National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007

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Regulations relating to levy.

44.— (1) The Minister may, by regulations, provide for all or any of the following matters relating to the levy:

(a) the rate of levy per tonne or litre of relevant disposals of petroleum products;

(b) the daily volume of petroleum products to be held by an oil consumer for the purposes referred to in section 38 (1)(b);

(c) the manner in which levy assessment notices are to be prepared by the Agency;

(d) the keeping by oil companies and oil consumers of specified records in respect of matters connected with liability to pay the levy and the specifying of the form in which and the period for which such records are to be kept;

(e) the review by the Minister of a levy assessment notice at the request of an oil company or oil consumer that claims that the notice is erroneous;

(f) the time within which a request for such review shall be made and the conditions to be satisfied by an oil company or oil consumer before the request can be made;

(g) the manner in which the amount of any overpayment or underpayment made by an oil company or oil consumer in respect of the levy may be set off against or added to any subsequent liability of such oil company or oil consumer to the Agency;

(h) the times at which payment becomes due;

(i) the form in which payment is to be made to the Agency by an oil company or oil consumer;

(j) the rate of interest on amounts not paid when due;

(k) such other matters as are necessary for or incidental to the imposition, payment and collection of the levy.

(2) Different rates of levy may be prescribed by the Minister for different categories of petroleum products and in relation to different months.

(3) In determining the rates of levy, the Minister shall seek to ensure that (taking one year with another) the sums realised by applying those rates to the volume assessments meet but do not exceed the estimated expenses of the Agency and of each designated subsidiary.

(4) For the purpose of determining in any year such estimated expenses of the Agency, the Minister may—

(a) consider the information contained in the Agency’s strategy statement,

(b) have regard to such information as is provided under section 29 , and

(c) take account of the expenses of the Agency and of each designated subsidiary in the previous financial year, and of any additional expenditure likely to be incurred by any of them in the forthcoming financial year.

(5) The rate of levy determined under Regulation 6(4) of the European Communities (Minimum Stocks of Petroleum Oils) Regulations 1995 ( S.I. No. 96 of 1995 ) and in effect immediately before the revocation of those Regulations by section 56 is deemed to have been prescribed under this section and continues in effect until it is varied under this section.

(6) If the prescribed rate of levy is varied, the new rate of levy takes effect no earlier than 3 months after the making of the regulation varying the prescribed rate.

(7) Regulations under subsection (1)(j) may prescribe a formula for determining the interest rate by reference to—

(a) the prevailing Euro Interbank Offered Rate,

(b) an additional rate certified by the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, and

(c) such other additional rate as the Minister considers appropriate taking into account the cost of recovering unpaid levy, including any bank charges the Agency may incur in maintaining a bank overdraft to cover a shortfall in funds arising out of unpaid levy.