Finance Act , 1978

and “import levy” and “export levy” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) For the purposes of this section the Customs Acts and any instruments made thereunder shall apply to a levy as if it were a duty of customs and the provisions of the said Acts and instruments which relate to the exportation of goods shall also apply to the goods referred to in subsection (5) of this section.

(3) For the purposes of this section the Minister for Finance may by regulations apply to goods that are subject to an export levy, with such modifications as are, in his opinion, necessary, any of the provisions of the Customs Acts and instruments made thereunder that apply to imported goods.

(4) A levy shall be under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(5) The exportation from the State of goods that are subject to an export levy shall be prohibited unless, before the exportation and subject to such conditions as the Revenue Commissioners may impose, the amount of the levy is paid to the Revenue Commissioners or security that is, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, adequate for its payment is given to the Revenue Commissioners.

(6) Notwithstanding any provision of the Customs Acts, where an export levy is payable on any goods, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to such conditions as they may see fit to impose (including conditions in relation to the giving of security for payment of the said levy), permit payment of the said levy to be deferred for such period as the Revenue Commissioners may determine.

(7) Notwithstanding any provision of the Customs Acts, where a duty of customs or an import levy is payable on goods imported into the State and entered for home use, including goods cleared from warehouse, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to such conditions as they may see fit to impose (including conditions in relation to the giving of security for payment of the said duty or levy), permit payment of the said duty or levy, as the case may be, to be deferred for such period as the Revenue Commissioners may determine.

(8) Subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Revenue Commissioners may impose, section 12 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, insofar as it relates to the warehousing, custody and delivery out of warehouse of goods, shall apply to the warehousing of such goods (being goods to which, apart from this section, that section does not apply) as the Revenue Commissioners may allow to be warehoused for exportation or for use as stores.

(9) Regulations 4 and 7 of the European Communities (Customs) Regulations, 1972 (S.I. No. 334 of 1972), are hereby revoked.

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

(11) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.

30 Confirmation of Orders and provision in relation to Imposition of Duties (No. 229) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order 1977.

30.—(1) The Orders mentioned in the Table to this section are hereby confirmed.

TABLE

S.I. No. 112 of 1977	Imposition of Duties (No. 229) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1977.
S.I. No. 241 of 1977	Imposition of Duties (No. 231) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1977.
S.I. No. 279 of 1977	Imposition of Duties (No. 232) (Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1977.
S.I. No. 384 of 1977	Imposition of Duties (No. 233) (Rates of Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1977.

(2) The appropriate repayments shall be made having regard to the provisions of the Imposition of Duties (No. 229) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1977, in accordance with such directions as may be given by the Minister for the Environment.

PART III Stamp Duties

31 Certain contracts for sale of leasehold interests to be chargeable as conveyances on sale.

31.—(1) A contract or agreement for the sale of any leasehold interest in any immovable property shall, if—

(a) the purchaser enters into possession of the property before having obtained a transfer, duly stamped, of such interest, and

(b) a transfer of such interest made in pursuance of the contract or agreement is not duly stamped within the period of 9 months from the first execution of the contract or agreement or such longer period as the Revenue Commissioners may specify in writing, being a period which they consider reasonable in all the circumstances of the case,

be charged with the same ad valorem stamp duty, to be paid by the purchaser, as if it were an actual transfer on sale of the leasehold interest contracted or agreed to be sold, and where the ad valorem stamp duty charged on the contract or agreement has been duly paid in conformity with this subsection—

(i) the transfer of the said leashold interest made in pursuance of the contract or agreement shall not be chargeable with any duty,

(ii) the Revenue Commissioners, upon application, either shall denote the payment of the said duty upon the transfer, or shall transfer it thereto upon production of the contract or agreement duly stamped, and

(iii) the said duty shall be returned where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the contract or agreement has been rescinded or annulled.

(2) This section shall not have effect with respect to any instrument executed before the date of the passing of this Act.

32 Amendment of section 74 (stamp duty on gifts inter vivos) of Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910.

32.—(1) Section 74 of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (5) after “except where marriage is the consideration” of “and it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the conveyance or transfer is for the benefit of a party to the marriage or of a party to and issue of the marriage” and the said subsection (5), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

(2) This section shall not have effect with respect to any instrument executed before the date of the passing of this Act.

