Finance Act 2017

Finance Act 2017 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 2017 Finance Act 2017 Finance Act 2017 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 41 of 2017 FINANCE ACT 2017 CONTENTS

PART 1

Income Tax, Universal Social Charge, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter 1

Interpretation

Section 1

Chapter 2

Universal Social Charge

Section 2

Chapter 3

Income Tax

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Chapter 4

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Section 10

Section 11

Section 12

Section 13

Section 14

Section 15

Section 16

Section 17

Section 18

Section 19

Chapter 5

Corporation Tax

Section 20

Section 21

Section 22

Section 23

Section 24

Section 25

Chapter 6

Capital Gains Tax

Section 26

Section 27

Section 28

Section 29

Section 30

Section 31

Section 32

Section 33

Section 34

PART 2

Excise

Chapter 1

Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax

Section 35

Section 36

Section 37

Section 38

Section 39

Section 40

Section 41

Section 42

Section 43

Section 44

Section 45

Section 46

Section 47

Chapter 2

Miscellaneous

Section 48

Section 49

Section 50

Section 51

Section 52

Section 53

Section 54

PART 3

Value-Added Tax

Section 55

Section 56

Section 57

Section 58

PART 4

Stamp Duties

Section 59

Section 60

Section 61

Section 62

Section 63

Section 64

Section 65

Section 66

Section 67

Section 68

PART 5

Capital Acquisitions Tax

Section 69

Section 70

Section 71

Section 72

PART 6

Miscellaneous

Section 73

Section 74

Section 75

Section 76

Section 77

Section 78

Section 79

Section 80

Section 81

Section 82

Section 83

Section 84

Section 85

Section 86

Section 87

Section 88

PART 1

Income Tax, Universal Social Charge, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter 1

Interpretation Interpretation (Part 1) 1. In this Part “Principal Act” means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 .

Chapter 2

Universal Social Charge Amendment of section 531AN of Principal Act (rate of charge) 2. (1) Section 531AN of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (3)— (i) by substituting “€19,372” for “€18,772”, and (ii) by substituting “2 per cent” for “2.5 per cent”, (b) in subsection (3A)(a) by substituting “2 per cent” for “2.5 per cent”, (c) in subsection (4) by substituting “2020” for “2018”, and (d) by substituting the following Table for the Table to that section: “TABLE

PART 1

Part of aggregate income Rate of universal social charge

(1)

PART 2

Part of aggregate income Rate of universal social charge

(1)

Chapter 3

Income Tax Amendment of section 15 of Principal Act (rate of charge) 3. As respects the year of assessment 2018 and subsequent years of assessment section 15 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (3)(i), by substituting “€25,550” for “€24,800”, and (b) by substituting the following Table for the Table to that section: “TABLE

PART 1

Part of taxable income

PART 2

Part of taxable income

PART 3

Part of taxable income

Amendment of section 466A of Principal Act (home carer tax credit) 4. (1) Section 466A of the Principal Act is amended by substituting “€1,200” for “€1,100”.

Amendment of section 472AB of Principal Act (earned income tax credit) 5. (1) Section 472AB of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2)— (a) in paragraph (a), by substituting “€1,150” for “€950”, and (b) in paragraph (b), by substituting “€1,150” for “€950”.

Amendment of section 244 of Principal Act (relief for interest paid on certain home loans) 6. Section 244 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1)(a) by substituting the following for the definition of “qualifying interest”: “‘qualifying interest’, in relation to an individual and a year of assessment, means— (i) as respects a year of assessment before 2018, the amount of interest paid by the individual in respect of a qualifying loan, (ii) as respects the year of assessment 2018, 75 per cent of the amount of interest paid by the individual in respect of a qualifying loan, (iii) as respects the year of assessment 2019, 50 per cent of the amount of interest paid by the individual in respect of a qualifying loan, and (iv) as respects the year of assessment 2020, 25 per cent of the amount of interest paid by the individual in respect of a qualifying loan;”, (b) in subsection (1A)(b) by substituting “2020” for “2017”, (c) in subsection (2)(a)(ii) by substituting “2020” for “2017”, and (d) by inserting the following after subsection (10): “(11) For the purposes of the application of this section, the definition of ‘relievable interest’ in subsection (1)(a) has effect as if— (a) in subparagraph (i) of that definition— (i) as respects the year of assessment 2018, ‘€4,500’, (ii) as respects the year of assessment 2019, ‘€3,000’, and (iii) as respects the year of assessment 2020, ‘€1,500’, were substituted for ‘€6,000’, (b) in subparagraph (ii) of that definition— (i) as respects the year of assessment 2018, ‘€2,250’, (ii) as respects the year of assessment 2019, ‘€1,500’, and (iii) as respects the year of assessment 2020, ‘€750’, were substituted for ‘€3,000’, (c) in subparagraph (iii) of that definition— (i) as respects the year of assessment 2018, ‘€15,000’, (ii) as respects the year of assessment 2019, ‘€10,000’, and (iii) as respects the year of assessment 2020, ‘€5,000’, were substituted for ‘€20,000’, and (d) in subparagraph (iv) of that definition— (i) as respects the year of assessment 2018, ‘€7,500’, (ii) as respects the year of assessment 2019, ‘€5,000’, and (iii) as respects the year of assessment 2020, ‘€2,500’, were substituted for ‘€10,000’.”.

Benefit in kind: relief relating to electric vehicles 7. Part 5 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in Chapter 3, by inserting the following after section 118(5G): “(5H) Subsection (1) shall not apply to expense incurred by the body corporate in, or in connection with, the provision, for a director or employee, in any of its business premises, of a facility for the electric charging of vehicles, where all the employees and directors of that body corporate can avail of the facility.”, and (b) in Chapter 4— (i) in section 121— (I) in subsection (1)(a), by inserting the following after the definition of “car”: “ ‘electric vehicle’ means a vehicle that derives its motive power exclusively from an electric motor;”, and (II) in subsection (2)(b)— (A) in subparagraph (i), by deleting “and”, (B) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “car, and” for “car.”, and (C) by inserting the following after subparagraph (ii): “(iii) notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment where the car provided is— (I) an electric vehicle, and (II) provided during the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.”, and (ii) in section 121A— (I) in subsection (1), by inserting the following definition: “ ‘electric vehicle’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 121;”, and (II) in subsection (2)(b)— (A) in subparagraph (i), by deleting “and”, (B) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “van, and” for “van.”, and (C) by inserting the following after subparagraph (ii): “(iii) notwithstanding subparagraph (ii), no amount shall be treated as emoluments of the employment where the van provided is— (I) an electric vehicle, and (II) provided during the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.”.

