Finance Act, 2000

Finance Act, 2000 Skip to content Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Gaeilge Léim go dtí an t-ábhar Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach English Gaeilge English Produced by the Office of the Attorney General Táirgthe ag Oifig an Ard-Aighne Home Legislation Acts of the Oireachtas Statutory Instruments Pre-1922 Legislation Constitution External Resources Bills (Houses of the Oireachtas) Iris Oifigiúil / Official Gazette Revised Acts (LRC) Classified List of Legislation (LRC) Translations (acts.ie) Translations (Houses of the Oireachtas) Government Publications for Sale EU Law (EUR-Lex) FAQ Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Search Baile Reachtaíocht Achtanna an Oireachtais Ionstraimí Reachtúla Reachtaíocht Réamh-1922 Bunreacht Acmhainní Seachtracha Billí (Tithe an Oireachtais) Iris Oifigiúil Achtanna Athbhreithnithe (CAD) (An Coimisiún um Athchóiriú an Dlí) Liosta Rangaithe Reachtaíochta Aistriúcháin (achtanna.ie) Aistriúcháin (Tithe an Oireachtais) Foilseacháin Rialtais ar Díol Dlí AE (EUR-Lex) CCanna (Ceisteanna Coitianta) Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach Cuardach TitleTeideal Year(s) or rangeBliain nó blianta nó raon TypeCineál All Legislation Acts Statutory Instruments Advanced SearchCuardach Casta HomeBaile ActsAchtanna 2000 Finance Act, 2000 Finance Act, 2000 Permanent Page URL View by SectionAmharc de réir Ailt View Full ActAmharc ar an Acht Iomlán Bill History Stair Bille Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act Tosach Feidhme, Leasuithe, IRí arna ndéanamh faoin Acht Open PDFOscail PDF Print Full ActPriontáil an tAcht Iomlán Number 3 of 2000 FINANCE ACT, 2000 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART 1

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter 1

Interpretation Section

Section 1

Interpretation (Part 1).

Chapter 2

Income Tax

Section 2

Amendment of section 188 (age exemption and associated marginal relief) of Principal Act.

Section 3

Alteration of rates of income tax.

Section 4

Amendment of section 461 (standard rated personal allowances) of Principal Act.

Section 5

Additional standard rated allowance for certain widowed persons.

Section 6

Widowed parents and other single parents: standard rated allowance.

Section 7

Special relief for widowed parent following death of spouse.

Section 8

Age allowance.

Section 9

Incapacitated children.

Section 10

Dependent relative.

Section 11

Relief for blind persons.

Section 12

Home carer's allowance.

Section 13

Amendment of section 473 (allowance for rent paid by certain tenants) of Principal Act.

Section 14

Standard rating of allowances: consequential provisions.

Section 15

Amendment of section 122 (preferential loan arrangements) of Principal Act.

Section 16

Amendment of section 126 (tax treatment of certain benefits payable under Social Welfare Acts) of Principal Act.

Section 17

Amendment of section 244 (relief for interest paid on certain home loans) of Principal Act.

Section 18

Amendment of section 202 (relief for agreed pay restructuring) of Principal Act.

Section 19

Amendment of Part 16 (income tax relief for investment in corporate trades - business expansion scheme and seed capital scheme) of Principal Act.

Section 20

Amendment of Schedule 13 (accountable persons for purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 18) to Principal Act.

Section 21

Relief for postgraduate and certain third-level fees.

Section 22

Amendment of section 767 (payment to universities and other approved bodies for research in, or teaching of, approved subjects) of Principal Act.

Section 23

Amendment of Part 30 (occupational pension schemes, retirement annuities, purchased life annuities and certain pensions) of Principal Act.

Section 24

Amendment of section 515 (excess or unauthorised shares) of Principal Act.

Section 25

Amendment of Schedule 11 (profit sharing schemes) to Principal Act.

Section 26

Amendment of Schedule 12 (employee share ownership trusts) to Principal Act.

Section 27

Rights to acquire shares or other assets.

Section 28

Amendment of Chapter 4 (interest payments by certain deposit takers) of Part 8 of Principal Act.

Section 29

Extension of section 1022 (special provisions relating to tax on wife's income) of Principal Act to spouse's income, etc.

Chapter 3

Dividend Withholding Tax

Section 30

Dividend withholding tax.

Section 31

Amendment of section 153 (distributions to certain non-residents) of Principal Act.

Section 32

Amendment of section 700 (special computational provisions) of Principal Act.

Section 33

Amendment of section 831 (implementation of Council Directive No. 90/435/EEC concerning the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States) of Principal Act.

Chapter 4

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Section 34

Amendment of section 198 (certain interest not to be chargeable) of Principal Act.

Section 35

Capital allowances for, and deduction in respect of, vehicles.

Section 36

Amendment of section 268 (meaning of “industrial building or structure”) of Principal Act.

Section 37

Amendment of section 333 (double rent allowance in respect of rent paid for certain business premises) of Principal Act.

Section 38

Amendment of section 20 (amendment of provisions relating to Custom House Docks Area) of Urban Renewal Act, 1998.

Section 39

Amendment of section 324 (double rent allowance in respect of rent paid for certain business premises) of Principal Act.

Section 40

Amendment of Part 9 (principal provisions relating to relief for capital expenditure) of Principal Act.

Section 41

Capital allowances for computer software.

Section 42

Amendment of Chapter 3 (designated areas, designated streets, enterprise areas and multi-storey car parks in certain urban areas) of Part 10 of Principal Act.

Section 43

Amendment of section 360 (interpretation (Chapter 5)) of Part 10 of Principal Act.

Section 44

Amendment of Chapter 7 (qualifying areas) of Part 10 of Principal Act.

Section 45

Amendment of Chapter 8 (qualifying rural areas) of Part 10 of Principal Act.

Section 46

Amendment of Chapter 9 (park and ride facilities and certain related developments) of Part 10 of Principal Act.

Section 47

Amendment of section 823 (deduction for income earned outside the State) of Principal Act.

Section 48

Amendment of section 481 (relief for investment in films) of Principal Act.

Section 49

Amendment of section 482 (relief for expenditure on significant buildings and gardens) of Principal Act.

Section 50

Amendment of section 485 (relief for gifts to third-level institutions) of Principal Act.

Section 51

Savings-related share option schemes.

Section 52

Reduction in tax on certain transactions in land.

Section 53

Amendment of Part 26 (life assurance companies) of Principal Act.

Section 54

Amendment of section 420 (losses, etc. which may be surrendered by means of group relief) of Principal Act.

Section 55

Amendment of section 595 (life assurance policy or deferred annuity contract entered into or acquired by a company) of Principal Act.

Section 56

Amendment of section 710 (profits of life business) of Principal Act.

Section 57

Amendment of Chapter 1 (unit trusts) of Part 27 of Principal Act.

Section 58

Investment undertakings.

Section 59

Amendment of section 172A (interpretation) of Principal Act.

Section 60

Amendment of section 659 (farming: allowance for capital expenditure on the construction of farm buildings, etc. for control of pollution) of Principal Act.

Section 61

Amendment of Part 23 (farming and market gardening) of Principal Act.

Section 62

Amendment of section 723 (special investment policies) of Principal Act.

Section 63

Amendment of section 843A (capital allowances for buildings used for certain childcare purposes) of Principal Act.

Section 64

Amendment of Part 29 (patents, scientific and certain other research, know-how and certain training) of Principal Act.

Section 65

Amendment of section 243 (allowance of charges on income) of Principal Act.

Section 66

Amendment of section 246 (interest payments by companies and to non-residents) of Principal Act.

Section 67

Amendment of section 247 (relief to companies on loans applied in acquiring interest in other companies) of Principal Act.

Section 68

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

Section 69

Amendments and repeals consequential on abolition of tax credits.

Section 70

Restrictions on the use by certain partnerships of losses, etc., and transitional arrangements concerning these restrictions.

Section 71

Amendment of Schedule 24 (relief from income tax and corporation tax by means of credit in respect of foreign tax) to Principal Act.

Section 72

Amendment of Schedule 29 to Principal Act.

Section 73

Treatment of interest in certain circumstances.

Section 74

Amendment of section 213 (trade unions) of Principal Act.

Chapter 5

Corporation Tax

Section 75

Amendment of section 21A (higher rate of corporation tax) of Principal Act.

Section 76

Reduction of corporation tax liability in respect of certain trading income.