TABLE

(5) Any conveyance or transfer (not being a disposition made in favour of a purchaser or incumbrancer or other person in good faith and for valuable consideration) shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a conveyance or transfer operating as a voluntary disposition inter vivos, and (except where marriage is the consideration and it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that the conveyance or transfer is for the benefit of a party to the marriage or of a party to

and issue of the marriage) the consideration for any conveyance or transfer shall not for this purpose be deemed to be valuable consideration where the Commissioners are of opinion that by reason of the inadequacy of the sum paid as consideration or other circumstances the conveyance or transfer confers a substantial benefit on the person to whom the property is conveyed or transferred.

33 Revocation of Order.

33.—The Imposition of Duties (No. 228) (Stamp Duty on Certain Instruments) Order, 1977, is hereby revoked with respect to instruments executed on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

34 Stamp duty on certain conveyances and transfers.

34.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any instrument whereby property is conveyed or transferred to any person in contemplation of a sale of that property shall be treated for the purposes of the Stamp Act, 1891, as a conveyance or transfer on sale of that property for a consideration equal to the value of that property.

(2) If on a claim made to the Revenue Commissioners not later than six years after the making or execution of an instrument chargeable with duty in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, it is shown to their satisfaction—

(a) that the sale in contemplation of which the instrument was made or executed has not taken place and the property has been re-conveyed or re-transferred to the person from whom it was conveyed or transferred or to a person to whom his rights have been transmitted on death or bankruptcy, or

(b) that the sale has taken place for a consideration which is less than the value in respect of which duty was paid on the instrument by virtue of this section,

the Revenue Commissioners shall repay the duty paid by virtue of this section, in a case falling under paragraph (a) of this subsection, so far as it exceeds the stamp duty which would have been payable apart from this section and, in a case falling under paragraph (b) of this subsection, so far as it exceeds the stamp duty which would have been payable if the instrument had been stamped in accordance with subsection (1) of this section in respect of a value equal to the consideration in question:

Provided that, in a case falling under the said paragraph (b), duty shall not be repayable if it appears to the Revenue Commissioners that the circumstances are such that a conveyance or transfer on the sale in question would have been chargeable with duty under section 74 of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, by virtue of subsection (5) of that section (conveyances and transfers on sale chargeable as voluntary dispositions if for inadequate consideration).

(3) No instrument chargeable with duty in accordance with subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to be duly stamped unless the Revenue Commissioners have been required to express their opinion thereon under section 12 of the Stamp Act, 1891, and have expressed their opinion thereon in accordance with that section.

(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply whether or not an instrument conveys or transfers other property in addition to the property in contemplation of the sale of which it is made or executed, but those provisions shall not affect the stamp duty chargeable on the instrument in respect of that other property.

(5) For the purposes of the said section 74 and of subsection (1) of this section, the value of property conveyed or transferred by an instrument chargeable with duty in accordance with either of those provisions shall be determined without regard to—

(a) any power (whether or not contained in the instrument) on the exercise of which the property, or any part of or any interest in, the property, may be revested in the person from whom it was conveyed or transferred or in any person on his behalf, or

(b) any annuity reserved out of the property or any part of it, or any life or other interest so reserved, being an interest which is subject to forfeiture,

but if on a claim made to the Revenue Commissioners not later than six years after the making or execution of the instrument it is shown to their satisfaction that any such power as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection has been exercised in relation to the property and the property or any property representing it has been re-conveyed or re-transferred in the whole or in part in consequence of that exercise, the Revenue Commissioners shall repay the stamp duty paid by virtue of this subsection, in a case where the whole of such property has been so re-conveyed or re-transferred, so far as it exceeds the stamp duty which would have been payable apart from this subsection and, in any other case, so far as it exceeds the stamp duty which would have been payable if the instrument had operated to convey or transfer only such property as is not so re-conveyed or re-transferred.

35 Abolition of stamp duty on contracts for construction of office buildings and amendment of section 65 of Finance Act, 1973, and of section 47 of Finance Act, 1977.

35.—(1) Section 50 (which imposes a stamp duty on contracts for the construction, alteration or enlargement of buildings intended for use as offices) of the Finance Act, 1969, shall not apply, and shall be deemed never to have applied, in relation to contracts made on or after the 14th day of April, 1978, to which subsection (1) of that section refers.

(2) Section 65 of the Finance Act, 1973, shall have effect, and shall be deemed always to have had effect, as if the reference to section 50 (2) of the Finance Act, 1969, were a reference to section 50 of the Finance Act, 1969, and the reference to “ten per cent.” were a reference to “ten per cent.” in each place where it occurs.

