Finance Act, 2000

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“Report to Committee of Public Accounts: publication etc.

904B.—(1) In this section—

‘appropriate tax’ and ‘relevant deposit taker’ have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them by section 256(1);

‘authorised officer’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 904A.

(2) Notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon disclosure of information imposed by or under statute or otherwise, the Revenue Commissioners—

(a) shall, before 1 November 2000, make a report in writing to the Committee of Public Accounts of Dáil Éireann, and

(b) may, at any time, cause to be made public a report, in such manner as they consider fit,

of the results (including interim results) of any audit carried out by an authorised officer under section 904A during the period from 25 March 1999 to the date the report is made.

(3) The report under subsection (2) shall be in respect of audits of relevant deposit takers for the years of assessment 1986-1987 to 1998-1999, and may specify, in respect of each such audit—

(a) the name of the relevant deposit taker concerned,

(b) the amount of additional appropriate tax payable by the relevant deposit taker as a result of the audit,

(c) the amount of interest payable in respect of any such amount,

(d) the amount of any fine or penalty imposed by a court on the relevant deposit taker under the Tax Acts, or accepted by the Revenue Commissioners in place of initiating proceedings for recovery of such fine or penalty,

(e) whether an assessment has been made in respect of appropriate tax and, if so, whether the assessment has been appealed,

(f) whether the audit has been completed as at the date of the report,

(g) the amount of any payment on account of appropriate tax paid by the relevant deposit taker in anticipation of an audit being carried out or during the course of an audit, and

(h) such further particulars as the Revenue Commissioners consider fit.

Power of inspection (returns and collection of appropriate tax): assurance companies.

904C.—(1) In this section—

‘assurance company’ and ‘life business’ have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them in section 706;

‘appropriate tax’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 730F;

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

‘books, records or other documents includes—

(a) any records used in the business of an assurance company whether—

(i) comprised in bound volume, loose-leaf binders or other loose-leaf filing system, loose-leaf ledger sheets, pages, folios or cards, or

(ii) kept on microfilm, magnetic tape or in any non-legible form (by use of electronics or otherwise) which is capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and

(b) every electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which any such thing in non-legible form is so capable of being reproduced, and

(c) documents in manuscript, documents which are typed, printed, stencilled or created by any other mechanical means or partly mechanical process in use from time to time and documents which are produced by any photographic or photostatic process, and

(d) correspondence and records of other communications by, or on behalf of, policy-holders with the assurance company carrying on life business;

‘chargeable event’, in relation to a life policy, has the meaning assigned to it by section 730C;

‘declaration’ means a declaration referred to in section 730E;

‘liability’, in relation to a person, means any liability in relation to tax to which the person is or may be, or may have been, subject, or the amount of such liability;

‘life policy’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 730B;

‘policyholder’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 730E;

‘return’ means a return under section 730G;

‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of an assurance company carrying on life business for the purposes of auditing for a financial year the returns made by the company of appropriate tax.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2) the authorised officer may—

(a) examine the procedures put in place by the assurance company for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the assurance company with its obligations under Chapter 5 of Part 26,

(b) examine all or a sample of the declarations made to the assurance company,

(c) examine a sample of life policies to determine whether—

(i) the procedures referred to in paragraph (a) have been observed in practice and whether they are adequate,

(ii) the assurance company has on the happening of chargeable events in relation to each life policy, paid the correct amount of appropriate tax in connection with the chargeable events, and

(iii) there is information in the assurance company's possession which can reasonably be taken to indicate that the assurance company incorrectly failed to pay appropriate tax in connection with a chargeable event.

(4) Where an authorised officer in exercising or performing his or her powers and duties under this section has reason to believe that in respect of one or more life policies, the assurance company has incorrectly failed to pay appropriate tax in connection with a chargeable event, the authorised officer may make such further enquiries as are necessary to establish whether there is a liability in relation to any person.

(5) An authorised officer may require an assurance company or an employee of the assurance company to produce books, records or other documents and to furnish information, explanations and particulars and to give all assistance, which the authorised officer reasonably requires for the purposes of his or her audit and examination under subsections (2) and (3), and, as the case may be, enquiries under subsection (4).

(6) An authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents or other material made available to him or her or require that copies of books, records or other documents be made available to him or her, in exercising or performing his or her powers or duties under this section.

(7) An employee of an assurance company who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer's powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of £1,000.

(8) An assurance company which fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer's powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of £15,000 and if that failure continues a further penalty of £2,000 for each day on which the failure continues.

Power of inspection (returns and collection of appropriate tax): investment undertakings.

904D.—(1) In this section—

‘appropriate tax’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 739E;

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

‘books, records or other documents’ includes—

(a) any records used in the business of an investment undertaking whether—

(i) comprised in bound volume, loose-leaf binders or other loose-leaf filing system, loose-leaf ledger sheets, pages, folios or cards, or

(ii) kept on microfilm, magnetic tape or in any non-legible form (by use of electronics or otherwise) which is capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and

(b) every electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which any such thing in non-legible form is so capable of being reproduced, and

(c) documents in manuscript, documents which are typed, printed, stencilled or created by any other mechanical means or partly mechanical process in use from time to time and documents which are produced by any photographic or photostatic process, and

(d) correspondence and records of other communications by, or on behalf of, unit holders with the investment undertaking;

‘declaration’ means a declaration referred to in Schedule 2B;

‘investment undertaking’ and ‘unit holder’ have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them by section 739B;

‘liability’, in relation to a person, means any liability in relation to tax to which the person is or may be, or may have been, subject, or the amount of such liability;

‘return’ means a return under section 739F;

‘tax’ means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of an investment undertaking for the purposes of auditing for a financial year the returns made by the investment undertaking of appropriate tax.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2) the authorised officer may—

(a) examine the procedures put in place by the investment undertaking for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the investment undertaking with its obligations under Chapter 1A of Part 27,

(b) examine all or a sample of the declarations made to the investment undertaking,

(c) examine transactions in relation to a sample of unit holders to determine whether—

(i) the procedures referred to in paragraph (a) have been observed in practice and whether they are adequate,

(ii) the investment undertaking has, on the happening of a chargeable event in relation to a unit holder, paid the correct amount of appropriate tax in connection with the chargeable event, and

(iii) there is information in the investment undertaking’s possession which can reasonably be taken to indicate that the investment undertaking incorrectly failed to pay appropriate tax in connection with a chargeable event.

(4) Where an authorised officer in exercising or performing his or her powers and duties under this section has reason to believe that in respect of one or more unit holders, the investment undertaking has incorrectly failed to pay appropriate tax in connection with a chargeable event, the authorised officer may make such further enquiries as are necessary to establish whether there is a liability in relation to any person. an employee of the investment undertaking to produce books, records or other documents and to furnish information, explanations and particulars and to give all assistance, which the authorised officer reasonably requires for the purposes of his or her audit and examination under subsections (2) and (3), and, as the case may be, enquiries under subsection (4).

(5) An authorised officer may require an investment undertaking or

(6) An authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents or other material made available to him or her or require that copies of books, records or other documents be made available to him or her, in exercising or performing his or her powers or duties under this section.

(7) An employee of an investment undertaking who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer’s powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of £1,000.

(8) An investment undertaking which fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer’s powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of £15,000 and if that failure continues a further penalty of £2,000 for each day on which the failure continues.”,