Finance Act , 1955

PART I. Income Tax.

1 Income tax and sur-tax for the year 195556.

1.—(1) Income tax shall be charged for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1955, at the rate of seven shillings and sixpence in the pound.

(2) Sur-tax for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1955, shall be charged in respect of the income of any individual the total of which from all sources exceeds one thousand five hundred pounds and shall be so charged at the same rates as those at which it is charged for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1954.

(3) The several statutory and other provisions which were in force on the 5th day of April, 1955, in relation to income tax and sur-tax shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have effect in relation to the income tax and sur-tax to be charged as aforesaid for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1955.

2 Increase of deductions in respect of children and of limit of income of child.

2.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 21 of the Finance Act, 1920, as amended by subsequent enactments, is hereby further amended by the substitution of “a deduction of one hundred pounds” for “a deduction of eighty-five pounds” (inserted by section 4 of the Finance Act, 1954 (No. 22 of 1954)).

(2) Subsection (3) of section 21 of the Finance Act, 1920, is hereby amended by the substitution of “sixty pounds a year” for “forty pounds a year”.

3 Amendment as to exemption from income tax of profits of trades carried on by charities.

3.—Subsection (1) of section 30 of the Finance Act, 1921, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) from income tax under Schedule D in respect of the profits of a trade carried on by any charity, if the profits are applied solely to the purposes of the charity and either—

(i) the trade is exercised in the course of the actual carrying out of a primary purpose of the charity, or

(ii) the work in connection with the trade is mainly carried on by beneficiaries of the charity.”

4 Relief in respect of payments for insurance against expenses of sickness.

4.—(1) If an individual makes a claim in that behalf in the manner prescribed by the Income Tax Acts, makes a return in the prescribed form of the total income of the individual and proves that, in the year preceding the year of assessment, the individual, or, if the individual is a married man, his wife, has made a payment to an authorised insurer under a contract of insurance which provides specifically, whether in conjunction with other benefits or not, for the reimbursement or discharge, in whole or in part, of actual medical, surgical or nursing expenses (including the cost of maintenance at a hospital, nursing home or sanatorium) resulting from sickness of or accident to the individual or the spouse of the individual or children or other dependants of the individual or of the spouse of the individual, then—

(a) where the payment covers no benefits other than such reimbursement or discharge, the full amount of the payment shall be deducted from or set off against any income for the year of assessment of the individual, if the individual made the payment, or of the wife of the individual, if she made the payment, and

(b) where the payment covers benefits other than such reimbursement or discharge, a like relief shall be granted in respect of so much of the payment as is referable to such reimbursement or discharge,

and tax shall, where necessary, be discharged or repaid accordingly and the total income of the individual for the year of assessment shall be calculated accordingly for all the purposes of the Income Tax Acts.

(2) Where an amount for deduction from or set off against income of one of the spouses is ascertained in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, then—

(a) if there is no income of the spouse for the year of assessment in relation to which relief under the said subsection can be given, the relief may be given in relation to income of the other spouse for that year, and

(b) if the amount ascertained as aforesaid exceeds the income of the spouse for the year of assessment, the excess may be deducted from or set off against any income of the other spouse for that year.

(3) Where relief is given under this section, no relief or deduction under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts shall be given or allowed in respect of the payment or part of a payment (as the case may be).

(4) All such provisions of the Income Tax Acts as apply in relation to allowances or deductions within the meaning of the Third Schedule to the Finance Act, 1920, shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to relief under this section.

(5) In this section—

“authorised insurer” means any person lawfully carrying on in the State such business of insurance as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section;

“total income” means total income from all sources as estimated in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Acts.

5 Payment of interest on stock of council of county, corporation of county or other borough or council of urban district.

5.—(1) Any stock under section 87 of the Local Government Act, 1946 (No. 24 of 1946), issued after the passing of this Act shall be deemed to be securities issued under the authority of the Minister for Finance within the meaning of section 2 of the Finance Act, 1924 (No. 27 of 1924), and that section shall apply accordingly.

(2) (a) Rule 6 of the Miscellaneous Rules applicable to Schedule D of the Income Tax Act, 1918, and Rules 19 and 21 of the General Rules applicable to Schedules A, B, C, D and E of that Act shall not apply to interest (in this subsection referred to as the said interest) which, by direction of the Minister for Finance given under section 2 of the Finance Act, 1924, as applied by this section, is paid without deduction of tax.

(b) Where paragraph (a) of this subsection applies in relation to the council of a county, corporation of a county or other borough or council of an urban district (in this paragraph referred to as the local authority), the total tax payable by the local authority, by deduction or otherwise, for any year of assessment shall not exceed a sum to be ascertained by first computing the total tax which, but for this section, would have been payable by the local authority, by deduction or otherwise, for that year and then deducting therefrom a sum equal to tax on the amount of the said interest paid for that year by the local authority.