Taxation of certain perquisites: employees of authorised insurers and tied health insurance agents 8. Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section after section 112A: “Taxation of certain perquisites: employees of authorised insurers and tied health insurance agents 112AA. (1) In this section— ‘authorised insurer’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 470; ‘emoluments’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 983; ‘employee’ includes an office holder and any person who is an employee within the meaning of section 983; ‘relevant contract’ means a contract of insurance, or any other agreement, arrangement or transaction, as the case may be, which provides specifically, whether in conjunction with other benefits or not, for the reimbursement or discharge, in whole or in part, of— (a) actual health expenses (within the meaning of section 469), being a contract of medical insurance, or (b) dental expenses other than expenses in respect of routine dental treatment (within the meaning of section 469), being a contract of dental insurance; ‘relevant contract price’ is the amount that would be payable, by an individual who is neither a relevant employee nor connected with a relevant employee, under a relevant contract, by way of a bargain made at arm’s length, before deducting any amount the individual would have been entitled to deduct and retain by virtue of section 470(3)(a); ‘relevant employee’ means an employee of— (a) an authorised insurer, (b) a tied health insurance agent, or (c) any person connected with a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); ‘tied health insurance agent’ means any person who, directly or indirectly, enters into an agreement or arrangement with an authorised insurer— (a) whereby that person undertakes to refer all proposals of insurance, made under a relevant contract, to the authorised insurer with whom the person has made or entered into the agreement or arrangement, or (b) which restricts in any way that person’s freedom to refer proposals of insurance, made under a relevant contract, to an authorised insurer other than the authorised insurer with whom the agreement or arrangement has been made or entered into.

Amendment of section 458 of Principal Act (deductions allowed in ascertaining taxable income and provisions relating to reductions in tax) 9. The Principal Act is amended in Part 2 of the Table to section 458 by inserting the following after “Section 472”: “Section 472AB Section 472BA”.

Chapter 4

Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax Key Employee Engagement Programme 10. (1) The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section after section 128E: “128F. (1) In this section— ‘connected persons’ shall be construed in accordance with section 10; ‘control’ shall be construed in accordance with section 432; ‘EEA Agreement’ means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement; ‘EEA state’ means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; ‘emoluments’ has the same meaning as in section 983; ‘excluded activities’ means— (a) adventures or concerns in the nature of trade, (b) dealing in commodities or futures in shares, securities or other financial assets, (c) financial activities, (d) professional services companies, (e) dealing in or developing land, (f) building and construction, (g) forestry, and (h) operations carried out in the coal industry or in the steel and shipbuilding sectors; ‘financial activities’ has the same meaning as in section 488; ‘market value’ shall be construed in accordance with section 548; ‘option price’ means a predetermined price at which an employee or director can purchase a share at some time in the future; ‘ordinary shares’ means shares forming part of a company’s ordinary share capital; ‘professional services’ means— (a) services of a medical, dental, optical, aural or veterinary nature, (b) services of an architectural, quantity surveying or surveying nature, and related services, (c) services of accountancy, auditing, taxation or finance, (d) services of a solicitor or barrister and other legal services, and (e) geological services; ‘qualifying company’ means, subject to subsection (10), a company that— (a) is incorporated in the State, or in an EEA state other than the State, and is resident in the State, or is resident in an EEA state other than the State and carries on business in the State through a branch or agency, (b) exists wholly or mainly for the purpose of carrying on a qualifying trade on a commercial basis with a view to the realisation of profit, the profits or gains of which are charged to tax under Case I of Schedule D, (c) throughout the entirety of any relevant period— (i) is an unquoted company none of whose shares, stock or debentures are listed in the official list of a stock exchange, or quoted on an unlisted securities market of a stock exchange other than— (I) on the market known as the Enterprise Securities Market of the Irish Stock Exchange, or

(II) on any similar or corresponding market of the stock exchange— (A) in a territory other than the State with the government of which arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 826(1) have been made, or (B) in an EEA state other than the State, and (ii) is not regarded as a company in difficulty for the purposes of the Commission Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty 1 , and (d) at the date of grant of the qualifying share option— (i) is a micro, small or medium sized enterprise within the meaning of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 2 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium sized enterprises, and (ii) the total market value of the issued but unexercised qualifying share options of the company does not exceed €3,000,000; ‘qualifying individual’, in respect of a qualifying share option, means an individual who throughout the entirety of the relevant period— (a) is a full time employee or full time director of the qualifying company, and (b) is required to devote substantially the whole of his or her time to the service of the company, with a minimum requirement for the individual to work at least 30 hours per week for the qualifying company; ‘qualifying share option’ means a right granted to an employee or director of a qualifying company to purchase a predetermined number of shares at a predetermined price, by reason of the individual’s employment or office in the qualifying company, where— (a) the shares which may be acquired by the exercise of the share option are new ordinary fully paid up shares in a qualifying company, which carry no present or future preferential right to dividends or to a company’s assets on its winding up and no present or future preferential right to be redeemed, (b) the option price at date of grant is not less than the market value of the same class of shares at that time, (c) there is a written contract or agreement in place specifying— (i) the number and description of the shares which may be acquired by the exercise of the share option, (ii) the option price, and (iii) the period during which the share options may be exercised, (d) the total market value of all shares, in respect of which qualifying share options have been granted by the qualifying company to an employee or director, does not exceed— (i)€100,000 in any one year of assessment, (ii)€250,000 in any 3 consecutive years of assessment, or (iii) 50 per cent of the annual emoluments of the qualifying individual in the year of assessment in which the qualifying share option is granted,

(e) the share option is exercised by the qualifying individual in the relevant period, (f) the shares are in a qualifying company, and (g) the share option can not be exercised more than 10 years from the date of grant; ‘qualifying trade’ means trading activities other than excluded activities; ‘relevant period’ means a period of not less than 12 months beginning on the date a qualifying share option is granted to an employee or director of the qualifying company and ending on the date the share option is exercised by the qualifying individual.

Amendment of section 285A of Principal Act (acceleration of wear and tear allowances for certain energy-efficient equipment) 11. Section 285A(1) of the Principal Act is amended in the definition of “relevant period” by substituting “31 December 2020” for “31 December 2017”.

Amendment of Parts 9 and 36 of, and Schedule 25B to, Principal Act (capital allowances for equipment and buildings used for the purposes of providing childcare services or a fitness centre to employees) 12. (1) Chapter 2 of Part 9 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 285A: “Acceleration of wear and tear allowances for childcare and fitness centre equipment 285B. (1) In this section— ‘qualifying expenditure’ means capital expenditure incurred on qualifying machinery or plant by a person carrying on a qualifying trade; ‘qualifying machinery or plant’ means machinery or plant in use in a qualifying premises; ‘qualifying premises’ has the same meaning as it has in section 843B; ‘qualifying trade’ has the same meaning as it has in section 843B.

Section 843B (capital allowances for buildings used for the purposes of providing childcare services or a fitness centre to employees) An amount equal to— (a) the aggregate amount of allowances (including balancing allowances) made to the individual under Chapter 1 of Part 9 as that Chapter is applied by section 843B, including any such allowances or part of any allowances made to the individual for a previous tax year and carried forward from that previous tax year in accordance with Part 9, or (b) where full effect has not been given in respect of that aggregate for that tax year, the part of that aggregate to which full effect has been given for that tax year in accordance with section 278 and section 304 or 305, as the case may be, or any of those sections as applied or modified by any other provision of the Tax Acts. ”.

