Finance Act 1983

PART I Income Tax, Income Levy, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax

Chapter I Income Tax

1 Amendment of section 1 (exemption from income tax) of Finance Act, 1980.

1.—Section 1 of the Finance Act, 1980, is hereby amended, as respects the year 1983-84 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution in subsection (2) of “£4,800” for “£4,400” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1982) and of “£2,400” for “£2,200” (inserted by the Finance Act, 1982), and the said subsection (2), as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(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, £4,800, and

(b) in any other case, £2,400.

2 Alteration of rates of income tax.

2.—Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1980, is hereby amended, as respects the year 1983-84 and subsequent years of assessment, by the substitution of the following Table for the Table to the said section:

“TABLE

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 £3,000	35 per cent.		the standard rate
The next £2,000	45 per cent.	}
The next £2,000	55 per cent.		the higher rates
The next £2,000	60 per cent.
The remainder	65 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 £6,000	35 per cent.		the standard rate
The next £4,000	45 per cent.	}
The next £4,000	55 per cent.		the higher rates
The next £4,000	60 per cent.
The remainder	65 per cent.

”

3 Maintenance in the case of separated spouses.

3.—(1) (a) (i) In this section—

“maintenance arrangement” means an order of a court, rule of court, deed of separation, trust, covenant, agreement, arrangement, or any other act, giving rise to a legally enforceable obligation and made or done in consideration or in consequence of the dissolution or annulment of a marriage or of such separation of the parties to a marriage as is referred to in section 192 (1) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, and a maintenance arrangement relates to the marriage in consideration or in consequence of the dissolution or annulment of which or of the separation of the parties to which the maintenance arrangement was made or arises;

“payment” means a payment or part of a payment, as the case may be.

(ii) A reference in this section to a child of a person includes a child in respect of whom the person was, at any time before the making of the maintenance arrangement concerned, entitled to a deduction under section 141 of the Income Tax Act, 1967.

(b) (i) This section applies to payments made, directly or indirectly, by a party to a marriage under or pursuant to a maintenance arrangement relating to the marriage for the benefit of a child of his, or for the benefit of the other party to the marriage, being payments—

(I) which are made at a time on or after the passing of this Act when the wife is not living with the husband,

(II) the making of which is legally enforceable, and

(III) which are annual or periodical:

Provided that this section shall not apply to such payments made under a maintenance arrangement made before the passing of this Act unless and until such time as one of the following events occurs, or the earlier of such events occurs where both occur, that is to say—

(A) the maintenance arrangement is replaced by another maintenance arrangement or varied,

(B) both parties to the marriage to which the maintenance arrangement relates, by notice in writing to the inspector, jointly elect that this section shall apply,

and where such an event occurs in either of the circumstances aforesaid, this section shall apply to all such payments made after the date on which it occurs.

(ii) For the purposes of this section and of section 4, a payment, whether conditional or not, which is made, directly or indirectly, by a party to a marriage under or pursuant to a maintenance arrangement relating to the marriage (other than a payment of which the amount, or the method of calculating the amount, is specified in the maintenance arrangement and from which, or from the consideration for which, neither a child of the party to the marriage making the payment nor the other party to the marriage derives any benefit) shall be deemed to be made for the benefit of the other party to the marriage:

Provided that, where the payment, in accordance with the maintenance arrangement, is made or directed to be made for the use and benefit of a child of the party to the marriage making the payment, or for the maintenance, support, education or other benefit of such a child, or in trust for such a child, and the amount, or the method of calculating the amount, of such payment so made or directed to be made is specified in the maintenance arrangement, the said payment shall be deemed to be made for the benefit of such child, and not for the benefit of any other person.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Income Tax Acts, but subject to section 4, as respects any payment to which this section applies which is made directly or indirectly by one party to the marriage to which the maintenance arrangement concerned relates for the benefit of the other party to the marriage—

(a) the person making the payment shall not be entitled, on making the payment, to deduct and retain thereout any sum representing any amount of income tax thereon,

(b) the payment shall be deemed for all purposes of the Income Tax Acts to be profits or gains arising to the said other party to the marriage and income tax shall be charged on that other party under Case IV of Schedule D in respect of those profits or gains, and

(c) the party to the marriage by whom the payment is made, having made a claim in that behalf in the manner prescribed by the Income Tax Acts, shall be entitled for all purposes of the Income Tax Acts to deduct the payment in computing his total income for the year of assessment in which the payment is made.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the Income Tax Acts, as respects any payment to which this section applies which is made directly or indirectly by a party to the marriage to which the maintenance arrangement concerned relates for the benefit of any child of his—

