Finance Act, 1999

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Amendment of Chapter 2 (payments to subcontractors in certain industries) of Part 18 of Principal Act.

18.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended, in Chapter 2 of Part 18—

(a) in section 530(1)—

(i) by the insertion of the following definition after the definition of “forestry operations”:

“‘income tax month’ means a month beginning on the 6th day of any of the months of April to March in any year;”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following for the definition of “qualifying period”:

“‘qualifying period’ means the period of 3 years, or such shorter period as the inspector may allow, ending on the 5th day of April in the year preceding the year of assessment which is the first year of assessment of the period, in respect of which a certificate of authorisation is sought together with the period, if any, from the 6th day of April in the said first year of assessment to the date on which the application for the said certificate is received by the Revenue Commissioners;”,

and

(iii) in the definition of “relevant contract” by the substitution of the following for paragraph (c):

“(c) to furnish the contractor's own labour or the labour of others in the carrying out of relevant operations or to arrange for the labour of others to be furnished for the carrying out of such operations,”,

and

(b) in section 531—

(i) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) (a) Within 9 days from the end of an income tax month, a principal or any person who was previously a principal and who has been required to do so by notice in writing from the Revenue Commissioners, shall—

(i) make a return to the Collector-General, on the prescribed form, of the amount, if any, of tax which that person was liable under this section to deduct from payments made to uncertified sub-contractors during that income tax month, and

(ii) remit to the Collector the amount of the tax, if any, which the person was so liable to deduct.

(b) The Collector-General shall furnish the person concerned with a receipt in respect of the payment; such a receipt shall consist of whichever of the following the Collector-General considers appropriate, namely—

(i) a separate receipt on the prescribed form in respect of each such payment, or

(ii) a receipt on the prescribed form in respect of all such payments that have been made within a period specified in the receipt.”,

(ii) by the substitution in the portion of subsection (6) that precedes paragraphs (a) to (h) of that subsection of “assessment (including estimated assessment), estimation, charge, collection and recovery of tax deductible under subsection (1)” for “assessment (including estimated assessment), charge, collection and recovery of tax deductible under subsection (1)”,

(iii) by the substitution of the following for subsection (10):

“(10) Subsection (9) shall apply to tax recoverable from a person by virtue of a notice issued under the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1971 ( S.I. No. 1 of 1971 ), as if the tax were tax which the person was liable under subsection (3A) to remit—

(i) where the notice relates to an income tax month or months, for the respective income tax month or months referred to in the notice, and

(ii) where the notice relates to a year, the last income tax month of the year to which the notice relates.”,

(iv) in paragraph (a) of subsection (11)—

(I) by the deletion of “and” after subparagraph (iv),

(II) by the substitution, in subparagraph (v), for “qualifying period.” of “qualifying period, and”, and

(III) by the addition of the following subparagraph after the subparagraph (v):

“(vi) in the case of a person who was resident outside the State at some time during the qualifying period, that the person has throughout the qualifying period complied with all the obligations comparable to those mentioned in subparagraph (iv) imposed by the laws of the country in which that person was resident at any time during the qualifying period.”,

(v) by the substitution of the following for subsection (12):

“(12) (a) Where a subcontractor to whom a certificate of authorisation has been issued produces it to a principal, the principal shall apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a card (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘relevant payments card’) in respect of the subcontractor.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), where—

(i) a subcontractor has notified the Revenue Commissioners of details of the bank account, held in the State in the name of the subcontractor or in the case of a subcontractor who is not resident in the State, held either in the State or in the State in which the subcontractor is resident, into which payments in respect of relevant contracts are to be made (hereafter in this subsection referred to as ‘the nominated bank account’), and

(ii) the principal undertakes to make all payments to the subcontractor in question directly to the nominated bank account,

the principal may apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a relevant payments card where the subcontractor has provided details of the certificate of authorisation to the principal together with details of the nominated bank account into which payments are to be made by the principal.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), a principal may apply for a relevant payments card in respect of a subcontractor even though the subcontractor has not produced or provided details of a certificate of authorisation for the year to which the relevant payments card relates, where—

(i) the principal has been issued with a relevant payments card in relation to that subcontractor for the immediately preceding year, and

(ii) the relevant contract between the principal and the subcontractor in relation to which the relevant payments card is required is ongoing at the end of that year.

(d) Where on such application the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that a relevant payments card in respect of the subcontractor ought to be issued to the principal, they shall issue such a card to the principal who, on receiving the card shall, subject to subsection (13), be entitled during the income tax year (or the unexpired portion of the income tax year) to which the relevant payments card relates to make payment without deduction of tax to the subcontractor named on the card but, in the case of an application to which paragraph (b) applies or an application to which paragraph (c) applies where the relevant payments card mentioned in subparagraph (i) of that paragraph was issued following an application made under and in accordance with paragraph (b), any such payments shall be made by the principal directly to the nominated bank account.”,

(vi) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (17):

“(17A) Any person who is aggrieved by the cancellation of a certificate of authorisation by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (13) may, by notice in writing to that effect given to the Revenue Commissioners within 30 days from the date of such cancellation, appeal against such cancellation to the Appeal Commissioners but, pending the decision of the Appeal Commissioners in the matter, unless the Revenue Commissioners, on application to them, reinstate the certificate of authorisation pending the making of that decision, the certificate shall remain cancelled.”,

and

(vii) by the insertion in subsection (18) of “or subsection (17A)” after “subsection (17)”.

(2)  (a)  Paragraphs (a) and (b), other than subparagraph (v) of paragraph (b), of subsection (1) shall apply as respects the year 1999-2000 and subsequent years of assessment.

(b)  Subparagraph (v) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall apply as respects applications for relevant payments cards made on or after the 6th day of October, 1999.