Pre-letting expenditure in respect of vacant premises 13. The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section after section 97: “97A. (1) In this section— ‘specified day’ means the day falling on or after the date of the passing of the Finance Act 2017 on which a vacant premises is first let as a residential premises after the end of the period during which it is not occupied; ‘specified period’, in relation to a vacant premises, means the period of 12 months ending the day before the specified day; ‘vacant premises’ means any premises that is not occupied for the entire of the period of 12 months immediately before the specified day.

Amendment of certain anti-avoidance provisions of Principal Act 14. The Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 579 by substituting the following for subsection (6): “(6) This section shall not apply— (a) in relation to a loss accruing to the trustees of the settlement, or (b) where it is shown in writing or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that, at the time when the charge to capital gains tax arises, genuine economic activities are carried on by the settlement in a relevant Member State (within the meaning of section 806(11)(a)).”, (b) in section 579A by substituting the following for subsection (9A): “(9A) This section shall not apply where it is shown in writing or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that, at the time when the charge to capital gains tax arises, genuine economic activities are carried on by the settlement in a relevant Member State (within the meaning of section 806(11)(a)).”, (c) in section 590(7) by substituting the following for paragraph (aa): “(aa) a chargeable gain accruing on the disposal of an asset where it is shown in writing or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that, at the time of the disposal, genuine economic activities are carried on by the company in a relevant Member State (within the meaning of section 806(11)(a)),”, and (d) in section 806(11) by substituting the following for paragraph (b): “(b) Where a non-resident person is resident in a relevant Member State, subsection (10) shall apply as if the following were substituted for paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of that subsection: ‘(b) Subsections (4) and (5) shall not apply where the individual concerned shows in writing or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that genuine economic activities are carried on by the non-resident person in the relevant Member State.’.”.

Amendment of section 664 of Principal Act (relief for certain income from leasing of farm land) 15. (1) Section 664 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsections (1) and (7), by substituting “EU Basic Payment Scheme” for “EU Single Payment Scheme”, and (b) in subsection (8), by substituting the following for paragraphs (a) and (b): “(a) a qualifying lessee of the lease (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first mentioned lease’), or a person connected with that qualifying lessee of the first mentioned lease, is a qualifying lessor of another qualifying lease (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘second mentioned lease’) where the qualifying lessor of the first mentioned lease is a qualifying lessee of the second mentioned lease, (b) a qualifying lessee of the lease (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first mentioned lease’) is a qualifying lessor of another qualifying lease (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘second mentioned lease’) where that qualifying lessor of the first mentioned lease, or a person connected with that qualifying lessor, is a qualifying lessee of the second mentioned lease, or”.

Amendment of Part 16 of Principal Act (income tax relief for investment in corporate trades - employment and investment incentive and seed capital scheme) 16. (1) Section 488 of the Principal Act is amended, in the definition of “associate”, by deleting “, except that the reference in paragraph (b) of that subsection to any relative of a participator shall be excluded from such meaning”.

Amendment of Part 26 of Principal Act (life assurance companies) 17. Part 26 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 710(1)— (i) in paragraph (b) by substituting “;” for “.”, and (ii) by inserting the following after paragraph (b): “(c) for the purposes of Schedule 24, any foreign tax arising in respect of the profits excluded in making the computation under paragraph (a) shall be treated as solely attributable to those profits so excluded and that foreign tax— (i) shall not be allowed as a credit or deduction against corporation tax arising on any other profits of the assurance company, (ii) shall not be a foreign tax by which income is reduced in accordance with paragraph 7(3)(c) of that Schedule, and (iii) shall not otherwise be deducted from any other profits of the assurance company.”, (b) in section 730A(5)— (i) in paragraph (a) by deleting “and”, (ii) in paragraph (b) by substituting “annuitants, and” for “annuitants.”, and (iii) by inserting the following after paragraph (b): “(c) for the purposes of Schedule 24, any foreign tax arising in respect of the profits excluded in making the computation under paragraph (a) shall be treated as solely attributable to those profits so excluded and that foreign tax— (i) shall not be allowed as a credit or deduction against corporation tax arising on any other profits of the assurance company, (ii) shall not be a foreign tax by which income is reduced in accordance with paragraph 7(3)(c) of that Schedule, and (iii) shall not otherwise be deducted from any other profits of the assurance company.”, and (c) in section 730C(2) by substituting the following for paragraph (a): “(a) by way of security for a debt, or the discharge of a debt secured by the rights concerned, where the debt is a debt due to— (i) a financial institution, or (ii) a qualifying company within the meaning of section 110, where the debt was originated by a financial institution and the life policy was assigned, in whole or in part, by way of security for that debt, to that financial institution,”.

Amendment of Chapter 1A of Part 27 of Principal Act (investment undertakings) 18. Chapter 1A of Part 27 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following section: “Electronic account filing requirement 739FA. (1) In this section, ‘electronic means’ includes electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, biometric, photonic means of transmission of data and other forms of related technology by means of which data is transmitted.

Irish real estate funds 19. (1) Chapter 1B of Part 27 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 739K— (i) in subsection (1)— (I) in paragraph (c) of the definition of “IREF assets”, by inserting “, which are actively and substantially traded on such stock exchange,” after “stock exchange”, (II) by deleting paragraph (a) of the definition of “IREF excluded profits”, (III) by inserting the following after the definition of “IREF withholding tax”: “ ‘PRSA’ means a Personal Retirement Savings Account within the meaning of section 787A;”, (IV) by inserting the following after the definition of “purchased IREF profits”: “ ‘qualifying intermediary’ means an intermediary (within the meaning of section 739B(1)) who is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland under— (a) before 3 January 2018, the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 60 of 2007 ), and (b) on and after 3 January 2018, the European Union (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017 ( S.I. No. 375 of 2017 );”, (V) in the definition of “specified person”— (A) by substituting the following for paragraph (a): “(a) a fund approved under section 774, 784(4) or 785(5), an approved retirement fund within the meaning of section 784A, an approved minimum retirement fund within the meaning of section 784C, a PRSA (including a vested PRSA within the meaning of section 790D(1)) or a person exempt from income tax under section 790B (collectively referred to in this Chapter as ‘pension schemes’),”, (B) by substituting the following for paragraph (b): “(b) an investment undertaking, or, where appropriate, a sub-fund that is a unit holder in another sub-fund of the same umbrella scheme,”, (C) in paragraph (f), by substituting “pension scheme” for “scheme” and “pension schemes” for “schemes”, and (D) in paragraph (g), by substituting “valid declaration made by the unit holder or, where applicable under subsection (1A), by the qualifying intermediary,” for “valid declaration,”, and (ii) by inserting the following after subsection (1): “(1A) A qualifying intermediary who carries on a trade which consists of, or includes, the holding in a nominee capacity of units in an IREF, that is not a personal portfolio IREF, on behalf of unit holders (that come within paragraphs (a), (d) or (e) of the definition of ‘specified person’, or within paragraph (f) of that definition pursuant to its reference to paragraph (a) thereof), may make a declaration in accordance with Schedule 2C, on behalf of those unit holders in respect of that IREF.”,