Section 77

Amendment of section 23A (company residence) of Principal Act.

Section 78

Amendment of section 882 (particulars to be supplied by new companies) of Principal Act.

Section 79

Amendment of section 411 (surrender of relief between members of groups and consortia) of Principal Act.

Section 80

Amendment of section 446 (certain trading operations carried on in Custom House Docks Area) of Principal Act.

Section 81

Amendment of Chapter 1 (general provisions) of Part 26 of Principal Act.

Section 82

Amendment of section 110 (securitisation of assets) of Principal Act.

Section 83

Amendment of Part 14 (taxation of companies engaged in manufacturing trades, certain trading operations carried on in Shannon Airport and certain trading operations carried on in the Custom House Docks Area) of Principal Act.

Section 84

Amendment of section 220 (profits of certain bodies corporate) of Principal Act.

Chapter 6

Capital Gains Tax

Section 85

Amendment of section 598 (disposals of business or farm on “retirement”) of Principal Act.

Section 86

Amendment of section 649A (relevant disposals: rate of charge) of Principal Act.

Section 87

Amendment of section 980 (deduction from consideration on disposal of certain assets) of Principal Act.

Section 88

Amendment of section 1030 (separated spouses: transfers of assets) of Principal Act.

Chapter 7

Income Tax and Corporation Tax: Reliefs for Renewal and Improvement of Certain Towns

Section 89

Amendment of Part 10 (income tax and corporation tax: reliefs for renewal and improvement of certain urban areas, certain resort areas and certain islands) of Principal Act.

PART 2

Customs and Excise Miscellaneous

Section 90

Tobacco products.

Section 91

Hydrocarbons.

Section 92

Rates of mineral oil tax.

Section 93

Amendment of section 94 (interpretation, Chapter 1) of Finance Act, 1999.

Section 94

Amendment of paragraph 12 of Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975).

Section 95

Amendment of section 99 (passenger road services) of Finance Act, 1999.

Section 96

Hydrocarbon oil used in trains.

Section 97

Amendment of section 103 (presumptions in certain proceedings) of Finance Act, 1999.

Section 98

Amendment of section 104 (appeals to Revenue Commissioners) of Finance Act, 1995.

Section 99

Delegation of certain powers of the Revenue Commissioners.

Section 100

Amendment of section 131 (registration of vehicles by Revenue Commissioners) of Finance Act, 1992.

Section 101

Amendment of section 133 (chargeable value) of Finance Act, 1992.

Section 102

Excise duty on foreign travel.

Section 103

Excise duty on public dancing licence, occasional licence, special exemption order and authorisation to a club.

Section 104

Excise duty on registration of clubs.

Section 105

Imposition of duty on liquor licences for National Cultural Institutions.

Section 106

Tax clearance in relation to excise licences.

PART 3

Value-Added Tax

Section 107

Interpretation (Part 3).

Section 108

Amendment of section 1 (interpretation) of Principal Act.

Section 109

Amendment of section 6A (special scheme for investment gold) of Principal Act.

Section 110

Amendment of section 8 (taxable persons) of Principal Act.

Section 111

Amendment of section 11 (rates of tax) of Principal Act.

Section 112

Amendment of section 12 (deduction for tax borne or paid) of Principal Act.

Section 113

Amendment of section 12A (special provisions for tax invoiced by flat-rate farmers) of Principal Act.

Section 114

Amendment of section 12C (special scheme for agricultural machinery) of Principal Act.

Section 115

Amendment of section 17 (invoices) of Principal Act.

Section 116

Amendment of section 20 (refund of tax) of Principal Act.

Section 117

Amendment of section 22 (estimation of tax due for a taxable period) of Principal Act.

Section 118

Amendment of section 23 (assessment of tax due for any period) of Principal Act.

Section 119

Amendment of section 25 (appeals) of Principal Act.

Section 120

Amendment of section 27 (fraudulent returns, etc.) of Principal Act.

Section 121

Amendment of section 32 (regulations) of Principal Act.

Section 122

Amendment of First Schedule to Principal Act.

Section 123

Amendment of Second Schedule to Principal Act.

Section 124

Revocation (Part 3).

PART 4

Stamp Duties

Section 125

Interpretation (Part 4).

Section 126

Amendment of section 81 (relief from stamp duty in respect of transfers to young trained farmers) of Principal Act.

Section 127

Amendment of section 86 (exemption from stamp duty in respect of certain loan stock) of Principal Act.

Section 128

Amendment of section 87 (stock borrowing) of Principal Act.

Section 129

Stock repo.

Section 130

Reorganisation of undertakings for collective investment.

Section 131

Amendment of section 97 (certain transfers following the dissolution of a marriage) of Principal Act.

Section 132

Relief in respect of certain payments of stamp duty.

Section 133

Amendment of Schedule 1 to Principal Act.

PART 5

Residential Property Tax

Section 134

Amendment of section 100 (market value exemption limit) of Finance Act, 1983.

Section 135

Amendment of section 110A (clearance on sale of certain residential property) of Finance Act, 1983.

PART 6

Capital Acquisitions Tax

Section 136

Interpretation (Part 6).

Section 137

Amendment of section 2 (interpretation) of Principal Act.

Section 138

Amendment of section 6 (taxable gift) of Principal Act.

Section 139

Amendment of section 12 (taxable inheritance) of Principal Act.

Section 140

Amendment of section 19 (value of agricultural property) of Principal Act.

Section 141

Amendment of section 36 (delivery of returns) of Principal Act.

Section 142

Amendment of section 48 (receipts and certificates) of Principal Act.

Section 143

Amendment of section 54 (provisions relating to charities, etc.) of Principal Act.

Section 144

Amendment of section 55 (exemption of certain objects) of Principal Act.

Section 145

Amendment of Second Schedule to Principal Act.

Section 146

Amendment of section 39 (extension of section 55 (exemption of certain objects) of Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976) of Finance Act, 1978.

Section 147

Amendment of section 109 (interpretation) of Finance Act, 1993.

Section 148

Amendment of Chapter 1 (business relief) of Part VI of Finance Act, 1994.

Section 149

Amendment of section 142 (exemption of certain transfers from capital acquisitions tax following the dissolution of a marriage) of Finance Act, 1997.

Section 150

Amendment of section 143 (abatement and postponement of probate tax on certain property) of Finance Act, 1997.

Section 151

Exemption relating to certain dwellings.

Section 152

Amendment of section 58 (exemption of certain receipts) of Principal Act.

Section 153

Repeals etc.

PART 7

Miscellaneous

Section 154

Interpretation (Part 7).

Section 155

Capital Services Redemption Account.

Section 156

Amendment of section 138 (holding and investment of moneys of Post Office Savings Bank Fund, etc.) of Finance Act, 1993.

Section 157

Deposit accounts for Exchequer moneys.

Section 158

Amendment of section 63 of Central Bank Act, 1997.

Section 159

Payment to Temporary Holding Fund for Superannuation Liabilities.

Section 160

Amendment of section 824 (appeals) of Principal Act.

Section 161

Amendment of section 1003 (payment of tax by means of donation of heritage items) of Principal Act.

Section 162

Amendment of section 1086 (publication of names of tax defaulters) of Principal Act.

Section 163

Amendment of section 1094 (tax clearance in relation to certain licences) of Principal Act.

Section 164

Amendment of Chapter 5 (miscellaneous provisions) of Part 42 (collection and recovery) of Principal Act.

Section 165

Care and management of taxes and duties.

Section 166

Short title, construction and commencement.