(3) Section 47 of the Finance Act, 1977, is hereby amended by the substitution of “31st day of December, 1979” for “31st day of December, 1978” in each place where it occurs.

PART IV Death Duties

36 Limitation of liability of purchasers and mortgagees.

36.—Real and leasehold property shall not, as against a purchaser for valuable consideration or a mortgagee, remain charged with or liable to the payment of any sum for death duties after the expiration of six years from the happening of the event which gave rise to an immediate claim to duty in any case where the purchase was made or the mortgage was created on or after the 1st day of April, 1978.

37 Relief in respect of estate duty in certain cases.

37.—(1) In this section—

“deceased” means a person who died on or after the 1st day of April, 1972, and before the 1st day of April, 1975;

“free estate”, in relation to a deceased, means the real and personal estate of the deceased which devolved on and became vested in his personal representative and as to which the deceased was entitled for an estate or interest not ceasing on his death, but does not include property over which he exercised by will a power of appointment;

“investments” means stocks, shares or securities which, at the date of death of the deceased, were quoted on a stock exchange and holdings of units (within the meaning of the Unit Trusts Act, 1972) in a unit trust scheme (within the meaning of the said Act) the prices of which were published regularly and includes any such investments notwithstanding that, in the period between the date of such death and the date or dates of the sale of the investments, changes occurred in the nature of the investments by reason only of transactions effected by the relevant company or its shareholders, or by a manager or trustee under, or the holders of units in, the relevant scheme;

“personal representative” means the executor or the administrator for the time being of a deceased;

“residue” means such part of the personal estate comprised in the free estate of the deceased as was liable for the payment of the estate duty chargeable on the free estate in connection with the death of the deceased.

(2) Where, in relation to the free estate of a deceased, a claim is duly made for relief under this section, if, but only if, the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied—

(a) that investments, which were in the sole name of the deceased at the date of his death and were comprised in the residue of his free estate, were sold for full consideration in money or money's worth within 18 months of such date to provide for the payment of estate duty properly payable in connection with such death in respect of such free estate, and

(b) that no property, other than investments, was available to provide for the payment of that duty,

then, for the purposes of—

(i) the assessment and payment of the amount of the estate duty payable in respect of such free estate, and

(ii) any allowance against estate duty for duty payable outside the State in respect of such free estate,

they shall substitute for the amount of the principal value of the said investments the amount realised on the sale thereof:

Provided that, for all other purposes of death duties, the value of all property (including investments) passing or deemed to pass on the death of the deceased shall continue to be the principal value:

Provided also that any reduction in the amount of estate duty payable in respect of the free estate aforesaid by virtue of this section shall not exceed the amount of estate duty paid in respect of the free estate and, for the purpose of this proviso, any part of such amount paid by means of a transfer of stock or securities to an account of the Minister for Finance shall be deemed to be an amount equal to the actual value, and not the nominal face value, of the said stock or securities.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the amount realised on the sale of investments shall not be reduced by the amount of any expenses, whether by way of commission or otherwise, incidental to the sale, but shall take into account expenses, if any, incurred by the personal representative concerned in connection with transactions referred to in the definition of “investments”.

(4) A claim for relief from estate duty under this section shall be made in writing to the Revenue Commissioners by the personal representative concerned and shall be made not later than the 31st day of December, 1978.

PART V Wealth Tax

38 Abolition of wealth tax and amendment of sections 18 and 22 (interest on tax) of Wealth Tax Act, 1975.

38.—(1) Wealth tax shall not be charged, levied or paid under the provisions of the Act by reference to any valuation date occurring on or after the 5th day of April, 1978.

(2) Real property, within the meaning of the Act, shall not, as against a bona fide purchaser for full consideration in money or money's worth or a mortgagee, remain charged with or liable to the payment of wealth tax in any case where the purchase was made or the mortgage was created on or after the 5th day of April, 1978.

(3) Sections 18 and 22 of the Act shall have effect, in their application to interest accruing due after the date of the passing of this Act, as if “1.25 per cent.” were substituted for “1.5 per cent.”.

(4) In this section—

“the Act” means the Wealth Tax Act, 1975;

“valuation date” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act.