(b) in section 739M(3), by substituting “pension scheme, undertaking” for “scheme, undertaking” in each place where it occurs, (c) in section 739N— (i) in subsection (1)(b), by substituting “pension scheme” for “scheme”, and (ii) by inserting the following after subsection (3): “(4) An IREF (referred to in this subsection as the ‘first mentioned IREF’) shall not be treated as a personal portfolio IREF of a unit holder which is an IREF (referred to in this subsection as the ‘second mentioned IREF’) where the holding of the units— (a) in the first mentioned IREF by the second mentioned IREF is for bona fide commercial purposes, and (b) is not part of a scheme or arrangement the main purpose, or one of the main purposes of which, is the avoidance of tax.

Advance clearance procedures for direct investors in respect of withholding tax 739QB. (1) A person who is entitled to a full refund of any withholding tax under section 739T(6) may, in advance of an IREF taxable event in respect of which withholding tax under section 739T would arise, apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a certificate that withholding tax should not be deducted in respect of an IREF taxable event.

Declaration of PRSA administrators regarding PRSAs and vested PRSAs 10. The declaration referred to in section 739K, in respect of a PRSA or a vested PRSA referred to in paragraph (a) or (f) of the definition of ‘specified person’ in that section, is a declaration in writing to the IREF which— (a) is made by a PRSA administrator (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘declarer’), (b) is signed by the declarer, (c) is made in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners, (d) declares that, at the time of making the declaration, the units in respect of which the declaration is made— (i) are assets of a PRSA or a vested PRSA, and (ii) are managed by the declarer for the person who is beneficially entitled to the units, (e) contains the name, address and TIN of the person referred to in subparagraph (d)(ii), (f) contains an undertaking by the declarer that if the units cease to be assets of the PRSA or the vested PRSA, including a case where the units are transferred to another PRSA or vested PRSA, the declarer will notify the IREF in writing accordingly, (g) contains a certificate by the declarer stating whether or not the unit holder is a specified person after the application of section 739M, (h) provides, where the PRSA or vested PRSA is one to which paragraph (f) of the definition of ‘specified person’ applies, supporting documentation evidencing equivalence, (i) contains an undertaking by the declarer that if the PRSA or vested PRSA becomes a specified person, the declarer will notify the IREF in writing accordingly, and (j) contains such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of Chapter 1B of Part 27.

Declaration of qualifying intermediaries regarding certain specified persons in section 739K(1) 11. The declaration referred to in section 739K, in respect of a qualifying intermediary, is a declaration in writing to the IREF which— (a) is made by a qualifying intermediary (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘declarer’), (b) is signed by the declarer, (c) is made in such form as may be prescribed or authorised by the Revenue Commissioners, (d) contains the name and address of the declarer, (e) declares that, at the time of making the declaration, the unit holder in respect of which the declaration is made— (i) is a scheme to which paragraph (a) or (f) of the definition of ‘specified person’ applies, (ii) is a charity to which paragraph (d) of the definition of ‘specified person’ applies, or (iii) is a credit union, (f) contains an undertaking by the declarer that where the declarer becomes aware at any time that the declaration made in accordance with subparagraph (e) is no longer correct, the declarer will notify the IREF in writing accordingly, and (g) contains such other information as the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require for the purposes of Chapter 1B of Part 27.”.

Chapter 5

Corporation Tax Amendment of section 110 of Principal Act (securitisation) 20. (1) Section 110(5A) of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in paragraph (a)— (i) in the definition of “specified mortgage”— (I) in paragraph (b) by inserting “or” after “sub-participation transaction,”, (II) in paragraph (c) by substituting “;” for “, or”, and (III) by deleting paragraph (d), and (ii) by substituting the following for the definition of “specified property business”: “ ‘specified property business’, in relation to a qualifying company, means the whole, or part, of the business of the qualifying company that involves the holding, managing or both the holding and managing of— (a) specified mortgages, (b) units in an IREF (within the meaning of Chapter 1B of Part 27), or (c) shares that derive their value from, or the greater part of their value from, directly or indirectly, land in the State, and shall not include— (i) a CLO transaction, (ii) a CMBS/RMBS transaction, (iii) a loan origination business, (iv) a sub-participation transaction, or (v) activities which are preparatory to the transactions or business mentioned in subparagraphs (i) to (iv), where the qualifying company, in respect of subparagraph (i) or (ii), apart from activities incidental or preparatory to that transaction or business, carries on no other activities;”, and (b) in paragraph (b)— (i) in subparagraph (i)— (I) by substituting “shares, a loan or specified agreement” for “a loan or specified agreement”, and (II) in clause (I) by substituting “specified mortgage, units in an IREF or shares referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘specified property business’ in paragraph (a)” for “specified mortgage”, and (ii) in subparagraph (ii)— (I) by substituting “each share holding, loan or specified agreement” for “each loan or specified agreement”, and (II) by substituting “specified mortgage, units in an IREF or shares referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘specified property business’ in paragraph (a), as the case may be,” for “specified mortgage”.

Amendment of section 769K of Principal Act (adaptation of provisions relating to relief for relevant trading losses and relevant charges on income) 21. Section 769K of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (2) by substituting “a company” for “a relevant company”, and (b) by inserting the following after subsection (2): “(3) For the purposes of determining the amount of relief available for relevant trading charges or relevant trading losses, as the case may be, after the making of a claim for relief under any of the provisions referred to in subsection (2) as applied by that subsection (in this subsection referred to as ‘the first-mentioned claim’), the amount of relevant trading charges or relevant trading losses, as the case may be, available for any subsequent claims shall be reduced by 200 per cent of the amount claimed under the first-mentioned claim.”.

Amendment of section 76A of Principal Act (computation of profits or gains of a company - accounting standards) 22. (1) Section 76A of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (2): “(3) (a) In this subsection— (i)‘accounting policy’, ‘a change in accounting policy’, ‘accounting standard’, ‘retrospective’ and ‘opening reserves’ shall be construed in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice; (ii)‘relevant period’ means the accounting period beginning on the first day of the period of account in which the change in accounting policy, referred to in paragraph (b), is adopted for the first time. (b) This subsection shall apply to a change in accounting policy other than on the adoption of— (i) an accounting standard for the first time, or (ii) an amendment of an accounting standard for the first time. (c) Subject to the Tax Acts, an amount representing the retrospective effect of a change in accounting policy which is recognised in opening reserves (howsoever designated) for a period of account in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice shall be taxable or deductible, as the case may be, in computing the profits or gains of a company for the relevant period for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D. (d) An amount shall not be regarded by virtue of paragraph (c) as deductible in computing the profits or gains of a company for the relevant period for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D to the extent that— (i) a deduction has been made in respect of that amount in computing such profits or gains for a previous accounting period, or (ii) the company has benefited from a tax relief under any provision in respect of that amount for a previous accounting period. (e) An amount shall not be regarded by virtue of paragraph (c) as taxable in computing the profits or gains of a company for the relevant period for the purposes of Case I or II of Schedule D to the extent that the amount was treated as taxable in computing such profits or gains for a previous accounting period. (f) References to profits or gains in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) include references to losses.