SCHEDULE 1 Amendments consequential on the introduction of standard rated allowances SCHEDULE 2 Amendments and Repeals Consequential on Abolition of Tax Credits SCHEDULE 3 Rates of Excise Duty on Tobacco Products Acts Referred to Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 1976, No. 8 Central Bank Act, 1971 1971, No. 4 Central Bank Act, 1989 1989, No. 16 Central Bank Act, 1997 1997, No. 8 Companies Act, 1963 1963, No. 33 Companies Act, 1990 1990, No. 33 Companies Acts, 1963 to 1999 Corporation Tax Act, 1976 1976, No. 7 Credit Union Act, 1997 1997, No. 15 Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act, 1997 1997, No. 7 Dublin Institute of Technology Act, 1992 1992, No. 15 European Communities (Amendment) Act, 1993 1993, No. 25 Family Law Act, 1995 1995, No. 26 Finance Act, 1935 1935, No. 28 Finance Act, 1950 1950, No. 18 Finance Act, 1974 1974, No. 27 Finance Act, 1978 1978, No. 21 Finance Act, 1979 1979, No. 11 Finance Act, 1980 1980, No. 14 Finance Act, 1982 1982, No. 14 Finance Act, 1983 1983, No. 15 Finance Act, 1984 1984, No. 9 Finance Act, 1986 1986, No. 13 Finance Act, 1989 1989, No. 10 Finance Act, 1990 1990, No. 10 Finance Act, 1991 1991, No. 13 Finance Act, 1992 1992, No. 9 Finance (No. 2) Act, 1992 1992, No. 28 Finance Act, 1993 1993, No. 13 Finance Act, 1994 1994, No. 13 Finance Act, 1995 1995, No. 8 Finance Act, 1996 1996, No. 9 Finance Act, 1997 1997, No. 22 Finance Act, 1998 1998, No. 3 Finance Act, 1999 1999, No. 2 Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 1952, No. 24 Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 1977, No. 32 Fisheries Act, 1980 1980, No. 1 Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990 1990, No. 23 Housing Acts, 1966 to 1998 Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 1979, No. 27 Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992 1992, No. 18 Income Tax Act, 1967 1967, No. 6 Industrial Development Act, 1995 1995, No. 28 Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 1995, No. 11 Investment Limited Partnerships Act, 1994 1994, No. 24 Local Authorities (Higher Education) Grants Acts, 1968 to 1992 Local Government Act, 1991 1991, No. 11 Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 1963, No. 28 Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts, 1963 to 1999 National Building Agency Limited Act, 1963 1963, No. 32 National Cultural Institutions Act, 1997 1997, No. 11 National Treasury Management Agency Act, 1990 1990, No. 18 Referendum Act, 1998 1998, No. 1 Regional Technical Colleges Act, 1992 1992, No. 16 Registration of Clubs (Ireland) Act, 1904 4 Edw. 7, c.9 Registration of Business Names Act, 1963 1963, No. 30 Road Transport Act, 1932 1932, No. 2 Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993

1993, No. 27 Stamp Duties Consolidation Act, 1999 1999, No. 31 Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 1997, No. 39 Temporary Holding Fund for Superannuation Liabilities Act, 1999 1999, No. 33 Unit Trusts Act, 1990 1990, No. 37 Urban Renewal Act, 1998 1998, No. 27 Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 1972, No. 22 Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 1978 1978, No. 34 Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1999 Number 3 of 2000 FINANCE ACT, 2000 AN ACT TO CHARGE AND IMPOSE CERTAIN DUTIES OF CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE (INCLUDING EXCISE), TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO CUSTOMS AND INLAND REVENUE (INCLUDING EXCISE) AND TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISIONS IN CONNECTION WITH FINANCE. [23rd March, 2000] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

PART 1

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter 1

Interpretation Interpretation (Part1).

1.—In this Part “Principal Act” means the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 .

Chapter 2

Income Tax Amendment of section 188 (age exemption and associated marginal relief) of Principal Act.

2.—Section 188 of the Principal Act is amended, as respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution of the following for subsection (2): “(2) In this section, ‘the specified amount’ means, subject to section 187(2)— (a) in the case of an individual referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘specified amount’ in section 461(1) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ), £15,000, and (b) in any other case, £7,500.”.

Alteration of rates of income tax.

3.—As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended as follows— (a) in section 15, by the substitution of the following for subsection (2) and the Table to the section: “(2) Where a person who is charged to income tax for any year of assessment is an individual (other than an individual acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity), such individual shall, notwithstanding anything in the Income Tax Acts but subject to section 16(2), be charged to tax on such individual's taxable income— (a) in a case in which such individual is assessed to tax otherwise than in accordance with section 1017 and is not an individual referred to in paragraph (b), at the rates specified in Part 1 of the Table to this section, or (b) in a case in which the individual is assessed to tax otherwise than in accordance with section 1017 and is entitled to a reduction of tax provided for in section 462, at the rates specified in Part 2 of the Table to this section, or (c) subject to subsections (3) and (5), in a case in which such individual is assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017, at the rates specified in Part 3 of the Table to this section, and the rates in each Part of that Table shall be known respectively by the description specified in column (3) in each such Part opposite the mention of the rate or rates, as the case may be, in column (2) of that Part.

TABLE

PART 1

Part of taxable income Rate of tax Description of rate

(1)

(2)

PART 2

Part of taxable income Rate of tax Description of rate

(1)

(2)

PART 3

Part of taxable income Rate of tax Description of rate

(1)

(2)

Amendment of section 461 (standard rated personal allowances) of Principal Act.

4.—Section 461 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ) of the Principal Act is amended, as respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution in the definition of “the specified amount” in subsection (1) of “£9,400” for “£8,400” and “£4,700” for “£4,200”, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE “the specified amount”, in relation to an individual for a year of assessment, means— (a) £9,400, in a case in which the claimant is— (i) a married person who— (I) is assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 1017, or (II) proves that his or her spouse is not living with him or her but is wholly or mainly maintained by him or her for the year of assessment and that the claimant is not entitled, in computing his or her income for tax purposes for that year, to make any deduction in respect of the sums paid by him or her for the maintenance of his or her spouse, or (ii) a widowed person, other than a person to whom subparagraph (i) applies, whose spouse has died in the year of assessment, and (b) £4,700 in the case of any other claimant.

Additional standard rated allowance for certain widowed persons.

5.—As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the substitution of the following for section 461A: “Additional standard rated allowance for certain widowed persons.

461A.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘specified amount’, means £1,000.

Widowed parents and other single parents: standard rated allowance.

6.—As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 462, by the substitution in subsection (1) of “£4,700” for “£1,050” in the definition of “the specified amount”, (b) by the deletion of section 462A (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ), and (c) in the Table to section 458, by the deletion of “Section 462A” from Part 1.

Special relief for widowed parent following death of spouse.

7.—As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the substitution of the following for section 463: “Special relief for widowed parent following death of spouse.

463.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘claimant’ means an individual whose spouse dies in a year of assessment; ‘qualifying child’, in relation to a claimant and a year of assessment, has the same meaning as in section 462, and the question of whether a child is a qualifying child shall be determined on the same basis as it would be for the purposes of section 462, and subsections (3), (4) and (6) of that section shall apply accordingly; ‘specified amount’, in relation to a claimant for each of the 5 years of assessment immediately following the year of assessment in which the claimant's spouse dies, means— (a) for the first of those 5 years, £10,000, (b) for the second of those 5 years, £8,000, (c) for the third of those 5 years, £6,000, (d) for the fourth of those 5 years, £4,000, and (e) for the fifth of those 5 years, £2,000.

Age allowance.

8.—As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent Age allowance. years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the substitution of the following for section 464: “Age allowance.

464.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘specified amount’, in relation to an individual for a year of assessment, means— (a) £1,600, in a case where the individual is a married person whose spouse is living with him or her and who is assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017 and (b) £800, in any other case.

Incapacitated children.

9.—As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the substitution of the following for section 465: “Incapacitated children.

465.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘qualifying child’, in relation to an individual, means a child of the individual who— (a) is under the age of 18 years and is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity, or (b) if over the age of 18 years at the commencement of the year of assessment, is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity from maintaining himself or herself and had become so permanently incapacitated before he or she had attained the age of 21 years or had become so permanently incapacitated after attaining the age of 21 years but while he or she had been in receipt of full-time instruction at any university, college, school or other educational establishment; ‘specified amount’, in relation to a qualifying child for a year of assessment, means £1,600.

Dependent relative.

10.— As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the substitution of the following for section 466: “Dependent relative.

466.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘dependent relative’, in relation to a claimant, means— (a) a relative of the claimant, or of the claimant's spouse, incapacitated by old age or infirmity from maintaining himself or herself, (b) the widowed father or widowed mother of the claimant or of the claimant's spouse, whether incapacitated or not, or (c) a son or daughter of the claimant who resides with the claimant and on whose services the claimant, by reason of old age or infirmity, is compelled to depend; ‘specified amount’, in relation to a dependent relative for a year of assessment, means £220 reduced by the amount, if any, by which the dependent relative's total income from all sources for the year exceeds the specified limit; ‘specified limit’ means the aggregate of the payments to which an individual is entitled in a year of assessment in respect of an old age (contributory) pension at the maximum rate under the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 , if throughout the year of assessment such individual is entitled to such a pension and— (a) has no adult dependant or qualified children (within the meaning, in each case, of that Act), (b) is over the age of 80 years (or such other age as may be specified in that Act for the time being in place of the age of 80 years), and (c) is living alone.

