Finance Act, 1995
|
Excise duty on motor fuel substitutes. |
116.—(1) In this section— | |
“additive” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 21 of the Regulations of 1992; | ||
“biofuel” includes products manufactured or produced from oil seeds, cereals or other plant material as fuel for engines or motors; | ||
“the Commissioners” means the Revenue Commissioners; | ||
“the Directive” means Council Directive No. 92/81/EEC of 19 October, 19921 as amended by Council Directive No. 94/74/EC of 22 December, 19942 ; | ||
“the duty” means the duty of excise imposed by subsection (2); | ||
“hydrocarbon oil” has the meaning assigned to it by section 21 (15) of the Finance Act, 1935 ; | ||
“the Minister” means the Minister for Finance; | ||
“motor” means any device that converts hydrocarbon oil, gaseous hydrocarbons in liquid form or a substitute motor fuel into mechanical energy to produce motion, and includes a motor vehicle and a stationary engine; | ||
“motor vehicle” has the meaning assigned to it by section 21 (15) of the Finance Act, 1935 ; | ||
“officer” means an officer of the Commissioners; | ||
“the Order of 1975” means the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 ( S.I. No. 307 of 1975 ); | ||
“the Regulations of 1992” means the European Communities (Customs and Excise) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 394 of 1992 ); | ||
“standard tank”, in relation to a motor vehicle, has the meaning assigned to it by Article 8a of the Directive and includes special containers within the meaning of the said Article; | ||
“substitute motor fuel” means any product, including biofuel, in liquid form, manufactured, produced, intended for use or used as fuel for a motor but does not include an additive, hydrocarbon oil or gaseous hydrocarbons in liquid form. | ||
(2) In addition to any other duty which may be chargeable, there shall be charged, levied and paid on substitute motor fuel manufactured or produced in the State or imported into the State a duty of excise at the rate of £235.49 per 1,000 litres. | ||
(3) The Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, remit the duty on substitute motor fuel which is shown to their satisfaction to be present, at the time of importation into the State, in the standard tank of a motor vehicle. | ||
(4) (a) Whenever the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, is satisfied that any biofuel chargeable or charged with the duty or the duty of excise imposed by Regulation 23 (1) of the Regulations of 1992 is essential to a project undertaken in the State which is designed to manufacture or produce biofuel or to test the technical viability of biofuel for use as motor fuel and is required by a person for use in the project, and the Minister, after such consultation, so thinks proper, the Commissioners may, subject to compliance by the person with such (if any) conditions as the Commissioners may think fit to impose, remit or repay the duty or the said duty of excise chargeable or charged on the fuel. | ||
(b) A person seeking the relief provided for in paragraph (a) shall— | ||
(i) make an application in writing in that behalf to the Minister on or before the 31st day of December, 1998, | ||
(ii) furnish to the Minister such information as he may reasonably require, and | ||
(iii) show to the satisfaction of the Minister that there is available to the person equipment that is adequate for the manufacture or production of biofuel or for the carrying on of such production or manufacture or the carrying out of the test referred to in paragraph (a) and (if appropriate) that he or she is capable of disseminating the results of the test. | ||
(c) (i) The remission or repayment of duty provided for in paragraph (a) may be limited as to time and quantity. | ||
(ii) Where it is so limited, the time or quantity, concerned or both may be extended or increased by the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, so as to apply for such period or periods or in respect of such quantity or quantities as the Minister for Finance thinks proper. | ||
(d) (i) The Minister may, in any particular case, terminate the reliefs provided for by paragraph (a) or paragraph (c) (ii) if it appears to him that any condition subject to which the relief provided for in paragraph (a) was granted has not been or is not being complied with. | ||
(ii) The Commissioners may transmit to the Minister such information as appears to them to be necessary or such information as may be required of them by the Minister for the purpose of subparagraph (i). | ||
(5) In the provisions of— | ||
(a) paragraph 12 (5) of the Order of 1975, | ||
(b) paragraph 12 (11) of the Order of 1975, and | ||
(c) paragraphs (a) (i) and (b) of Regulation 24 (1) of the Regulations of 1992, | ||
references to hydrocarbon oil chargeable with the duty of excise imposed by paragraph 12 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be construed as including references to substitute motor fuel on which duty is charged and references to the duty of excise imposed by the said paragraph 12 (1) shall be construed as including references to the duty. | ||
(6) Whenever, in relation to circumstances other than those specified in subsections (3) and (4) and in the provisions referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (5), the Minister for Finance so thinks proper, the Commissioners may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, remit or repay the duty. | ||
(7) A rebate of the amount of the duty less an amount calculated at the rate of £37.30 per 1,000 litres shall be allowed on substitute motor fuel on which the duty has been paid and which is shown, to the satisfaction of the Commissioners, to be intended for use for a purpose other than combustion in the engine of a motor vehicle. | ||
(8) (a) A person shall not use for combustion in the engine of a motor vehicle or keep in a tank or other container connected to the engine of a motor vehicle any substitute motor fuel on which the duty has not been paid or on which a rebate of the duty under subsection (7) has been allowed. | ||
(b) An officer of the Commissioners or member of the Garda Síochána may examine and take samples of any substitute motor fuel kept in any tank or other container connected to the engine of a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to use substitute motor fuel for combustion in the engine thereof and may require the owner of the vehicle, the person who for the time being stands registered as the owner of the vehicle in the register established under section 131 of the Finance Act, 1992 , or the Roads Act, 1920 , and the person in charge of the vehicle to furnish them with evidence of payment of the duty on any substitute motor fuel in any such tank or other container and such other information as he or she may reasonably require for the purposes of his or her functions under this section; and those persons shall give to the officer or member all such evidence and other information as is in their possession or procurement. | ||