(3) There shall be added to Rule 1 of Case III of Schedule D of the Income Tax Act, 1918, the following clause, that is to say:

“(j) interest on stock under section 87 of the Local Government Act, 1946 (No. 24 of 1946), in cases where such interest is paid without deduction of tax.”

PART II. Customs and Excise.

6 Increase of rebate on beer brewed from home malted cereals.

6.—Section 41 of the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932), as amended by section 15 of the Finance Act, 1940 (No. 14 of 1940), and by section 11 of the Finance Act, 1952 (No. 14 of 1952), shall have effect in relation to beer brewed in the year beginning on the 1st day of July, 1954, and in relation to beer brewed in any year beginning on any subsequent 1st day of July as if the reference now contained in that section, as so amended, to a rate of one pound ten shillings per standard barrel were a reference to a rate of two pounds per standard barrel.

7 Entertainments duty—entertainment in patent theatre consisting partly of cinematographic exhibition and partly of personal performance.

7.—Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 10 of the Finance Act, 1948 (No. 12 of 1948), is hereby amended, as respects entertainments held on or after the 1st day of August, 1955, by the substitution of “not less than twenty-five per cent.” for “not less than thirty-five per cent.”.

8 Termination of customs duty on galvanized corrugated iron or steel.

8.—The duty of customs on galvanized corrugated iron or steel imposed by section 11 of the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932), and reference number 30 in the First Schedule to that Act, as amended by the Emergency Imposition of Duties (No. 223) Order, 1941 (S. R. & O., No. 464 of 1941), shall not be charged or levied on any articles imported on or after the 1st day of September, 1955.

9 Amendment of Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952.

9.—(1) In this section “the Act” means the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 (No. 24 of 1952).

(2) Subparagraph (c) of paragraph 4 of Part I of the Schedule to the Act is hereby amended by the addition thereto of the following provision:

“Where a tractor is fitted with a detachable platform, container or implement (being a platform, container or implement used primarily for farm work), goods or burden of any other description conveyed on or in the platform, container or implement shall be regarded for the purposes of this subparagraph as being hauled by the tractor.”

(3) Paragraph 3 of Part II of the Schedule to the Act is hereby amended as follows:

(a) the reference to subparagraph (c) of paragraph 4 of Part I of the Schedule to the Act shall be construed as including a reference to that subparagraph as amended by subsection (2) of this section, and

(b) the following clause shall be added to subparagraph (a):

“(iii) for the haulage for another farmer for reward of—

(I) milk being hauled to a creamery or cream-separating station, or

(II) separated milk being hauled from a creamery or cream-separating station, or

(III) milk containers being hauled to or from a creamery or cream-separating station, or”.

(4) Where a licence under section 1 of the Act is in force and the duty was paid in accordance with subparagraph (c) of paragraph 4 of Part I of the Schedule to the Act as originally enacted or in accordance with that paragraph with the provision added thereto by subsection (2) of this section, section 2 of the Act shall not apply in relation to the tractor on account merely of a conveyance such as is referred to in the provision added as aforesaid.

(5) If this Act is passed before or on the 1st day of July, 1955, subsections (1) to (4) of this section shall come into operation on that day and, if it is passed after that day, they shall be deemed to have come into operation on that day.

(6) The appropriate repayments shall be made having regard to the foregoing provisions of this section and the repayments shall be made in accordance with such directions as may be given by the Minister for Local Government.

PART III. Death Duties.

10 Confirmation of Agreement set forth in First Schedule.

10.—(1) The agreement set forth in the First Schedule to this Act and concluded on the 28th day of October, 1954, between the Government and the Government of Canada (in this section referred to as the Agreement) is hereby confirmed and shall have the force of law.

(2) Subsection (4) of section 7 of the Finance Act, 1894 (which provides for relief in respect of duty payable in a foreign country) shall not have effect in relation to succession duty chargeable under the laws of Canada to which the provisions of the Agreement apply.

11 Certificate—prospective amount of estate duty.

11.—Where—

(a) the trustees of a settlement may become accountable for estate duty payable by virtue of section 30 of the Finance Act, 1941 (No. 14 of 1941), in respect of any property, and

(b) it is intended that the property or any part thereof shall cease to be comprised in the settlement,

then, if the trustees obtain from the Revenue Commissioners a certificate of the amount which in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners may properly be treated as the prospective amount of the duty, and give the Revenue Commissioners all the information and evidence required by the Revenue Commissioners in connection with the application for the certificate, no person shall be accountable as trustee of the settlement, for the duty to which the certificate relates, to an amount in excess of the amount certified.