Relief for blind persons.

11.— As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of asessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the substitution of the following for section 468: “Relief for blind persons.

468.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘blind person’ means a person whose central visual acuity does not exceed 6/60 in the better eye with correcting lenses, or whose central visual acuity exceeds 6/60 in the better eye or in both eyes but is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision that is such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees; ‘specified amount’, in relation to an individual to whom this section applies for a year of assessment, means— (a) £3,000, in a case where either the individual or his or her spouse is a blind person, or (b) £6,000, in a case where the individual and his or her spouse are both blind persons.

Home carer's allowance.

12.— As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended— (a) in Chapter 1 of Part 15 by the insertion of the following section after section 466: “Home carer's allowance.

466A.—(1) In this section— ‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘dependent person’, in relation to a qualifying claimant, means a person (other than the spouse of the qualifying claimant) who, subject to subsection (3), resides with that qualifying claimant and who is— (a) a child in respect of whom either the qualifying claimant or his or her spouse is, at any time during a year of assessment, in receipt of child benefit under Part IV of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 , or (b) an individual who, at any time during a year of assessment, is of the age of 65 years or over, or (c) an individual who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity; ‘qualifying claimant’, in relation to a year of assessment, means an individual— (a) who is assessed to tax for that year in accordance with section 1017, and (b) who, or whose spouse, (in this section referred to as the ‘carer spouse’) is engaged during that year in caring for one or more dependent persons; ‘relative’, in relation to a qualifying claimant, includes a relation by marriage and a person in respect of whom the qualifying claimant is or was the legal guardian; ‘specified amount’ means, subject to subsections (6) and (7), £3,000.

Amendment of section 473 (allowance for rent paid by certain tenants) of Principal Act.

13.— As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, section 473 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1)— (i) by the insertion of the following definition before the definition of “residential premises”: “‘appropriate percentage’, in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year;”, and (ii) by the insertion of the following definition before the definition of “tenancy”: “‘the specified limit’, in relation to an individual for a year of assessment, means— (a) in the case of a married person assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017, £1,500; but, if at any time during the year of assessment the individual was of the age of 55 years or over, ‘the specified limit’ means £4,000, (b) in the case of a widowed person, £1,125; but, if at any time during the year of assessment the individual was of the age of 55 years or over, ‘the specified limit’ means £3,000, and (c) in any other case, £750; but, if at any time during the year of assessment the individual was of the age of 55 years or over, ‘the specified limit’ means £2,000;”, (b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2): “(2) Where an individual (in this section referred to as the ‘claimant’) proves that in the year of assessment he or she has made a payment on account of rent in respect of residential premises which, during the period in respect of which the payment was made, was his or her main residence, the income tax to be charged on the claimant, other than in accordance with section 16(2), for that year of assessment shall be reduced by an amount which is the least of— (a) the amount equal to the appropriate percentage of the aggregate of such payments proved to be so made, (b) the appropriate percentage of the specified limit in relation to the claimant for the year of assessment, and (c) the amount that reduces that income tax to nil.”, (c) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3): “(3) For the purposes of this section, where a claimant is a married person assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1017, any payments made by the claimant's spouse, in respect of which that spouse would have been entitled to relief under this section if he or she were assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1016 (apart from subsection (2) of that section), shall be deemed to have been made by the claimant.”, (d) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (10):

“(10) Any relief under this section shall be in substitution for and not in addition to any relief to which the claimant might be entitled in respect of the same payment under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts.”, and (e) in the Table to section 458— (i) by the deletion of “Section 473(2)” from Part 1, and (ii) by the substitution in Part 2 of “Section 473” for “Section 473(3)”.

Standard rating of allowances: consequential provisions.

14.— The provisions of the Principal Act referred to in Schedule 1 are amended as specified in that Schedule.

Amendment of section 122 (preferential loan arrangements) of Principal Act.

15.— Section 122 of the Principal Act is amended, as respects the year 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution in the definition of “the specified rate” in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of “4 per cent” for “6 per cent” in both places where it occurs, and the said definition, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE “the specified rate”, in relation to a preferential loan, means— (i) in a case where— (I) the interest paid on the preferential loan qualifies for relief under section 244, or (II) if no interest is paid on the preferential loan, the interest which would have been paid on that loan (if interest had been payable) would have so qualified, the rate of 4 per cent per annum or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, (ii) in a case where— (I) the preferential loan is made to an employee by an employer, (II) the making of loans for the purposes of purchasing a dwelling house for occupation by the borrower as a residence, for a stated term of years at a rate of interest which does not vary for the duration of the loan, forms part of the trade of the employer, and (III) the rate of interest at which, in the course of the employer's trade at the time the preferential loan is or was made, the employer makes or made loans at arm's length to persons, other than employees, for the purposes of purchasing a dwelling house for occupation by the borrower as a residence is less than 4 per cent per annum or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations. the first mentioned rate in subparagraph (III), or (iii) in any other case, the rate of 10 per cent per annum or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations.

Amendment of section 126 (tax treatment of certain benefits payable under Social Welfare Acts) of Principal Act.

16.— Section 126 of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution, in subsection (8), of the following for paragraph (b) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ): “(b) Notwithstanding subsection (3) and the Finance Act, 1992 (Commencement of Section 15) (Unemployment Benefit and Pay-Related Benefit) Order, 1994 ( S.I. No. 19 of 1994 ), subsection (3)(b) shall not apply in relation to unemployment benefit paid or payable in the period commencing on 6 April 1997, and ending on 5 April 2001, to a person employed in short-time employment.”.

Amendment of section 244 (relief for interest paid on certain home loans) of Principal Act.

17.— As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, section 244 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1)— (i) by the substitution of the following for the definition of “dependent relative”: “‘dependent relative’, in relation to an individual, means any of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of ‘dependent relative’ in section 466(1) in respect of whom the individual is entitled to a reduction of tax under that section;”, (ii) by the substitution of the following for the definition of “relievable interest”: “‘relievable interest’, in relation to an individual and a year of assessment, means— (i) in the case of— (I) an individual assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1017, or (II) a widowed individual, the amount of qualifying interest paid by the individual in the year of assessment or, if less, £4,000, (ii) in the case of any other individual, the amount of qualifying interest paid by the individual in the year of assessment or, if less, £2,000, but, notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this definition and subject to paragraph (c), as respects the first 5 years of assessment for which there is an entitlement to relief under this section in respect of a qualifying loan, ‘relievable interest’, in relation to an individual and a year of assessment, shall mean— (iii) in the case of— (I) an individual assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1017, or (II) a widowed individual, the amount of qualifying interest paid by the individual in the year of assessment or, if less, £5,000, (iv) in the case of any other individual, the amount of qualifying interest paid by the individual in the year of assessment or, if less, £2,500;”, and (iii) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (c): “(c) The number of years of assessment for which the amount of relievable interest is to be determined by reference to subparagraph (iii) or (iv) of the definition of ‘relievable interest’ shall be reduced by one year of assessment for each year of assessment in which an individual was entitled to relief for a year of assessment before the year 1997-1998 under section 76(1) or 496 of, or paragraph 1(2) of Part III of Schedule 6 to, the Income Tax Act, 1967 .”, and (b) in subsection (3), by the substitution of the following for paragraph (a): “(a) Where the amount of relievable interest is determined by reference to subparagraph (iii) or (iv) of the definition of ‘relievable interest’, then, notwithstanding any other provision of the Tax Acts, in the case of an individual who has elected or could be deemed to have duly elected to be assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with section 1017, where either—

(i) the individual, or (ii) the individual's spouse, was previously entitled to relief under this section or under section 76(1) or 496 of, or paragraph 1(2) of Part III of Schedule 6 to, the Income Tax Act, 1967, and the other person was not so entitled— (I) the relief to be given under this section, other than that part of the relief (in this subsection referred to as ‘the additional relief’) which is represented by the difference between the relievable interest and the amount which would have been the amount of the relievable interest if this had been determined by reference to subparagraph (i) or (ii) of that definition, shall be treated as given in equal proportions to the individual and that individual's spouse for that year of assessment, and (II) the additional relief shall be reduced by 50 per cent and the additional relief, as so reduced, shall be given only to the person who was not previously entitled to relief under this section or under section 76(1) or 496 of, or paragraph 1(2) of Part III of Schedule 6 to, the Income Tax Act, 1967 .”.

