Finance Act 2012

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Repayments and offsets of tax.

128.— (1) Part 37 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 865(1)(a) by substituting the following for the definition of “the Acts”:

“ ‘Acts’ means the Tax Acts, the Capital Gains Tax Acts, Part 18A, Part 18C and Part 18D and instruments made thereunder;”,

(b) in section 865(1)(a) by substituting the following for the definition of “tax”:

“ ‘tax’ means any income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, income levy, domicile levy or universal social charge and includes—

(i) any interest, surcharge or penalty relating to any such tax, levy or charge,

(ii) any sum arising from the withdrawal or clawback of a relief or an exemption relating to any such tax, levy or charge,

(iii) any sum required to be deducted or withheld by any person and paid or remitted to the Revenue Commissioners or the Collector-General, as the case may be, and

(iv) any amount paid on account of any such tax, levy or charge or paid in respect of any such tax, levy or charge;”,

(c) in section 865(1)(b) by substituting the following for subclauses (A) and (B) of clause (I):

“(A) would arise out of the assessment to tax, made at the time the statement or return was furnished, on foot of the statement or return, or

(B) would have arisen out of the assessment to tax, that would have been made at the time the statement or return was furnished, on foot of the statement or return if an assessment to tax had been made at that time,”,

and

(d) by inserting the following new section after section 865A:

“No offset where repayment prohibited.

865B.— (1) In this section—

‘Acts’ means—

(a) the statutes relating to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties,

(b) the Tax Acts,

(c) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(d) Parts 18A, 18C and 18D,

(e) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

(f) the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 and the enactments amending or extending that Act,

(g) the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 and the enactments amending or extending that Act, and

(h) any instruments made under any of the statutes and enactments specified in paragraphs (a) to (g);

‘relevant period’, in relation to a repayment, means—

(a) in the case of corporation tax, the accounting period of the company in respect of which the repayment arises,

(b) in the case of income tax, capital gains tax, income levy, universal social charge or domicile levy, the year of assessment in respect of which the repayment arises,

(c) in the case of stamp duties, the year of assessment or accounting period, as the case may be, within which falls the event in respect of which the repayment arises,

(d) in the case of gift tax or inheritance tax, the year of assessment or accounting period, as the case may be, within which falls the latest of the dates referred to in section 57 (3) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 and in respect of which the repayment arises,

(e) in the case of excise duty, the year of assessment or accounting period, as the case may be, within which falls the act or event in respect of which the repayment arises, and

(f) in the case of value-added tax, the year of assessment or accounting period, as the case may be, within which falls the taxable period in respect of which the repayment arises;

‘repayment’ includes a refund;

‘tax’ means any income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, value-added tax, excise duty, stamp duty, gift tax, inheritance tax, income levy, domicile levy or universal social charge and includes—

(a) any interest, surcharge or penalty relating to any such tax, duty, levy or charge,

(b) any sum arising from the withdrawal or clawback of a relief or an exemption relating to any such tax, duty, levy or charge,

(c) any sum required to be deducted or withheld by any person and paid or remitted to the Revenue Commissioners or the Collector-General, as the case may be, and

(d) any amount paid on account of any such tax, duty, levy or charge or paid in respect of any such tax, duty, levy or charge;

‘taxable period’ has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 .

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), where a repayment of any tax cannot be made to a person by virtue of the operation of—

(a) section 865,

(b) section 105B of the Finance Act 2001 ,

(c) section 99 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 ,

(d) section 159A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 ,

(e) section 57 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 , or

(f) any other provision of any of the Acts,

then, notwithstanding any other enactment or rule of law, that repayment shall not be set against any other amount of tax due and payable by, or from, that person.

(3) Where a repayment of tax cannot be made to a person in respect of a relevant period, it may be set against the amount of tax to which paragraph (a) of subsection (4) applies which is due and payable by the person in the circumstances set out in paragraph (b) of that subsection.

(4) (a) The amount of tax to which this paragraph applies is the amount, or so much of the amount, of tax that is due and payable by the person in respect of the relevant period as does not exceed the amount of the repayment that cannot be made to the person in respect of that relevant period.

(b) The circumstances set out in this paragraph are where tax is due and payable in respect of the relevant period by virtue of an assessment that is made or amended, or any other action that is taken for the recovery of tax, at a time that is 4 years or more after the end of the relevant period.

(5) No tax shall be set against any other amount of tax except as is provided for by the Acts.”.

(2) The Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 is amended in section 159B by substituting the following for subsection (6):

“(6) Except as provided for by this Act or section 941 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as it applies for the purposes of stamp duties, the Commissioners shall not repay an amount of duty paid to them or pay interest in respect of an amount of duty paid to them.”.

(3) The Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 is amended in section 57 by substituting the following for subsection (9):

“(9) Except as provided for by this Act or by section 941 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as it applies for the purposes of capital acquisitions tax, the Commissioners shall not repay an amount of tax paid to them or pay interest in respect of an amount of tax paid to them.”.

(4) The Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 is amended in section 105(6)(b) by substituting “ section 941 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as it applies for the purposes of value-added tax” for “any provision of any other enactment”.

(5) This section shall apply as respects any tax (within the meaning of section 865B (inserted by subsection (1)(d)) of the Principal Act) paid or remitted to the Revenue Commissioners or the Collector-General, as the case may be, whether before, on or after the passing of this Act.