(ii) the part of the relevant amount which shall be taxable or deductible for any such accounting period shall be such amount as bears to the relevant amount the same proportion as the length of the accounting period, or the part of the accounting period falling within the period of 5 years, bears to 5 years, and (iii) where any accounting period referred to in subparagraph (ii) is the last accounting period in which the company carried on a trade or profession, then such part of the relevant amount as is required to ensure that the whole of the relevant amount is accounted for shall be taxable or deductible, as the case may be, for that accounting period.

(i) where any part of the relevant amount relates to the relevant period, then that part of the relevant amount shall be taxable or deductible, as the case may be, for the relevant period, (ii) where any part of the relevant amount relates to an accounting period which commenced on or after 1 January 2013, then the return and self assessment for that accounting period shall be amended in accordance with section 959V to correct that part of the relevant amount, and (iii) where any part of the relevant amount relates to an accounting period which commenced before 1 January 2013, then the return for that accounting period shall be amended to correct that part of the relevant amount and for this purpose section 959V shall apply to such an amendment as if— (I) subsections (2) and (4) of that section shall not apply, (II) references in that section to ‘return and self assessment’, ‘return and a self assessment’, ‘return and the self assessment’ and ‘return or self assessment’ were references to ‘return’, and (III) the reference in that section to section 959Z was a reference to section 956.”.

Amendment of section 135 of Principal Act (distributions: supplemental) 23. (1) Section 135 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (2)— “(2A) No consideration derived from any share capital or security of a company (being a close company within the meaning of section 430 and in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned company’) issued to another company (being a close company within the meaning of section 430 and in this subsection referred to as the ‘second-mentioned company’) in exchange for the issue of shares or securities by the second-mentioned company shall be regarded for the purposes of this Chapter as new consideration received by the second-mentioned company in so far as it exceeds any new consideration received by the first-mentioned company for the issue of the said share capital or security.”, and (b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3)— “(3A) Where a member of a company (being a close company within the meaning of section 430 and in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned company’), or a person connected with that member, enters into arrangements directly or indirectly with another company (being a close company within the meaning of section 430 and in this subsection referred to as the ‘second-mentioned company’), whereby a member (in this subsection referred to as the ‘disposing member’), of the first-mentioned company disposes of an interest in shares or securities of the first-mentioned company and the consideration for the acquisition of those shares or securities is paid or to be paid directly or indirectly out of the assets of the first-mentioned company, any amount received directly or indirectly by the disposing member from the second-mentioned company in respect of the disposal shall be treated for the purposes of this Chapter as a distribution made by the first-mentioned company to that member at the time of the payment by the second-mentioned company, and this subsection shall apply however many companies participate in the arrangements.”.

Charges on income for corporation tax purposes 24. (1) Part 8 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 243(8), by substituting “subsections (2A), (2B)” for “subsections (2A)”, (b) in section 247(1)(a) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “control”: “ ‘intermediate holding company’ means a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities and is, in relation to an investee company referred to in subsection (2)(a)(iv), a company through which the investee company holds stocks, shares or securities in a company referred to in subsection (2)(a)(i);”, (c) in section 247(2)— (i) by substituting the following for paragraph (a): “(a) in acquiring any part of the ordinary share capital of— (i) a company which exists wholly or mainly for the purpose of carrying on a trade or trades, (ii) a company whose income consists wholly or mainly of profits or gains chargeable under Case V of Schedule D, (iii) a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities directly in a company referred to in subparagraph (i), (iv) a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities of a company referred to in subparagraph (i) indirectly through an intermediate holding company or companies, or (v) a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities directly in a company referred to in subparagraph (ii),”, (ii) in paragraph (b)— (I) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “relate,” for “relate, or”, (II) in subparagraph (iii), by substituting “directly in a company” for “of a company”, and (III) by inserting the following after subparagraph (iii): “(iv) where the company is a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities of a company referred to in paragraph (a)(i) indirectly through an intermediate holding company or companies, for the purposes of acquiring and holding such stocks, shares or securities, or (v) where the company is a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities directly in a company referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), for the purposes of holding such stocks, shares or securities,”, (iii) in paragraph (ba)— (I) by substituting “in paragraph (a) (other than a company referred to in paragraph (a)(iv))” for “in paragraph (a)”, (II) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “relate,” for “relate, or”,

(III) in subparagraph (iii), by substituting “directly in a company” for “of a company”, and (IV) by inserting the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iii): “(iv) where the connected company is a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities directly in a company referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), for the purposes of holding such stocks, shares or securities,”, and (iv) by inserting the following after paragraph (ba): “(bb) in lending to a company referred to in paragraph (a)(iv) money which is on-lent by that company to a connected company and is used wholly and exclusively by that connected company— (i) where the connected company is a company referred to in paragraph (a)(iii), for the purposes of acquiring and holding any part of the ordinary share capital of a company referred to in paragraph (a)(i), or (ii) where the connected company is a company referred to in paragraph (a)(iv), for the purposes of acquiring and holding any part of the ordinary share capital of a company referred to in paragraph (a)(iii), or”, (d) in section 247(2A)— (i) in subparagraph (c), by substituting “directly or indirectly in a company” for “of a company” and by substituting “securities, or” for “securities.”, (ii) by inserting the following after subparagraph (c): “(d) where the company which uses the capital is a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities directly in a company referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) of subsection (2), for the purposes of holding such stocks, shares or securities.”, (e) in section 247, by inserting the following after subsection (2A): “(2B) Subsection (2)(a)(iv), (b)(iv) and (bb) shall apply only to a company, being a company whose business consists wholly or mainly of the holding of stocks, shares or securities of a company referred to in subsection (2)(a)(i) indirectly through an intermediate holding company or companies, where the company and each intermediate holding company exists for bona fide commercial reasons and not as part of a scheme or arrangement the purpose of which or one of the purposes of which is the avoidance of tax.”, (f) in section 247(3)(a), by inserting “or (2)(bb)” after “subsection (2)(ba)”, (g) in section 249(1)(a)(iii)(II), by inserting “or (2)(ac)” after “subsection (2)(aa)”, (h) in section 249(2)(aa)(i), by substituting “referred to in section 247(2)(a)(iii), (iv) or (v)” for “to which section 247(2)(a)(ii) applies”, and (i) in section 249(2), by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (ab):

