Finance (No. 2) Act , 1981

PART I Customs and Excise

1 Definitions (Part I).

1.—In this Part—

“the Act of 1981” means the Finance Act, 1981;

“the Order of 1975” means the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975).

2 Beer.

2.—(1) The duty of excise on beer imposed by paragraph 7 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the rate of £119.647 for, in the case of all beer brewed within the State, every 36 gallons of worts of a specific gravity of 1,055 degrees, and, in the case of all imported beer, every 36 gallons of beer of which the worts were before fermentation of a specific gravity of 1,055 degrees, in lieu of the rate mentioned in section 31 (1) of the Act of 1981.

(2) Subject to paragraph 5 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 250) (Beer) Order, 1981 (S.I. No. 10 of 1981), the drawback on beer provided for in paragraph 7 (3) of the Order of 1975 shall, as respects beer on which it is shown, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, that duty at the rate mentioned in subsection (1) of this section has been paid, be calculated, according to the original specific gravity of the beer, at the rate of £119.647 on every 36 gallons of beer of which the original specific gravity was 1,055 degrees.

3 Spirits.

3.—(1) The duty of excise on spirits imposed by paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the several rates specified in the First Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Third Schedule to the Act of 1981.

(2) Nothing in this section shall operate to relieve from or to prejudice or affect the additional duty of excise in respect of immature spirits imposed by paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1975 and the third column of the First Schedule to that Order as amended by paragraph 4 (2) of the Imposition of Duties (No. 244) (Excise Duties on Spirits, Beer and Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 415 of 1979), and the third column of the First Schedule to that Order.

(3) In the First Schedule to this Act “alcohol” means pure ethyl alcohol.

4 Tobacco products.

4.—(1) In this section and in the Second Schedule to this Act “cigarettes”, “cigars”, “cavendish or negrohead”, “hard pressed tobacco”, “other pipe tobacco”, “smoking tobacco”, “chewing tobacco” and “tobacco products” have the same meanings as they have in the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977, as amended by the Imposition of Duties (No. 243) (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 296 of 1979).

(2) The duty of excise on tobacco products imposed by section 2 of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977, shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the several rates specified in the Second Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Second Schedule to the Act of 1981.

5 Wine and made wine.

5.—(1) The duty of excise on wine imposed by paragraph 5 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the several rates specified in Part I of the Third Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1981.

(2) The duty of excise on made wine imposed by paragraph 6 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the several rates specified in Part II of the Third Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in Part II of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1981.

(3) In the Third Schedule to this Act—

“actual alcoholic strength by volume” means the number of volumes of pure alcohol contained at a temperature of 20C in 100 volumes of the product at that temperature;

“ vol” means alcoholic strength by volume.

6 Hydrocarbons.

6.—(1) The duty of excise on mineral hydrocarbon light oil imposed by paragraph 11 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the rate of £17.32 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate specified in section 35 (1) of the Act of 1981.

(2) The duty of excise on hydrocarbon oil imposed by paragraph 12 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the rate of £11.67 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate specified in section 35 (2) of the Act of 1981.

(3) As on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, the rate of any repayment allowed under paragraph 12 (11) of the Order of 1975 in respect of hydrocarbon oil on which such repayment is allowable and on which the excise duty mentioned in subsection (2) of this section was paid at the rate of £11.67 per hectolitre shall be £9.88 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate allowable immediately before the 22nd day of July, 1981.

(4) The duty of excise on gaseous hydrocarbons in liquid form imposed by section 41 (1) of the Finance Act, 1976, shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the rate of £0.48 per gallon in lieu of the rate specified in section 35 (4) of the Act of 1981.

7 Motor vehicles.

7.—The duty of excise imposed by paragraph 4 (1) of the Imposition of Duties (No. 236) (Excise Duties on Motor Vehicles, Televisions and Gramophone Records) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 57 of 1979), on category A motor vehicles, within the meaning of paragraph 3 (a) of the said Order, shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 22nd day of July, 1981, at the rate of an amount equal to 50 per cent. of the chargeable value, in lieu of the rate specified in section 71 of the Finance Act, 1980.

