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Finance Act, 2002

Amendment of Chapter 4 (revenue powers) of Part 38 of Principal Act.

132.—Chapter 4 of Part 38 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 901 by inserting the following after subsection (3):

“(4) Where in compliance with an order made under subsection (2), a person makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, the person shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(5) Where in compliance with an order made under subsection (2), a person makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by the authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.”,

(b) in section 902A by inserting the following after subsection (6):

“(6A) Where in compliance with an order made under subsection (4), a person makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, the person shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(6B) Where in compliance with an order made under subsection (4), a person makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by the authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.”,

(c) by inserting the following after section 904H:

“Power of inspection: returns and collection of dividend withholding tax.

9041.—(1) In this section—

‘accountable person’ means—

(a) a company resident in the State which makes, and

(b) an authorised withholding agent who is treated under section 172H as making,

a relevant distribution;

‘authorised withholding agent’, ‘dividend withholding tax’, and ‘relevant distribution’ have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them by section 172A;

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

‘records’ means all records which relate to compliance by an accountable person with obligations under Chapter 8A of Part 6 including all declarations (and accompanying certificates) and notifications which are made, or, as the case may be, given to an accountable person in accordance with that Chapter of that Part and Schedule 2A.

(2) An authorised officer, having regard to Chapter 8A of Part 6, may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of an accountable person for the purposes of auditing a return made by the accountable person under section 172K.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the authorised officer may—

(a) examine the procedures put in place by the accountable person for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the accountable person with its obligations under Chapter 8A of Part 6, and

(b) check all, or a sample of or a class of, the records in the power, possession or procurement of the accountable person to determine whether—

(i) the procedures referred to in paragraph (a) have been observed in practice and whether they are adequate, and

(ii) there is information in the accountable person's possession which can reasonably be taken to indicate that the information contained in one or more of the records is or may be incorrect.

(4) An authorised officer may require an accountable person or an employee of the accountable person to produce records and to furnish information, explanations and particulars and to give all assistance which the authorised officer reasonably requires for the purposes of his or her audit and examination under subsections (2) and (3).

(5) An authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the records made available to him or her or require that copies of such records be made available to him or her, in exercising or performing his or her powers or duties under this section.

(6) An employee of an accountable person who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer's powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of €1,265.

(7) An accountable person who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer's powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of €19,045 and if that failure continues a further penalty of €2,535 for each day on which the failure continues.”,

(d) in section 905(1) by substituting the following for the definition of “records”:

“‘records’ means any document or any other written or printed material in any form, and includes any information stored, maintained or preserved by means of any mechanical or electronic device, whether or not stored, maintained or preserved in a legible form—

(i) which relates to a business carried on by a person, or

(ii) which a person is obliged by any provision relating to tax to keep, retain, issue or produce for inspection or which may be inspected under any provision relating to tax;”,

(e) in section 907 by inserting the following after subsection (7):

“(7A) Where in compliance with the requirements of a notice served under subsection (7), a financial institution makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, the financial institution shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(7B) Where in compliance with the requirements of a notice served under subsection (7), a financial institution makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by the authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.”,

(f) in section 908 by inserting the following after subsection (6):

“(6A) Where in compliance with an order made under subsection (5), a financial institution makes available for inspection by an authorised officer, books, records or other documents, the financial institution shall afford the authorised officer reasonable assistance, including information, explanations and particulars, in relation to the use of all the electronic or other automatic means, if any, by which the books, records or other documents, in so far as they are in a non-legible form, are capable of being reproduced in a legible form, and any data equipment or any associated apparatus or material.

(6B) Where in compliance with an order made under subsection (5), a financial institution makes books, records or other documents available for inspection by the authorised officer, the authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the books, records or other documents.”,

and

(g) in section 908A—

(i) in subsection (1)—

(I) by inserting the following before the definition of “authorised officer”:

“‘the Acts’ means the Waiver of Certain Tax, Interest and Penalties Act, 1993 , together with the meaning assigned to it by section 1078(1) and;”,

and

(II) by substituting the following for the definition of “offence”:

“‘offence’ means an offence falling within any provision of the Acts;”,

and

(ii) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) If, on application made by an authorised officer, with the consent in writing of a Revenue Commissioner, a judge is satisfied, on information given on oath by the authorised officer, that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting—

(a) that an offence, which would result (or but for its detection would have resulted) in serious prejudice to the proper assessment and collection of tax, is being, has been, or is or was about to be, committed (having regard to the amount of a liability in relation to any person which might be, or might have been, evaded but for the detection of the relevant facts), and

(b) that there is material in possession of a financial institution specified in the application which is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the investigation of the relevant facts,

the judge may make an order authorising the authorised officer to inspect and take copies of any entries in the books, records or other documents of the financial institution for the purposes of investigation of the offence.”.