“(ac) (i) Where the company concerned is a company referred to in section 247(2)(a)(iv), the investing company shall be deemed, subject to subparagraph (iii), to have recovered from the company concerned an amount equal to so much of any capital recovered by an intermediate holding company from another company where— (I) the company concerned owns directly or indirectly more than 50 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the intermediate holding company or both companies are under the control of the same person or persons, and (II) the intermediate holding company owns directly more than 50 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the other company or both companies are under the control of the same person or persons. (ii) Subparagraph (aa)(ii) shall apply with any necessary modifications for the purposes of determining whether an intermediate holding company has recovered capital from another company, as if in that provision ‘intermediate holding company’ were substituted for the ‘company concerned’. (iii) An investing company shall not be deemed by subparagraph (i) to have recovered capital where— (I) and to the extent that, any capital recovered by the intermediate holding company from another company is applied by the intermediate holding company in repaying any loan or advance made to it by the company concerned, (II) the amount of capital recovered by the intermediate holding company is applied in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b) of section 247(2), (III) the amount of capital recovered by the intermediate holding company is applied in the repayment of a loan to which section 247 applies, or (IV) an intermediate holding company (that is not a company to which subparagraph (i) or (ii) of section 247(2)(bb) applies) transfers all of its assets and liabilities to another intermediate holding company and— (A) the transfer is made in the course of the intermediate holding company being dissolved with or without going into liquidation, (B) the company concerned, being a company referred to in section 247(2)(a)(iv), continues to hold the same beneficial percentage of stocks, shares or securities of a company referred to in section 247(2)(a)(i) indirectly through one or more intermediate holding companies, and (C) the transfer is for bona fide commercial reasons and is not part of any scheme or arrangement the purpose of which, or one of the purposes of which, is the avoidance of tax. (iv) Paragraph (ab) shall apply with any necessary modifications to this paragraph as if references in that paragraph to the ‘company concerned’ were to ‘intermediate holding company’ and references to paragraph (aa) were to paragraph (ac).

(v) (I) This clause and clauses (II) and (III) shall apply where an investing company is deemed to have recovered an amount of capital under this paragraph or under paragraph (aa) and included within that capital is an amount or value which was, within a reasonable period of time previously and by reference to related transactions or events, an amount of capital deemed to have been recovered by the investing company under this paragraph (in clause (II) referred to as ‘capital previously recovered’). (II) An investing company may, upon giving notice in writing to the Revenue Commissioners, exclude capital previously recovered from an amount of capital it is deemed to have recovered under this paragraph or paragraph (aa). (III) An investing company is required to maintain and have available such records as may reasonably be required for the purposes of determining whether it meets the requirements of clause (I). (vi) Subparagraph (aa)(iii) shall apply with any necessary modifications for the purposes of subparagraph (i) as it applies in relation to subparagraph (aa)(i) as if the reference in that subparagraph to subparagraph (i) were a reference to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.”.

Amendment of section 291A of Principal Act (intangible assets) 25. (1) Section 291A of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (5), by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (b): “(c) Where the trade of a company consists wholly of the carrying on of relevant activities (within the meaning of paragraph (a)), then the trade shall, for the purposes of subsection (6), be treated as a relevant trade.”, and (b) in subsection (6)(a), by substituting “exceed 80 per cent of” for “exceed”.

Chapter 6

Capital Gains Tax Amendment of section 29 of Principal Act (persons chargeable) 26. (1) Section 29 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1A)(c)(i) by inserting “or other assets (apart from relevant assets)” after “money”.

Amendment of section 626B of Principal Act (exemption from tax in the case of gains on certain disposals of shares) 27. (1) Section 626B of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (3A): “(3B) (a) In this subsection— ‘arrangement’ includes any agreement, understanding, scheme, transaction or series of transactions; ‘relevant assets’ means the assets specified in subsection (3)(d). (b) In calculating the portion of the value of shares attributable directly or indirectly to relevant assets, account shall not be taken of any arrangement that— (i) involves a transfer of money or other assets (apart from relevant assets) from a person connected with the company in which those shares are held, (ii) is made before a disposal of relevant assets, and (iii) the main purpose or one of the main purposes of which is the avoidance of tax.”.

Amendment of section 980 of Principal Act (deduction from consideration on disposal of certain assets) 28. (1) Section 980 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (2): “(2A) (a) In this subsection— ‘arrangement’ includes any agreement, understanding, scheme, transaction or series of transactions; ‘relevant assets’ means assets specified in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c). (b) In calculating the portion of the value of shares attributable directly or indirectly to relevant assets for the purposes of subsection (2)(d), account shall not be taken of any arrangement that— (i) involves a transfer of money or other assets (apart from relevant assets) from a person connected with the company in which those shares are held, (ii) is made before a disposal of relevant assets, and (iii) the main purpose or one of the main purposes of which is the avoidance of tax.”.

Amendment of section 604B of Principal Act (relief for farm restructuring) 29. (1) Section 604B of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (3): “(3A) Where an individual is entitled to relief in respect of the whole or part of a gain under subsection (2) or (3), as the case may be, the individual shall furnish to the Revenue Commissioners, on a form provided for that purpose, the following information to enable the Revenue Commissioners to calculate the amount of the gain that would have arisen if the relief had not applied: (a) his or her name and address; (b) the consideration paid for the qualifying land, sold or exchanged by him or her, when that land was acquired by him or her; (c) the consideration received by him or her for the qualifying land on the sale of that land and the consideration paid by him or her for the other qualifying land purchased by him or her; (d) in the case of an exchange of qualifying land, the market value of the qualifying land conveyed or transferred by him or her for the purposes of the exchange and the market value of the other qualifying land received by him or her in exchange for that land; and (e) the incidental costs (within the meaning of section 552(2)) relating to the acquisition, sale or exchange of the qualifying land referred to in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d). (3B) For the purposes of subsection (3A)(b), the provisions of section 547(1) shall apply where the land was acquired otherwise than by means of a bargain made at arm’s length.”.

Amendment of Chapter 6 of Part 19 of Principal Act (transfers of business assets) 30. (1) Section 597AA of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (2)(b)— (i) in subparagraph (ii), by substituting “land,” for “land, or”, (ii) in subparagraph (iii), by substituting “chargeable gains,” for “chargeable gains.”, and (iii) by inserting the following subparagraphs after subparagraph (iii)— “(iv) subject to subsection (8), goodwill which is disposed of directly or indirectly to a company, where, immediately following the disposal, the individual is connected with the company, or (v) subject to subsection (8), shares or securities in a company which are disposed of directly or indirectly to another company, where, immediately following the disposal, the individual is connected with the first-mentioned company.”, and (b) by inserting the following subsections after subsection (5): “(6) Subject to section 600 and subsection (8), this section shall not apply to such portion of the chargeable gain or gains accruing in respect of a disposal or disposals by a relevant individual of chargeable business assets which form part of a transfer to which section 600 applies as bears the same proportion to the total of such gains as the value of the consideration received by the relevant individual out of the assets of the company in respect of the transfer bears to the value of the consideration received by the relevant individual other than by way of shares or securities in respect of such transfer.