PART VI Capital Acquisitions Tax

39 Extension of section 55 (exemption of certain objects) of Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976.

39.—(1) Section 55 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, shall apply, as it applies to the objects specified therein, to a house or garden that is situated in the State and is not held for the purposes of trading and—

(a) which, on a claim being made to the Commissioners, appears to them to be of national, scientific, historic or artistic interest,

(b) in respect of which reasonable facilities for viewing were allowed to members of the public from the date of the passing of this Act to the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance, or during the three years immediately before the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance, and

(c) in respect of which reasonable facilities for viewing are allowed to members of the public,

with the modification that the reference in subsection (4) of that section to subsection (1) (b) or (c) of that section shall be construed as a reference to paragraph (c) of this subsection and with any other necessary modifications.

(2) This section shall apply where the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance is on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

40 Amendment of section 57 (exemption of certain securities) of Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976.

40.—(1) Section 57 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, is hereby amended by the substitution for subsections (2) and (3) of the following subsections:

“(2) Securities, or units (within the meaning of the Unit Trusts Act, 1972) of a unit trust scheme, comprised in a gift or an inheritance taken on or after the 14th day of April, 1978, shall be exempt from tax (and shall not be taken into account in computing tax on any gift or inheritance taken by the donee or successor from the same disponer) if, but only if, it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that—

(a) the securities or units were comprised in the disposition continuously for a period from the date aforesaid to the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance, or continuously for a period of three years immediately before the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance, and any period immediately before the date of the disposition during which the securities or units were continuously in the beneficial ownership of the disponer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this paragraph, to be a period or part of a period immediately before the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance during which they were continuously comprised in the disposition;

(b) the securities or units were comprised in the gift or inheritance—

(i) at the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance; and

(ii) at the valuation date; and

(c) the donee or successor is at the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance neither domiciled nor ordinarily resident in the State,

and the provisions of section 19 (6) shall apply, for the purposes of this subsection, as they apply in relation to agricultural property.

(3) Subsection (2) (a) shall not apply in a case where the disponer was neither domiciled nor ordinarily resident in the State at the date of the disposition, or at the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance.”.

(2) This section shall have and be deemed to have had effect only in relation to securities or units comprised in a gift or an inheritance where the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance is on or after the 14th day of April, 1978.

41 Alteration of rates of tax.

41.—The Second Schedule to the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, is hereby amended, as respects taxable gifts and taxable inheritances taken on or after the 1st day of April, 1978, by the substitution of the Part set out in the Third Schedule to this Act for Part II.

42 Amendment of section 36 (delivery of returns) of Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976s.

42.—(1) Section 36 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (3) of the following subsection—

“(3) Subsection (2) applies to a gift where—

(a) the taxable value of such gift, so far as it is a taxable gift, exceeds an amount which is 80 per cent. of the lowest value upon which, at the date of such gift, tax becomes chargeable in respect of a gift taken by the donee of such gift from the disponer thereof,

(b) the taxable value of such gift, so far as it is a taxable gift, falls to be aggregated with previous gifts taken by the donee of such gift from the disponer thereof and thereby increases the total taxable value of all taxable gifts taken by such donee from such disponer from an amount which is less than or equal to the amount specified in paragraph (a) to an amount which exceeds the amount so specified,

(c) the taxable value of such gift, so far as it is a taxable gift, falls to be aggregated with previous gifts taken by the donee of such gift from the disponer thereof and thereby increases the total taxable value of all taxable gifts taken by such donee from such disponer from an amount which is greater than the amount specified in paragraph (a), or

(d) the donee is required by notice in writing by the Commissioners to deliver a return.”.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 31st day of March, 1976.

43 Amendment of section 41 (payment of tax and interest on tax) of Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976.

43.—Section 41 (2) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, shall have effect, in its application to interest accruing due after the date of the passing of this Act, as if “1.25 per cent.” were substituted for “one and one-half per cent.”.

44 Amendment of section 53 (exemption of small gifts) of Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976.

44.—Section 53 (1) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, shall have effect, as respects relevant periods ending on or after the 31st day of December, 1978, as if “£500” were substituted for “£250”.

PART VII Miscellaneous

45 Capital Services Redemption Account.

45.—(1) In this section—

“the principal section” means section 22 of the Finance Act, 1950;

“the 1977 amending section” means section 52 of the Finance Act, 1977;

“the twenty-eighth additional annuity” means the sum charged on the Central Fund under subsection (4) of this section;

“the Minister”, “the Account” and “capital services” have the same meanings respectively as they have in the principal section.

(2) In relation to the twenty-nine successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1978, subsection (4) of the 1977 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£10,069,854” for “£10,985,618”.