(a) the person making the payment shall not be entitled on making the payment, to deduct and retain thereout any sum representing any amount of income tax thereon,

(b) the payment shall be deemed for all purposes of the Income Tax Acts not to be income of the child,

(c) the total income for any year of assessment of the party to the marriage who makes the payment shall be computed for all purposes of the Income Tax Acts as if the payment had not been made, and

(d) for the purposes of section 141 (6) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, the payment shall be deemed to be an amount expended on the maintenance of the child by the party to the marriage who makes the payment and, notwithstanding that the payment is made to the other party to the marriage to be applied for or towards the maintenance of the child and is so applied, it shall be deemed for the aforementioned purposes not to be an amount expended by that other party on the maintenance of the child.

(4) (a) The provisions of sections 146 and 149 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, shall apply to a deduction under subsection (2) (c) as they apply to any allowance, deduction or relief under sections 138 to 145 of that Act.

(b) The provisions of Schedule 4 to the Income Tax Act, 1967, and of paragraph IX of Schedule 18 to that Act shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to a deduction under subsection (2) (c).

4 Separated spouses: adaptation of special provisions as to married persons.

4.—(1) Where a payment to which section 3 applies is made in a year of assessment by a party to a marriage (being a marriage which has not been dissolved or annulled) and both parties to the marriage are resident in the State for that year, section 195 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, shall have effect in relation to the parties to the marriage for that year of assessment as if—

(a) in subsection (1), “, where the wife is living with the husband,” were deleted, and

(b) subsection (4) were deleted.

(2) Where, by virtue of subsection (1), the parties to a marriage elect as provided for in section 195 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, then, as respects any year of assessment for which the election has effect—

(a) subject to subsection (1) and paragraphs (b) and (c), all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts shall apply in the case of the parties to the marriage as they apply in the case of a husband and wife who have elected under the said section 195 (1) and whose election has effect for that year of assessment,

(b) the total income or incomes of the parties to the marriage shall be computed for all purposes of the Income Tax Acts as if any payments to which section 3 applies made in that year of assessment by one party to the marriage for the benefit of the other party to the marriage had not been made, and

(c) income tax shall be assessed, charged and recovered on the total income or incomes of the parties to the marriage as if an application under section 197 (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980) of the Income Tax Act, 1967, had been made by one of the parties and that application had effect for that year of assessment.

5 Amendment of section 6 (special allowance in respect of P.R.S.I. for 1982-83) of Finance Act, 1982.

5.—Section 6 of the Finance Act, 1982, shall have effect, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of income on which an individual referred to therein is to be charged to income tax for the year 1983-84, as if in subsection (2)—

(a) “1983-84” were substituted for “1982-83”, and

(b) “£286” were substituted for “£312”, in each place where it occurs.

6 Amendment of Part IX (special provisions relating to year of marriage) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

6.—Part IX of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended in Chapter I (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980) by the insertion after section 195 of the following section:

“Special provisions relating to year of marriage.

195A.—(1) In this section—

‘income tax month’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 124;

‘year of marriage’, in relation to a husband and his wife, means the year of assessment in which their marriage took place.

(2) Section 195 shall not apply or have effect in relation to a husband and his wife for the year of marriage.

(3) Where, on making a claim in that behalf, a husband and his wife prove that the amount equal to the aggregate of the tax paid and payable by the husband on his total income for the year of marriage and the tax paid and payable by his wife on her total income for the year of marriage is in excess of the tax which would have been payable by the husband on his total income and the total income of his wife for the year of marriage if—

(a) he had been charged to tax for the year of marriage in accordance with section 194, and

(b) he and his wife had been married to each other throughout the year of marriage,

they shall be entitled, subject to subsection (4), to repayment of tax of an amount determined by the formula—

B A __ 12

Where—

A is the amount of the aforementioned excess, and

B is the number of income tax months in the period between the date on which the marriage took place and the end of the year of marriage, part of an income tax month being treated for this purpose as an income tax month in a case where the period consists of part of an income tax month or of one or more income tax months and part of an income tax month.

(4) Any repayment of tax under subsection (3) shall be allocated to the husband and to the wife concerned in proportion to the amounts of tax paid and payable by them, having regard to subsection (2), on their respective total incomes for the year of marriage.