Amendment of Part 20 of Principal Act (companies’ chargeable gains) 31. Part 20 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 616(1)(a) by substituting “sections 617(5), 621(1) and 623(7)” for “section 621(1)”, (b) in section 617 by inserting the following after subsection (4): “(5) For the purposes of this section, a ‘group of companies’ shall include only companies which, by virtue of the law of a relevant Member State or other territory with the government of which arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 826(1) have been made, are resident for the purposes of tax in such Member State or territory, as the case may be, and for this purpose ‘tax’, in relation to a relevant Member State or such territory, other than the State, means any tax imposed in the Member State or territory which corresponds to corporation tax in the State.”, and (c) in section 623 by inserting the following after subsection (6): “(7) For the purposes of this section, a ‘group of companies’ shall include only companies which, by virtue of the law of a relevant Member State or other territory with the government of which arrangements having the force of law by virtue of section 826(1) have been made, are resident for the purposes of tax in such Member State or territory, as the case may be, and for this purpose ‘tax’, in relation to a relevant Member State or such territory, other than the State, means any tax imposed in the Member State or territory which corresponds to corporation tax in the State.”.

Amendment of section 613 of Principal Act (miscellaneous exemptions for certain kinds of property) 32. (1) Section 613 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1) by inserting the following after paragraph (c): “(ca) any sum obtained by means of compensation under the 2017 Voluntary Homeowners Relocation Scheme administered by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland under section 2 of the Commissioners of Public Works (Functions and Powers) Act 1996 ;”, and (b) in subsection (7) by inserting the following after paragraph (a): “(aa) No chargeable gain shall arise on a disposal of land (including a right of turbary) to the Minister referred to in paragraph (a) where that land has been acquired by that Minister for the purposes of granting a right of turbary to an individual who— (i) is entitled to compensation under the scheme referred to in paragraph (a), and (ii) enters into an agreement with that Minister in respect of that land (or any estate, right or interest in or over that land).”.

Amendment of section 604A of Principal Act (relief for certain disposals of land or buildings) 33. (1) Section 604A of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (2)(b) by substituting “4 years” for “7 years”, (b) by inserting the following after subsection (2): “(2A) Where a person disposes of land or buildings to which this section applies during the period beginning 4 years after the date they were acquired and ending 7 years after that date, any gain on the disposal of such land or buildings shall not be a chargeable gain.”, (c) in subsection (3) by substituting “Without prejudice to subsection (2A), on” for “On”, and (d) in subsection (4)— (i) by substituting “subsection (2A) or (3)” for “subsection (3)”, (ii) in paragraph (a) by substituting “in the period from” for “in the period of 7 years from”, and (iii) in paragraph (b) by substituting “subsection (2A) or (3), as the case may be” for “subsection (3)”.

Amendment of section 598 of Principal Act (disposals of business or farm on “retirement”) 34. (1) Section 598 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (2): “(2A) (a) In this subsection ‘solar panel’ means ground-mounted equipment used to capture solar energy and convert it into electrical energy, together with ancillary equipment used to harness, store and transfer the electrical energy. (b) Notwithstanding that solar panels are installed on land which is suitable for farming purposes, the land shall be treated as a qualifying asset for the purposes of subsection (2) where the area of the land on which the solar panels are installed does not exceed half the total area of the land concerned.”.

PART 2

Excise

Chapter 1

Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax Interpretation (Chapter 1) 35. In this Chapter and in Schedule 4— “accounting period” means a period of 2 calendar months or such other period as the Commissioners may prescribe for the purposes of payment and returns under section 39 ; “added sugar” means— (a) sugar, or (b) substances containing sugar, except for juices, that is or are combined with other ingredients in the production or manufacture of prepacked ready to consume sugar sweetened drinks or prepacked concentrated sugar sweetened drinks; “CN Code” means a Community subdivision to the combined nomenclature of the European Communities referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2658/87 of 23 July 198715 as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1821/2016 of 6 October 2016 16 ; “Commissioners” means the Revenue Commissioners; “concentrated” means a prepacked liquid or solid that requires preparation before consumption as a beverage; “exporter” means a person who supplies sugar sweetened drinks on a commercial basis outside the State where the sugar sweetened drinks have been acquired in the State by that person; “food information” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 17 on the provision of food information to consumers; “food supplement” has the meaning assigned to it by the European Communities (Food Supplements) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 506 of 2007 ); “first supplied”, where express provision is not made in this behalf, means the first time a supply is made within the State by a supplier; “juice” means any fruit or vegetable juice falling within CN Code heading 2009 that does not contain added sugar; “label” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers; “officer” means an officer of the Commissioners; “prepacked” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers; “preparation” means the addition of water, ice or carbon dioxide, or any combination of these substances, in a manner detailed on the label, packaging or accompanying documentation of the sugar sweetened drink, to give rise to a beverage that is ready to consume; “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners under section 45 ; “ready to consume” means intended for direct consumption by a consumer; “related company” has the meaning assigned to it by the Companies Act 2014 ; “sugar” has the meaning assigned to it by Annex 1 of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers;

“sugar content” means the number of grams of sugar per 100 millilitres of sugar sweetened drink in ready to consume form; “sugar sweetened drink” means— (a) a prepacked, ready to consume beverage, containing added sugar and which falls within CN Code headings 2009 and 2202 except for beverages falling within CN Code subheadings 2202 91 00, 2202 99 11, 2202 99 15, 2202 99 91, 2202 99 95, 2202 99 99 and alcohol free wines falling within CN Code subheading 2202 99 19, other than— (i) food supplements, or (ii) products exempted by the European Union (Provision of Food Information to Consumers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2016 ( S.I. No. 559 of 2016 ) from requirements to provide specific food information on labels, packaging or accompanying documentation, (b) a prepacked, concentrated substance in liquid or solid form, containing added sugar, which requires preparation before consumption by the final consumer and which, after such preparation, has the same characteristics as beverages referred to in paragraph (a), other than— (i) food supplements, or (ii) products exempted by the European Union (Provision of Food Information to Consumers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2016 ( S.I. No. 559 of 2016 ) from requirements to provide specific food information on labels, packaging or accompanying documentation, or (c) a beverage prepared from a substance referred to in paragraph (b) and which is ready to consume; “supplier” means— (a) except where paragraph (b) applies, a taxable person within the meaning of section 2 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 , or (b) an accountable person for the purposes of Part 2 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 , who supplies sugar sweetened drinks; “supply” means the supply of a quantity of sugar sweetened drink to another person, other than— (a) the supply or self-supply of a beverage prepared from a prepacked concentrated sugar sweetened drink for private domestic use, (b) the supply of sugar sweetened drinks between related companies, or (c) the supply of a beverage prepared from a prepacked concentrated sugar sweetened drink which has already been supplied in the State; “tax” means sugar sweetened drinks tax within the meaning of section 36 .