8 Rates of vehicle excise duties.

8.—(1) In this section—

“the Act” means the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952;

“specified vehicle” means—

(a) a vehicle specified in paragraph 1 of Part I of the Schedule to the Act, or

(b) a vehicle specified in paragraph 6 (d) of Part I of the Schedule to the Act which does not exceed 16 horse-power (calculated in accordance with regulations made by the Minister for the Environment under section 1 (3) of the Act for the purpose of a rate of duty specified in the Schedule to the Act),

but does not include:

(i) a vehicle which is used as a hearse and for no other purpose,

(ii) a vehicle specified in Article 3 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 170) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1968, (S.I. No. 68 of 1968), as amended by the Imposition of Duties (No. 216) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1975 (No. 5 of 1975), or

(iii) a vehicle specified in Article 3 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 229) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1977 (No. 112 of 1977).

(2) In respect of specified vehicles used in any public place, the duty of excise imposed by section 1 of the Act shall be charged, levied and paid at the rates specified in relation thereto in the Schedule to the Act and, accordingly, the Imposition of Duties (No. 231) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1977 (S.I. No. 241 of 1977), is hereby revoked and the amendments of the Act and of section 94 of the Finance Act, 1973, effected by that Order shall cease to have effect.

(3) Section 94 of the Finance Act, 1973, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (a) of subsection (2):

“(a) £1 in relation to a specified vehicle (which expression has in this section the same meaning that it has in section 8 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1981) in respect of which the said duty imposed by the said section 1 is payable at a rate specified in paragraph 1 of Part I of the Schedule to the said Act;

(aa) £5 in relation to any other specified vehicle (not being a vehicle in respect of which the said duty imposed by the said section is not chargeable or leviable or a vehicle to which paragraph (b) of this subsection applies);”.

(4) Subsections (1) to (3) of this section shall have effect in respect of specified vehicles in relation to which licences under section 1 of the Act are taken out for periods beginning on or after the 1st day of September, 1981.

(5) (a) Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, the Act shall, as respects licences under section 1 of the Act for periods beginning on or after the 1st day of September, 1981, be amended by the substitution in Part I of the Schedule thereto (as amended by section 79(1) of the Finance Act, 1976) of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (d) of paragraph 6:

“(d) other vehicles to which this paragraph applies—

not exceeding 8 horse-power
	£4 for each unit or part of a unit of horse-power
exceeding 8 horse-power and not exceeding 12 horse-power
	£5 for each unit or part of a unit of horse-power
exceeding 12 horse-power and not exceeding 16 horse-power
	£6 for each unit or part of a unit of horse-power
exceeding 16 horse-power
	£8 for each unit or part of a unit of horse-power
electrically propelled
	£22”.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not have effect in relation to any vehicle—

(i) which is used as a small public service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, and for no other purpose,

(ii) which is fitted with a taximeter and is lawfully used as a street service vehicle within the meaning of the said Road Traffic Act, 1961, or for purposes incidental to such user and for no other purpose, or

(iii) which is used as a hearse and for no other purpose.

(c) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not have effect in relation to vehicles specified in Article 3 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 170) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1968, as amended by the Imposition of Duties (No. 216) (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Order, 1975.

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

9 Revocation of Order.

9.—The Imposition of Duties (No. 254) (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1981 (S.I. No. 299 of 1981), is hereby revoked.

PART II Value-Added Tax

10 Definitions (Part II).

10.—In this Part—

“the Act of 1978” means the Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 1978;

“the Principal Act” means the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972.

11 Amendment of section 8 of Principal Act.

11.—Section 8 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (3) (inserted by the Act of 1978)—

(i) by the substitution in paragraph (b) of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (iii):

“(iii) supplies of goods and services, other than those referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii), the total consideration for which has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £15,000 in any continuous period of 12 months,”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c):

“(c) (i) subject to subparagraph (ii), a person for whose supply of taxable goods and services the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £30,000 in any continuous period of 12 months,

(ii) subparagraph (i) shall apply if, but only if, not less than 90 per cent. of the total consideration referred to therein is derived from the supply of taxable goods,”,

(iii) by the deletion of paragraph (d), and

(iv) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (e):

“(e) a person, other than a person to whom paragraph (a), (b) or (c) applies, for whose supply of taxable goods and services the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £15,000 in any continuous period of 12 months.”,

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) Where, by virtue of subsection (3) or (6), a person has not been a taxable person and a change of circumstances occurs from which it becomes clear that he is likely to become a taxable person, he shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be a taxable person from the beginning of the taxable period commencing next after such change.”,

(c) in subsection (6), by the substitution in paragraph (a) of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):

