Finance Act , 1975

PART I Income Tax, Sur-tax and Corporation Profits Tax

Chapter I Income Tax

1 Amendment of section 142 of Income Tax Act, 1967.

1.—Section 142 (1) (as amended by the Finance Act, 1974) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the substitution of “£592” for “£489”, in both places where it occurs, by the substitution of “£95” for “£80”, in both places where it occurs, and by the substitution of “£497” for “£409” and the said section 142 (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

142.—(1) If the claimant proves that he maintains at his own expense any person, being a relative of his or of his wife who is incapacitated by old age or infirmity from maintaining himself, or his or his wife's widowed mother, whether incapacitated or not, and being a person whose total income from all sources is less than £592 a year, he shall be entitled to a deduction of £95 in respect of each person whom he so maintains, and a like deduction shall be made in the case of a claimant who, by reason of old age or infirmity, is compelled to depend upon the services of a person (being a person whose total income from all sources is less than £592 a year and being a son or daughter of the claimant) resident with and maintained by him or her:

Provided that each of the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall have effect, in a case in which the total income from all sources of the person in respect of whom the deduction is to be made exceeds £497 a year, as if, instead of specifying a deduction of £95, it specified a deduction of that amount reduced by the amount of the excess.

2 Amendment of section 143 of Income Tax Act, 1967.

2.—Section 143 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended, with effect as on and from the 6th day of April, 1974, by the addition to subsection (3) (b) of the following proviso:

“Provided that where any of the taxable income is chargeable at one or more of the higher rates, the claimant shall be entitled to have the amount of the tax payable by him reduced so as not to exceed a sum equal to the aggregate of the two following amounts, that is to say, the amount of the tax that would have been payable by him if the deduction from the total income had been two-thirds of the premium paid by him or, as the case may be, of the sum paid by him or deducted from his salary or stipend and an amount representing tax at the standard rate on one-sixth of the premium paid by him or, as the case may be, of the sum paid by him or deducted from his salary or stipend.”.

3 Amendment of section 251 of Income Tax Act, 1967.

3.—Section 251 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (4) (d) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1972) of “the 1st day of April, 1977” for “the 1st day of April, 1975” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1973).

4 Amendment of section 254 of Income Tax Act, 1967.

4.—Section 254 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:

“(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsections (1) and (2), this Chapter shall have effect—

(a) in relation to capital expenditure incurred on or after the 16th day of January, 1975, and before the 1st day of April, 1977, on the construction of a building or structure in respect of which an allowance under this Chapter falls to be made by reason of its use for a purpose specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of section 255 (1), as if ‘one-half’ were substituted for ‘one-tenth’, and

(b) in relation to capital expenditure incurred on or after the 6th day of April, 1974, on the construction of a building or structure in respect of which an allowance under this Chapter falls to be made by reason of its use for a purpose specified in paragraph (c) of section 255 (1), as if ‘one-fifth’ were substituted for ‘one-tenth’.”.

5 Amendment of section 264 of Income Tax Act, 1967.

5.—Section 264 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended—

(a) in relation to capital expenditure incurred on or after the 16th day of January, 1975, and before the 1st day of April, 1977, by the substitution in subsection (1) of “one-twentyfifth” for “one-fiftieth”in each place where it occurs, and

(b) by the substitution for the proviso to subsection (3) of the following proviso:

“Provided that—

(i) in relation to a building or structure the capital expenditure on the construction of which has been incurred on or after the 1st day of January, 1960, and which falls to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of section 255 (1) by reason of its use for a purpose specified in paragraph (c) or (d) of that subsection, this Part shall have effect as if ‘tenth year’ were substituted for ‘fiftieth year’ in the foregoing provisions of this subsection, and

(ii) in relation to a building or structure the capital expenditure on the construction of which has been incurred on or after the 16th day of January, 1975, and before the 1st day of April, 1977, and which falls to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of section 255 (1) by reason of its use for a purpose specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection, this Part shall have effect as if ‘twentyfifth year’ were substituted for ‘fiftieth year’ in the foregoing provisions of this subsection.”.

6 Amendment of section 22 of Finance Act, 1971.

6.—Section 22 (2) of the Finance Act, 1971, is hereby amended by the substitution of “the 1st day of April, 1977” for “the 1st day of April, 1975” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1973).

7 Amendment of section 26 of Finance Act, 1971.

7.—Section 26 (1) of the Finance Act, 1971, is hereby amended by the substitution of “the 1st day of April, 1977” for “the 1st day of April, 1975” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1973).

