|
|
Amendment of section 470 (relief for insurance against expenses of illness) of Principal Act.
|
19.—(1) As respects the year of assessment 2001 and subsequent years of assessment, section 470 of the Principal Act is amended—
|
|
| |
(a) in subsection (1)—
|
|
| |
(i) by the substitution of the following for the definition of “relevant contract”:
|
|
| |
“‘relevant contract’, in relation to an individual, means a contract of insurance which provides specifically, whether in conjunction with other benefits or not, for the reimbursement or discharge, in whole or in part, of actual health expenses (within the meaning of section 469) of—
|
|
| |
(a) the individual,
|
|
| |
(b) the spouse of the individual, or
|
|
| |
(c) the children or other dependants of the individual or of the spouse of the individual;”,
|
|
| |
and
|
|
| |
(ii) by the insertion after the definition of “relevant contract” of the following:
|
|
| |
“‘relievable amount’, in relation to a payment to an authorised insurer under a relevant contract, means—
|
|
| |
(a) where the payment covers no benefits other than such reimbursement or discharge as is referred to in the definition of ‘relevant contract’, an amount equal to the full amount of the payment, or
|
|
| |
(b) where the payment covers benefits other than such reimbursement or discharge as is referred to in that definition, an amount equal to so much of the payment as is referable to such reimbursement or discharge.”,
|
|
| |
(b) by the substitution of the following for subsections (2) and (3):
|
|
| |
“(2) Subject to subsection (3), where for a year of assessment—
|
|
| |
(a) an individual, or
|
|
| |
(b) if the individual is a married person assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017, the individual's spouse,
|
|
| |
has made a payment to an authorised insurer under a relevant contract, then, the income tax to be charged on the individual for the year of assessment, other than in accordance with section 16(2), shall be reduced by an amount which is the lesser of—
|
|
| |
(i) an amount equal to the appropriate percentage of the relievable amount in relation to the payment, and
|
|
| |
(ii) the amount which reduces that income tax to nil.
|
|
| |
(3) (a) Where, on or after 6 April 2001, an individual makes a payment to an authorised insurer in respect of a premium due on or after that date under a relevant contract for which relief is due under subsection (2), the individual shall be entitled to deduct and retain out of it an amount equal to the appropriate percentage, for the year of assessment in which the payment is due, of the relievable amount in relation to the payment.
|
|
| |
(b) An authorised insurer to which a payment referred to in paragraph (a) is made—
|
|
| |
(i) shall accept the amount paid after deduction in discharge of the individual's liability to the same extent as if the deduction had not been made, and
|
|
| |
(ii) may, on making a claim in accordance with regulations, recover from the Revenue Commissioners an amount equal to the amount deducted.”,
|
|
| |
and
|
|
| |
(c) by the insertion of the following after subsection (4):
|
|
| |
“(5) (a) The Revenue Commissioners shall make regulations providing generally as to administration of this section and those regulations may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, include provision—
|
|
| |
(i) that a claim under subsection (3)(b)(ii) by an authorised insurer, which has registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of making such a claim, shall—
|
|
| |
(I) be made in such form and manner,
|
|
| |
(II) be made at such time, and
|
|
| |
(III) be accompanied by such documents,
|
|
| |
as provided for in the regulations;
|
|
| |
(ii) for the making of annual information returns by authorised insurers, in such form (including electronic form) and manner as may be prescribed, and containing specified details in relation to—
|
|
| |
(I) each individual making payments to such insurers under relevant contracts in a year of assessment,
|
|
| |
(II) the total amount of premiums paid under a relevant contract by that individual in the year of assessment, and
|
|
| |
(III) the total amount deducted by that individual under subsection (3)(a);
|
|
| |
and
|
|
| |
(iii) for the furnishing of information to the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of the regulations.
|
|
| |
(b) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
|
|
| |
(6) (a) Where any amount is paid to an authorised insurer by the Revenue Commissioners as an amount recoverable by virtue of subsection (3)(b)(ii) but is an amount to which that authorised insurer is not entitled, that amount shall be repaid by the authorised insurer.
|
|
| |
(b) There shall be made such assessments, adjustments or set-offs as may be required for securing repayment of the amount referred to in paragraph (a) and the provisions of this Act relating to the assessment, collection and recovery of income tax shall, in so far as they are applicable and with necessary modification, apply in relation to the recovery of such amount.”.
|
|
| |
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, in relation to the year of assessment 2001 an individual shall be entitled to relief under section 470 of the Principal Act in respect of premiums paid to an authorised insurer under a relevant contract both in that year and in the year preceding that year of assessment.
|
|
| |
(3) Schedule 29 to the Principal Act is amended in column 1 by the insertion after “section 121” of “section 470 and Regulations under that section”.
|
