Finance Act 2007

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Personal reliefs: returns of certain information by third parties, etc.

9.— (1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 459 by inserting the following after subsection (5):

“(6) Where, on the basis of the information furnished to them under section 894A(2) or any other information in their possession, the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied as to the title of an individual to relief under any of the provisions specified in the Table to section 458 or under section 187 or 188 then, notwithstanding any other provision of the Income Tax Acts to the contrary, if the Revenue Commissioners consider it appropriate in the circumstances, the relief due may be given to the individual without the making of and proving of a claim for that relief.”,

(b) in section 469—

(i) in subsection (1)—

(I) in paragraph (i) of the definition of “ health expenses ” by substituting “person” for “dependant of the individual referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b)(ii) of the definition of dependant”, and

(II) by deleting the definitions of “ dependant ”, “ qualified person ” and “ relative ”,

(ii) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) Subject to this section, where an individual for a year of assessment proves that in the year of assessment he or she defrayed health expenses incurred for the provision of health care, the individual shall be entitled, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the income on which he or she is to be charged to income tax, to have a deduction made from his or her total income of the amount proved to have been so defrayed.”,

and

(iii) by inserting the following after subsection (6):

“(7) Where relief is given under this section to any individual in respect of an amount used to defray health expenses, relief shall not be given under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts to that individual in respect of that amount.”,

(c) in section 472C (inserted by the Finance Act 2001 )—

(i) in subsection (7), by substituting “may on receipt of a request” for “shall on receipt of a request”, and

(ii) by inserting the following after subsection (7):

“(7A) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other enactment, where trade union subscriptions of employees of an employer are deducted by the employer from the emoluments of those employees and remitted to the trade union concerned, the employer may, for the purposes of enabling that trade union to make a return under the provisions of subsection (7) and for that purpose only, on receipt of a request in that behalf from the trade union furnish to the trade union the names and the Personal Public Service Numbers of the employees who are members of that trade union, and only those employees, from whose emoluments those deductions have been made.”,

(d) in section 473A (inserted by the Finance Act 2001 )—

(i) in subsection (1), by deleting the definition of “dependant”,

(ii) in subsection (2), by deleting “, on his or her own behalf or on behalf of his or her dependant,”,

(iii) in subsection (4), by substituting “the person by whom the course is being, or was, undertaken” for “his or her dependant”,

(iv) in subsection (6)(b), by deleting “by the individual or his or her dependant”, and

(v) by inserting the following after subsection (8):

“(9) Where relief is given under this section to any individual in respect of a payment of qualifying fees, relief shall not be given under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts to that individual in respect of that payment.”,

and

(e) in Chapter 3 of Part 38, by inserting the following after section 894:

“Returns by third parties in relation to personal reliefs.

894A.— (1) In this section—

‘PPS Number’, in relation to an individual, means the individual’s Personal Public Service Number within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 ;

‘personal relief’ means a relief under any of the provisions specified in the Table to section 458.

(2) Where a person is in possession of information concerning expenditure defrayed by an individual that is relevant to establishing the title of that individual to a personal relief, or the amount of such a relief, that person may, notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment or any obligation to maintain secrecy or other restriction on the disclosure of information, furnish details regarding the amount of such expenditure to the Revenue Commissioners if requested by them to do so.

(3) Information furnished to the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (2) shall, unless the Revenue Commissioners otherwise direct, be in an electronic format approved by the Revenue Commissioners and shall contain the name and address and, where known, the PPS Number of the individual in relation to whom the information is being furnished.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, for the purposes of making a return under subsection (3), a person not in possession of the PPS Number of an individual shall be entitled to request that number from the individual and shall inform the individual of the purpose for requesting the number.

(5) Information furnished to them in accordance with subsection (2) shall be used by the Revenue Commissioners only for the purpose of establishing the title of an individual to the personal relief concerned, or the amount of that relief and, notwithstanding section 872, shall be used for no other purpose.

(6) Any act to be performed or function to be discharged by the Revenue Commissioners, which is authorised by this section, may be performed or discharged by any of their officers acting under their authority.”.

(2) (a) Paragraphs (a), >(c) and (e) of subsection (1) apply with effect from the passing of this Act.

(b) Paragraphs (b) and (d) of subsection (1) apply as respects the year of assessment 2007 and subsequent years of assessment.