Finance Act, 1987
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Relief in relation to income from certain trading operations carried on in Custom House Docks Area. |
30.—As respects any relevant accounting period within the meaning of section 38 of that Act, Chapter VI of Part I of the Finance Act, 1980 , is hereby amended by the insertion after section 39A (inserted by the Finance Act, 1981 ) of the following section— | |
“39B.—(1) in this section— | ||
‘the Area’ means the Custom House Docks Area as defined in section 41 of the Finance Act, 1986 ; | ||
‘company’ means any company carrying on a trade; | ||
‘the Minister’ means the Minister for Finance; | ||
‘qualified company’ means a company to which the Minister has given a certificate under subsection (2); | ||
‘relevant trading operations’ means trading operations specified in a certificate given by the Minister under subsection (2); | ||
‘trading operation’ means any trading operation which, apart from this section, is not the manufacture of goods for the purposes of this Chapter. | ||
(2) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), the Minister may give a certificate certifying that such trading operations of a company as are specified in the certificate are, with effect from a date to be specified in the certificate, relevant trading operations for the purposes of this section, and any certificate so given shall, unless it is revoked under subsection (4) or (5), remain in force until the 31st day of December, 2000. | ||
(3) A certificate under subsection (2) may be given either without conditions or subject to such conditions as the Minister considers proper and specifies therein. | ||
(4) Where, in the case of a company in relation to which a certificate under subsection (2) has been given— | ||
(a) the trade of the company ceases or, except in the case of a company in relation to which the Minister has, in accordance with subsection (7), given a certificate under subsection (2) and that company has not yet commenced to carry on in the Area the trading operation or trading operations specified in the certificate, becomes carried on wholly outside the Area, or | ||
(b) the Minister is satisfied that the company has failed to comply with any condition subject to which the certificate was given, | ||
the Minister may, by notice in writing served by registered post on the company, revoke the certificate with effect from such date as may be specified in the notice. | ||
(5) Where, in the case of a company in relation to which a certificate under subsection (2) has been given, the Minister is of the opinion that any activity of the company has had, or may have, an adverse effect on the use or development of the Area or is otherwise inimical to the development of the Area, then— | ||
(a) the Minister may, by notice in writing served by registered post on the company, require the company todesist from such activity with effect from such date as may be specified in the notice, and | ||
(b) if the Minister is not satisfied that the company has complied with the requirements of the said notice, he may, by a further notice in writing served by registered post on the company, revoke the certificate with effect from such date as may be specified in the said further notice. | ||
(6) Subject to subsection (7), the Minister shall not certify, under subsection (2), that a trading operation is a relevant trading operation unless— | ||
(a) it is carried on within the Area, | ||
(b) the Minister is satisfied that it will contribute to the development of the Area as an International Financial Services Centre, and | ||
(c) it falls within one or more of the following classes of trading operations— | ||
(i) the provision for persons not ordinarily resident in the State of services, in relation to transactions in foreign currencies, which are of a type normally provided by a bank in the ordinary course of its trade, | ||
(ii) the carrying on on behalf of persons not ordinarily resident in the State of international financial activities including, in particular,— | ||
(I) global money-management, | ||
(II) international dealings in foreign currencies and in futures, options and similar financial assets which are denominated in foreign currencies, | ||
(III) dealings in bonds, equities and similar instruments which are denominated in foreign currencies, and | ||
(IV) insurance and related activities, | ||
(iii) the provision for persons not ordinarily resident in the State of services of, or facilities for, processing, control, accounting, communication, clearing, settlement or information storage in relation to financial activities, | ||
(iv) the development or supply of computer software for use in the provision of services or facilities of a type referred to in subparagraph (iii) or for the reprocessing, analysing or similar treatment of information in relation to financial activities, or | ||
(v) trading operations which are similar to, or ancillary to, any of those operations described in the foregoing provisions of this section in regard to which the Minister is of the opinion that they contribute to the use of the Area as an International Financial Services Centre: | ||
Provided that the references in this subsection to any service or facility provided for, or any activity carried on on behalf of, a person not ordinarily resident in the State shall not include any such service or facility provided for, or any activity carried on on behalf of, the whole or any part of a trade carried on by that person in the State. | ||
(7) Where the Minister would have certified a trading operation under subsection (2) but for the fact that the condition specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (6) was not satisfied as respects that trading operation, he may, notwithstanding that that condition is not satisfied, certify the said trading operation under subsection (2) if he is satisfied that— | ||
(a) the trading operation is not carried on within the Area due to circumstances outside the control of the company carrying on the trading operation, | ||
(b) the said company intends to carry on, and will commence to carry on, the trading operation within the Area within such period of time as the Minister may specify under subsection (3) as a condition subject to which he gives the certificate under subsection (2) in respect of the trading operation, and | ||
(c) throughout the period, following the giving of the certificate, during which the trading operation will be carried on outside the Area, it will be carried on in premises which the company carrying on the trading operation is entitled to occupy under a lease or similar agreement, entered into on an arm's length basis with a person who would not be treated as connected with the company for the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts, and the period of occupancy of the premises to which the company is entitled under the lease or similar agreement, or to which it would be entitled if it exercised any rights conferred by that lease or similar agreement, is not greater than the period which the Minister considers sufficient to permit the company to carry on the trading operation prior to it commencing to carry it on in the Area. | ||
(8) In the case of a qualified company carrying on relevant trading operations, the following provisions shall apply for the purpose of relief under this Chapter— | ||
(a) the relevant trading operations shall be regarded as the manufacture within the State of goods, and | ||
(b) any amount receivable in payment for anything sold, or any services rendered, in the course of the relevant trading operations shall be regarded as an amount receivable from the sale of goods. | ||
(9) The inspector may by notice in writing require a company claiming relief from tax by virtue of this section to furnish him with such information or particulars as may be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to this section, and section 41 (2) shall have effect as if the matters of which proof is required thereby included the information or particulars specified in a notice under this section.”. |