Amendment of section 202 (relief for agreed pay restructuring) of Principal Act.

18.—(1) Section 202 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1) (a), by the substitution of the following for the definition of “specified amount”: “‘specified amount’, in relation to a participating employee, means— (a) in a case where the basic pay of the employee is subject to a reduction of at least 10 per cent but not exceeding 15 per cent, £6,000 together with £200 for each complete year of service (subject to a maximum of 20 years), up to the relevant date, of the employee in the service of the qualifying company, (b) in a case where the basic pay of the employee is subject to a reduction exceeding 15 per cent but not exceeding 20 per cent, £6,000 together with £500 for each complete year of service (subject to a maximum of 20 years), up to the relevant date, of the employee in the service of the qualifying company, and (c) in a case where the basic pay of the employee is subject to a reduction exceeding 20 per cent, £8,000 together with £600 for each complete year of service (subject to a maximum of 20 years), up to the relevant date, of the employee in the service of the qualifying company.”, and (b) in subsection (2), by the substitution in paragraph (g) of “6 April 2003” for “the 6th day of April, 2000”.

Amendment of Part 16 (income tax relief for investment in corporate trades — business expansion scheme and seed capital scheme) of Principal Act.

19.—(1) Part 16 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 488(1) by the insertion of the following after the definition of “eligible shares”: “‘Exchange Axess’ means the company incorporated under the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1999, on 19 July 1999 as Exchange Axess Limited;”, (b) in section 491 by the substitution, in subsection (4), of the following for the words after “by reason only of the fact” to the end of the subsection: “that— (I) a subscription for eligible shares in both companies is made by a person or persons having the management of an investment fund designated under section 508 as nominee for any person or group or groups of persons, or (II) both companies hold shares or securities in, or have made loans to, Exchange Axess or carry on in limited partnership with Exchange Axess such qualifying trading operations as are referred to in section 496(2) (a) (iv).”, and (c) in section 495(3) (a) (ii)— (i) by the substitution, in clause (I), of “company,” for “company, or”, (ii) by the substitution, in clause (II), of “trades, or” for “trades.”, and (iii) by the insertion, after clause (II), of the following: “(III) both the holding of shares or securities in, or the making of loans to, Exchange Axess, and the carrying on in limited partnership with Exchange Axess of such qualifying trading operations as are referred to in section 496(2)(a)(iv).”.

Amendment of Schedule 13 (accountable persons for purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 18) to Principal Act.

20.— Schedule 13 to the Principal Act is amended by— (a) the deletion of paragraphs 43 and 85, (b) the substitution of the following for paragraph 92: “92. A Referendum Commission established by order made under section 2

Relief for postgraduate and certain third-level fees.

21.— (1) As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, Part 15 of the Principal Act is amended in Chapter 1— (a) by the insertion of the following section after section 475: “Relief for postgraduate fees.

475A.— (1) In this section— ‘academic year’ means, in relation to an approved course, a year of study commencing on a date not earlier than 1 August in a year of assessment; ‘appropriate percentage’ means, in relation to a year of assessment, a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year; ‘approved college’ means, in relation to a year of assessment, a college or institution in the State that— (a) provides courses to which a scheme approved by the Minister under the Local Authorities (Higher Education) Grants Acts, 1968 to 1992, applies, or (b) operates in accordance with a code of standards which from time to time may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be laid down by the Minister, and which the Minister approves for the purposes of this section: ‘approved course’ means— (a) a postgraduate course of study leading to a postgraduate award, based on a thesis or on the results of an examination, in an approved college— (i) of not less than one academic year, but not more than 4 academic years, in duration, (ii) that requires an individual, undertaking the course, to have been conferred with a degree or an equivalent qualification, and (iii) that, in the case of a course provided by a college to which paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘approved college’ relates, the Minister, having regard to a code of standards which from time to time may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be laid down by the Minister in relation to the quality of education to be offered on such approved course, approves for the purposes of this section, or (b) a postgraduate course of study leading to a postgraduate award, based on a thesis or on the results of an examination, in a qualifying college— (i) of not less than one academic year, but not more than 4 academic years, in duration, and (ii) that requires an individual, undertaking the course, to have been conferred with a degree or an equivalent qualification, ‘dependant’, in relation to an individual, means a spouse or child of the individual or a person in respect of whom the individual is or was the legal guardian; ‘Minister’ means the Minister for Education and Science; ‘qualifying college’ means any university or similar institution of higher education in a Member State of the European Union (other than the State), including such a university or similar institution of higher education that provides distance education, and that is maintained or assisted by recurrent grants from public funds of that or any other Member State of the European Union (including the State);

‘qualifying fees’, in relation to an approved course and an academic year, means— (a) in the case of an approved college, the amount of fees chargeable in respect of tuition to be provided in relation to that course in that year and which, in relation to a course to which paragraph (a) (iii) of the definition of ‘approved course’ relates, the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, approves for the purposes of this section, and (b) in the case of a qualifying college, so much of the amount of fees chargeable in respect of tuition to be provided in relation to that course in that year as is equal to the amount of fees determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to be the qualifying fees for the purposes of this section in relation to the class of approved course specified in the determination to which the particular course concerned belongs.

Amendment of section 767 (payment to universities and other approved bodies for research in, or teaching of, approved subjects) of Principal Act.

22.— Section 767 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following for the definition of “approved body”: “‘approved body’ means— (a) the National College of Ireland, (b) an institution comprising the Dublin Institute of Technology established by or under section 3 of the Dublin Institute of Technology Act, 1992 , or (c) an educational institution established by or under section 3 of the Regional Technical Colleges Act, 1992 , as a regional technical college;”, and (b) by the insertion of the following after subsection (2): “(3) (a) Subsection (2) shall also apply to any sum paid to a body of persons or a trust established in the State for the sole purpose of granting financial or other aid to— (i) an Irish university, or (ii) an approved body, for the purpose of enabling the university or the approved body to undertake research in, or engage in the teaching of, an approved subject. (b) This subsection shall apply and have effect as respects a chargeable period (within the meaning of section 321) being— (i) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment, the year 2000-2001, and any subsequent year of assessment, or (ii) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, an accounting period ending on or after 6 April 2001.”.

Amendment of Part 30 (occupational pension schemes, retirement annuities, purchased life annuities and certain pensions) of Principal Act.

23.—(1) Part 30 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 770(1)— (i) by the insertion. before the definition of “administrator”, of the following definition: “ ‘additional voluntary contributions’ means voluntary contributions made to a scheme by an employee which are— (i) contributions made under a rule or part of a rule, as the case may be, of a retirement benefits scheme (in this definition referred to as the ‘main scheme’) which provides specifically for the payment of members' voluntary contributions, other than contributions made at the rate or rates specified for members' contributions in the rules of the main scheme, or (ii) contributions made under a separately arranged scheme for members' voluntary contributions which is associated with the main scheme;”, and (ii) by the substitution, in the definition of “proprietary director”, of “5 per cent” for “20 per cent”, (b) in section 772— (i) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (a) of subsection (3A): “(a) The Revenue Commissioners shall not approve a retirement benefits scheme for the purposes of this Chapter unless it appears to them that the scheme provides for any individual entitled to a pension under the scheme who is— (i) a proprietary director of a company to which the scheme relates, or (ii) an individual entitled to rights arising from additional voluntary contributions to the scheme, to opt, on or before the date on which that pension would otherwise become payable, for the transfer, on or after that date, to— (I) the individual, or (II) an approved retirement fund, of an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the formula— A - B where— A is— (i) in the case of a proprietary director, the amount equal to the value of the individual's accrued rights under the scheme exclusive of any lump sum paid in accordance with subsection (3)(f), and (ii) in the case of any other individual, the amount equal to the value of the individual's accrued rights under the scheme which relate to additional voluntary contributions paid by that individual exclusive of any part of that amount paid by way of lump sum in accordance with subsection (3) (f) in conjunction with the scheme rules, and B is the amount or value of assets which the trustees, administrators or other person charged with the management of the scheme (in this section referred to as ‘the trustees’) would, if the assumptions in paragraph (b) were made, be required, in accordance with section 784C, to transfer to an approved minimum retire ment fund held in the name of the individual or to apply in purchasing an annuity payable to the individual with effect from the date of the exercise of the said option.”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following for subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection (3A): “(i) that the retirement benefits scheme or, as the case may be, the relevant part of the scheme was an annuity contract approved in accordance with section 784,”, (iii) in subsection (3B)— (I) by the deletion of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a), and (II) by the insertion, in paragraph (b), of “in the case of a proprietary director,” before “paragraph (f)”, and (iv) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3B): “(3C) Where the rules of a retirement benefits scheme provide for the purchase of an annuity from a company carrying on the business of granting annuities on human life, references in subsection (3A) to the date on which a pension would otherwise become payable shall, in relation to that retirement benefits scheme, be construed as references to the latest date on which such an annuity must be purchased in accordance with those rules.”, (c) in section 784, by the substitution of the following for subsection (2B): “(2B) (a) Where an individual opts in accordance with subsection (2A), any amount paid to the individual by virtue of that subsection, other than an amount payable by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (2), shall be regarded as a payment of emoluments to which Schedule E applies and, accordingly, the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall, subject to paragraph (b), apply to any such payment. (b) The person making a payment to which paragraph (a) refers shall deduct tax from the payment at the higher rate for the year of assessment in which the payment is made unless that person has received from the Revenue Commissioners a certificate of tax free allowances or a tax deduction card for that year in respect of the individual beneficially entitled to the payment.”, (d) in section 784A— (i) in the definition of “qualifying fund manager” in subsection (1)— (I) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (a)— “(a) a person who is a holder of a licence granted under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 , or a person who holds a licence or other similar authorisation under the law of any other Member State of the European Communities which corresponds to a licence granted under that section,”, (II) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (j): “(j) the holder of— (i) an authorisation issued by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment under the European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations of 1984 ( S.I. No. 57 of 1984

