Finance Act 2012
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Amendment of Chapter 4 (powers of officers) of Part 2 of Finance Act 2001. |
73.— Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2001 is amended— | |
(a) by substituting the following for section 133: | ||
“133.— In this Chapter— | ||
‘foreign packet’ means any item, addressed in the final form in which it is to be carried from a place outside the State and delivered to an address in the State, and includes a postal packet within the meaning of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011 ; | ||
‘postal services’ has the same meaning as in the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011 ; | ||
‘officer’ means an officer of the Commissioners authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred on officers by this Chapter.”, | ||
(b) in section 135(1)(b) by substituting the following for subparagraph (ii): | ||
“(ii) any excisable products being transported in or on, or in any manner attached to, the vehicle, are transported in accordance with any provision of Chapter 2A or 2B to which they may be subject, and conform in every material respect with the description of such excisable products in any electronic administrative document, simplified accompanying document, or other document that is required, under any such provision, for the consignment of the excisable products concerned, or | ||
(iii) the vehicle has been, or is required to be, registered in any of the registers established and maintained under Chapter IV of Part II of the Finance Act 1992 ,”, | ||
(c) in section 135(1)(d) by substituting the following for subparagraph (iii): | ||
“(iii) to produce to the officer or accompanying officer any document referred to in paragraph (b)(ii).”, | ||
(d) in section 136(1)(b) by substituting “carried on,” for “carried on, or”, | ||
(e) in section 136(1) by substituting the following for paragraphs (bb) and (c): | ||
“(c) bets liable to betting duty are reasonably believed to be accepted, | ||
(d) any activity for the provision of postal services, or any other service for the delivery of foreign packets, is being, or is reasonably believed by the officer to be, carried on, | ||
(e) any activity for the supply of electricity or natural gas is being, or is reasonably believed by the officer to be, carried on, or | ||
(f) any records relating to, or reasonably believed by the officer to relate to, the products or activities referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (e) are kept, or are reasonably believed by such officer to be kept.”, | ||
(f) in section 136(3) by substituting the following for paragraph (a): | ||
“(a) carry out such search and investigation as such officer may consider to be proper, including the examination and the carrying out of searches, under section 135, of any vehicle on such premises or in such place,”, | ||
(g) in section 136(3)(c) by substituting “subsection (1)(f)” for “subsection (1)(c)”, | ||
(h) in section 136(3)(d) by substituting “subsection (1)(f)” for “subsection (1)(c)”, | ||
(i) in section 136(3) by substituting the following for paragraph (e): | ||
“(e) exercise the powers of detention under section 140 and of seizure under section 141.”, | ||
(j) in section 136 by inserting the following after subsection (3): | ||
“(3A) Where an authorised officer in or on any premises or place, referred to in subsection (1)(d) or pursuant to a warrant issued under subsection (5), has reason to believe that a foreign packet contains excisable products, and that any requirement— | ||
(a) under excise law, for payment of the excise duty on such products, or | ||
(b) for any declaration under Council Regulation 2913/92/EEC of 12 October 1992 6 , Commission Regulation 2454/93/EEC of 2 July 1993 7 , or Council Regulation 450/2008/EC of 23 April 2008 8 , in relation to such foreign packet, | ||
has not been complied with, then such officer may open such foreign packet and examine its contents.”, | ||
(k) by inserting the following after section 136: | ||
“Power to stop, question and search for intra- Community baggage. | ||
136A.— An officer, on production of the authorisation of such officer if required to do so by any person affected, may require any person entering the State from another Member State to stop, and to give to such officer— | ||
(a) the name, address and date of birth of such person, | ||
(b) any information in relation to any excisable products that may be in the possession or charge of such person, | ||
(c) such excisable products for examination, | ||
and, where such officer has reason to believe that such person is committing an offence in relation to such excisable products under section 119 or 121, such officer may search the baggage of such person and examine any such excisable products.”, | ||
and | ||
(l) by deleting section 137. | ||
6 OJ No. L302, 19.10.1992, p.1 |