(3) Subsection (6) of the 1977 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£6,356,614” for “£7,071,680”.

(4) A sum of £13,577,065 to redeem borrowings, and interest thereon, in respect of capital services shall be charged annually on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof in the thirty successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1978.

(5) The twenty-eighth additional annuity shall be paid into the Account in such manner and at such times in the relevant financial year as the Minister may determine.

(6) Any amount of the twenty-eighth additional annuity, not exceeding £8,739,850 in any financial year, may be applied towards defraying the interest on the public debt.

(7) The balance of the twenty-eighth additional annuity shall be applied in any one or more of the ways specified in subsection (6) of the principal section.

46 Interest on unpaid taxes.

46.—(1) This section applies to interest chargeable under—

(a) section 14 of the Finance Act, 1962,

(b) sections 129 and 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967,

(c) section 17 (6A) of the Finance Act, 1970,

(d) sections 20 (2) and 50 (2) of the Finance Act, 1971,

(e) section 21 of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972,

(f) sections 145 and 152 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976.

(2) Where any interest to which this section applies is chargeable for any month commencing on or after the date of the passing of this Act, or any part of such a month, in respect of tax due to be paid or remitted whether before, on or after such date, such interest shall, notwithstanding the provisions of section 28 of the Finance Act, 1975, be chargeable at the rate of 1.25 per cent. for each month or part of a month instead of at the rate specified in the said sections and those sections shall have effect as if the rate aforesaid were substituted for the rates specified in those sections.

(3) In this section “tax” means income tax, sur-tax, capital gains tax, corporation profits tax, corporation tax or value-added tax, as may be appropriate.

47 Disclosure of certain information by Revenue Commissioners to certain persons.

47.—(1) This section applies to any charge imposed on public monies, being a charge for the purposes of relief under the Rates on Agricultural Land (Relief) Acts, 1939 to 1976.

(2) Where a charge to which this section applies falls to be made, the Revenue Commissioners or any officer authorised by them for that purpose, may, in connection with the establishment of title to the relief aforesaid of a person (hereinafter referred to as “the claimant”), notwithstanding any obligation as to secrecy imposed on them under the Income Tax Acts or under any other enactment, disclose to any person specified in column (1) of the Table to this section, information of the kind specified in column (2) of that Table, being information in respect of the claimant which is required by the said person or persons when considering the claimant's title to the relief mentioned in this section.

(3) In the Table to this section “occupation” has the same meaning as in section 13 of the Finance Act, 1974, and “rating authority” has the same meaning as in section 73 of the said Finance Act, 1974.

TABLE

Person to whom information to be given	Information to be given
(1)	(2)
The secretary or clerk, or a person acting as such, to a rating authority or any officer of the Minister for the Environment authorised by him for the purpose of this section.	Information relating to the occupation of land by the claimant and the rateable valuation thereof.

48 Ranking of debt guaranteed by State.

48.—To remove doubt, it is hereby declared that any liabilities of the Minister for Finance, or of any other Minister of the Government, in respect of guarantees given under an Act of the Oireachtas by the Minister for Finance, or by any other Minister of the Government with the consent of the Minister for Finance, of the due repayment of moneys borrowed by other persons shall rank, and be deemed always to have ranked, pari passu in all respects with the liabilities of the Minister for Finance in respect of securities created and issued under section 54 (1) of the Finance Act, 1970.

49 Amendment of section 54 (creation and issue of securities by Minister for Finance) of Finance Act, 1970.

49.—Section 54 of the Finance Act, 1970, is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion in subsection (2) of “or issued by the Minister for Finance under any other provision of an Act of the Oireachtas” after “under this section”, and

(b) by the insertion after subsection (4) (inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1970), of the following subsections:

“(5) Securities created and issued by the Minister for Finance either under this section or under any other provision of an Act of the Oireachtas may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit, be purchased by him from the Post Office Savings Bank Fund and cancelled.

(6) The prices at which the Minister for Finance may purchase securities under subsection (5) of this section shall be fixed by him at levels which, in his opinion, are equal to the fair market prices for those securities on the days on which the sales take place.”.

50 Winding up of Road Fund.

50.—(1) (a) Sections 2 and 3 of the Roads Act, 1920, are hereby repealed.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1978, but shall not affect the operation of subsection (5) of the said section 3 in so far as it relates to the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1978.