(5) Any claim for a repayment of tax under the provisions of subsection (3) shall be made in writing to the inspector after the end of the year of marriage and shall be made by the husband and wife concerned jointly.

(6) All such provisions of the Income Tax Acts as apply in relation to deductions specified in sections 138 to 143 shall apply in relation to any repayment of tax under this section.

(7) This section shall have effect in relation to tax for the year 1983-84 and subsequent years of assessment.”.

7 Cesser of Part XX (relief to investors in Irish securities) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

7.—Part XX of the Income Tax Act, 1967, shall not apply or have effect in relation to any distribution or payment of interest referred to in that Part that is made on or after the 9th day of February, 1983.

8 Amendment of section 344 (exemption of interest on certain deposits) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

8.—Section 344 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended, as respects the year 1983-84 and subsequent years of assessment—

(a) by the substitution in subsection (1) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980) of “£120” for “£150”, in each place where it occurs, and of “£50” for “£70”,

(b) by the substitution in subsection (2) (inserted by the Finance Act, 1980) of “£120” for “£150” and of “£50” for “£70”, and

(c) by the substitution in subsection (4) of the following definition for the definition of “the commercial banks”:

“‘the commercial banks’ means Allied Irish Banks Limited, the Bank of Ireland, the Northern Bank Limited, the Ulster Bank Limited, Ansbacher & Company Limited, Barclays Commercial Bank Limited, Guinness & Mahon Limited, Chase Bank (Ireland) Limited and the Agricultural Credit Corporation, Limited;”,

and the said subsections (1) and (2), as so amended, are set out in the Table to this section.

TABLE

(1) Where the total income of an individual for the year of assessment includes, or would but for this section include, any sums (in this section referred to as “the said sums”) paid or credited in respect of interest on—

(a) deposits with a trustee savings bank or with the Post Office Savings Bank, or

(b) deposits with any of the commercial banks,

the said sums shall be disregarded for all the purposes of the Income Tax Acts if or in so far as the said sums do not exceed—

(i) in the case of sums representing interest on deposits mentioned in paragraph (a), £120, or

(ii) in the case of sums representing interest on deposits mentioned in paragraph (b), £50:

Provided that the total sums to be so disregarded shall not exceed £120:

Provided also that the provisions of this Act as regards the making by the individual of a return of his total income shall apply as if this section had not been enacted.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) the question whether or how far the said sums exceed £120 or £50, as the case may be, shall, where by virtue of section 194, a woman's income is deemed to be her husband's, be determined separately as regards the part of his income which is his by virtue of that section and the part which is his apart from that section.

9 Amendment of Part XXVI (appeals) of Income Tax Act, 1967.

9.—Part XXVI of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended—

(a) as respects appeals against assessments made after the passing of this Act—

(i) in section 416—

(I) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (6):

“(6) (a) In default of notice of appeal by a person to whom notice of assessment has been given the assessment made on him shall be final and conclusive.

(b) Where a person who has given notice of appeal against an assessment does not attend before the Appeal Commissioners at the time and place appointed for the hearing of his appeal, the assessment made on him shall, subject to subsection (8), have the same force and effect as if it were an assessment in respect of which no notice of appeal had been given.

(c) Where on the hearing of an appeal against an assessment—

(i) no application is or has been made to the Appeal Commissioners before or during the hearing of the appeal by or on behalf of the appellant for an adjournment of the proceedings on the appeal or such an application is or has been made and is or was refused (but such an application shall not be refused before the expiration of a period of 9 months from the end of the year of assessment to which the assessment appealed against relates or from the date on which the notice of the assessment was given to the appellant, whichever is the earlier) and

(ii) (A) a return of his income for the relevant year of assessment has not been made by the appellant, or

(B) such a return has been made but all the statements of profits and gains, schedules and other evidence relating to such return have not been furnished by or on behalf of the appellant,

the Appeal Commissioners shall make an order dismissing the appeal against the assessment and thereupon the assessment shall have the same force and effect as if it were an assessment in respect of which no notice of appeal had been given:

Provided that this paragraph shall not apply if, on the hearing of the appeal, the Appeal Commissioners are satisfied that sufficient information has been furnished by or on behalf of the appellant to enable them to determine the appeal at that hearing.”,

(II) in subsection (7)—

(A) by the insertion in paragraph (a) after “behalf” of “within 12 months after the date of the notice of assessment”, and

(B) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (c):