pay-related contributions are payable, deduct from the payment the amount of the pay-related contribution payable by the employed contributor in respect of that payment.

(2) Pay-related contributions payable by the employed contributor shall not be recoverable from him by his employer otherwise than by deductions in accordance with sub-article (1) of this article.

7 Pay-related contributions through P.A.Y.E. income tax system-records, remission to Collector and returns by employers.

7. An employer shall in relation to pay-related contributions payable in respect of reckonable earnings to which Chapter IV, Part V, of the Act of 1967, applies—

(1) record, on the tax deduction card the amount of the pay-related contribution deductible on payment of reckonable earnings to each employee,

(2) remit to the Collector, within nine days from the end of each income tax month, the amount of the pay-related contributions deductible on payment of reckonable earnings to each employee in that month together with the appropriate amount by way of employer's pay-related contributions in respect of that employee,

(3) furnish to the Collector within nine days from the end of each income tax year—

( a ) on the tax deduction card a return in respect of each employee showing:—

(i) the total pay-related contributions payable by the employee in the income tax year,

(ii) the total pay-related contributions payable by the employer in the income tax year, and

(iii) the total pay-related contributions which the employer was liable to remit for the income tax year;

( b ) a statement and declaration showing the total pay-related contributions which the employer was liable to remit in respect of the reckonable earnings of every employee in the income tax year.

8 Pay-related contributions through Public Departments—records remission to Collector and returns by employers.

8. An employer shall in relation to pay-related contributions payable in respect of reckonable earnings to which Rule 5 of the Rules applicable to Schedule E in Schedule 2 to the Act of 1967, applies—

( a ) record the following particulars in such form as may be approved or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners regarding every payment of reckonable earnings made to an employee:—

(i) the date of payment,

(ii) the gross amount of the reckonable earnings,

(iii) the amount of the pay-related contribution payable by the employee;

( b ) remit to the Collector the amount of the pay-related contributions deductible on payment of reckonable earnings to each employee together with the appropriate amount by way of employer's pay-related contributions in respect of that employee in respect of such periods and at such times as may be approved by the Revenue Commissioners;

( c ) furnish a return at such times, in such form and containing such information in relation to pay-related contributions payable in respect of each employee as the Revenue Commissioners may approve.

9 Calculation of amount of pay-related contributions.

9. In the calculation of the amount of the employed contributor's or the employer's pay-related contribution fractions of a new penny shall be disregarded.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Social Welfare this 31st

day of December, 1973.

BRENDAN CORISH,

Minister for Social Welfare.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Finance this 31st day of December, 1973.

RICHIE RYAN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Social Welfare (Pay-Related Benefit) Act, 1973, provides for the payment of pay-related contributions related to the reckonable earnings of insured persons to finance the scheme of pay-related benefits. These Regulations prescribe how the amount of an insured person's reckonable earnings is to be determined and specify the rates of pay-related contribution payable by employers and employees. They also provide that pay-related contributions will not be payable on reckonable earnings in excess of £2,500 a year.

The Regulations assign to the Collector-General of Revenue responsibility for the collection of pay-related contributions in the same way as he collects income tax and prescribe the duties of employers regarding deducting, remitting and accounting for pay-related contributions.