) as amended, or (ii) an authorisation granted by the authority charged by law with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in a Member State other than the State in accordance with Article 6 of Directive No. 79/267/EEC1 , who is carrying on the business of life assurance in the State, or (iii) an official authorisation to undertake insurance in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway pursuant to the EEA Agreement within the meaning of the European Communities (Amendment) Act, 1993 , and who is carrying on the business of life assurance in the State,”, and (III) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (l): “(l) a firm approved under section 10 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 , which is authorised to hold client money, other than a firm authorised as a Restricted Activity Investment Product Intermediary, where the firm's authorisation permits it to engage in the proposed activities, or a business firm which has been authorised to provide similar investment business services under the laws of a Member State of the European Communities which correspond to that Act;”, (ii) by the insertion in subsection (1) of the following after paragraph (b): “(c) Nothing in this Part shall be construed as authorising or permitting a person who is a qualifying fund manager to provide any services which that person would not otherwise be authorised or permitted to provide in the State. (d) Any reference in this section to a distribution in relation to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as including any payment or transfer of assets out of the fund or any assignment of assets out of the fund, including a payment, transfer or assignment to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets, other than a payment, transfer or assignment to another approved retirement fund the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the first-mentioned approved retirement fund, whether or not the payment, transfer or assignment is made to the said individual.”, (iii) by the substitution of the following for subsections (2) to (7): “(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), exemption from income tax and capital gains tax shall be allowed in respect of the income and chargeable gains arising in respect of assets held in an approved retirement fund.

Amendment of section 515 (excess or unauthorised shares) of Principal Act.

24.—Section 515 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (2A)(b) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ) by the deletion of “5 years” and the substitution of “period of 5 years, or such lesser period as the Minister for Finance may be order prescribe,”, and (b) by the insertion after subsection (7) of the following: “(8) Where an order is proposed to be made under subsection (2A)(b), a draft of the order shall be laid before Dáil Éireann, and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann.”.

Amendment of Schedule 11 (profit sharing schemes) to Principal Act.

25.—Schedule 11 to the Principal Act is amended by the insertion after paragraph 13 of the following: “13A.—(1) Notwithstanding paragraph 13, an individual who has had shares appropriated to him or her in a year of assessment under an approved scheme established by a company (‘the first-mentioned company’) shall, subject to subparagraph (2), be entitled to have shares appropriated to him or her in that year of assessment under an approved scheme established by another company (‘the second-mentioned company’) if, in that year of assessment, the second-mentioned company acquires control, or is part of a consortium that acquires ownership, of the first-mentioned company under a scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation (within the meaning of section 587).

Amendment of Schedule 12 (employee share ownership trusts) to Principal Act.

26.—Schedule 12 to the Principal Act is amended in paragraph 11— (a) by the substitution for subparagraph (2B)(d) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ) of the following: “(d) at each given time— (i) in the case of an employee share ownership trust approved under paragraph 2 before the passing of the Finance Act, 2000, in the 5 year period referred to in clause (b), and (ii) in the case of an employee share ownership trust approved under paragraph 2 on or after the passing of the Finance Act, 2000, in the 5 year period, or such lesser period as the Minister for Finance may by order prescribe, commencing on the date referred to in clause (b), 50 per cent, or such lesser percentage as the Minister for Finance may by order prescribe, of the securities retained by the trustees at that time were pledged by them as security for borrowings, and”, and (b) by the insertion after subparagraph(9) of the following: “(10) Where an order is proposed to be made under subparagraph (2B)(d), a draft of the order shall be laid before Dáil Éireann, and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann.”.

Rights to acquire shares or other assets.

27.—The Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 128— (i) by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following: “(2A) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Tax Acts, where a person is, by virtue of this section, chargeable to tax under Schedule E for a year of assessment in respect of an amount equal to the gain realised from the exercise, assignment or release of a right, he or she shall be a chargeable person for that year for the purposes of Part 41, unless— (a) that amount is deducted in determining the amount of his or her tax-free allowances for that year by virtue of regulation 10(1)(b) of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 ( S.I. No. 28 of 1960 ), or (b) the person has been exempted by an inspector from the requirements of section 951 by reason of a notice given under subsection (6) of that section.”, (ii) by the substitution in subsection (11) of “30 June in the year of assessment following” for “30 days after the end of”, and (iii) by the insertion after subsection (11) of the following: “(11A) Where in relation to any right— (a) the person referred to in subsection (11) is resident in a territory other than the State, and (b) the person who obtains that right is a director or an employee of a company which is resident in the State, the provisions of subsection (11) shall also apply to that company.”, (b) by the insertion after section 128 of the following: “Deferral of payment of tax under section 128.

128A.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), in any case where— (a) for any year of assessment a person is chargeable to tax under Schedule E, by virtue of section 128, on an amount equal to a gain realised by the exercise of a right to acquire shares in a company (‘the relevant shares’), which right was exercised on or after 6 April 2000, and (b) following an assessment for the year in which that right was exercised (‘the relevant year’) an amount of tax, chargeable by virtue of section 128 in respect of the amount referred to in paragraph (a), is payable to the Collector-General, and (c) the person concerned makes an election in accordance with subsection (3), he or she shall be entitled to defer payment of the tax in accordance with subsection (4).

Amendment of Chapter 4 (interest payments by certain deposit takers) of Part 8 of Principal Act.

28.—(1) Section 256 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by the substitution for the definition of “appropriate tax” of the following: “ ‘appropriate tax’, in relation to a payment of relevant interest, means a sum representing income tax on the amount of the payment— (a) in the case of a relevant deposit or relevant deposits held in a special savings account, at the rate of 20 per cent, (b) in the case of a relevant deposit the interest in respect of which is payable annually or at more frequent intervals or a relevant deposit which is a specified deposit within the meaning of section 260, at the standard rate in force at the time of payment, and (c) in the case of any other relevant deposit, being a deposit made on or after the date of the passing of the Finance Act, 2000, at a rate determined by the formula— (S + 3) per cent where S is the standard rate per cent (within the meaning of section 4(1)) in force at the time of payment;”.

Extension of section 1022 (special provisions relating to tax on wife's income) of Principal Act to spouse's income, etc.