8 Amendment of section 8 of Finance Act, 1973.

8.—Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1973, is hereby amended by the substitution of “the 1st day of April, 1977” for “the 1st day of April, 1975”.

9 Amendment of section 19 of Finance Act, 1973.

9.—Section 19 of the Finance Act, 1973, is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion in subsection (2) after “made” of “by the Minister for Health or”, and

(b) by the addition thereto of the following subsection:

“(3) In so far as it relates to any payment made by the Minister for Health, subsection (2) shall apply to any such payment made after the 1st day of January, 1975.”,

and the said subsection (2), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

(2) This section applies to any income consisting of payments made by the Minister for Health or by the foundation known as the Hilfswerk fr behinderte Kinder to or in respect of any person handicapped by reason of infirmity which can be linked with the taking by the person's mother during her pregnancy of preparations containing thalidomide.

10 Amendment of section 3 of Finance Act, 1974.

10.—Section 3 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended, in relation to tax for the year 1975-76 and any subsequent year of assessment, by the substitution for the Table in subsection (2) (c) of the following Table:

Part of excess over £4,350	Higher rate
The first £2,000	45 per cent.
The next £2,000	55 per cent.
The next £2,000	65 per cent.
The remainder	70 per cent.

11 Personal reliefs.

11.—(1) Section 6 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) Where a deduction falls to be made from the total income of an individual for the year 1975-76 or any subsequent year of assessment in respect of relief to which the individual is entitled under a provision mentioned in column (1) of the Table to this section and the amount of the deduction would, but for this section, be an amount specified in column (2) of the said Table, the amount of the deduction shall, in lieu of being the amount specified in the said column (2), be the amount specified in column (3) of the said Table opposite the mention of the amount in the said column (2).

TABLE

Statutory provision	Amount to be deducted from total income for 197475	Amount to be deducted from total income for 197576 and subsequent years
(1)	(2)	(3)
Income Tax Act, 1967:	£	£
section 138
(married man)	800	920
(single person)	500	575
(widowed person)	550	635
(working wife)	200 or, if less, amount of wife's earned income	230 or, if less, amount of wife's earned income
sections 139 and 140 (housekeeper)	140	165
section 141 (child)	200	230
section 142 (dependent relative)	80	95
Finance Act, 1969:
section 3 (housekeeper taking care of incapacitated person)	140	165
Finance Act, 1971:
section 11 (blind person)	140	165
(both spouses blind)	280	330
Finance Act, 1974:
section 8 (age allowance)
(single or widowed person)	25	45
(married man)	50	145

”

(2) Part I of the First Schedule shall have effect for the purpose of supplementing subsection (1) (inserted by this section) of section 6 of the Finance Act, 1974.

Chapter II Taxation of Farming Profits

12 Amendment of section 13 of Finance Act, 1974.

12.—Section 13 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) In this Chapter—

‘farming’ means farming farm land, that is, land in the State wholly or mainly occupied for the purposes of husbandry, other than market garden land within the meaning of section 54 of the Income Tax Act, 1967;

‘occupation’, in relation to any land, means having the use thereof or having the right by virtue of any easement (within the meaning of section 80 of the Income Tax Act, 1967) to graze livestock thereon.”.

13 Amendment of section 15 of Finance Act, 1974.

13.—Section 15 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended by the addition to subsection (3) of the following proviso:

“Provided that this subsection shall not have effect for a year of assessment in a case where farming is carried on in that year of assessment by an individual to whom section 16 applies.”.

14 Amendment of section 16 of Finance Act, 1974.

14.—(1) Section 16 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution in subsection (1) of “In this Chapter ‘an individual to whom section 16 applies’ means an individual (other than an individual who shows that the rateable valuation of all farm land occupied by him did not, at any time during the relevant year of assessment, exceed £50) who is carrying on farming in a year of assessment and” for the words from “Section 15 (3)” to “individual” where that word first occurs,

(b) by the insertion in subsection (1) (b) after “profession,” of “other than a trade consisting solely of the provision of accommodation in buildings on the farm land occupied by him, the provision of such accommodation being ancillary to the farming of that farm land,”, and

(c) by the deletion of subsection (3),

and the said section 16 (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

(2) This section and sections 13 and 15 shall be deemed to have come into force and shall take effect as on and from the 6th day of April, 1974.

