Finance Act, 1995

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Provisions supplementary to sections 50 to 52.

53.—(1) In this section “certificate of reasonable value” has the meaning assigned to it by section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 .

(2) In sections 50 to 52—

“certificate of reasonable cost” means a certificate granted by the Minister for the Environment for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 , as the case may be, stating that the amount specified in the certificate in relation to the cost of construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, the house to which the certificate relates appears to that Minister at the time of the granting of the certificate and on the basis of the information available to that Minister at that time to be reasonable, and section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 , shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to a certificate of reasonable cost as if it were a certificate of reasonable value;

“house” includes any building or part of a building used or suitable for use as a dwelling and any out-office, yard, garden or other land appurtenant thereto or usually enjoyed therewith;

“total floor area” means the total floor area of a house measured in the manner referred to in section 4 (2) (b) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 .

(3) A lease shall not be a qualifying lease for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 , if the terms of the lease contain any provisions enabling the lessee or any other person, directly or indirectly, at any time to acquire any interest in the house to which the lease relates for a consideration which is less than that which might be expected to be given at that time for the acquisition of the interest if the negotiations for that acquisition were conducted in the open market at arm's length.

(4) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 if it is occupied as a dwelling by any person who is connected with the person who is entitled, in relation to the expenditure incurred on the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, the house, to a deduction under section 50 (2), 51 (4) or 52 (2), as the case may be, and the terms of the qualifying lease in relation to the house are not such as might have been expected to be included in the lease if the negotiations for the lease had been at arm's length.

(5) (a) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 50 unless it complies with such conditions, if any, as may be determined by the Minister for the Environment from time to time for the purposes of section 4 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 , in relation to standards of construction of houses and the provision of water, sewerage and other services therein.

(b) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 51 or 52 unless it complies with such conditions, if any, as may be determined by the Minister for the Environment from time to time for the purposes of section 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 , in relation to standards for improvements of houses and the provision of water, sewerage and other services therein.

(6) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 unless persons authorised in writing by the Minister for the Environment for the purposes of those sections are permitted to inspect it at all reasonable times upon production, if so requested by a person affected, of their authorisations.

(7) (a) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 unless, throughout the relevant period (within the meaning of section 50 , 51 or 52, as the case may be)—

(i) it is used primarily for letting to and occupation by tourists, with or without prior arrangement, and

(ii) it is used and occupied for no other purpose during the months April to October in each year.

(b) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 if, during the relevant period (within the meaning of section 50 , 51 or 52, as the case may be), the house is let or leased to or occupied by any person for more than two consecutive months at any one time or for more than six months in any year.

(c) A house shall not be a qualifying premises for the purposes of section 50 , 51 or 52 unless a register of lessees of the house is maintained which shall contain the following particulars, that is to say—

(i) the name, permanent address and nationality of each lessee of the house during the relevant period (within the meaning of section 50 , 51 or 52, as the case may be), and

(ii) the date of arrival and the date of departure of each such lessee.

(8) For the purposes of sections 50 , 51 and 52 references therein to the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, any premises shall be construed as including references to the development of the land on which the premises is situated or which is used in the provision of gardens, grounds, access or amenities in relation to the premises and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, as including, in particular—

(a) demolition or dismantling of any building on the land,

(b) site clearance, earth moving, excavation, tunnelling and boring, laying of foundations, erection of scaffolding, site restoration, landscaping and the provision of roadways and other access works,

(c) walls, power-supply, drainage, sanitation and water supply, and

(d) the construction of any outhouses or other buildings or structures for use by the occupants of the premises or for use in the provision of amenities for the occupants.

(9) (a) For the purposes of determining, in relation to any claim under section 50 (2), 51 (4) or 52 (2), as the case may be, whether and to what extent expenditure incurred on the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, a qualifying premises is incurred or not incurred during the qualifying period, only such an amount of that expenditure as is properly attributable to work on the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, the premises which was actually carried out during the qualifying period shall be treated as having been incurred during that period.

(b) Where, by virtue of subsection (8), expenditure on the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, a qualifying premises includes expenditure on the development of any land, paragraph (a) shall have effect, with any necessary modifications, as if the references therein to the construction of, conversion into, or, as the case may be, refurbishment of, the qualifying premises were references to the development of such land.

(10) (a) For the purposes of sections 50 and 51 , other than for the purposes mentioned in subsection (9) (a), expenditure incurred on the construction of, or, as the case may be, conversion into, a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the date of the first letting of the premises under a qualifying lease.

(b) For the purposes of section 52 , other than for the purposes mentioned in subsection (9) (a), relevant expenditure incurred in relation to the refurbishment of a qualifying premises shall be deemed to have been incurred on the date of the commencement of the relevant period, in relation to the premises, determined as respects the refurbishment to which the relevant expenditure relates.

(11) For the purposes of sections 50 , 51 and 52, expenditure shall not be regarded as incurred by a person in so far as it has been or is to be met directly or indirectly by the State, by any board established by statute or by any public or local authority.

(12) Paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975 , shall have effect as if a deduction under section 50 (2), 51 (4) or 52 (2), as the case may be, were a capital allowance and as if any amount by way of rent deemed to have been received by a person under section 50 (4), 51 (6) or 52 (4), as the case may be, were a balancing charge.

(13) An appeal to the Appeal Commissioners shall lie on any question arising under this section or under section 50 , 51 or 52, other than a question on which an appeal lies under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 , in like manner as an appeal would lie against an assessment to income tax or corporation tax and the provisions of the Tax Acts relating to appeals shall apply and have effect accordingly.