29.—(1) Section 1022 of the Principal Act is amended by— (a) the substitution for subsection (1) of the following: “(1) Where— (a) an assessment to income tax (in this section referred to as the ‘original assessment’) has been made for any year of assessment on an individual, or on an individual's trustee, guardian or committee (in this section referred to as the ‘representative’), or on an individual's executors or administrators, (b) the Revenue Commissioners are of the opinion that, if an application for separate assessment under section 1023 had been in force with respect to that year of assessment, an assessment in respect of or of part of the same income would have been made on, or on the representative of, or on the executors or administrators of, an individual who is the spouse of the individual referred to in paragraph (a) or who was the spouse of the individual referred to in paragraph (a) (in this subsection and in subsection (2) referred to as the ‘spouse’) in that year of assessment, and (c) the whole or part of the amount payable under the original assessment has remained unpaid at the expiration of 28 days from the time when it became due, the Revenue Commissioners may give to the spouse, or, if the spouse is dead, to the spouse's executors or administrators, or, if an assessment referred to in paragraph (b) could in the circumstances referred to in that paragraph have been made on the spouse's representative, to the spouse, or to the spouse's representative, a notice stating— (i) particulars of the original assessment and of the amount remaining unpaid under that assessment, and (ii) to the best of their judgement, particulars of the assessment (in this subsection referred to as the ‘last-mentioned assessment’) which would have been so made, and requiring the person to whom the notice is given to pay the lesser of— (A) the amount which would have been payable under the last-mentioned assessment if it conformed with those particulars, and (B) the amount remaining unpaid under the original assessment.”, (b) the substitution in subsection (2) of “to the spouse or to the spouse's representative, or to the spouse's executors or administrators, as would have followed on the making on the spouse, or on the spouse's representative, or on the spouse's executors or administrators” for “to a woman, or to her trustee, guardian or committee, or to her executors or administrators, as would have followed on the making on her, or on her trustee, guardian or committee, or on her executors or administrators”,

(c) the substitution for subsection (6) of the following: “(6) Where a husband or a wife dies (in this subsection and subsections (7) and (8) referred to as the ‘deceased spouse') and at any time before the death the husband and wife were living together, then the other spouse or, if the other spouse is dead, the executors or administrators of the other spouse may, not later than 2 months from the date of the grant of probate or letters of administration in respect of the deceased spouse's estate or, with the consent of the deceased spouse's executors or administrators, at any later date, give to the deceased spouse's executors or administrators and to the inspector a notice in writing declaring that, to the extent permitted by this section, the other spouse or the executors or administrators of the other spouse disclaim responsibility for unpaid income tax in respect of all income of the deceased spouse for any year of assessment or part of a year of assessment, being a year of assessment or a part of a year of assessment for which any income of the deceased spouse was deemed to be the income of the other spouse and in respect of which the other spouse was assessed to tax under section 1017 or under that section as modified by section 1019.”, (d) the substitution in subsection (7) of “the deceased spouse's executors or administrators” for “the woman's executors or administrators”, (e) the substitution in subsection (8) of “a deceased spouse's executors or administrators” for “a woman's executors or administrators”, and (f) the insertion after subsection (8) of the following: “(9) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate in writing any of their officers to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this section to be performed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners.”.

Chapter 3

Dividend Withholding Tax Dividend withholding tax.

30.—(1) Chapter 8A (inserted by the Finance Act, 1999 ) of Part 6 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 172A(1)(a)— (i) by the insertion of the following definition after the definition of “American depositary receipt”: “ ‘approved body of persons’ has the same meaning as in section 235;”, (ii) by the insertion of the following definition after the definition of “collective investment undertaking”: “ ‘designated broker’ has the same meaning as in section 838;”, and (iii) by the insertion of the following definition after the definition of “relevant territory”: “ ‘special portfolio investment account’ has the same meaning as in section 838;”, (b) in section 172B— (i) by the insertion of the following after subsection (4): “(4A) (a) A company resident in the State shall keep and retain for the longer of the following periods— (i) a period of 6 years, or (ii) a period which, in relation to the relevant distributions in respect of which the declaration or notification is made or, as the case may be, given, ends not earlier than 3 years after the date on which the company has ceased to make relevant distributions to the person who made the declaration or, as the case may be, gave the notification to the company, all declarations (and accompanying certificates) and notifications (not being a notice given to the company by the Revenue Commissioners) which are made or, as the case may be, given to the company in accordance with this Chapter and Schedule 2A. (b) A company resident in the State shall, on being so required by notice in writing given to the company by the Revenue Commissioners, make available to the Commissioners, within the time specified in the notice— (i) all declarations, certificates or notifications referred to in paragraph (a) which have been made or, as the case may be, given to the company, or (ii) such class or classes of such declarations, certificates or notifications as may be specified in the notice. (c) The Revenue Commissioners may examine or take extracts from or copies of any declarations, certificates or notifications made available to the Commissioners under paragraph (b).”, (ii) by the substitution of the following for subsection (6): “(6) This section shall not apply to a relevant distribution where section 831(5) applies in relation to that distribution.”, and (iii) by the addition of the following after subsection (6): “(7) This section shall not apply where a relevant distribution is made by a company resident in the State and that distribution is—

(a) a distribution made out of exempt profits within the meaning of section 140, (b) a distribution made out of disregarded income within the meaning of section 141 and to which subsection (3)(a) of that section applies, or (c) a distribution made out of exempted income within the meaning of section 142.”, (c) in section 172C— (i) in subsection (2)— (I) by the deletion in paragraph (d) of “or” and by the substitution in paragraph (e)(ii) of “Schedule 2A,” for “Schedule 2A.”, and (II) by the addition of the following after paragraph (e): “(f) an approved body of persons which— (i) is entitled to exemption from income tax under Schedule F in respect of the relevant distribution by virtue of section 235(2), and (ii) has made a declaration to the relevant person in relation to the relevant distribution in accordance with paragraph 7A of Schedule 2A, or (g) a designated broker who— (i) is receiving the relevant distribution as all or part of the relevant income or gains (within the meaning of section 838) of a special portfolio investment account, and (ii) has made a declaration to the relevant person in relation to the relevant distribution in accordance with paragraph 7B of Schedule 2A.”, and (ii) by the addition of the following after subsection (2): “(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) and Schedule 2A— (a) a collective investment undertaking which receives a relevant distribution, and (b) a designated broker who receives a relevant distribution as all or part of the relevant income or gains (within the meaning of section 838) of a special portfolio investment account, shall be treated as being beneficially entitled to the relevant distribution.”, (d) in section 172D— (i) by the substitution in subsection (3) of the following for paragraph (b): “(b) a company which is not resident in the State and— (i) is, by virtue of the law of a relevant territory, resident for the purposes of tax in the relevant territory, but is not under the control, whether directly or indirectly, of a person or persons who is or are resident in the State, (ii) is under the control, whether directly or indirectly, of a person or persons who, by virtue of the law of a relevant territory, is or are resident for the purposes of tax in the relevant territory and who is or are, as the case may be, not under the control, whether directly or indirectly, of a person who is, or persons who are, not so resident, or (iii) the principal class of the shares of which, or— (I) where the company is a 75 per cent subsidiary of another company, of that other company, or

(II) where the company is wholly-owned by 2 or more companies, of each of those companies, is substantially and regularly traded on one or more than one recognised stock exchange in a relevant territory or territories or on such other stock exchange as may be approved of by the Minister for Finance for the purposes of this Chapter, and which has made a declaration to the relevant person in relation to the relevant distribution in accordance with paragraph 9 of Schedule 2A and in relation to which declaration each of the certificates referred to in clause (i), the certificate referred to in clause (ii) or, as the case may be, the certificate referred to in clause (iii), of subparagraph (f) of that paragraph is a current certificate (within the meaning of paragraph 2 of that Schedule) at the time of the making of the relevant distribution.”, (ii) by the insertion of the following after subsection (3): “(3A) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b)(i), ‘control’ shall be construed in accordance with subsections (2) to (6) of section 432 as if in subsection (6) of that section for ‘5 or fewer participators’ there were substituted ‘persons resident in the State’.”, (iii) by the substitution in subsection (4) of “subsection (3)(b)(ii)” for “subsection (3)(b)(i)” in each place where it occurs, (iv) in subsection (5)— (I) by the substitution of “subsection (3)(b)(iii)(I)” for “subsection (3)(b)(ii)(II)”, and (II) by the deletion of “subparagraph (iii) of”, and (v) by the addition of the following after subsection (5): “(6) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b)(iii)(II), a company (in this subsection referred to as an ‘aggregated 100 per cent subsidiary’) shall be treated as being wholly-owned by 2 or more companies (in this subsection referred to as the ‘joint parent companies’) if and so long as 100 per cent of its ordinary share capital is owned directly or indirectly by the joint parent companies, and for the purposes of this subsection— (a) subsections (2) to (10) of section 9 shall apply as those subsections apply for the purposes of that section, and (b) sections 412 to 418 shall apply with any necessary modifications as those sections would apply for the purposes of Chapter 5 of Part 12— (i) if section 411(1)(c) were deleted, and (ii) if the following subsection were substituted for subsection (1) of section 412: ‘(1) Notwithstanding that at any time a company is an aggregated 100 per cent subsidiary (within the meaning assigned by section 172D(6)) of the joint parent companies (within the meaning assigned by that section), it shall not be treated at that time as such a subsidiary unless additionally at that time—

(a) the joint parent companies are between them beneficially entitled to not less than 100 per cent of any profits available for distribution to equity holders of the company, and (b) the joint parent companies would be beneficially entitled between them to not less than 100 per cent of any assets of the company available for distribution to its equity holders on a winding-up.'.”, (e) in section 172E— (i) in subsection (3)— (I) by the substitution of the following for paragraphs (a) and (b): “(a) to accept, and to retain for the longer of the following periods— (i) a period of 6 years, or (ii) a period which, in relation to the relevant distributions in respect of which the declaration or notification is made or, as the case may be, given, ends not earlier than 3 years after the date on which the intermediary has ceased to receive relevant distributions on behalf of the person who made the declaration or, as the case may be, gave the notification to the intermediary, all declarations (and accompanying certificates) and notifications (not being a notice given to the intermediary by the Revenue Commissioners) which are made or, as the case may be, given to the intermediary in accordance with this Chapter and Schedule 2A, (b) on being so required by notice in writing given to the intermediary by the Revenue Commissioners, to make available to the Commissioners, within the time specified in the notice— (i) all declarations, certificates or notifications referred to in paragraph (a) which have been made or, as the case may be, given to the intermediary, or (ii) such class or classes of such declarations, certificates or notifications as may be specified in the notice,”, and (II) by the substitution of the following for paragraph (f): “(f) to provide to the Revenue Commissioners, not later than 3 months after the end of the first year of the operation of the agreement by the intermediary, a report on the intermediary's compliance with the agreement in that year, which report shall be signed by— (i) if the intermediary is a company, the auditor of the company, or (ii) if the intermediary is not a company, a person who, if the intermediary were a company, would be qualified to be appointed auditor of the company, and thereafter, on being required by notice in writing given to the intermediary by the Revenue Commissioners, to provide to the Commissioners, within the time specified in the notice, a similar report in relation to such other period of the operation of the agreement by the intermediary as may be specified in the notice,”,

(ii) by the insertion of the following after subsection (3): “(3A) The Revenue Commissioners may examine or take extracts from or copies of any declarations, certificates or notifications made available to the Commissioners under subsection (3)(b).”, and (iii) by the addition of the following after subsection (7): “(8) Without prejudice to the operation of subsection (6), the authorisation by the Revenue Commissioners of an intermediary as a qualifying intermediary for the purposes of this Chapter shall cease to have effect on the day before the seventh anniversary of the date from which such authorisation applied; but this shall not prevent— (a) the intermediary and the Revenue Commissioners from agreeing to renew the qualifying intermediary agreement entered into between them in accordance with subsection (3) or to enter into a further such agreement, and (b) a further authorisation by the Revenue Commissioners of the intermediary as aqualifying intermediary for the purposes of this Chapter.”, (f) in section 172F— (i) in subsection (3)— (I) by the substitution in paragraph (e) of “For the purposes of this section, but subject to paragraphs (g) and (h)” for “For the purposes of paragraph (d)”, (II) by the substitution in paragraph (e)(v) of “by way of notice in writing or in electronic format” for “by way of notice in writing given in accordance with subsection (1)” and “Liable Fund, and” for “Liable Fund,”, (III) by the substitution of the following for subparagraphs (vi) and (vii) of paragraph (e): “(vi) enters into an agreement with the qualifying intermediary or further specified intermediary, as the case may be, under the terms of which it agrees that if and when required to comply with subsection (7A) it will do so.”, and (IV) by the addition of the following after paragraph (f): “(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (e), where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that an intermediary, being a specified intermediary or other specified intermediary referred to in subsection (7A), has failed to comply with that subsection— (i) the Commissioners may, by notice in writing given to the intermediary, notify it that it shall cease to be treated as a specified intermediary for the purposes of this section from such date as may be specified in the notice, and (ii) notwithstanding any obligations as to secrecy or other restriction upon disclosure of information imposed by or under statute or otherwise, the Commissioners may make available to any qualifying intermediary (being a depositary bank holding shares in trust for, or on behalf of, the holders of American depositary receipts) or specified intermediary a copy of such notice.

(h) Where subsequently the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the intermediary has furnished the information required under subsection (7A) and will in future comply with that subsection if and when requested to do so, the Commissioners may, by further notice in writing given to the intermediary, revoke the notice given to the intermediary under paragraph (g) from such date as may be specified in the further notice, and a copy of that further notice shall be given to any person to whom a copy of the notice under paragraph (g) was given.”, (ii) by the substitution of the following for subsection (7): “(7) (a) A qualifying intermediary shall, on being so required by notice in writing given to the qualifying intermediary by the Revenue Commissioners, make a return to the Commissioners, within the time specified in the notice (which shall not be less than 30 days) and as respects such year of assessment as may be specified in the notice (being the year of assessment 1999-2000 or any subsequent year of assessment), showing— (i) the name and address of— (I) each company resident in the State from which the qualifying intermediary received, on behalf of another person, a relevant distribution made by that company in the year of assessment to which the return refers, and (II) each other person from whom the qualifying intermediary received, on behalf of another person, an amount or other asset representing a relevant distribution made by a company resident in the State in the year of assessment to which the return refers, (ii) the amount of each such relevant distribution, (iii) the name and address of each person to whom such a relevant distribution, or an amount or other asset representing such a relevant distribution, has been given by the qualifying intermediary, and (iv) the name and address of each person referred to in subparagraph (iii) in respect of whom a declaration under section 172C(2) or 172D(3) has been received by the qualifying intermediary. (b) A return required to be made by a qualifying intermediary under paragraph (a) may be confined to such class or classes of relevant distributions as may be specified in the notice given to the qualifying intermediary by the Revenue Commissioners under that paragraph. (7A) (a) This subsection shall apply where a qualifying intermediary has been required to make a return to the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (7)(a) and a relevant distribution (or an amount or other asset representing a relevant distribution), the details of which are required to be included in that return, has been given by the qualifying intermediary to a specified intermediary.

(b) The qualifying intermediary shall, immediately on receipt of the notice referred to in subsection (7)(a), request the specified intermediary, by way of notice in writing or in electronic format, to notify the qualifying intermediary or the Revenue Commissioners of the name and address of each person to whom the specified intermediary gave such a distribution (or an amount or other asset representing such a distribution) and of the amount of each such distribution. (c) The specified intermediary shall, within 21 days of the receipt of a notice under paragraph (b), furnish to the qualifying intermediary or, at the discretion of the specified intermediary, to the Revenue Commissioners, by way of notice in writing or in electronic format, the information required under that paragraph. (d) Where the specified intermediary furnishes the information required under paragraph (b)— (i) to the qualifying intermediary, the qualifying intermediary shall include that information in the return required to be made by it under subsection (7)(a), or (ii) to the Revenue Commissioners, the specified intermediary shall, by way of notice in writing or in electronic format, immediately advise the qualifying intermediary of that factand the qualifying intermediary shall include in the return required to be made by it under subsection (7)(a) a statement to the effect that it has been so advised by the specified intermediary. (e) If any person to whom a specified intermediary gave such a distribution (or an amount or other asset representing such a distribution) is another specified intermediary, the specified intermediary shall, immediately on the receipt of a notice under paragraph (b), request the other specified intermediary, by way of notice in writing or in electronic format, to notify the specified intermediary or the Revenue Commissioners of the name and address of each person to whom it gave such a distribution (or an amount or other asset representing such a distribution) and of the amount of each such distribution. (f) The other specified intermediary shall, within 21 days of the receipt of a notice under paragraph (e), furnish to the specified intermediary or, at the discretion of the other specified intermediary, to the Revenue Commissioners, by way of notice in writing or in electronic format, the information required under that paragraph. (g) Where the other specified intermediary furnishes the information required under paragraph (e)—