12 Aggregation of certain policies of assurance, etc.

12.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 4 of the Finance Act, 1894, where the property which passes on a death, but in which the deceased never had an interest, includes any policies of assurance on his life, or moneys received under such a policy, or interests in such a policy or moneys, all the policies, moneys and interests so included (except any in respect of which estate duty neither is payable on the death nor would be if the duty were payable on estates of however small a principal value) shall, for determining the rate of estate duty to be paid thereon, be aggregated so as to form one estate, and the duty shall be levied at the proper graduated rate on the principal value thereof.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall have effect in relation to any death occurring on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

13 Aggregation where property of the deceased does not exceed ten thousand pounds.

13.—(1) In this section—

“the property of the deceased” means property in respect of which estate duty is payable in connection with the death of the deceased and which is—

(a) property to which the deceased was absolutely entitled, or of which he was competent to dispose, at the time of his death, or

(b) property which passes on his death within the meaning of the enactments relating to estate duty under a disposition made by him, or made, directly or indirectly, on his behalf or at his expense or out of funds provided by him, or made by him in the exercise of a general power of appointment, or

(c) property which by virtue of section 23 of the Finance Act, 1940 (No. 14 of 1940), or section 20 of the Finance Act, 1949 (No. 13 of 1949), is deemed to be included in the property passing on the death of the deceased;

“the other property” means the property in respect of which estate duty is payable in connection with the death of the deceased, but which is not the property of the deceased.

(2) (a) Where the net value of the property of the deceased does not exceed ten thousand pounds; that property shall not be aggregated with the other property, but shall form an estate by itself.

(b) Where the net value of the property of the deceased exceeds ten thousand pounds, the amount of estate duty payable in respect of it shall not exceed the amount of estate duty that would be payable if the net value of it were ten thousand pounds, together with the amount by which the net value of the said property exceeds ten thousand pounds.

(3) Where the net value of the property of the deceased exceeds ten thousand pounds, any reduction under subsection (1) of section 13 of the Finance Act, 1914, of the estate duty payable in respect of the other property shall, in a case in which the estate duty payable in respect of the property of the deceased is reduced in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, be calculated as if the estate duty payable in respect of the property of the deceased were not reduced in accordance with that paragraph.

(4) This section shall have effect in relation to any death occurring on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

PART IV. Relief of Double Taxation: Income Tax, Sur-tax and Corporation Profits Tax.

14 Confirmation of Agreement set forth in Second Schedule.

14.—(1) The agreement set forth in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Act and concluded on the 28th day of October, 1954, between the Government and the Government of Canada (in this section referred to as the Agreement) is hereby confirmed and shall have the force of law.

(2) For the purpose of giving effect to the Agreement, the provisions set forth in Part II of the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect.

(3) The necessary apportionments shall be made for the purpose of giving effect to the terms of the Agreement as respects corporation profits tax in the case of accounting periods beginning before the 1st day of April in the year in which the Agreement first has effect and ending on or after that date, and any such apportionment shall be made in proportion to the number of months or fractions of months in the part of the relevant accounting period before the said 1st day of April and in the remaining part of the said relevant accounting period respectively.

(4) The Revenue Commissioners may from time to time make regulations in relation to the granting of the reliefs specified in the Agreement and may, in particular, by those regulations provide—

(a) for securing that no such reliefs from taxation imposed by the laws of Canada as are provided for in the Agreement shall enure to the benefit of persons not entitled thereto, and

(b) for authorising, in cases where tax deductible from any periodical payment has, in order to comply with the terms of the Agreement, not been deducted and it is discovered that the Agreement does not apply to that payment, the recovery of the tax by assessment on the person entitled to the payment or by deduction from subsequent payments.

15 Construction of this Part of this Act.

15.—This Part of this Act and the Second Schedule to this Act shall, so far as they relate to income tax (including sur-tax), be read and construed together with the Income Tax Acts and shall, so far as they relate to corporation profits tax, be read and construed together with Part V of the Finance Act, 1920, as amended or extended by subsequent enactments.

PART V. Stamp Duties.

16 Termination of stamp duty on yearly certificates of notaries public.

16.—(1) The stamp duty chargeable, by virtue of section 1 of the Stamp Act, 1891, on the certificate to be taken out yearly by a notary public (being an instrument specified in the First Schedule to that Act) shall cease to be payable.

(2) Where, on or after the 26th day of March, 1955, any notary public has taken out a duly stamped certificate, he shall, on making a claim in that behalf, be entitled to a refund of duty equal in amount to the amount arrived at by applying, to the amount of duty paid in respect of the certificate, the fraction specified in subsection (3) of this section.

(3) The fraction referred to in subsection (2) of this section is the fraction the numerator of which is the number of the days in the period beginning on the day of the passing of this Act and ending on the 25th day of March, 1956, and the denominator of which is 366.

17 Credit-sale agreements.

17.—As respects any credit-sale agreement within the meaning of the Hire-Purchase Act, 1946 (No. 16 of 1946), or any instrument (other than such a credit-sale agreement) which is an agreement, or a memorandum of an agreement, made for or relating to the sale of any goods, wares or merchandise—