Finance Act 2010
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Chapter 4 Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax | ||
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Provisions relating to charities and donations to approved bodies. |
24.— The Principal Act is amended— | |
(a) by inserting the following after section 208: | ||
“Overseas charities. | ||
208A.— (1) In this section and section 208B— | ||
‘charity’ means any body of persons or trust established for charitable purposes only; | ||
‘EEA Agreement’ means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted byall subsequent amendments to that Agreement; | ||
‘EEA state’ means a state, other than the State, which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; | ||
‘EFTA state’ means a state, other than an EEA state, which is a Member State of the European Free Trade Association. | ||
(2) A person or trust established in an EEA state or in an EFTA state may on a claim being made to the Revenue Commissioners seek a determination to the effect that, if the person or trust were to have income in the State of a kind referred to in section 207 or 208, it would qualify for the exemptions provided for by those sections. | ||
(3) A claim referred to in subsection (2) shall be determined by the Revenue Commissioners or such officer of the Revenue Commissioners (including an inspector) as they may authorise in that behalf. | ||
(4) Where a claim referred to in subsection (2) has been determined in accordance with subsection (3) and the determination is to the effect that if the person or trust were to have income in the State of a kind referred to in section 207 or 208 it would qualify for the exemptions provided for by those sections, the Revenue Commissioners, or such officer of the Revenue Commissioners as they may authorise in that behalf, shall issue the person or trust with a notice of that determination. | ||
(5) Every claim made under this section shall be verified by a document corresponding to an affidavit sworn in the State or by an equivalent sworn statement, and proof of the claim may be given by the treasurer, trustee or any duly authorised agent. | ||
Charities — miscellaneous. | ||
208B.— (1) In this section— | ||
‘charity trustee’ includes— | ||
(a) in the case of a charity that is a company, the directors and other officers of the company, and | ||
(b) in the case of a charity that is a body corporate (other than a company) or an unincorporated body of persons, any officer of the body or any person for the time being performing the functions of an officer of the body; | ||
‘qualified person’ means— | ||
(a) a person who, in accordance with section 187 of the Companies Act 1990 , is qualified for appointment as an auditor of a company, or | ||
(b) in relation to a person or trust that— | ||
(i) has made a claim for a determination under section 208A(2), | ||
(ii) is established in an EEA state or in an EFTA state, and | ||
(iii) does not have a principal place of business in the State, | ||
a person who is qualified under the law of that EEA state or that EFTA state, as the case may be, to perform functions the same as or similar to those which may be performed in the State by a person referred to in paragraph (a). | ||
(2) A claim by a person or trust for— | ||
(a) a determination under section 864 in relation to a claim under section 207 or 208, or | ||
(b) a determination under section 208A, | ||
shall be supported by such information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purpose of determining the claim. | ||
(3) A charity— | ||
(a) who has been granted an exemption under section 207 or 208, or | ||
(b) to whom a notice of determination has been issued in accordance with section 208A(4), | ||
shall, on request, provide such information to the Revenue Commissioners as they may require in respect of the activities of that charity in any financial year following the granting of an exemption or, as the case may be, the issuing of a notice of the determination. | ||
(4) Any information to be provided to the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (2) or (3) shall be in an official language of the State. | ||
(5) The Revenue Commissioners may appoint such qualified persons as they consider appropriate to verify any information provided to them under subsection (2) or (3). | ||
(6) The expenses incurred by any person appointed by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (5) shall be recoverable by the Revenue Commissioners as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction— | ||
(a) from the charity trustees (who shall be jointly and severally liable for those expenses), or | ||
(b) from the charity concerned, where it is not practicable to recover them from the charity trustees.”, | ||
(b) in Part 1 of Schedule 26A by deleting paragraph 19, | ||
(c) in Part 3 of Schedule 26A by deleting “in the State” in— | ||
(i) paragraph 1 in the definition of “eligible charity”, and | ||
(ii) paragraph 2, | ||
(d) in Part 3 of Schedule 26A by substituting the following for paragraph 3(c): | ||
“(c) before the date of the making of the application concerned under paragraph 2— | ||
(i) it has been granted exemption from tax for the purposes of section 207 for a period of not less than 2 years, or | ||
(ii) it received a notice of determination from the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with section 208A at least 2 years before that date,”, | ||
and | ||
(e) in Part 3 of Schedule 26A by inserting the following after paragraph 7: | ||
“8. Information to be furnished to the Revenue Commissioners or published as required by the Minister for Finance for the purposes of this Part shall be furnished or published in an official language of the State.”. |