Value-Added Tax Act , 1972

1 Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—

“accountable person” means a person who is an accountable person in accordance with section 8.

“Appeal Commissioners” means persons appointed in accordance with section 156 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, to be Appeal Commissioners for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts;

“body of persons” means any body politic, corporate, or collegiate, and any company, partnership, fraternity, fellowship and society of persons, whether corporate or not corporate;

“business” includes farming, the promotion of dances and any trade, commerce, manufacture, or any venture or concern in the nature of trade, commerce or manufacture, and any profession or vocation, whether for profit or otherwise;

“Collector-General” means the Collector-General appointed under section 162 of the Income Tax Act, 1967;

“the customs-free airport” means the land which under the Customs-free Airport Act, 1947, for the time being constitutes the Customs-free airport;

“development”, in relation to any land, means—

(a) the construction, demolition, extension, alteration or reconstruction of any building on the land, or

(b) the carrying out of any engineering or other operation in, on, over or under the land to adapt it for materially altered use,

and “developed” shall be construed correspondingly;

“established” means having a permanent establishment;

“exempted activity” means—

(a) a delivery of immovable goods in respect of which pursuant to section 4 (6) tax is not chargeable, and

(b) a delivery of any goods or a rendering of any service of a kind specified in the First Schedule or declared by the Minister by order for the time being in force under section 6 to be an exempted activity;

“goods” means all movable and immovable objects, but does not include things in action or money and references to goods include references to both new and second-hand goods;

“harbour authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Harbours Act, 1946;

“hire”, in relation to movable goods, includes a letting on any terms including a leasing;

“hotel” includes any guest house, holiday hostel, holiday camp, motor hotel, motel, coach hotel, motor inn, motor court, tourist court, caravan park or camping site;

“immovable goods” means land;

“inspector of taxes” means an inspector of taxes appointed under section 161 of the Income Tax Act, 1967;

“livestock” means live cattle, sheep, pigs and horses;

“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 (2) of the Local Government Act, 1941, and includes a health board established under the Health Act, 1970;

“manufacturer” means a person who carries on in the State a business of making or assembling goods;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

“movable goods” means goods other than immovable goods;

“permanent establishment” means any fixed place of business, but does not include a place of business of an agent of a person unless the agent has and habitually exercises general authority to negotiate the terms of and make agreements on behalf of the person or has a stock of goods with which he regularly fulfils on behalf of the person agreements for the supply of goods;

“registered person” means a person who is registered in the register maintained under section 9;

“regulations” means regulations under section 32;

“rendering”, in relation to a service, has the meaning assigned to it by section 5;

“residing”, in relation to an individual, means resident for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts;

“second-hand”, in relation to goods, means goods which have been used and are not new;

“secretary” includes such persons as are mentioned in section 207 (2) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, and section 55 (1) of the Finance Act, 1920;

“the specified day” means the day appointed by the Minister by order to be the specified day for the purposes of this Act;

“tax” means value-added tax chargeable by virtue of this Act;

“taxable goods”, in relation to any delivery or importation, means goods the delivery of which is not an exempted activity;

“taxable period” means a period of two months beginning on the first day of January, March, May, July, September or November;

“taxable services” means services the rendering of which is not an exempted activity.

(2) In this Act references to moneys received by a person include references to—

(a) money lodged or credited to the account of the person in any bank, savings bank, building society, hire purchase finance concern or similar financial concern, and

(b) money, other than money referred to in paragraph (a), which, under an agreement, other than an agreement providing for discount or a price adjustment made in the ordinary course of business or an arrangement with creditors, has ceased to be due to the person,

and money lodged or credited to the account of a person as aforesaid shall be deemed to have been received by the person on the date of the making of the lodgment or credit and money which has ceased to be due to a person as aforesaid shall be deemed to have been received by the person on the date of the cesser.

(3) Any reference in this Act to any other enactment shall, except so far as the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by any subsequent enactment.

(4) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a section or Schedule is to a section or Schedule of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended, and

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision (including a Schedule) in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

2 Charge of value-added tax.

2.—(1) With effect on and from the specified day a tax, to be called value-added tax, shall, subject to this Act and regulations, be charged, levied and paid—

(a) on the delivery of goods and the rendering of services delivered or rendered by an accountable person in the course of business, and

(b) on goods imported into the State.

(2) In the case of a person authorised in accordance with section 14 to treat the moneys which he has received for the rendering of taxable services or for the delivery of taxable goods and the rendering of taxable services (if any) as the consideration in respect of any such rendering or delivery, subsection (1) shall apply, in relation to any rendering of services or any delivery of goods and rendering of services in respect of which he is so authorised, as if references in that subsection to the delivery of goods or the rendering of services were references to the receipt of moneys in respect of such delivery or rendering, whether the delivery or rendering was or is made or effected before, on or after the said specified day.

3 Delivery of goods.

3.—(1) In this Act “delivery”, in relation to goods, shall include—

(a) the transfer of ownership of the goods by agreement,

(b) the handing over of the goods to a person pursuant to an agreement which provides for the renting of the goods for a certain period subject to a condition that ownership of the goods shall be transferred to the person on a date not later than the date of payment of the final sum under the agreement,

(c) the handing over by a person (in this paragraph referred to as the contractor) to another person of the goods, being goods which he has developed, constructed, manufactured, produced or extracted from goods entrusted to him by that other person for the purpose of any of those operations, whether or not the contractor has supplied a part of the goods used,

(d) the transfer of ownership of the goods pursuant to—

(i) their acquisition, otherwise than by agreement, by or on behalf of the State or a local authority, or

(ii) their seizure by any person acting under statutory authority,

(e) the use by an accountable person for the purposes of his business, other than as stock-in-trade (within the meaning of section 34) of the goods, being goods developed, constructed, manufactured, produced, extracted or imported by him or by another person on his behalf, and

(f) the appropriation by an accountable person for any purpose other than the purpose of his business of the goods, being goods which were delivered to him, or which were developed, constructed, manufactured, produced, extracted or imported by him in the course of business,

and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.

(2) If three or more persons enter into agreements concerning the same goods and fulfil those agreements by a direct delivery of the goods by the first person in the chain of sellers and buyers to the last buyer, then the delivery to such last buyer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute a simultaneous delivery by each seller in the chain.

(3) The sale by auction of goods, being vegetables, fruit, flowers, poultry, eggs or fish shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute a delivery of the goods to and simultaneously by the auctioneer.

(4) The sale of goods through a person (in this subsection referred to as the agent) who, while purporting to act on his own behalf, concludes agreements in his own name but on the instructions of and for the account of another person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute a delivery of the goods to and simultaneously by the agent.

(5) (a) The transfer of ownership of goods pursuant to a contract of the kind referred to in subsection (1) (b) shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be a delivery of the goods.

(b) The transfer of ownership of goods—

(i) as security for a loan or debt, or

(ii) where the goods are held as security for a loan or debt, upon repayment of the loan or debt, or

(iii) in connection with the transfer of a business or part thereof to another accountable person,

shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be a delivery of the goods unless the goods are goods of a kind specified in the Fourth Schedule and the delivery of the goods is one in relation to which tax at the rate of 3026 per cent. is chargeable.

(6) The place where goods are delivered shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be—

(a) in case the delivery of the goods requires their transportation, the place where the transportation begins, and

(b) in any other case, the place where the goods are located at the time of the delivery.

4 Special provisions in relation to the delivery of immovable goods.

4.—(1) (a) This section applies to immovable goods—

(i) which have been developed by or on behalf of the person delivering them, or

(ii) in respect of which the person delivering them was, or would, but for the operation of section 3 (5) (b) (iii), have been at any time entitled to claim a deduction under section 12 for any tax borne or paid in relation to a delivery or development of them.

(b) In this section “interest”, in relation to immovable goods, means an estate or interest therein which, when it was created, was for a period of at least ten years but does not include a mortgage, and a reference to the disposal of an interest includes a reference to the creation of an interest.

(2) Subject to section 2 (2), paragraphs (c), (d), (e) and (f) of section 3 (1), section 19 (2) and subsections (3), (4) and (5), a delivery of immovable goods shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to take place if, but only if, a person having an interest in immovable goods to which this section applies disposes, as regards the whole or any part of those goods, of that interest or of an interest which derives therefrom.

(3) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), where a person having an interest in immovable goods to which this section applies surrenders possession of those goods or of any part thereof in such circumstances that the surrender does not constitute a delivery of the goods for the purposes of subsection (2), the surrender shall be deemed, for the purposes of section 3 (1) (f), to be an appropriation of the goods or of the part thereof, as the case may be, for a purpose other than the purpose of his business.

(b) This subsection shall not apply to—

(i) any such surrender of possession made in accordance with an agreement for the leasing or letting of the goods if the person surrendering possession is chargeable to tax in respect of the rent or other payment under the agreement, or

(ii) a surrender in connection with a transfer which, in accordance with section 3 (5), is declared, for the purposes of this Act, not to be a delivery.

(4) Where a person having an interest in immovable goods to which this section applies disposes, as regards the whole or any part of those goods, of an interest which derives from that interest in such circumstances that he retains the reversion on the interest disposed of he shall, in relation to the reversion so retained, be deemed, for the purposes of section 3 (1) (f), to have made an appropriation of the goods or of the part thereof, as the case may be, for a purpose other than the purpose of his business.

(5) Where an accountable person disposes of an interest in immovable goods to which this section applies or carries out any development in relation to such immovable goods and in connection with that disposal or carrying out of development some other person who would not, apart from this subsection, be regarded as an accountable person, disposes of an interest in relation to the goods concerned—

(a) that other person shall, in relation to the disposal by him, be deemed to be an accountable person, and

(b) the disposal shall be deemed to be a delivery, made in the course of business, of goods which that other person has developed.

(6) Notwithstanding anything in this section or in section 2 tax shall not be charged on the delivery of immovable goods—

(a) in relation to which a right in favour of the person making the delivery to a deduction under section 12 in respect of any tax borne or paid on the delivery or development of the goods did not arise and would not, apart from section 3 (5) (b) (iii), have arisen, or

(b) which had been occupied before the specified day and had not been developed between that date and the date of the delivery.

(7) The provisions of section 8 (3) shall not apply in relation to a person who makes a delivery of goods to which this section applies.

5 Rendering of services.

5.—(1) In this Act the “rendering”, in relation to a service, means the performance or omission of any act or the toleration of any situation, other than the delivery of goods.

(2) The rendering of a service by a person for the purposes of any business activity in which he engages shall, subject to regulations, be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be the rendering of a service in the course of business.

(3) The place where a service is rendered shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be the place where the act is performed or the situation is tolerated or, in the case of the omission of an act, the place where the person responsible for the omission resides or is established:

Provided that in the case of a service rendered by a person who, by virtue of section 8 (8), is not an accountable person to an unregistered person residing or established within the State, the following provisions shall apply if the service is rendered for the purposes of any business activities of the unregistered person carried on within the State:

(a) the service shall be deemed to be rendered at the place where the person to whom it is rendered resides or is established, and

(b) the person to whom the service is rendered shall, in relation to the said service, be an accountable person and shall be accountable for and liable to pay the tax charged under section 2 (1) (a) in respect of such rendering.

(4) (a) A person who satisfies the Revenue Commissioners—

(i) that he is engaged in business,

(ii) that by virtue of section 8 (8) he is not an accountable person,

(iii) that he has suffered tax on services rendered to him within the State for the purposes of the said business, and

(iv) that the said services were not rendered to him in his capacity as agent for or otherwise on behalf of, and were not used by him in the course of rendering services to, another person residing or established within the State who, if the first-mentioned services had been rendered directly to that other person, would not be entitled to a deduction under section 12 in respect of the tax borne or paid in respect of them,

shall, subject to paragraph (b) and section 20, be entitled to be repaid the tax borne on the services.

(b) The provisions of section 12 (3) shall apply in relation to a computation under this section of the amount of tax repayable to a person as if the person were an accountable person and the computation related to a claim for a deduction under the said section 12.

(5) (a) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), where the value of movable goods supplied under an agreement for the rendering of services exceeds two-thirds of the total consideration under the agreement for the supply of those goods and the rendering of the services, other than transport services, in relation to them, such consideration shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be referable solely to the delivery of the goods and tax shall be charged at the appropriate rate or rates specified in section 11 on the basis of any apportionment of such total consideration made in accordance with paragraph (b).

(b) Where goods of different kinds are supplied under an agreement of the kind referred to in paragraph (a), the amount of the consideration referable to the delivery of goods of each kind shall be ascertained for the purposes of that paragraph by apportioning the total consideration in proportion to the value of the goods of each kind supplied under the agreement.

6 Exemptions.

6.—(1) Tax shall not be chargeable in respect of any exempted activity.

(2) (a) The Minister may by order declare the delivery of goods of any kind or the rendering of a service of any kind to be an exempted activity.

(b) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection, including an order under this paragraph.

(c) An order under this subsection shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next twenty-one days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

7 Waiver of exemption.