Charging and rates of sugar sweetened drinks tax 36. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and any regulations made under it, a duty of excise, to be known as sugar sweetened drinks tax, shall be charged, levied and paid at the rates specified in Schedule 4 on each sugar sweetened drink, with a sugar content of 5 grams or more per 100 millilitres, supplied in the State by a supplier.

Liability to pay sugar sweetened drinks tax 37. Tax shall be charged at the time the sugar sweetened drink is first supplied in the State by a supplier and that supplier shall be accountable for and liable to pay the tax charged.

Registration of sugar sweetened drinks suppliers and exporters 38. (1) Before making a supply of a sugar sweetened drink, being the first supply of the sugar sweetened drink by the supplier, a supplier shall (if not already so registered) register with the Commissioners in accordance with such procedures as the Commissioners may prescribe or otherwise require.

Returns and payment by sugar sweetened drinks suppliers 39. (1) For the purposes of section 37 , a supplier shall within one month after the end of an accounting period, in respect of the sugar sweetened drinks supplied in that accounting period, furnish to an officer a return in such form as the Commissioners may require showing— (a) the quantity of ready to consume sugar sweetened drinks supplied by the supplier in that period, and (b) the quantity of ready to consume beverages that would result from the preparation of the quantity of concentrated sugar sweetened drinks supplied by the supplier in that period.

Relief from sugar sweetened drinks tax for supplies made outside the State 40. Subject to such conditions as the Commissioners may prescribe or otherwise impose, a full relief from the tax shall be granted to a registered exporter in respect of any sugar sweetened drinks that are shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to have been supplied outside the State by that registered exporter.

Returned sugar sweetened drinks 41. Subject to such conditions as the Commissioners may prescribe or otherwise impose, a repayment of tax may be granted in respect of any sugar sweetened drinks, for which tax has been paid, that are shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to have been returned to the liable supplier.

Repayments of sugar sweetened drinks tax 42. (1) Where a supply qualifies under sections 40 and 41 a repayment of that tax shall be made to the relevant person.

Records 43. Every supplier and exporter of sugar sweetened drinks shall maintain such records for such periods as the Commissioners may prescribe and shall produce those records for inspection to a Revenue officer where the officer so requests.

Offence and penalty (Chapter 1) 44. (1) It is an offence under this subsection for any person to contravene or fail to comply with any provision of this Chapter, or any regulation made under section 45 , or any condition imposed under this Chapter, or under such regulation in relation to such provision.

Regulations (Chapter 1) 45. The Commissioners may, for the purposes of managing, securing and collecting the tax, or for the protection of the revenue derived from it, make regulations.

Care and management (Chapter 1) 46. The tax imposed by this Chapter is placed under the care and management of the Commissioners.

Commencement (Chapter 1) 47. This Chapter comes into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.

Chapter 2

Miscellaneous Amendment of Chapter 4 of Part 2 of Finance Act 2001 (powers of officers) 48. Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2001 is amended in section 138 by substituting the following for subsection (2): “(2) For the purposes of paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1), a receptacle includes, but is not limited to, a bag, parcel, carton, item of luggage, container or other thing that may be used in the storage or transport of a good but does not include any article of clothing worn by the person concerned.”.

Rates of tobacco products tax 49. The Finance Act 2005 is amended with effect as on and from 11 October 2017 by substituting the following for Schedule 2 (as amended by section 36 of the Finance Act 2016 (No. 18 of 2016)) to that Act: “SCHEDULE 2 Rates of Tobacco Products Tax (With effect as on and from 11 October 2017) Description of Product Rate of Tax Cigarettes .... .... .... ....

Rate of tax at— (a) except where paragraph (b) applies, €309. 04 per thousand together with an amount equal to 9. 04 per cent of the price at which the cigarettes are sold by retail, or (b) €344. 07 per thousand in respect of cigarettes sold by retail where the rate of tax would be less than that rate had the rate been calculated in accordance with paragraph (a).

Cigars .... .... .... ....

Rate of tax at €355. 238 per kilogram.

Fine-cut tobacco for the rolling of cigarettes .... .... .... ....

Rate of tax at €335.342 per kilogram.

Other smoking tobacco.... ....

Rate of tax at €246.449 per kilogram. ”.

Amendment of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Finance Act 2002 (consolidation and modernisation of betting duties law) 50. Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2002 is amended— (a) in section 64, by inserting the following after the definition of “remote bookmaker’s licence”: “ ‘remote means’ has the same meaning as it has in section 1 of the Betting Act 1931 ;”, and (b) in section 68(1)(b), by substituting “remote means” for “any means of telecommunications”.

Amendment of section 137A of Finance Act 2001 (substitute fuels) 51. Section 137A of the Finance Act 2001 is amended in subsection (4)(b) by inserting “or an additive” after “fuel”.

Amendment of section 99A of Finance Act 1999 (relief for qualifying road transport operators) 52. Section 99A(5) of the Finance Act 1999 is amended— (a) in paragraph (b) by substituting “obligations,” for “obligations, or,”, (b) in paragraph (c) by substituting “obligations, or” for “obligations.”, and (c) by inserting the following after paragraph (c): “(d) the qualifying road transport operator is regarded as an undertaking in difficulty for the purposes of the Commission Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty 18 .”.

Amendment of section 130 of Finance Act 1992 (interpretation) 53. (1)

Section 130

of the Finance Act 1992 is amended— (a) by substituting the following for the definition of “category A vehicle”: “ ‘category A vehicle’ means— (a) a category M1 vehicle, or (b) a category N1 vehicle, that has 4 or more seats and to which a BE bodywork code has not been assigned;”, (b) by substituting the following for the definition of “category B vehicle”: “ ‘category B vehicle’ means— (a) a category N1 vehicle that has 3 seats or less, (b) a category N1 vehicle to which a BE bodywork code has been assigned, or (c) a motor caravan;”, and (c) by inserting the following definition: “ ‘BE bodywork code’ means a bodywork code assigned to a vehicle at type approval stage where— (a) the vehicle has a maximum mass not exceeding 3,500 kilograms, and (b) the seating positions and the cargo area of the vehicle are not located in a single compartment;”.

Amendment of section 135D of Finance Act 1992 (repayment of amounts of vehicle registration tax on export of certain vehicles) 54. Section 135D of the Finance Act 1992 is amended in subsection (2) by— (a) deleting “and” in paragraph (a), (b) substituting “section 141, and” for “section 141.” in paragraph (b), and (c) inserting the following after paragraph (b): “(c) notwithstanding paragraph (a), not exceed the amount of vehicle registration tax paid on the registration of the vehicle under section 131.”.

PART 3

Value-Added Tax Interpretation (Part 3) 55. In this Part “Principal Act” means the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 .

Amendment of Schedule 3 to Principal Act (goods and services chargeable at the reduced rate) 56. Schedule 3 to the Principal Act is amended in paragraph 21, with effect from 1 January 2018, by substituting the following for subparagraph (1):