(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, payments which, but for subsection (1) of this section would fall to be made out of the Road Fund, shall be made in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(b) Any repayments falling to be made of any amount paid in respect of the duties imposed by the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952, shall be made out of receipts of those duties in accordance with the directions of the Minister for the Environment.

(3) Moneys which, but for subsection (1) of this section, would fall to be paid into the Road Fund from the Central Fund shall be retained in the Central Fund and other moneys which, but for this subsection, would fall to be paid into the Road Fund shall be paid into the Central Fund.

(4) (a) The Minister for the Environment may by regulations make, in respect of any statute or instrument made under statute, in force at the passing of this Act and relating to any matter or thing dealt with or affected by this section, any adaptations or modifications which appear to him to be necessary to enable such statute or instrument to have effect in conformity with this section.

(b) Regulations under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made and, if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulations are laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

51 Contracts of guarantee and loan contracts in connection with aid to developing countries.

51.—(1) The Minister for Finance may, on behalf of the State, enter into contracts of guarantee and loan contracts in connection with actions designed to aid countries and territories described as developing countries and territories in the latest annual report of the Chairman of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published before the date of the relevant contract.

(2) The Minister for Finance shall not so exercise the powers conferred on him by this section that the amount or aggregate amount of money which he may at any one time be liable to pay under contracts of guarantee and loan contracts, together with the amounts (if any) which the said Minister has previously paid under contracts of guarantee and loan contracts and have not been repaid to him, exceeds £10,000,000.

(3) Moneys required to be paid by the Minister for Finance to meet sums which may become payable by him under subsection (1) of this section shall be advanced out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(4) Where the whole or any part of moneys advanced under subsection (3) of this section in respect of contracts of guarantee has not been repaid to the Minister for Finance within a period of five years from the date of the advance, the amount so remaining outstanding shall be repaid to the Central Fund out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(5) Money received by the Minister for Finance arising out of contracts of guarantee and loan contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

(6) In this section—

“contracts of guarantee” means contracts under which the State becomes liable in respect of the whole or part of the financial obligations incurred by the recipients of loans under the terms of the loans;

“loan contracts” means contracts providing for loans under which the State advances the whole or part of the loans either directly or through an international organisation of which the State is a member.

52 Repeals.

52.—(1) (a) Each enactment mentioned in column (2) of Part I of the Fourth Schedule to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Part, subject to the provision made at the end of that Part.

(b) Paragraph (a) shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1978.

(2) The enactment mentioned in column (2) of Part II of the Fourth Schedule to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Part in relation to beer brewed on or after the 1st day of July, 1978.

53 Care and management of taxes and duties.

53.—All taxes and duties imposed by this Act are hereby placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

54 Short title, construction and commencement.

54.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Finance Act, 1978.

(2) Part I of this Act (so far as relating to income tax) shall be construed together with the Income Tax Acts and (so far as relating to corporation tax) shall be construed together with the Corporation Tax Acts.

(3) Part II of this Act, so far as it relates to Customs, shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and the said Part II, so far as it relates to duties of excise, shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties.

(4) Part III of this Act shall be construed together with the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(5) Part IV of this Act shall be construed together with the Finance Act, 1894, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(6) Part V of this Act shall be construed together with the Wealth Tax Act, 1975, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(7) Part VI of this Act shall be construed together with the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(8) Part I of this Act shall, save as is otherwise expressly provided therein, be deemed to have come into force and shall take effect as on and from the 6th day of April, 1978.

(9) 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 by or under any other enactment including this Act.

FIRST SCHEDULE Amendment of Enactments

PART I Amendments consequential on amendment of section 236 of Income Tax Act, 1967

Schedule 5 to the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) Part I shall be deleted,

(b) for paragraph 4 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1974) there shall be substituted the following paragraph:

“4. Subject to paragraph 5, in the case of an individual born at a time specified in the first column of the Table set out below, section 236 (1A) shall have effect with the substitution for the reference to 15 per cent. of a reference to such percentage as is specified for his case in the second column of the Table.

TABLE

Year of Birth	Percentage
1916 or 1917	16
1914 or 1915	17
1912 or 1913	18
1910 or 1911	19
1909 or any earlier year	20

”

PART II Amendments Consequential on Changes in Personal Reliefs

(a) in subsection (1), for “£1,100” in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “£1,730”, for “£665” there shall be substituted “£865” and for “£1,215” there shall be substituted “£1,845”, and

(b) in subsection (2), for “£665” in each place where it occurs, there shall be substituted “£865” and for “£735” there shall be substituted “£935”.

