Finance Act, 1986

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Amendment of section 141 (children) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

4.—The Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended, as respects the year 1986-87 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution of the following section for section 141:

“Incapacitated children.

141.—(1) If the claimant proves that he has living at any time during the year of assessment any child—

(a) who is under the age of 16 years and is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity, or

(b) who, if over the age of 16 years at the commencement of that year, is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity from maintaining himself and had become so permanently incapacitated before he had attained the age of 21 years or had become so permanently incapacitated after attaining the age of 21 years but while he had been in receipt of full-time instruction at any university, college, school or other educational establishment,

he shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be entitled in respect of each such child to a deduction of £600:

Provided that—

(i) a child who is under the age of 16 years shall be regarded as permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity only if the infirmity is such that there would be a reasonable expectation that, if the child were over the age of 16 years, he would be incapacitated from maintaining himself,

(ii) in the case of a child to whom paragraph (b) applies, the deduction shall be £600 or the amount expended by the claimant in the year of assessment on the maintenance of the child, whichever is the lesser, and

(iii) any deduction under this subsection shall be in substitution for, and not in addition to, any deduction to which the claimant might be entitled in respect of the same child under section 142.

(2) If the claimant proves that for the year of assessment he has the custody of and maintains at his own expense any child who, but for the fact that he is not a child of the claimant, would be such a child as is referred to in subsection (1) and that neither he nor any other individual is entitled to a deduction in respect of the same child under subsection (1) or under any of the other provisions of this Part, or, if any other individual is entitled to such a deduction, that that other individual has relinquished his claim thereto, he shall be entitled in respect of the child to the same deduction as if the child were a child of his.

(3) (a) The reference in subsection (1) to a child receiving full-time instruction at an educational establishment shall include a reference to a child undergoing training by any person (hereafter in this subsection referred to as ‘the employer’) for any trade or profession in such circumstances that the child is required to devote the whole of his time to the training for a period of not less than two years.

(b) For the purpose of a claim in respect of a child undergoing training the inspector may require the employer to furnish particulars with respect to the training of the child in such form as may be prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners.

(4) No deduction shall be allowed under this section in respect of any child who is entitled in his own right to an income exceeding £720 a year, except that, if the amount of the excess is less than the deduction which apart from this subsection would be allowable, a deduction reduced by that amount shall be allowed:

Provided that in calculating the income of the child for the purposes of the foregoing provision no account shall be taken of any income to which the child is entitled as the holder of a scholarship, bursary, or other similar educational endowment.

(5) If any question arises as to whether any person is entitled to an allowance under this section in respect of a child who is over the age of 21 years as being a child who had become permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity from maintaining himself after attaining that age but while in receipt of such full-time instruction as aforesaid, the Revenue Commissioners may consult the Minister for Education.

(6) Where, for any year of assessment, two or more individuals are or would, but for the provisions of this subsection, be entitled under this section to relief in respect of the same child, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) only one deduction under this section shall be allowed in respect of such child;

(b) where such child is maintained by one parent only, that parent only shall be entitled to claim such deduction;

(c) where such child is maintained jointly by both parents, each parent shall be entitled to claim such part of such deduction as is proportionate to the amount expended by him or her on the maintenance of such child; and

(d) in ascertaining for the purposes of this subsection whether a parent maintains a child and, if so, to what extent, any payment made by such parent for or towards the maintenance of such child which such parent is entitled to deduct in computing his or her total income for the purposes of this Act shall be deemed not to be a payment for or towards the maintenance of such child.

(7) In the preceding provisions of this section ‘child’ includes a stepchild and an illegitimate child whose parents have married each other after his birth and a child in respect of whom an adoption order under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, is in force.”.