Finance Act , 1980

PART I Income Tax, Sur-Tax, Resource Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter I Income Tax

1 Exemption from income tax.

1.—(1) Where, for the year 1980-81 or any subsequent year of assessment—

(a) an individual makes a claim for the purpose, makes a return in the prescribed form of his total income for that year and proves that it does not exceed the specified amount, he shall be entitled to exemption from income tax, or

(b) an individual makes a claim for the purpose, makes a return in the prescribed form of his total income for that year and proves that it does not exceed £5,000, he shall be entitled to have the amount of income tax payable in respect of his total income for that year, if that amount would, but for the provisions of this subsection, exceed a sum equal to 60 per cent. of the amount by which his total income exceeds the specified amount, reduced to that sum.

(2) In this section “the specified amount” means—

(a) in a case where the individual would, apart from this section, be entitled to a deduction specified in section 138 (a) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, £3,400, and

(b) in any other case, £1,700.

2 Age exemption.

2.—(1) This section applies, for the year 1980-81 or any subsequent year of assessment, to an individual who makes a claim for the purpose, makes a return in the prescribed form of his total income for that year and proves that, at some time during the year of assessment, either he or, in a case where the individual would, apart from this section, be entitled to a deduction specified in section 138 (a) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, his spouse, was of the age of sixty-five years or upwards.

(2) Where an individual to whom this section applies proves that his total income for a year of assessment for which this section applies does not exceed the specified amount, he shall be entitled to exemption from income tax for that year.

(3) Where an individual to whom this section applies proves that his total income for a year of assessment for which this section applies does not exceed £10,000, he shall be entitled to have the amount of income tax payable in respect of his total income for that year, if that amount would, but for the provisions of this subsection, exceed a sum equal to 60 per cent. of the amount by which his total income exceeds the specified amount, reduced to that sum.

(4) All such provisions of the Income Tax Acts as apply in relation to the deductions specified in sections 138 to 143 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, shall apply in relation to exemption from or any reduction of tax under this section or under section 1.

(5) Section 7 of the Finance Act, 1977, shall not apply or have effect in relation to the year 1980-81 or any subsequent year of assessment.

(6) In this section “the specified amount” means—

(a) in a case where the individual would, apart from this section, be entitled to a deduction specified in paragraph (a) of the said section 138, £4,000:

Provided that, if at any time during the year of assessment either the individual or his spouse was of the age of seventy-five years or upwards, “the specified amount” means £5,000;

(b) in any other case, £2,000:

Provided that, if at any time during the year of assessment the individual was of the age of seventy-five years or upwards, “the specified amount” means £2,500.

(7) In this section and in section 1 “total income” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, but includes income arising outside the State which is not chargeable to tax.

3 Amendment of Part VI (differentiation and graduation of tax by means of reliefs) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

3.—As respects the year 1980-81 and subsequent years of assessment, Part VI of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the substitution for sections 138 and 138A of the following sections:

Personal allowances.

“138.—The deductions specified in this section for the purpose of ascertaining the taxable income (within the meaning of section 137) of an individual for a year of assessment are—

(a) in a case in which the claimant is a husband—

(i) who is assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 194, or

(ii) who proves that his wife is not living with him but that she is wholly or mainly maintained by him for the year of assessment and that he is not entitled, in computing his income for tax purposes for that year, to make any deduction in respect of the sums paid by him for the maintenance of his wife,

a deduction of £2,230:

Provided that, where, but for this proviso, the husband would be entitled to a deduction of £2,230 under the foregoing provision he shall, if he proves that his marriage took place in that year of assessment, be entitled to a deduction of £2,345 in lieu of the deduction of £2,230,

(b) in a case in which the claimant in the year of assessment—

(i) is a widowed person, a deduction of £1,185, or

(ii) is a widow whose husband has died in that year of assessment, a deduction of £2,230, and

(c) in any other case, a deduction of £1,115.

Additional allowance for widows and others in respect of children.

138A.—If for any year of assessment the claimant proves that—

(a) he is a person who is not entitled to a deduction mentioned in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) (ii) of section 138, and

(b) he is entitled, for that year of assessment, to a deduction under section 141 in respect of a child resident with him,

he shall be entitled to a deduction of £500:

Provided that this section shall not apply for any year of assessment in the case of a husband or a wife where the wife is living with her husband.

