Finance Act, 1988
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Chapter VI Pension Fund Levy | ||||
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Pension fund levy. |
53.—(1) In this section— | |||
“assets” means, in relation to a scheme, investments, deposits and any other property (including any debt and any contract of assurance) held for the purposes of the scheme, other than excluded assets; | ||||
“administrator” means, in relation to a scheme, the trustees or other persons having the management of the assets of the scheme; | ||||
“chargeable person” means, in relation to the assets of a scheme— | ||||
(a) where the assets are not contracts of assurance, the administrator in relation to the scheme, and | ||||
(b) where the assets are contracts of assurance, the insurer in relation to such a contract; | ||||
“contract of assurance” means any contract of a type described in section 50 (4) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ; | ||||
“excluded assets” means, in relation to a scheme, assets representing— | ||||
(a) the liabilities of a scheme which are attributable to the provision of relevant benefits (within the meaning of section 13 of the Finance Act, 1972 ) in respect of employees whose employment is exercised wholly outside the State, or | ||||
(b) liabilities under any contract other than a contract in respect of business in class VII of the Annex to Council Directive 79/267/EEC of 5 March 1979(1) ; | ||||
“insurer” means a person who is the holder of an authorisation within the meaning of the Regulations or is the holder of an assurance licence that is deemed by those Regulations to be an authorisation; | ||||
“pension fund”, in relation to an insurer, has the same meaning as it has in section 50 (3) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ; | ||||
“the Regulations” means the European Communities (Life Assurance) Regulations, 1984 ( S.I. No. 57 of 1984 ); | ||||
“scheme” means a retirement benefits scheme within the meaning of | ||||
section 14 of the Finance Act, 1972 , or a retirement annuity contract or a trust scheme to which section 235 or section 235A of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , applies. | ||||
(2) For the purposes of this section, “the chargeable amount” in relation to any assets shall be an amount determined by the formula | ||||
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where— | ||||
A is the aggregate market value on the 1st day of January, 1988, of the assets, and | ||||
P is the total amount of any pensions (including annuities) paid in the year 1988 in respect of liabilities of the scheme represented by any asset included in determining the amount of A: | ||||
Provided that, in the case of a chargeable person other than an insurer, the chargeable amount shall be the amount determined by the above formula less— | ||||
(a) the amount of any interest received in the year 1988 (being relevant interest within the meaning of section 31 (1) of the Finance Act, 1986 ) in respect of any deposit included in determining the amount of A, and | ||||
(b) if it would have the effect of reducing the chargeable amount to nil, £5,000 or such lesser amount as would have that effect. | ||||
(3) For the year 1988, there shall be charged, in accordance with the provisions of this section, on the chargeable person in relation to any assets of a scheme, a levy (hereafter in this section referred to as “the levy”) at the rate of 6 per cent. on the chargeable amount in respect of the assets. | ||||
(4) The chargeable person shall make on or before the 30th day of June, 1989, a return to the Collector-General showing— | ||||
(a) the chargeable amount for the year 1988, | ||||
(b) the amount of the levy chargeable under this section in respect of that amount, and | ||||
(c) any amount paid in accordance with subsection (6) on account of the amount referred to in paragraph (b). | ||||
(5) The amount of the levy required to be included in a return under this section shall be due and payable on the 30th day of June, 1989, and shall be paid by the chargeable person to the Collector-General and the amount of the levy so due shall be payable without the making of an assessment; but the amount of the levy which has become so due and payable may be assessed on the chargeable person if that amount or any part of it is not paid on or before that day. | ||||
(6) Notwithstanding subsection (5), the chargeable person shall pay to the Collector-General on or before the 30th day of November, 1988, an amount on account of the amount of the levy payable for the year 1988 and the amount so payable on account shall be not less than 90 per cent. of the amount of the levy due in accordance with subsection (5) and the amount so paid on account shall be treated as a payment of an equal amount of the levy due in accordance with subsection (5). | ||||
(7) Any amount on account of the levy payable by a chargeable person under subsection (6) shall be so payable without the making of an assessment and the provisions of this section relating to the collection and recovery of the levy shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to the collection and recovery of an amount on account of the levy. | ||||
(8) If it appears to the inspector that there is any amount of the levy payable which ought to have been and has not been included in a return under subsection (4), or if the inspector is dissatisfied with any such return, he may make an assessment on the chargeable person to the best of his judgment to recover any unpaid amount; and any amount of the levy due under an assessment made by virtue of this subsection shall be treated for the purposes of interest on the unpaid levy as having been payable at the time when it would have been payable if a return had been made. | ||||
(9) (a) Any amount of the levy assessed on a chargeable person under this section shall be due within one month after the issue of the notice of assessment (unless that amount or any amount treated as an amount on account of it is due earlier under subsection (5) or (6)), subject to any appeal against the assessment, but no such appeal shall affect the date when any amount is due under subsection (5) or (6). | ||||
(b) On the determination of an appeal against an assessment under this section, any amount of the levy overpaid shall be repaid. | ||||
(10) (a) All the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to— | ||||
(i) assessments to income tax, | ||||
(ii) appeals against such assessments (including the rehearing of appeals and the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court), and | ||||
(iii) the collection and recovery of income tax, | ||||
shall, so far as they are applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and recovery of any amount of the levy. | ||||
(b) Any amount of the levy or amount on account of the levy payable in accordance with this section without the making of an assessment shall carry interest at the rate of 1.25 per cent. for each month or part of a month from the date when the amount becomes due and payable until payment. | ||||
(c) The provisions of subsections (3) to (5) of section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to interest payable under paragraph (b) as they apply in relation to interest payable under the said section 550. | ||||
(d) In its application to any amount of the levy charged by any assessment made in accordance with this Chapter, section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall have effect with the omission of the proviso to subsection (1) and of subsections (2) and (2A). | ||||
(e) Notwithstanding anything in the Income Tax Acts, the provisions of section 30 of the Finance Act, 1976 , shall not apply in relation to any amount of the levy which is charged by an assessment made in accordance with this Chapter. | ||||
(11) Every return for the purposes of this section shall be in a form prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners and shall include a declaration to the effect that it is complete. | ||||
(12) Schedule 15 to the Income Tax Act, 1967 , is hereby amended by the insertion in column 2 of “Finance Act, 1988, section 53 (4)”. | ||||
(13) The levy charged by this section shall not be allowed as a deduction or as a credit for the purpose of the computation or charge of any tax or duty under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners. | ||||
(14) If under this section— | ||||
(a) a chargeable person who is an insurer pays an amount in respect of the levy in relation to a contract of assurance, the amount shall be deemed to be a necessary disbursement from the pension fund of the insurer and the insurer may adjust accordingly any benefits under the contract, and | ||||
(b) a chargeable person who is an administrator pays an amount in respect of the levy in relation to the assets of a scheme, the amount shall be deemed to be a necessary disbursement from those assets and any benefits payable under the scheme may be adjusted accordingly. | ||||