“(ii) has fallen below and remains permanently below such amount as may be appropriate in the particular case having regard to paragraph (c) or (e) of subsection (3),”,

(d) in subsection (8), by the substitution of the following for paragraph (b):

“(b) each such person may be made jointly and severally liable to comply with all the provisions of this Act and regulations (including the provisions requiring the payment of tax) that apply to those persons and subject to the penalties under this Act to which they would be subject if each such person was liable to pay to the Revenue Commissioners the whole of the tax chargeable, apart from regulations under this subsection, in respect of all such persons:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to business activities consisting of the supply of immovable goods by any such person to any other such person and, where a request is made by such persons pursuant to regulations under this subsection, such business activities shall be treated for the purposes of this Act, as if the request had not been made.”,

and

(e) in subsection (9), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (d) in the definition of “farmer”:

“(d) supplies of goods and services, other than those referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), the total consideration for which has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed £15,000 in any continuous period of 12 months.”.

12 Amendment of section 11 of Principal Act.

12.—(1) Section 11 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in subsection (1) (inserted by the Act of 1978), by the substitution in paragraph (a) of “15 per cent.” for “10 per cent.”,

(b) in subsection (2) (inserted by the Act of 1978), by the substitution in paragraph (b) of “20 per cent.” for “30 per cent.”, and

(c) by the insertion after the said paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(c) On the supply of agricultural services consisting of—

(i) field work, reaping, mowing, threshing, baling, harvesting, sowing and planting;

(ii) disinfecting and ensilage of agricultural products;

(iii) destruction of weeds and pests and dusting and spraying of crops and land;

(iv) lopping, tree felling and similar forestry services, and

(v) land drainage and reclamation,

tax shall be chargeable at the rate specified in subsection (1) (a) on 20 per cent. of the total amount on which tax is chargeable and at the rate of zero per cent. on the balance of the said total amount.”.

(2) This section shall have, and be deemed to have had, effect as on and from the 1st day of September, 1981.

13 Amendment of section 12A of Principal Act.

13.—(1) Section 12A (inserted by the Act of 1978) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (1) of “1.5 per cent.” for “1 per cent.”, and the said subsection (1), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

Where a flat-rate farmer supplies agricultural produce or an agricultural service to a person, the farmer shall, subject to section 17 (2), issue to the person an invoice indicating the consideration (exclusive of the flat-rate addition) in respect of the supply and an amount (in this Act referred to as ‘a flat-rate addition’) equal to 1.5 per cent. of the said consideration (exclusive of the said addition), and the person shall, if he is a taxable person, be entitled to treat the flat-rate addition as tax deductible under section 12 subject, however, to any restrictions imposed by or under subsection (3) or (4) of that section.

(2) This section shall have, and be deemed to have had, effect as on and from the 1st day of September, 1981.

14 Relief for hotels, etc.

14.—(1) In this section “qualifying service” means a service consisting of the supply, for the benefit of persons not resident in the State, under an agreement made before the 1st day of January, 1981, of sleeping accommodation, with or without board or of motor cars upon hire, boats upon hire or entertainment, at charges fixed at the time of the making of the agreement, to persons carrying on the business of travel agent, tour operator or the hiring out of motor cars or boats.

(2) In respect of the taxable periods commencing on the 1st day of September, 1981, and the 1st day of November, 1981, notwithstanding the provisions of section 11 of the Principal Act (as amended by this Act), tax shall, in relation to the supply of a qualifying service, be chargeable, and be deemed to have been chargeable, at the rate of 10 per cent.

15 Transitional provisions.

15.—A person who, immediately before the passing of this Act, was a taxable person and who, upon such passing, would not, unless he so elected under section 8 (3) of the Principal Act, be such a person, shall, upon such passing, be deemed to have so elected and shall be a taxable person until the time when the election is cancelled or he permanently ceases to supply taxable goods and services, whichever is the earlier.

PART III Stamp Duties

16 Levy on banks.

16.—(1) In this section,

“assessable amount” means the amount arrived at by dividing the specified amount by three and deducting £5,000,000 from the quotient;

“bank” means a person who, on the 1st day of April, 1981, was the holder of a licence granted under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971;

“returns”, in relation to a bank, means the monthly bank returns furnished to the Central Bank of Ireland by the bank in respect of the assets and liabilities of the bank as on the 15th day of April, 1981, the 20th day of May, 1981, and the 30th day of June, 1981;

“specified amount” means—