Employee allowance.

138B.—(1) If, for any year of assessment, the claimant proves that his total income for the year consists of or includes emoluments (including in the case where the claimant is a husband who is assessed to tax in accordance with the provisions of section 194, any emoluments of his wife which are deemed to be income of his by that section for the purposes referred to in that section)—

(a) a deduction of £400 shall be made from so much, if any, of the emoluments (but not including, in the case where the claimant is a husband assessed as aforesaid the emoluments, if any, of his wife) as arise to the claimant, and

(b) in the case where the claimant is a husband assessed as aforesaid, a deduction of £400 shall be made from so much, if any, of the emoluments as arise to his wife.

(2) In this section—

“emoluments” means emoluments to which Chapter IV of Part V applies, or is applied, save that it does not include—

(a) emoluments paid, directly or indirectly, by a body corporate (or by any person who would be regarded as connected with the body corporate for the purposes of Part IV of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968) to a proprietary director of the body corporate or to the spouse or child of such a proprietary director, and

(b) emoluments paid, directly or indirectly, by an individual (or by a partnership in which the individual is a partner) to the spouse or child of the individual;

“proprietary director” has the meaning assigned to it by section 226 of the Income Tax Act, 1967.”.

4 Personal reliefs.

4.—(1) Where a deduction falls to be made from the total income of an individual for the year 1980-81 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 subsection 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 1979-80	Amount to be deducted from total income for 1980-81 and subsequent years
(1)	(2)	(3)
Income Tax Act, 1967:
section 138A	£	£
(additional allowance for widows and others in respect of children)	250	500
section 141
(child)	218	195
(incapacitated child)	320	390
Finance Act, 1969:
section 3
(housekeeper taking care of incapacitated person)	165	330
Finance Act, 1971:
section 11
(blind person)	165	330
(both spouses blind)	330	660

(2) Section 6 of the Finance Act, 1974, and section 3 of the Finance Act, 1979, shall have effect subject to the provisions of this section.

(3) Part I of the First Schedule shall have effect for the purpose of supplementing subsection (1).

5 Amendment of provisions relating to relief for blind persons.

5.—Section 11 of the Finance Act, 1971, is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsections (2) and (3):

“(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, an individual who, in the manner prescribed by the Income Tax Acts, makes a claim in that behalf, makes a return in the prescribed form of his total income and proves that—

(a) he was for the whole or any part of the year of assessment a blind person, or

(b) he is assessed to tax for the year in accordance with the provisions of section 194 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, and that his wife was for the whole or any part of the year a blind person, shall, in computing the amount of his taxable income for the year of assessment, be entitled to have a deduction of £330 made from his total income:

Provided that in a case where paragraph (b) applies and the claimant proves in addition that he was for the whole or any part of the year a blind person, he shall be entitled to a deduction of £660 in lieu of the said deduction of £330.”,

and

(b) by the deletion of subsections (6) and (8).

6 Relief in respect of life assurance premiums and certain other payments.

6.—(1) Section 143 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended:

(a) by the substitution in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of “spouse” for “wife”,

(b) by the insertion in subsection (6) of “, in a case in which the husband is assessed to tax in accordance with the provisions of section 194,” after “the same deduction shall”,

and the said paragraph (b) and the said subsection (6), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this subsection.

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(b) the insurance, or, as the case may be, the deferred annuity, is on the life of the claimant or on the life of his spouse; and

(6) Where a premium is paid by a wife out of her separate income in respect of an insurance on her own life or the life of her husband or a contract for any deferred annuity on her own life or the life of her husband, the same deduction shall, in a case in which the husband is assessed to tax in accordance with the provisions of section 194, be made as if the premium were a premium paid by her husband for an insurance on his own life or for a contract for a deferred annuity on his own life, and this section shall apply accordingly.

(2) Section 152 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the addition thereto of the following proviso:

“Provided also that in a case where the claimant is a husband who is assessed to tax in accordance with the provisions of section 194, this subsection shall have effect as if ‘£2,000’ were substituted for ‘£1,000’.”.