PART III Formula for determining tax appropriate to the emoluments of certain individuals resident in the State and employed in the United Kingdom

A ______ A B	C

where—

A is the amount of the individual's emoluments (hereinafter referred to as “net emoluments”) chargeable to tax for that year of assessment (including, in the case of a married person, any emoluments of his wife which are deemed to be his income in accordance with the provisions of section 192 of the Income Tax Act, 1967) after deducting therefrom so much of any loss as is, under the provisions of section 307 (4) (b) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, regarded as a deduction from those emoluments,

B is the aggregate of the individual's income, other than emoluments, for that year of assessment from all sources (including in the case of a married person, any income, other than emoluments, of his wife which is deemed to be his income in accordance with the provisions of section 192 of the Income Tax Act, 1967) after deducting from the income from each several source so much of any of the following amounts as is directly referable to that source:

(i) any deduction in respect of expenses;

(ii) any deduction in respect of contributions;

(iii) any capital allowance; and

(iv) any loss within the meaning of section 89 or Chapter I of Part XIX of the Income Tax Act, 1967,

C is the tax payable on the individual's total income for that year before taking account of any relief provided for by section 9 and of any relief provided for under section 361 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, under the former Agreements or under section 39 of the Finance Act, 1977.

PART IV Schedule to be added to Finance Act, 1974

“THIRD SCHEDULE

Tax appropriate to the profits or gains from farming

1.‘Tax appropriate to the profits or gains from farming’, in relation to an individual who, by virtue of the provisions of section 15, is chargeable to tax for a year of assessment in respect of profits or gains from farming, means the amount of tax determined by the formula—

A ______ A B	C

where—

A is—

(a) in a case where the individual is so charged on an amount determined by section 21, the amount so determined,

(b) in a case where the individual is so charged by reference to the provisions of section 58 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, the amount computed by reference to those provisions, adjusted by reference to the provisions of paragraph 2 and having regard to the provisions of section 21A,

(c) in a case where the individual is so charged by reference to the provisions of section 20A, the amount computed by reference to those provisions, adjusted by reference to the provisions of paragraph 2 and having regard to the provisions of section 21 A.

B is the individual's income, other than income included in A, for that year from all sources (including income of his wife which is deemed to be his income in accordance with the provisions of section 192 of the Income Tax Act, 1967) after deducting from the income from each several source the aggregate of the amounts specified in paragraph 3, and

C is the amount of tax chargeable on the individual's total income for that year before taking account of any relief provided by section 361 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, or by section 19 or 21A.

(a) so much of any capital allowance as is to be taken into account in charging the profits or gains to tax, and

(b) so much of any loss within the meaning of Chapter I of Part XIX of the Income Tax Act, 1967, as is to be, or is regarded as being, deducted from or set off against those profits or gains.

(a) so much of the following amounts as is to be deducted from or set off against that income, or as is to be allowed in charging that income to tax—

(i) any deduction in respect of expenses;

(ii) any deduction in respect of contributions, and

(iii) any capital allowance; and

(b) so much of any loss within the meaning of Chapter I of Part XIX of the Income Tax Act, 1967, as is to be, or

is regarded as being, deducted from or set off against the income from that source.

SECOND SCHEDULE Exempted Transactions in relation to Agricultural Societies and Fishery Societies

PART I Agricultural societies

(i) milk

eggs

honey

fresh fruit and fresh vegetables (including fresh potatoes)

grain

seeds

livestock

poultry

wool

flax

flowers

where the society by which the commodity is sold—

(A) is the producer thereof, or

(B) purchases the commodity from the producer thereof or from an agricultural society which purchased it from that producer;

(ii) butter

cream

cheese

skim milk

milk powder

whey

whey powder

lactose

butter oil

casein

chocolate crumb

processed fruit and processed vegetables (including processed potatoes)

meat

hides

hooves

horns

offal

where the producer of the commodity is an agricultural society;

(iii) animal feeding stuffs (excluding grain, vegetables, milk, skim milk, milk powder, whey and whey powder)

animal drugs and medicines

fertilisers

weedkillers and insecticides

preservatives for silage making

boxes and other packaging materials for agricultural products

parchment and salt for butter production

sacks and binder twine

creamery and dairy equipment

grain drying equipment

farm machinery (including spare parts and tyres)

fuel for farm machinery

building and fencing materials for use solely in works in respect of which the purchasers of the materials qualify for grants under the Farm Modernisation Scheme operated by the Department of Agriculture.