(c) For the purposes of exercising the powers conferred by paragraph (b), an officer of the Commissioners or a member of the Garda Síochána may, if he or she has reasonable grounds to suspect that a motor vehicle in respect of which an offence under this subsection is being committed is kept at any premises, enter and inspect the premises, other than a dwelling, at any time between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on any day and bring onto the premises any motor vehicle being used by him or her in the course of his or her duties. | ||
(d) In any proceedings against a person for contravening the provisions of paragraph (a), it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the duty has not been paid on the substitute motor fuel concerned or that the rebate of duty under subsection (7) has been allowed on that fuel as the case may be. | ||
(9) The Commissioners may, if they so think fit, allow any substitute motor fuel which is liable to the duty to be warehoused without payment of the duty, and may, if and in so far as they so think proper, remit the duty on any deficiency arising in goods so warehoused if they are satisfied that no part of such deficiency was caused by illegal or improper means. | ||
(10) (a) A person shall not manufacture, produce, import (other than in the standard tank of a motor vehicle), sell or deal in any substitute motor fuel unless authorised to do so under paragraph (b). | ||
(b) The Commissioners may, on application to them in writing in that behalf and on furnishing them with such information as they may reasonably require, grant to the person concerned an authorisation in writing for the purposes of paragraph (a). | ||
(c) An authorisation under paragraph (b) shall be subject to such conditions, if any, as the Commissioners may specify in the authorisation and any such conditions shall be complied with by the person concerned. | ||
(d) An authorisation under this subsection may make different provisions for persons, premises or substitute motor fuel of different classes or descriptions, for different circumstances and for different cases. | ||
(e) The Commissioners may withdraw any authorisation granted under this subsection if it appears to them that any condition specified in the authorisation has not been or is not being complied with. | ||
(11) The Commissioners may make regulations for giving effect to the provisions of this section and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, regulations— | ||
(a) in relation to the manufacture, production, importation, sale, delivery, storage, warehousing and use of substitute motor fuel; | ||
(b) requiring a person who manufactures, produces, imports, stores, sells or uses substitute motor fuel to keep in such manner as may be prescribed by them, and to preserve for a specified period, any books, documents, accounts or other records (including records in a machine readable form) relating to the manufacture, production, importation, purchase, receipt, use, sale or disposal by the person of such substitute motor fuel and to allow any officer of the Commissioners to inspect and take copies of, or of extracts from, such books, documents, accounts and other records (including, in the case of records in a machine readable form, copies in a readable form); | ||
(c) in relation to the obtaining by the Commissioners of such information as they may reasonably require for the purposes of their functions under this section— | ||
(i) from manufacturers and producers of and dealers in substitute motor fuel, in relation to the manufacture, production, importation, storage, supply and use thereof, and | ||
(ii) from owners of or persons for the time being in charge of motor vehicles constructed or adapted for the use of substitute motor fuel for combustion in the engine thereof in relation to such use; | ||
and | ||
(d) providing for the securing, paying, collecting, remitting and repaying the duty. | ||
(12) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (8) or paragraph (a) or (c) of subsection (10) or any regulation under subsection (11) or who resists, obstructs or impedes an officer of the Commissioners or a member of the Garda Síochána in the exercise of any power conferred by or under this section shall, without prejudice to any other penalty to which he or she may be liable, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty, under the law relating to customs or the law relating to excise (as the case may be), of £1,000 and the substitute motor fuel in respect of which the offence was committed shall be liable to forfeiture and, in the case of a contravention of the provisions of subsection (8) (a), if it is a second or subsequent offence by the person under this subsection, the motor vehicle concerned shall be liable to forfeiture. | ||
(13) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), the provisions of the Customs Acts and of any instrument relating to duties of customs made under statute shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to the duty on substitute motor fuel imported into the State as they apply in relation to duties of customs. | ||
(b) Where, in relation to the duty, there is a provision in this section corresponding to a provision of the Customs Acts or of any instrument relating to duties of customs made under statute, the latter provision shall not apply in relation to the duty. | ||
(14) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), the provisions of the Statutes which relate to the duties of excise and the management thereof and of any instrument relating to the duties of excise made under statute shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to the duty on substitute motor fuel manufactured or produced in the State as they apply to duties of excise. | ||
(b) Where, in relation to the duty, there is a provision in this section corresponding to a provision of the Statutes which relate to the duties of excise or any instrument relating to the duties of excise made under statute, the latter provision shall not apply in relation to the duty. | ||
(15) This section shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1996. | ||