7 Amendment of provisions relating to relief in respect of interest.

7.—(1) Section 496 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) In relation to any interest paid in respect of any period beginning on or after the 6th day of April, 1980, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), no repayment of tax shall be made under this section for any year of assessment—

(a) in the case of a husband, who is assessed to tax for the year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 194, on the excess of the interest over £4,800,

(b) in the case of a widowed person, on the excess of the interest over £3,500, or

(c) in any other case, on the excess of the interest over £2,400.”;

(b) by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsection:

“(3A) Where, in relation to interest paid in respect of any period beginning on or after the 6th day of April, 1980, relief is claimed by a person by virtue of more than one of the following provisions, that is to say, this section, section 76 (1) (c) and paragraph 1 (2) of Part III of Schedule 6, relief shall not be given to such person in respect of the part (if any) of the aggregate amount of interest paid by him that exceeds the appropriate amount specified in subsection (2A) in relation to the year of assessment 1980-81 and subsequent years of assessment.”:

and

(c) in subsection (4), by the substitution for “subsection (2)” of “subsections (2) and (2A)”.

(2) In relation to annual interest in respect of any period beginning on or after the 6th day of April, 1980, neither section 76 (1) (c) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, nor paragraph 1 (2) of Part III of Schedule 6 to that Act shall apply for any year of assessment—

(a) in the case of a husband assessed to tax for that year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 194 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, to the excess of the interest over the amount specified in paragraph (a) of section 496 (2A) of that Act,

(b) in the case of a widowed person, to the excess of the interest over the amount specified in paragraph (b) of the said section 496 (2A), or

(c) in any other case, to the excess of the interest over the amount specified in paragraph (c) of the said section 496 (2A).

(3) (a) Section 38 of the Finance Act, 1974, is hereby amended—

(i) by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) In relation to connected persons, the reference in section 496 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, and sections 44 and 52 to any sum shall, in the case of each such person, be taken to be a reference to the proportion of that sum which the interest paid by that person bears to the aggregate of the interest paid by all the connected persons.”

and

(ii) by the substitution in subsection (2) for “1968” of the following:

“1968:

Provided that in a case where a husband and wife are assessed to income tax for a year of assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 193 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, they shall not, for that year of assessment, be connected persons for the purposes of this subsection.”.

(b) Section 9 of the Finance Act, 1979, shall have effect for the year 1980-81 and subsequent years of assessment as if paragraph (b) in the Table were deleted.

(4) Section 10 of the Finance Act, 1979, is hereby amended, as respects the year 1980-81 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution in subsection (2) of the following definition for the definition of “A”:

“A is—

(i) in the case of a husband who is assessed to tax in accordance with the provisions of section 194 of the Income Tax, 1967, £4,800,

(ii) in the case of a widowed person, £3,500, or

(iii) in any other case, £2,400.”.

8 Charge of income tax for 1980-81 and subsequent years.

8.—Where a person who is charged to income tax for the year 1980-81 or any subsequent year of assessment is an individual (other than an individual acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity), he shall, notwithstanding anything in the Income Tax Acts but subject to section 5 (3) of the Finance Act, 1974, be charged to tax on his taxable income—

(a) in a case in which he is assessed to tax otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of section 194 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, at the rates specified in Part I of the Table to this section, or

(b) in a case in which he is assessed to tax in accordance with the provisions of the said section 194, at the rates specified in Part II of the said Table,

and

(i) each of the first two rates in each part of that Table, and

(ii) the other rates in each Part of that Table shall be known, respectively, by the description specified in column (3), in each Part of the Table opposite the mention of the rate or rates, as the case may be, in column (2) of that Part.

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PART I

Part of taxable income	Rate of tax		Description of rate
(1)	(2)		(3)
The first £1,000	25 per cent.		the reduced rate
The next £4,000	35 per cent.		the standard rate
The next £2,000	45 per cent.	}	the higher rates
The next £2,000	55 per cent.
The remainder	60 per cent.

PART II

Part of taxable income	Rate of tax		Description of rate
(1)	(2)		(3)
The first £2,000	25 per cent.		the reduced rate
The next £8,000	35 per cent.		the standard rate
The next £4,000	45 per cent.	}	the higher rates
The next £4,000	55 per cent.
The remainder	60 per cent.

9 Amendment of section 3 (“Income Tax Acts”) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

9.—Section 3 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the substitution for “In any enactment” of “In this Act and in any enactment” and the said section, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

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