Finance Act, 2001

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“Use of electronic data processing.

887.—(1) In this section—

‘the Acts’ means—

(a) the Tax Acts,

(b) the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(c) the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(d) the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act, and

(e) Part VI of the Finance Act, 1983 ,

and any instrument made under any of these enactments;

‘record’ means any document which a person is obliged by the Acts to keep, to issue or to produce for inspection, and any other written or printed material.

(2) For the purposes of the Acts, but subject to section 17 of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 , a record may be stored, maintained, transmitted, reproduced or communicated, as the case may be, by any electronic, photographic or other process that—

(a) provides a reliable assurance as to the integrity of the record from the time when it was first generated in its final form by such electronic, photographic or other process,

(b) permits the record to be displayed in intelligible form and produced in an intelligible printed format,

(c) permits the record to be readily accessible for subsequent reference in accordance with paragraph (b), and

(d) conforms to the information technology and procedural requirements drawn up and published by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (3).

(3) The Revenue Commissioners shall from time to time draw up and publish in Iris Oifigiúil the information technology and procedural requirements to which any electronic, photographic or other process used by a person for the storage, maintenance, transmission, reproduction and communication of any record shall conform.

(4) The authority conferred on the Revenue Commissioners by this section to draw up and publish requirements shall be construed as including the authority exercisable in a like manner to revoke and replace or to amend any such requirements.

(5) (a) Every person who preserves records by any electronic, photographic or other process, when required to do so by a notice in writing from the Revenue Commissioners, shall, within such period as is specified in the notice, not being less than 21 days from the date of service of the notice, supply to the Revenue Commissioners full particulars relating to the process used by that person, including full particulars, relating to software (within the meaning of section 912).

(b) A person who fails or refuses to comply with a notice served on the person under paragraph (a) shall be liable to a penalty of £1,000.

(6) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), where records are kept by a person (being a person who is obliged by the Acts to keep such records) by any electronic, photographic or other process which does not conform with the requirements referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (2), then the person shall be deemed to have failed to comply with that obligation and that person shall be liable to the same penalties as the person would be liable to if the person had failed to comply with any obligation under the Acts in relation to the keeping of records.

(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply where the person referred to in that paragraph complies with any obligation under the Acts in relation to the keeping of records other than in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2).

(7) Where records are preserved by any electronic, photographic or other process, information contained in a document produced by any such process shall, subject to the rules of court, be admissible in evidence in any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, to the same extent as the records themselves.

(8) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to discharge any function authorised by this section to be discharged by the Revenue Commissioners.”,

“Returns in relation to certain offshore products.

896.—(1) In this section—

‘appropriate inspector’, in relation to an intermediary, means—

(a) the inspector who has last given notice in writing to the intermediary, that he or she is the inspector to whom the intermediary is required to deliver the return specified in subsection (2),

(b) where there is no such inspector as is referred to in paragraph (a), the inspector to whom it is customary for the intermediary to deliver a return or statement of income or profits, or

(c) where there is no such inspector as is referred to in paragraphs (a) or (b), the inspector of returns specified in section 950;

‘chargeable period’ has the same meaning as in section 321(2);

‘foreign life policy’ means a policy of assurance on the life of a person commenced—

(a) by a branch or agency (carrying on business in a State other than the State) of an assurance company, or

(b) by an assurance company (carrying on business in a State other than the State) other than by its branch or agency carrying on business in the State;

‘intermediary’ means any person carrying on in the State a trade or business in the course of operations of which that person provides relevant facilities;

‘material interest’ shall be construed in accordance with section 743(2);

‘offshore fund’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 743(1);

‘offshore product’ means—

(a) a material interest in an offshore fund, or

(b) a foreign life policy;

‘relevant facilities’ means—

(a) the marketing in the State of offshore products,

(b) the acting in the State as an intermediary in relation to the acquisition or disposal, in whole or in part, of offshore products by or on behalf of persons who are resident or ordinarily resident in the State, or

(c) the provision in the State of facilities for the making of payments from an offshore product to persons who are entitled to the offshore product, whether on the disposal, in whole or in part of the offshore product, or otherwise;

‘specified return date for the chargeable period’, in relation to a chargeable period, has the meaning assigned to it by section 895(1);

‘tax reference number’ in relation to a person has the meaning assigned to it by section 885 in relation to a specified person within the meaning of that section.

(2) Every intermediary shall as respects a chargeable period prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period a return specifying in respect of every person in respect of whom that intermediary has acted in the chargeable period as an intermediary—

(a) the full name and permanent address of the person,

(b) the person's tax reference number,

(c) a description of the relevant facilities provided, including a description of the offshore product concerned and the name and address of the person who provided the offshore product, and

(d) details of all payments made (directly or indirectly) by or to the person in respect of the offshore product.

(3) Where an intermediary fails—

(a) for any chargeable period to make a return required to be made by the intermediary in accordance with subsection (2),

(b) to include in such a return for a chargeable period details of any person to whom the intermediary provided relevant facilities in the chargeable period, or

(c) to take reasonable care to confirm the details of the kind referred to in subsection (2) furnished to the intermediary by a person to whom the intermediary has provided relevant facilities in the chargeable period,

the intermediary shall in respect of each such failure be liable to a penalty of £1,500.

(4) Where a person fails—

(a) to furnish details of the kind referred to in subsection (2) to an intermediary who has provided the person with relevant facilities, or

(b) knowingly or wilfully furnishes that intermediary with incorrect details of that kind,

the person shall be liable to a penalty of £1,500.

(5) Where in any chargeable period a person acquires an offshore product to which section 730I or 747C (inserted by the Finance Act, 2001) does not relate, the person shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 950 or 1084, be deemed for that chargeable period to be a chargeable person for the purposes of sections 951 and 1084, and the return of income to be delivered by the person for that chargeable period shall include the following particulars—

(a) the name and address of the offshore fund or, as the case may be, the person who commenced the life policy,

(b) a description, including the cost to the person, of the material interest acquired or, as the case may be, a description of the terms of the life policy including premiums payable, and

(c) the name and address of the person through whom the offshore product was acquired.”,