(b) In subparagraph (a) “producer”—

(i) in relation to milk, means the person who is the owner of the animal from which the milk is obtained and has the corresponding meaning in relation to eggs, honey and wool,

(ii) in relation to fresh fruit, means the person by whom the fruit is grown and has the corresponding meaning in relation to fresh vegetables (including fresh potatoes), grain, seeds, flax and flowers,

(iii) in relation to livestock, means the person by whom the livestock is bred or reared and has the corresponding meaning in relation to poultry,

(iv) in relation to butter, means the society by which the butter is made and has the corresponding meaning in relation to other milk products, and

(v) in relation to processed fruit, means the society by which the fruit is processed and has the corresponding meaning in relation to processed vegetables (including processed potatoes), meat, hides, hooves, horns and offal.

contract tillage or harvesting (including silage making)

deep ploughing

manure spreading

spraying of crops

turf cutting

commission drying, grinding or storage of crops or grain

commission packaging or processing of milk products by an agricultural society on behalf of another such society

commission selling of fertilisers, grain, wool or livestock

storage, packing, grading or processing of fruit or vegetables

storage of milk products by an agricultural society on behalf of another such society

transport of farm products

artificial insemination, auctioning or weighing of livestock

warble fly eradication

sack hire

leasing of refrigerated bulk milk tanks.

PART II Fishery societies

fresh fish

processed fish

commodities or articles for use in catching fish.

auctioning of fish

transport of fish.

THIRD SCHEDULE Rates of Capital Acquisitions Tax

“PART II

TABLE I

Applicable where the donee or successor is the spouse, child, or minor child of a deceased child, of the disponer.

Portion of Value		Rate of tax
Lower Limit	Upper Limit	Per cent.
£	£
0	150,000	Nil
150,000	200,000	25
200,000	250, 000	30
250,000	300, 000	35
300,000	350, 000	40
350,000	400, 000	45
400,000		50

TABLE II

Applicable where the donee or successor is a lineal ancestor or a lineal descendant (other than a child, or a minor child of a deceased child) of the disponer.

Portion of Value		Rate of tax
Lower Limit	Upper Limit	Per cent.
£	£
0	30,000	Nil
30,000	33,000	5
33,000	38,000	7
38,000	48,000	10
48,000	58,000	13
58,000	68,000	16
68,000	78,000	19
78,000	88,000	22
88,000	103,000	25
103,000	118,000	28
118,000	133,000	31
133,000	148,000	34
148,000	163,000	37
163,000	178,000	40
178,000	193,000	43
193,000	208,000	46
208,000	223,000	49
223,000		50

TABLE III

Applicable where the donee or successor is a brother or a sister, or a child of a brother or of a sister, of the disponer.

Portion of Value		Rate of tax
Lower Limit	Upper Limit	Per cent.
£	£
0	20,000	Nil
20,000	23,000	10
23,000	28,000	12
28,000	38,000	15
38,000	48,000	19
48,000	58,000	23
58,000	68,000	27
68,000	78,000	31
78,000	93,000	35
93,000	108,000	40
108,000	123,000	45
123,000		50

TABLE IV

Applicable where the donee or successor does not stand to the disponer in a relationship referred to in Table I, II or III of this Part of this Schedule.

Portion of Value		Rate of tax
Lower Limit	Upper Limit	Per cent.
£	£
0	10,000	Nil
10,000	13,000	20
13,000	18,000	22
18,000	28,000	25
28,000	38,000	30
38,000	48,000	35
48,000	58,000	40
58,000	68,000	45
68,000	83,000	50
83,000	98,000	55
98,000		60

”

FOURTH SCHEDULE Enactments Repealed

PART I

Number and Year	Short Title	Extent of Repeal
(1)	(2)	(3)
No. 6 of 1967	Income Tax Act, 1967.	Section 220, so far as it is unrepealed.
No. 16 of 1976	Finance Act, 1976.	Section 33.

The repeals in this Part of this Schedule shall not affect the liability to income tax for years of assessment ending on or before the 5th day of April, 1976, or the liability to corporation tax for accounting periods ending on or before the 31st day of March, 1978, or the assessment, collection or recovery of either of those taxes or of interest thereon or other proceedings relating to those taxes or that interest.

PART II

Number and Year	Short Title	Extent of Repeal
(1)	(2)	(3)
No. 20 of 1932	Finance Act, 1932.	Section 41.