TABLE

16.—(1) In this Chapter “an individual to whom section 16 applies” means an individual (other than an individual who shows that the rateable valuation of all farm land occupied by him did not, at any time during the relevant year of assessment, exceed £50) who is carrying on farming in a year of assessment and—

(a) who at any time in that year of assessment is also carrying on either solely or in partnership another trade or profession,

(b) whose spouse, in a case where the individual is a married person, is, at any time in that year of assessment, also carrying on either solely or in partnership another trade or profession, other than a trade consisting solely of the provision of accommodation in buildings on the farm land occupied by him, the provision of such accommodation being ancillary to the farming of that farm land,

(c) who, at any time in that year of assessment, is a director of a company carrying on a trade or profession and who is either the beneficial owner of, or able, either directly or through the medium of other companies or by any other means, to control more than 25 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the company, or

(d) whose spouse, in a case where the individual is a married person, is, at any time in that year of assessment, a director of a company carrying on a trade or profession and who is either the beneficial owner of, or able, either directly or through the medium of other companies or by any other means, to control more than 25 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the company:

Provided that paragraphs (b) and (d) shall not apply in a case where the wife of an individual is treated for tax purposes as not living with her husband.

15 Amendment of section 17 of Finance Act, 1974.

15.—Section 17 (4) of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended by the insertion of “or otherwise” after “partnership”, and the said section 17 (4), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(4) Where farm land is beneficially owned by an individual, or by his wife, jointly with any other person or persons and the said farm land is occupied by the individual, or by his wife, in partnership or otherwise with any other person or persons, he shall be deemed to occupy farm land the rateable valuation of which is an amount which is equal to such fractional part of the total rateable valuation of the land of which he or his wife is a beneficial owner as is proportionate to his or her share in the beneficial ownership of the said farm land.

16 Amendment of section 20 of Finance Act, 1974.

16.—Section 20 (1) of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended, with effect from the 6th day of April, 1974, by the substitution of “fifteen months” for “six months”and the said section 20 (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

20.—(1) Where, for the year of assessment 1974-75, a person is, by virtue of section 15, chargeable to tax in respect of profits or gains from farming and would, in accordance with the provisions of section 58 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, be charged to tax under Case I of Schedule D on the full amount of the profits or gains of the year preceding that year of assessment, he may, by notice in writing given to the inspector within fifteen months after the commencement of the said year of assessment, elect to be charged to tax for that year of assessment on the full amount of the profits or gains of that year and not on the full amount of the profits or gains of the year preceding that year of assessment.

17 Amendment of section 21 of Finance Act, 1974.

17.—(1) Section 21 (1) of the Finance Act, 1974, shall have effect, as respects any assessment for the year 1974-75, as if “fifteen months” were substituted therein for “six months”.

(2) The said section 21 (1) of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of “1975-76” for “1974-75”, and

(b) by the deletion of “, or of section 20”,

and the said section21 (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this subsection.

TABLE

21.—(1) Where, for the year of assessment 1975-76, an individual, other than an individual to whom section 16 applies, is, by virtue of section 15, chargeable to tax in respect of profits or gains from farming he may, by notice in writing given to the inspector within six months after the commencement of the said year of assessment, elect to be charged to tax for that year of assessment in respect of those profits or gains in accordance with the provisions of this section and not by reference to the provisions of section 58 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967.

18 Amendment of section 22 of Finance Act, 1974.

18.—(1) Section 22 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for subsection (2) of the following subsections—

“(2) Where a person to whom this section applies incurs, for the purpose of farming farm land occupied by him, any capital expenditure on the construction of farmhouses, farm buildings, cottages, fences or other works, there shall be made, in charging the profits or gains from farming the said farm land, in respect of that expenditure—

(a) for the first relevant year of assessment, an initial allowance equal to one-fifth of that expenditure, and

(b) for the first relevant year of assessment and for each subsequent year of assessment (until the allowances made, or deemed to have been made, under this section in respect of the said expenditure equal the amount of the expenditure as determined in accordance with the provisions of section 29 of the Finance Act, 1975) an allowance (in this section referred to as an annual allowance) equal to one-tenth of that expenditure:

Provided that paragraph (a) shall not apply in respect of expenditure incurred before the 6th day of April, 1974, and paragraph (b) shall not apply in respect of expenditure incurred before the 6th day of April, 1971.

(2A) Where any capital expenditure as aforesaid was incurred by a person on or after the 6th day of April, 1971, and before the 6th day of April, 1974, an annual allowance shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed—

(a) to have been made to that person, and

(b) to have been set off against chargeable profits or gains for the first relevant year of assessment and for each subsequent year of assessment prior to the year 1974-75, and no such allowance shall be carried forward and set off against profits or gains chargeable for the year 1974-75 or any subsequent year of assessment: