Finance Act 2010

• “(4) Where the unrelieved foreign tax of an accounting period of a company exceeds the aggregate amount of corporation tax payable by the company for the accounting period in respect of foreign branch income of the company for that accounting period, the excess shall be carried forward and treated as unrelieved foreign tax of the next succeeding accounting period, and so on for succeeding accounting periods.”.

• (2) This section applies as respects accounting periods ending on or after 1 January 2010.

48. Amendment of section 847 (tax relief for certain branch profits) of Principal Act.

48.— Section 847 of the Principal Act is amended—

• (a) in subsection (6) by substituting “any provision of the Corporation Tax Acts other than this section” for “any other provision of the Corporation Tax Acts”,

• (b) in subsection (9)(b) by substituting “For the purposes of this subsection and subsection (10), where” for “Where”, and

• (c) by inserting the following after subsection (9):

• “(10)

  • (a) Notwithstanding subsection (9)(a), where, in any accounting period, a qualified company incurred a loss (in this subsection referred to as a ‘relevant loss’) on qualified foreign trading activities and that loss formed, or formed part of, the profits or gains or losses of the company which were disregarded for the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts by virtue of subsection (6), then the company may claim relief under section 396(1) in accordance with this subsection in respect of that loss for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011.

  • (b) For the purposes of a claim under paragraph (a) in respect of a relevant loss, the qualified foreign trading activities carried on by a qualified company through a branch or agency outside the State shall for all accounting periods be treated as a trade separate from all other activities carried on by the company and the company shall be treated as continuing to carry on that separate trade for so long as it continues to carry on those activities through that branch or agency and to permanently discontinue to carry on that trade when it ceases to carry on those activities through that branch or agency.

  • (c) Where a qualified company makes a claim under paragraph (a) in respect of a relevant loss then, subject to paragraph (b), the company shall be entitled to such relief under section 396(1) for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011 as it would have been entitled to had the profits or gains or losses from qualified foreign trading activities carried on through the branch or agency not been disregarded for the purposes of the Corporation Tax Acts by virtue of subsection (6) and had relief been granted in respect of the relevant loss under section 396(1), but not any other provision of the Corporation Tax Acts, for accounting periods ending before that date.”.

49. Dividends paid out of foreign profits.

49.— (1) The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 129:

“129A.— (1) (a) In this section ‘profits’, in relation to a company for a period of account, means the amount of the profits after taxation as shown in the profit and loss account or income statement for that period as laid before the annual general meeting of the company.

• (b) For the purposes of this section—

  • (i) any question whether a company is connected with another company shall be determined in accordance with section 10 (as it applies for the purposes of the Tax Acts) and subparagraph (ii),

  • (ii) where a company is party to a scheme or arrangement, the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of which is the avoidance of the whole or part of a distribution being treated as a taxable distribution, then the company shall be treated as connected with any other company which is a party to that scheme or arrangement.

• (c) For the purposes of subsection (5) ‘control’ shall be construed in accordance with subsections (2) to (6) of section 432 as if in subsection (6) of that section for ‘5 or fewer participators’ there were substituted ‘persons resident in the State’.

• (2) Where—

  • (a) a company receives a distribution from another company (in this section referred to as the ‘paying company’) resident in the State with which it is connected, and

  • (b) the paying company became resident in the State in the period—

    • (i) beginning on the date—

      • (I) 10 years before the date the distribution was made, or

      • (II) of passing of the Finance Act 2010,

      whichever is the later, and

    • (ii) ending on the date the distribution is made,

    then, subject to subsection (5), section 129 shall not apply to such amount of the distribution as is paid out of profits arising before the paying company became resident in the State and that amount shall be treated as income chargeable to tax under Case IV of Schedule D.

• (3)

  • (a) For the purposes of this section, where the amount of a distribution made by the paying company on or after the date (or the last such date if there was more than one date) it became resident in the State exceeds the distributable profits of the company for the period (in this subsection referred to as the ‘specified period’)—

    • (i) beginning on the date (or the last such date if there was more than one date) the company became resident in the State, and

    • (ii) ending on the last day of the accounting period of the company immediately preceding the accounting period in which the distribution is made,

    then the excess shall be treated as paid out of profits arising before the company became resident in the State.

  • (b) For the purposes of this subsection—

    • (i) the distributable profits of the paying company for a specified period shall, subject to subparagraph (ii), be taken to be the aggregate of the profits of the periods of account (in this subsection referred to as ‘corresponding periods’) which fall wholly or partly within the specified period, as reduced by the aggregate of so much of the amounts of any distributions made in the specified period as were amounts to which section 129 applied,

    • (ii) where a corresponding period falls partly within a specified period, the amount to be included in the distributable profits for the specified period in respect of the profits of that corresponding period shall be the profits of that corresponding period reduced by applying the fraction—

    A

    B

    where—

    A is the length of the period common to the specified period and the corresponding period, and

    B is the length of the corresponding period.

• (4) Where, by virtue of subsection (2), section 129 does not apply to the whole or part of a distribution (such whole or part, as the case may be, in this section referred to as the ‘taxable distribution’) received by a company (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned company’) from another company resident in the State then the first-mentioned company shall be entitled to reduce the corporation tax attributable to the taxable distribution by the amount of the credit for foreign tax that would have been applied, under the provisions of Schedule 24, in reducing the corporation tax chargeable in respect of a dividend of an amount equal to the taxable distribution received by the first-mentioned company from the other company on the day before the day (or the last such day where there was more than one) the other company became resident in the State.

• (5) Subsection (2) shall not apply where the paying company was at all times before the date it became resident in the State (or the last such date where there was more than one date) not controlled by persons resident in the State.”.

• (2) This section shall apply to distributions made on or after the passing of this Act.

50. Foreign dividends.

50.— (1) The Principal Act is amended in section 21B—

• (a) in subsection (1)(b) by substituting the following for subparagraph (i):

• “(i) references to a company by which a dividend is paid apply only to a company, where throughout the period out of the profits of which the dividend was paid—

  • (I) the company was, by virtue of the law of a relevant territory, resident for the purposes of tax in such a relevant territory, and for this purpose ‘tax’, in relation to a relevant territory, means any tax imposed in the relevant territory which corresponds to corporation tax in the State, or

  • (II) the principal class of shares of the company or, where the company was a 75 per cent subsidiary of another company, the principal class of shares of that other company, was substantially and regularly traded on a stock exchange in the State, on one or more than one recognised stock exchanges in a relevant territory or territories or on such other stock exchange as may be approved of by the Minister for Finance for the purposes of Chapter 8A of Part 6,”,

• (b) in subsection (1) by inserting the following after paragraph (b):

• “(c) For the purposes of paragraph (b)(i)(II), sections 412 to 418 shall apply as those sections would apply for the purposes of Chapter 5 of Part 12 if section 411(1)(c) were deleted.”,

• (c) in subsection (2) by substituting the following for paragraph (a):

• “(a) subject to paragraph (b), the amount of a dividend to be treated as paid out of trading profits of a company shall be—

  • (i) where the dividend is paid out of specified profits, so much of the dividend, as bears to the amount of that dividend the same proportion as the amount of trading profits of the company contained in the specified profits bears to the amount of those specified profits of the company, and

  • (ii) where the dividend is not paid out of specified profits so much of the dividend, as bears to the amount of that dividend the same proportion as the amount of trading profits of the company for the period out of which the dividend is paid bears to the total profits of the company for that period, and”,

and

• (d) by substituting the following for subsection (4):

• “(4)

  • (a) This subsection applies to a dividend paid to a company (in this subsection referred to as the ‘first-mentioned company’) by another company and the first-mentioned company—

    • (i) does not own, directly or indirectly, either alone or together with a person who is connected (within the meaning of section 10) with the first-mentioned company, more than 5 per cent of the share capital of the other company, and

    • (ii) does not hold more than 5 per cent of the voting rights in the other company.

  • (b) Where the income of a company which is chargeable to tax under Case III of Schedule D includes a dividend, being a dividend to which this subsection applies, paid to the company by another company then the dividend shall be treated for the purposes of subsection (3) as a dividend paid by the other company out of trading profits of the other company.

  • (c) Where the income of a company which is income chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D would, but for this paragraph, include a dividend to which this subsection applies, then, except where otherwise expressly provided by the Corporation Tax Acts, corporation tax shall not be chargeable on the dividend, nor shall the dividend be taken into account in computing income for corporation tax.”.

• (2) This section shall apply to dividends received on or after 1 January 2010.

51. Assets transferred in course of scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation.

51.— (1) The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 308:

“308A.— (1) In this section ‘scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation’ means a scheme for the reconstruction of any company or companies or the amalgamation of any 2 or more companies.

• (2) Where—

  • (a) any scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation involves the transfer of the whole or part of the trade of a company (in this section referred to as the ‘transferring company’) to another company (in this section referred to as the ‘ acquiring company’),

  • (b) (i) the acquiring company is resident in the State at the time of the transfer, or the acquiring company uses the assets of the transferred trade for the purposes of a trade carried on by it in the State through a branch or agency immediately after that time, and

    • (ii) the transferring company is resident in the State at the time of the transfer, or the trade was carried on by it in the State through a branch or agency immediately before that time,

    and

  • (c) the transferring company receives no part of the consideration for the transfer (otherwise than by the acquiring company taking over the whole or part of the liabilities of the trade),

  then, subject to subsection (4), subsection (3) shall apply in relation to the assets of the trade transferred by the transferring company.

• (3) Where this subsection applies—

  • (a) the transfer shall not be treated as giving rise to any allowance or charge provided for by section 307 or 308, and

  • (b) there shall be made to or on the acquiring company in accordance with sections 307 and 308 all such allowances and charges as would, if the transferring company had continued to carry on the trade and had continued to use the transferred assets for the purposes of the trade, have been made to or on the transferring company in respect of any assets transferred in the course of the transfer, and the amount of any such allowance or charge shall be computed as if the acquiring company had been carrying on the trade since the transferring company began to do so and as if everything done to or by the transferring company had been done to or by the acquiring company.

• (4) Subsection (3) shall not apply as respects assets transferred in the course of a transfer if in consequence of the transfer, or a transaction of which the transfer is a part, the Corporation Tax Acts are to apply subject to subsections (6) to (9) of section 400.”.

• (2) This section shall have effect in relation to assets transferred on or after 1 January 2010.

52. Amendment of section 80A (taxation of certain short-term leases of plant and machinery) of Principal Act.

52.— (1) Section 80A of the Principal Act is amended—

• (a) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “fair value”:

“ ‘group limit’ means an amount determined by the formula—

A + (B × (C — D)/C)

where—

A is the threshold amount,

B is an aggregate amount computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice charged to the profit and loss account for all companies who are members of the group for the period of account which is the same as the specified period in respect of the amortisation or impairment of the cost of specified assets,

C is the cost of specified assets owned by all companies who are members of the group at the end of the specified period, and

D is the lesser of the cost of specified assets owned by all companies who are members of the group at the end of the threshold period or C;”,

• (b) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “predictable useful life”:

“ ‘profit and loss account’, in relation to an accounting period of a company, has the meaning assigned to it by generally accepted accounting practice and includes an income and expenditure account where a company prepares accounts in accordance with international accounting standards;”,

• (c) in the definition of “relevant short-term lease” by substituting “8 years;” for “8 years.”,

• (d) by inserting the following definitions after the definition of “relevant short-term lease”:

“ ‘specified assets’ means relevant short-term assets owned by a company which—

• (a) in respect of those assets, is entitled to any allowance under Part 9, section 670, Part 29 or any other provision of the Tax Acts relating to the making of allowances in accordance with Part 9, and

• (b) leases those assets, other than by means of a relevant short-term lease, for a period which does not exceed 8 years;

‘specified period’ means—

• (a) in the case of companies which are members of a group the respective ends of the accounting periods of which coincide, the period of 12 months throughout which one or more members of the group carries on a trade of leasing specified assets and ending at the end of the first accounting period which commences on or after 1 January 2010, and

• (b) in the case of companies which are members of a group the respective ends of the accounting periods of which do not coincide, the period specified in a notice in writing made jointly by companies which are members of the group and given to the inspector on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period (within the meaning of section 950) which is the same as the period so specified, being a period of 12 months throughout which one or more members of the group carries on a trade of leasing specified assets and ending at the end of the first accounting period of a company which is a member of the group which accounting period commences on or after 1 January 2010,

and each subsequent period of 12 months commencing immediately after the end of the relevant preceding specified period;

‘threshold amount’ in relation to a group of companies means the aggregate of allowances granted to all companies which are members of that group in respect of expenditure incurred on specified assets under Part 9, section 670, Part 29 or any other provision of the Tax Acts relating to the making of allowances in accordance with Part 9 for the threshold period;

‘ threshold period ’ in relation to a group of companies means an accounting period of one year ending on a date immediately preceding the date on which the first specified period commencing on or after 1 January 2010 begins.”,

• (e) in subsection (2) by substituting “under this subsection—” for “under this section—”, and

• (f) by inserting the following after subsection (2):

• “(2A) Where a company makes a claim under this subsection in respect of specified assets—

  • (a) subject to paragraph (c), subsection (2) of section 284 shall be construed as if a reference in that section to an amount of wear and tear allowance to be made was a reference to an amount, computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice, charged to the profit and loss account of the company for the period of account which is the same as the specified period in respect of the amortisation or impairment of the cost of specified assets,

  • (b) the income from specified assets will be treated for the purposes of section 403 as if it were not income from a trade of leasing,

  • (c) the amount of the wear and tear allowance to be made to the company in accordance with paragraph (a) for any accounting period shall not exceed an amount to be determined by the formula—

  E × F/G

  where—

  E is the group limit,

  F is the cost of specified assets owned by the company at the end of the accounting period, and

  G is the cost of specified assets owned by all companies who are members of the group, at the end of the accounting period,

  • (d) where the amount of wear and tear allowance, computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice, charged to the profit and loss account of the company for the period of account which is the same as the specified period in respect of the amortisation or impairment of the cost of specified assets, exceeds the amount of wear and tear to be made in accordance with paragraph (c), the amount of the excess shall be added to the amount of wear and tear due, in accordance with paragraph (a), for the following specified period, and deemed to be part of the amount so computed,

  • (e) the amount of the wear and tear allowance to be made to the company in accordance with paragraph (a), attributable to each specified asset for any accounting period shall be such portion of the amount of the allowance to be made in accordance with paragraph (a) as bears to that amount the same proportion as the cost of the asset bears to the cost of all specified assets which belong to the company and are in use for the purposes of the trade at the end of that accounting period,

  • (f) where in respect of a company, which is a member of a group of companies no accounting period coincides with the threshold period, there shall be made in relation to allowances granted to that company, in the calculation of the threshold amount, such apportionment as is just and reasonable, and

  • (g) where, in respect of a group of companies, no specified period commences before 1 January 2011, the threshold amount shall be nil.

• (2B) For the purposes of a claim under subsection (2A)—

  • (a) 2 companies shall be deemed to be members of a group if one company is a 51 per cent subsidiary of the other company or both companies are 51 per cent subsidiaries of a third company: but in determining whether one company is a 51 per cent subsidiary of another company, the other company shall be treated as not being the owner of—

    • (i) any share capital which it owns directly in a company if a profit on a sale of the shares would be treated as a trading receipt of its trade, or

    • (ii) any share capital which it owns indirectly and which is owned directly by a company for which a profit on a sale of the shares would be a trading receipt;

  • (b) sections 412 to 418 shall apply for the purposes of this subsection as they would apply for the purposes of Chapter 5 of Part 12 if—

    • (i) ‘51 per cent subsidiary’ were substituted for ‘75 per cent subsidiary’ in each place where it occurs in that Chapter, and

    • (ii) paragraph (c) of section 411(1) were deleted;

  • (c) a company and all its 51 per cent subsidiaries shall form a group and, where that company is a member of a group as being itself a 51 per cent subsidiary, that group shall comprise all its 51 per cent subsidiaries and the first-mentioned group shall be deemed not to be a group: but a company which is not a member of a group shall be treated as if it were a member of a group which consists of that company;

  • (d) in determining whether a company is a member of a group of companies (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘threshold group’) for the purposes of determining the threshold amount in relation to a specified period of a group of companies (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘relevant group’), the threshold group shall be treated as the same group as the relevant group notwithstanding that one or more of the companies in the threshold group is not in the relevant group, or vice versa, where any person or group of persons which controlled the threshold group is the same as, or has a reasonable commonality of identity with, the person or group of persons which controls the relevant group.”.

• (2) This section applies as respects accounting periods commencing on or after 1 January 2010.

53. Amendment of section 402 (foreign currency: tax treatment of capital allowances and trading losses of a company) of Principal Act.

53.— Section 402 of the Principal Act is amended—

• (a) in subsection (2), by the insertion of the following after paragraph (b):

• “(c) For the purposes of this subsection, references to an amount of any allowance or charge to be made in taxing a trade shall include a reference to an amount of any allowance or charge to be made by means of discharge or repayment of tax in taxing the leasing activities of a company, where those activities are charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D and references to a trading expense or receipt shall be construed accordingly.”,

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

• “(4)

  • (a) Subject to paragraph (b), where a company incurs a loss in an accounting period arising from a leasing activity in respect of which the company is within the charge to corporation tax under Case IV of Schedule D and makes a claim under section 399(1) to set that loss off against the amount of any income arising from such activities in respect of which the company is assessed to corporation tax under that Case for the same or any subsequent accounting period, the amount (which may be nil) of any set-off due to the company against that income in an accounting period shall—

    • (i) be computed in terms of the company’s functional currency by reference to amounts expressed in that currency, and

    • (ii) then be expressed in terms of the currency of the State by reference to the rate of exchange which—

      • (I) is used to express in terms of the currency of the State the amount of the income assessed to corporation tax under Case IV for the accounting period in which the loss is to be set off, or

      • (II) would be so used if there were such income.

  • (b) For the purposes of the computation of any set-off due to a company in accordance with paragraph (a) against income of an accounting period, in respect of a loss arising from a leasing activity in such period, where that loss or any set-off referable to that loss was computed in terms of a currency other than the functional currency of the company for the first-mentioned period, then that loss or set-off, as the case may be, shall be expressed in terms of that functional currency by reference to a rate of exchange of that functional currency for the other currency, being an average of representative rates of exchange of that functional currency for the other currency during the accounting period in which the loss was incurred.”.

54. Amendment of section 766 (tax credit for research and development expenditure) of Principal Act.

54.— (1) Section 766 of the Principal Act is amended—

• (a) in subsection (1)(a) in the definition of “ qualified company” by substituting the following for subparagraphs (ii) and (iii):

• “(ii) carries out research and development activities in the relevant period,

• (iii) maintains a record of expenditure incurred by it in the carrying out by it of those activities, and

• (iv) in the case of a company which is a member of a group of companies that carries on research and development activities in separate geographical locations, maintains separate records of expenditure incurred in respect of the activities carried on at each location;”,

• (b) in subsection (1)(a) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “research and development activities”:

“ ‘research and development centre’ means a fixed base or bases, established in buildings or structures, which are used for the purpose of the carrying on by a company of research and development activities;”,

• (c) in subsection (1)(a) in the definition of “threshold amount” by deleting “but expenditure incurred by a company which is a member of the group for a part of the threshold period shall only be included in the threshold amount if the expenditure is incurred at a time when the company is a member of the group” and substituting the following:

“but—

• (i) expenditure incurred by a company which is a member of the group for a part of the threshold period shall only be included in the threshold amount if the expenditure is incurred at a time when the company is a member of the group, and

• (ii) subject to subsection (7C)(a)—

  • (I) where at any time during the threshold period, a group of companies carried on research and development activities in more than one research and development centre and each centre is in a separate geographical location, and

  • (II) at a time (referred to in this section as the ‘ cessation time’) after the end of the threshold period, a research and development centre ceases to be used for the purposes of a trade by a company which is a member of the group of companies and is not so used by any other company which is a member of the group,

  then expenditure incurred in relation to that research and development centre shall not be taken into account in calculating the threshold amount in relation to any relevant period which commences after the cessation time”,

• (d) in subsection (1)(b)(vi)(I) by substituting “research and development,” for “research and development, and”,

• (e) in subsection (1)(b)(vi) by substituting the following for clause (II):

• “(II) begins to carry on a trade after that time, and”,

• (f) in subsection (1)(b)(vi) by inserting the following after clause (II):

• “(III) makes a claim in respect of expenditure incurred at a time referred to in clause (I),”,

• (g) in subsection (1)(b)(vi) by deleting “the expenditure shall be treated as it would if the company had commenced to carry on the trade at the time the expenditure was incurred;” and substituting the following:

“the expenditure shall be treated—

• (A) for the purpose only of subsection (5), as incurred at the time the company begins to carry on the trade, and

• (B) for the purposes of subsection (2), as it would if the company had commenced to carry on a trade at the time the expenditure was incurred, and the amount of any credit computed thereon shall be carried forward in accordance with subsection (4) and treated as an amount by which the corporation tax of the first accounting period which commenced on or after the time the company begins to trade is reduced;”,

• (h) in subsection (1)(b)(viii) by substituting “research and development activities;” for “research and development activities.”,

• (i) in subsection (1)(b) by inserting the following after subparagraph (viii):

• “(ix) A research and development centre used by a company which is a member of a group of companies will be treated as being in a separate geographical location to another research and development centre used by the company or another company which is a member of the group if it is not less than a distance of 20 kilometres from that other research and development centre.”,

• (j) in subsection (4B)(b)(ii)(II) by substituting “of the excess remaining as reduced” for “by which the excess remaining is reduced”,

• (k) in subsection (7B) by deleting “section 1006A(2)” and substituting “section 960H(2)”, and

• (l) by inserting the following after subsection (7B):

• “(7C)

  • (a) Subparagraph (ii) of the definition of ‘threshold amount’ shall not apply in relation to a relevant period (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘first-mentioned relevant period’) or any relevant period subsequent to that relevant period, where, at a time during that first-mentioned relevant period or any later relevant period, being a time subsequent to the cessation time—

    • (i) the research and development centre referred to in clause (II) of subparagraph (ii) of the definition of ‘threshold amount’ is used for the purposes of a trade by a company which is a member of the group, or

    • (ii) activities substantially the same as the research and development activities which were carried on in that research and development centre at any time in the 48 months immediately preceding the cessation time are carried on by a company which is a member of the group of companies.

  • (b) Where—

    • (i) by virtue of subparagraph (ii) of the definition of ‘threshold amount’, expenditure incurred in the threshold period is not taken into account in calculating the threshold amount in relation to a relevant period, and

    • (ii) by virtue of paragraph (a) of this subsection, subparagraph (ii) of that definition does not apply in relation to a subsequent relevant period,

    then, in respect of the accounting period commencing at the same time as that subsequent relevant period or where no accounting period commences at that time, the first accounting period commencing after that time, the company referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (a), as the case may be, shall be charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D on an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts by which the qualifying group expenditure on research and development has been increased, as a result of a reduction in the threshold amount by virtue of subparagraph (ii) of the definition of threshold amount, for relevant periods, taking account of each relevant period in respect of which the qualifying group expenditure on research and development was so increased.

  • (c) Where—

    • (i) by virtue of subparagraph (ii) of the definition of ‘threshold amount’, expenditure incurred in the threshold period by a company which is a member of a group of companies is not taken into account in calculating the threshold amount in relation to a relevant period, and

    • (ii) at any time during the period of 10 years commencing on the date on which the research and development centre ceased to be used, no company which is a member of the group is carrying on a trade which is within the charge to corporation tax,

    then, in respect of the final accounting period for which a company which is a member of the group is chargeable to corporation tax in respect of its trade, that company shall be charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D on an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts by which the qualifying group expenditure on research and development has been increased, as a result of a reduction in the threshold amount by virtue of subparagraph (ii) of the definition of threshold amount, for relevant periods, taking account of each relevant period in respect of which the qualifying group expenditure on research and development was so increased, as reduced by any amount charged to tax in accordance with paragraph (b).”.

• (2)
• (a) Paragraph (g) of subsection (1) applies to accounting periods commencing on or after 1 January 2010.

• (b) Paragraphs (j) and (k) of subsection (1) apply and have effect from 1 January 2010.

• (c) Except where otherwise provided by paragraphs (a) and (b), subsection (1) applies to relevant periods (within the meaning of section 766 of the Principal Act) commencing on or after 1 January 2010.

55. Tax treatment of certain royalties.

55.— (1) Part 8 of the Principal Act is amended—

• (a) by inserting the following section after section 242:

“242A.— (1) In this section ‘ relevant territory ’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 172A.

• (2) This section applies to a payment of royalties—

  • (a) made by a company in the course of a trade or business carried on by the company,

  • (b) to a company (in this subsection referred to as the ‘receiving company’ ) which—

    • (i) is not resident in the State, and

    • (ii) is, by virtue of the law of a relevant territory, resident for the purposes of tax in a relevant territory which imposes a tax that generally applies to royalties receivable in that territory by companies from sources outside that territory,

    and

  • (c) which is made for bona fide commercial reasons and does not form part of any arrangement or scheme of which the main purpose or one of the main purposes is avoidance of liability to income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax,

  except where the royalties are paid to the receiving company in connection with a trade or business carried on in the State by the company through a branch or agency.

• (3) Where, apart from this section, section 238 would apply to a payment of royalties to which this section applies, that section shall not apply to that payment.

• (4) A company shall not be chargeable to corporation tax or income tax in respect of a royalty payment to which this section applies where—

  • (a) the company—

    • (i) is not resident in the State, and

    • (ii) is, by virtue of the law of a relevant territory, resident for the purposes of tax in a relevant territory which imposes a tax that generally applies to royalties receivable in that territory by companies from sources outside that territory,

    and

  • (b) the payment is made for bona fide commercial reasons and does not form part of any arrangement or scheme of which the main purpose or one of the main purposes is avoidance of liability to income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax,

  except where the royalty payment is made to the company in connection with a trade or business which is carried on in the State by the company through a branch or agency.”,

and

• (b) in section 243(5)(c) by substituting “section 242A or 267I” for “section 267I”.

• (2) This section applies to a payment made on or after 4 February 2010.

Chapter 6 Capital Gains Tax

56. Amendment of section 542 (time of disposal and acquisition) of Principal Act.

56.— (1) Section 542 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by substituting the following for paragraph (d):

• “(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (c), for the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts, where a person makes a disposal of land to an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers, and the disposal would not have been made but for the exercise of those powers or the giving by the authority of formal notice of its intention to exercise those powers, then the chargeable gain (if any) on the disposal shall be deemed to accrue—

• (i) on the day on which the payment of the compensation amount is received by the person making the disposal, or

• (ii) at a time immediately before the person’s death if the consideration has not been received at the date of his or her death.”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

57. Amendment of section 590 (attribution to participators of chargeable gains accruing to non-resident company) of Principal Act.

57.— (1) Section 590 of the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for subsection (7)(a):

• “(a) a chargeable gain accruing on the disposal of assets, being—

  • (i) tangible property, whether movable or immovable, or a lease of such property, or

  • (ii) specified intangible assets within the meaning of section 291A(1),

  where the assets were used, and used only, for the purposes of a trade carried on by a company, or by another company which is a member of the same group (within the meaning of subsection (16)) as the first-mentioned company, wholly outside the State,”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

58. Amendment of section 598 (disposals of business or farm on “retirement”) of Principal Act.

58.— (1) Section 598 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (7):

• “(7A)

  • (a) In this subsection ‘relevant payment’ means a payment made by a company on the redemption, repayment or purchase of its own shares which, by virtue of section 176, is not treated as a distribution for the purposes of Chapter 2 of Part 6.

  • (b) Subsection (2) shall apply where an individual disposes of shares in his or her family company and receives a relevant payment in exchange for that disposal.”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

59. Restrictions on allowable losses.

59.— (1) The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 546:

“546A.— (1) In this section—

‘arrangements’ includes any agreement, understanding, scheme, transaction or series of transactions (whether or not legally enforceable);

‘tax advantage’ means—

• (a) relief or increased relief from tax,

• (b) repayment or increased repayment of tax,

• (c) the avoidance or reduction of a charge to tax or an assessment to tax, or

• (d) the avoidance of a possible assessment to tax;

‘ tax ’ means capital gains tax or corporation tax on chargeable gains.

• (2) For the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts, a loss shall not be an allowable loss if—

  • (a) it accrues to the person directly or indirectly in consequence of, or otherwise in connection with, any arrangements, and

  • (b) the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the arrangements is to secure a tax advantage.

• (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), it shall not be relevant—

  • (a) whether or not the loss accrues at a time when there are no chargeable gains from which it could otherwise have been deducted, or

  • (b) whether or not the tax advantage is secured for the person to whom the loss accrues or for any other person.”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

60. Amendment of section 607 (Government and certain other securities) of Principal Act.

60.— (1) Section 607 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2)—

• (a) by substituting the following for paragraph (a):

• “(a) All futures contracts which—

  • (i) are unconditional contracts for the acquisition or disposal of any of the instruments referred to in subsection (1) or any other instruments to which this section applies by virtue of any other enactment (whenever enacted),

  • (ii) require delivery of the instruments in respect of which the contracts are made, and

  • (iii) meet the requirements of paragraph (c) of this subsection,

  shall not be chargeable assets.”,

and

• (b) by inserting the following after paragraph (b):

• “(c) Where a profit or loss on a futures contract is calculated, either directly or indirectly, by reference to the acquisition cost or disposal proceeds of an instrument to which subparagraph (i) of subsection (2)(a) applies, then—

• (i) that acquisition cost shall be the market value of the instrument at the date of acquisition, and

• (ii) those disposal proceeds shall be the market value of the instrument at the date of disposal.”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

61. Amendment of section 611 (disposals to State, public bodies and charities) of Principal Act.

61.— (1) Section 611 of the Principal Act is amended—

• (a) in subsection (1) by substituting the following for paragraph (a)(iii):

• “(iii) to the Chester Beatty Library, the Crawford Art Gallery Cork, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Archives, the National Concert Hall, the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland, the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, a local authority or a joint body within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Local Government Act 2001 and any university in the State,”,

and

• (b) by substituting “referred to in paragraph (a)(iii) of subsection (1),” for “within section 28(3) of the Finance Act, 1931,” in each place where it occurs in subsection (2).

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

62. Amendment of section 958 (date for payment of tax) of Principal Act.

62.— (1) Section 958 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3) by substituting the following for clause (I) of paragraph (c)(ii):

• “(I) on or before—

• (A) 31 October, as respects tax payable in the initial period, where that period falls in the years of assessment 2003 to 2008 inclusive,

• (B) 15 December, as respects tax payable in the initial period, where that period falls in the year of assessment 2009 or any subsequent year of assessment,

and”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

63. Amendment of Schedule 15 (list of bodies for purposes of section 610) to Principal Act.

63.— (1) Part 1 of Schedule 15 to the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for paragraph 4:

“4. A local authority or a joint body within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Local Government Act 2001.”.

• (2) This section applies to disposals made on or after 4 February 2010.

PART 3 Customs and Excise

Chapter 1 Mineral Oil Tax Carbon Charge

64. Mineral oil tax carbon charge.

64.— (1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 1999 is amended—

• (a) in subsection (1) of section 94—

• (i) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “biomass”:

“ ‘CO2’ means carbon dioxide;”,

• (ii) by inserting the following definition after the definition of “dumper”:

“ ‘emissions’ means the release, on combustion of mineral oil, of CO2;”,

• (b) with effect as on and from 10 December 2009 by substituting the following for Schedule 2 to that Act (as amended by section 15(a) of the Finance Act 2009):

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Mineral Oil Tax

Description of Mineral Oil	Rate of Tax
Light Oil: Petrol Aviation gasoline	€543.17 per 1,000 litres €543.17 per 1,000 litres
Heavy Oil: Used as a propellant Used for air navigation Used for private pleasure navigation Kerosene used other than as a propellant Fuel oil Other heavy oil	€449.18 per 1,000 litres €449.18 per 1,000 litres €449.18 per 1,000 litres €00.00 €14.78 per 1,000 litres €47.36 per 1,000 litres
Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Used as a propellant Other liquefied petroleum gas	€63.59 per 1,000 litres €00.00
Coal: For business use For other use	€4.18 per tonne €8.36 per tonne

”,

• (c) with effect as on and from 10 December 2009 by inserting the following after Schedule 2:

“SCHEDULE 2A

Carbon Charge

Description of Mineral Oil	Rate
Light Oil: Petrol Aviation gasoline	€34.38 per 1,000 litres €34.38 per 1,000 litres
Heavy Oil: Used as a propellant Used for air navigation Used for private pleasure navigation	€39.98 per 1,000 litres €39.98 per 1,000 litres €39.98 per 1,000 litres

”,

• (d) with effect as on and from 1 May 2010 by substituting the following for Schedule 2 (as amended by paragraph (b)):

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Mineral Oil Tax

Description of Mineral Oil	Rate of Tax
Light Oil: Petrol Aviation gasoline	€543.17 per 1,000 litres €543.17 per 1,000 litres
Heavy Oil: Used as a propellant Used for air navigation Used for private pleasure navigation Kerosene used other than as a propellant Fuel oil Other heavy oil	€449.18 per 1,000 litres €449.18 per 1,000 litres €449.18 per 1,000 litres €38.02 per 1,000 litres €60.73 per 1,000 litres €88.66 per 1,000 litres
Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Used as a propellant Other liquefied petroleum gas	€88.23 per 1,000 litres €24.64 per 1,000 litres
Coal: For business use For other use	€4.18 per tonne €8.36 per tonne

”,

• (e) with effect as on and from 1 May 2010 by substituting the following for Schedule 2A (inserted by paragraph (c)):

“SCHEDULE 2A

Carbon Charge

Description of Mineral Oil	Rate
Light Oil: Petrol Aviation gasoline	€34.38 per 1,000 litres €34.38 per 1,000 litres
Heavy Oil: Used as a propellant Used for air navigation Used for private pleasure navigation Kerosene used other than as a propellant Fuel oil Other heavy oil	€39.98 per 1,000 litres €39.98 per 1,000 litres €39.98 per 1,000 litres €38.02 per 1,000 litres €45.95 per 1,000 litres €41.30 per 1,000 litres
Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Used as a propellant Other liquefied petroleum gas	€24.64 per 1,000 litres €24.64 per 1,000 litres

”,

• (f) in section 96 by inserting the following after subsection (1):

• “(1A) Where a rate is specified in Schedule 2A for any description of mineral oil, that rate, referred to in this Chapter as the ‘carbon charge’, is included in the rate of tax specified in Schedule 2 for that description of mineral oil.

• (1B) The rate per 1,000 litres specified for each description of mineral oil in Schedule 2A is in proportion to the emissions for the description of mineral oil concerned, and is determined by the formula—

NCV × EF × A

where—

NCV is the net calorific value of the description of mineral oil concerned expressed in terajoules per 1,000 litres,

EF is the carbon emission factor of the description of mineral oil concerned expressed in tonnes of CO2 per terajoule,

A is the amount, €15, to be charged per tonne of CO2 emitted.”,

• (g) in section 96 by inserting the following after subsection (4):

• “(5) The Commissioners may, subject to such conditions for securing mineral oil tax as they may prescribe or otherwise impose, permit payment of the carbon charge to be deferred to a day not later than the 15th day of the month succeeding the month in which the mineral oil tax is payable.”,

• (h) in subsection (1) of section 98 by substituting “at a rate, for heavy oil of €43.60 per 1,000 litres, and for liquefied petroleum gas of €30.22 per 1,000 litres” for “at the rate of €5.58 per 1,000 litres on such gas or oil”,

• (i) in section 100 by inserting the following after subsection (1):

• “(1A)

  • (a) Without prejudice to any other relief that may apply and subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), a relief from the carbon charge shall apply to biofuel.

  • (b) From 10 December 2009 until 30 June 2010, where biofuel has been mixed or blended with any other mineral oil, the relief under paragraph (a) shall only apply where the biofuel content of the mixture or blend exceeds 10 per cent of the total volume of the mixture or blend.

  • (c) From 1 July 2010, where biofuel has been mixed or blended with any other mineral oil, the relief under paragraph (a) shall apply to the biofuel content of any such mixture or blend.

• (1B) Without prejudice to any other relief that may apply, a relief from the carbon charge shall apply to any mineral oil which is intended for use or which has been used in an installation that is covered by a greenhouse gas emissions permit.”.

• (2)
• (a) Subject to paragraph (b), and to paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1), this section has effect from 1 May 2010.

• (b) Subsections (1A) (inserted by subsection (1)(f)) and (5) (inserted by subsection (1)(g)) of section 96 of the Finance Act 1999, and subsection (1A) (inserted by subsection (1)(i)) of section 100 of that Act have effect from 10 December 2009.

65. Cesser of application of mineral oil tax to coal.

65.— (1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 1999 is amended—

• (a) in subsection (1) of section 94—

• (i) by deleting the interpretations given to “business use”, “charitable organisation”, “coal”, “dual use”, “energy intensive business”, “household”, and“mineralogical processes”, and

• (ii) by substituting the following for the definition of mineral oil:

“ ‘mineral oil’ means hydrocarbon oil, liquefied petroleum gas, substitute fuel and additives;”,

• (b) in subsection (2) of section 95 by deleting “other than coal”,

• (c) by deleting section 95A,

• (d) in section 100—

• (i) by deleting subsections (2) and (3),

• (ii) in paragraph (a) of subsection (5) by deleting “coal delivered or other”,

• (e) by deleting section 101A.

• (2) Schedule 2 to the Finance Act 1999 (as amended by paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 64) is amended by deleting the references to, and rates specified for, coal.

• (3) This section has effect from such date as the Minister for Finance appoints by order for the coming into operation of Chapter 3.

Chapter 2 Natural Gas Carbon Tax

66. Definitions (Chapter 2).

66.— (1) In this Chapter—

“ accounting period ” means a period of 2 calendar months or such other period as the Commissioners may prescribe for the purposes of returns and payment under section 70;

“CN Code” means a Community subdivision to the combined nomenclature of the European Communities referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 ⁶ as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2031/2001 of 6 August 2001 ⁷;

“CO2” means carbon dioxide;

“Commissioners” means the Revenue Commissioners;

“consumer” means a person who receives a supply of natural gas for combustion;

“Directive” means Council Directive No. 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 ⁸;

“emissions” means the release, on combustion of natural gas, of CO2;

“ greenhouse gas emissions permit ” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(1) of the European Communities (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 437 of 2004);

“natural gas” means natural gas falling within CN codes 2711 11 00 and 2711 21 00;

“officer” means an officer of the Commissioners;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners under section 74;

“supplier” means an entity which supplies natural gas to a consumer;

“ supply ” means a quantity of natural gas supplied to a consumer;

“tax” means natural gas carbon tax within the meaning of subsection (1) of section 67.

67. Charging and rates of natural gas carbon tax.

67.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and any regulations made under it, a duty of excise, to be known as natural gas carbon tax, shall be charged, levied and paid at the rate of €3.07 per megawatt hour on all natural gas supplied in the State by a supplier.

• (2) Subsection (1) shall apply to all natural gas supplied by a supplier for combustion by such supplier.

• (3) The rate per megawatt hour specified in subsection (1) is in proportion to the emissions of CO 2 from the combustion of natural gas and is determined by the formula—

EF × A × C

where—

EF is the carbon emission factor of natural gas expressed in kilograms of CO 2 per terajoule,

A is the amount, €0.015, to be charged per kilogram of CO 2 emitted,

C is 0.0036, the number of terajoules per megawatt hour.

68. Liability to pay natural gas carbon tax.

68.— (1) Tax shall be charged at the time the natural gas is supplied by a supplier to a consumer and, without prejudice to subsection (2), a supplier shall be accountable for and liable to pay the tax charged on the natural gas supplied by such supplier.

• (2) Any supplier that is not established in the State shall establish a company in the State, and that company shall be liable to pay the tax due on the natural gas supplied by such supplier, and shall assume all the functions and responsibilities of the supplier under this Chapter and any regulations under section 74.

69. Registration of natural gas suppliers.

69.— Every supplier shall register with the Commissioners in accordance with such procedures as the Commissioners may prescribe or otherwise impose.

70. Returns and payment by natural gas suppliers.

70.— (1) For the purposes of section 68, a supplier shall within one month of the end of an accounting period, in respect of the natural gas supplied in that accounting period, furnish to an officer a return in such form as the Commissioners may require showing—

• (a) the quantity of natural gas supplied, and

• (b) in respect of each of the reliefs under section 71, the quantity that qualified for such relief.

• (2) The supplier shall, in accordance with the return under subsection (1) and by the time that return is due, pay the amount of tax due in respect of the accounting period concerned.

71. Reliefs from natural gas carbon tax.

71.— (1) Without prejudice to any other relief from tax which may apply, and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed or otherwise imposed, a full relief from tax shall be granted on any natural gas which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to have been supplied for use—

• (a) for the generation of electricity, or

• (b) for chemical reduction or in electrolytic or metallurgical processes.

• (2)
• (a) Without prejudice to any other relief from tax which may apply, and subject to such conditions as the Commissioners may prescribe or otherwise impose, a partial relief from tax shall be granted on any natural gas which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to have been delivered for use in an installation that is covered by a greenhouse gas emissions permit.

• (b) The relief under paragraph (a) shall be calculated as the amount of tax chargeable on the natural gas supplied, less an amount of €0.54 per megawatt hour.

72. Repayments of natural gas carbon tax.

72.— (1) Where a supply on which the tax has been paid qualifies for relief under section 71, a repayment of that tax shall be made to the consumer of that supply.

• (2)
• (a) Claims for repayment under subsection (1) shall be in such form as the Commissioners may direct and shall be in respect of natural gas supplied within a period of not less than one and not more than 6 calendar months.

• (b) Except where the Commissioners may in any particular case otherwise allow, a repayment may not be made unless the claim is made within 6 calendar months following the end of the period in respect of which the claim for repayment is made.

73. Offence and penalty (Chapter 2).

73.— (1) It is an offence under this subsection for any person to contravene or fail to comply with any provision of this Chapter, or any regulation made under section 74, or any condition imposed under this Chapter, or under such regulation in relation to such provision.

• (2) Without prejudice to any other penalty to which a person may be liable, a person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine of €5,000.

• (3) Where an offence under subsection (1) is committed by a body corporate and the offence is shown to have been committed with the consent or connivance of any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a member of the committee of management or other controlling authority of the body corporate, that person shall also be deemed to be guilty of an offence and may be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

74. Regulations (Chapter 2).

74.— The Commissioners may, for the purposes of managing, securing and collecting the tax, or for the protection of the revenue derived from it, make regulations.

75. Care and management (Chapter 2).

75.— The tax imposed by this Chapter is placed under the care and management of the Commissioners.

76. Commencement (Chapter 2).

76.— This Chapter comes into operation on 1 May 2010.

>Chapter 3 Solid Fuel Carbon Tax

77. Interpretation (Chapter 3).

77.— In this Chapter and in Schedule 1—

“accounting period” means a period of 2 calendar months or such other period as the Commissioners may prescribe for the purposes of payment and returns under section 81;

“briquettes” means milled peat which has been mechanically compressed into blocks;

“ CN Code ” means a Community subdivision to the combined nomenclature of the European Communities referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 ⁹ as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2031/2001 of 6 August 2001 ¹⁰;

“CO2” means carbon dioxide;

“coal” includes coal and lignite, solid fuel manufactured from coal and lignite, and any other energy product within the meaning of Article 2.1 of the Directive in solid form;

“Commissioners” means the Revenue Commissioners;

“consumer” means a person who receives a supply of solid fuel for combustion;

“Directive” means Council Directive No. 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 ¹¹;

“emissions” means the release, on combustion of a solid fuel, of CO2;

“greenhouse gas emissions permit” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(1) of the European Communities (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 437 of 2004);

“milled peat” means granulated peat that is supplied for use as a fuel;

“officer” means an officer of the Commissioners;

“other peat” means peat other than milled peat and briquettes that is supplied for use as a fuel;

“peat” means peat falling within CN code 2703 and includes any solid fuel manufactured from peat;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners under section 85;

“solid fuel” means coal or peat;

“supplier” means an accountable person for the purposes of section 8 of the Value-Added Tax Act 1972 who supplies solid fuel;

“supply” means the supply of a quantity of solid fuel;

“tax” means solid fuel carbon tax within the meaning of subsection (1) of section 78.

78. Charging and rates of solid fuel carbon tax.

78.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and any regulations made under it, a duty of excise, to be known as solid fuel carbon tax, shall be charged, levied and paid at the rates specified in Schedule 1 on all solid fuel supplied in the State by a supplier.

• (2) Subsection (1) shall apply to all solid fuel supplied by a supplier, for combustion by such supplier.

• (3) The rate per tonne for each solid fuel specified in Schedule 1 is in proportion to the emissions of CO2 from the combustion of the solid fuel concerned and is determined by the formula—

NCV × EF × A

where—

NCV is the net calorific value of the solid fuel concerned expressed in terajoules per tonne,

EF is the carbon emission factor of the solid fuel concerned expressed in tonnes of CO 2 per terajoule,

A is the amount, €15, to be charged per tonne of CO 2 emitted.

79. Liability to pay solid fuel carbon tax.

79.— Tax shall be charged at the time the solid fuel is first supplied in the State by a supplier, and that supplier shall be accountable for and liable to pay the tax charged.

80. Registration of solid fuel suppliers.

80.— Every supplier shall register with the Commissioners in accordance with such procedures as the Commissioners may prescribe or otherwise impose.

81. Returns and payment by solid fuel suppliers.

81.— (1) For the purposes of section 79, a supplier shall within one month of the end of an accounting period, in respect of the solid fuel supplied in that accounting period, furnish to an officer a return in such form as the Commissioners may require showing—

• (a) the quantity and description of that solid fuel, and

• (b) in respect of each of the reliefs under section 82, the quantity of that solid fuel that qualified for such relief.

• (2) The supplier shall, in accordance with the return under subsection (1) and by the time that return is due, pay the amount of tax due in respect of the accounting period concerned.

82. Reliefs from solid fuel carbon tax.

82.— (1) Without prejudice to any other relief from tax which may apply, and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed or otherwise imposed, a full relief from tax shall be granted on any solid fuel which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to have been delivered for use—

• (a) for the generation of electricity, or

• (b) for chemical reduction or in electrolytic or metallurgical processes.

• (2)
• (a) Without prejudice to any other relief from tax which may apply, and subject to paragraph (b) and to such conditions as may be prescribed or otherwise imposed, a relief from tax shall be granted on any solid fuel which is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners to have been delivered for use in an installation that is covered by a greenhouse gas emissions permit.

• (b) The relief under paragraph (a) is—

• (i) in the case of peat, a full relief, and

• (ii) in the case of coal, a partial relief, to be calculated as the amount of tax chargeable on the quantity of coal delivered, less an amount calculated at the rate of €4.18 per tonne.

83. Repayments of solid fuel carbon tax.

83.— (1) Where a supply on which tax has been paid qualifies for relief under section 82 a repayment of that tax shall be made to the consumer of that supply.

• (2)
• (a) Claims for repayment under subsection (1) shall be in such form as the Commissioners may direct and shall be in respect of solid fuel delivered within a period of not less than one and not more than 6 calendar months.

• (b) Except where the Commissioners may in any particular case otherwise allow, a repayment may not be made unless the claim is made within 6 calendar months following the end of the period in respect of which the claim for repayment is made.

84. Offence and penalty (Chapter 3).

84.— (1) It is an offence under this subsection for any person to contravene or fail to comply with any provision of this Chapter, or any regulation made under section 85, or any condition imposed under this Chapter, or under such regulation in relation to such provision.

• (2) Without prejudice to any other penalty to which a person may be liable, a person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine of €5,000.

• (3) Where an offence under subsection (1) is committed by a body corporate and the offence is shown to have been committed with the consent or connivance of any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a member of the committee of management or other controlling authority of the body corporate, that person shall also be deemed to be guilty of an offence and may be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

85. Regulations (Chapter 3).

85.— The Commissioners may, for the purposes of managing, securing and collecting the tax, or for the protection of the revenue derived from it, make regulations.

86. Care and management (Chapter 3).

86.— The tax imposed by this Chapter is placed under the care and management of the Commissioners.

87. Commencement (Chapter 3).

87.— This Chapter comes into operation on such date as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.

Chapter 4 Miscellaneous

88. Rates of alcohol products tax.

88.— The Finance Act 2003 is amended with effect as on and from 10 December 2009 by substituting the following for Schedule 2 to that Act:

“SCHEDULE 2

Rates of Alcohol Products Tax

(With effect as on and from 10 December 2009)

Description of Product	Rate of Tax
Spirits:	€31.13 per litre of alcohol in the spirits
Beer:
Exceeding 0.5% vol but not exceeding 1.2% vol	€0.00
Exceeding 1.2% vol but not exceeding 2.8% vol	€7.85 per hectolitre per cent of alcohol in the beer
Exceeding 2.8% vol	€15.71 per hectolitre per cent of alcohol in the beer
Wine:
Still and sparkling, not exceeding 5.5% vol	€87.39 per hectolitre
Still, exceeding 5.5% vol but not exceeding 15% vol	€262.24 per hectolitre
Still, exceeding 15% vol	€380.52 per hectolitre
Sparkling, exceeding 5.5% vol	€524.48 per hectolitre
Other Fermented Beverages:
(1) Cider and Perry:
Still and sparkling, not exceeding 2.8% vol	€32.93 per hectolitre
Still and sparkling, exceeding 2.8% vol but not exceeding 6.0% vol	€65.86 per hectolitre
Still and sparkling, exceeding 6.0% vol but not exceeding 8.5% vol	€152.28 per hectolitre
Still, exceeding 8.5% vol	€216.00 per hectolitre
Sparkling, exceeding 8.5% vol	€432.01 per hectolitre
(2) Other than Cider and Perry:
Still and sparkling, not exceeding 5.5% vol	€87.39 per hectolitre
Still, exceeding 5.5% vol	€262.24 per hectolitre
Sparkling, exceeding 5.5% vol	€524.48 per hectolitre
Intermediate Beverages:
Still, not exceeding 15% vol	€262.24 per hectolitre
Still, exceeding 15% vol	€380.52 per hectolitre
Sparkling	€524.48 per hectolitre

”.

89. Amendment of section 98A (relief for biofuel) of Finance Act 1999.

89.— Section 98A of the Finance Act 1999 is amended―

• (a) in subsection (1) by substituting “a relief from mineral oil tax shall, subject to such conditions as may be imposed by the Minister or by the Commissioners, apply to such biofuel” for “a relief from mineral oil tax shall, subject to such conditions as the Commissioners may impose, apply to such biofuel”,

• (b) by inserting the following after subsection (1):

• “(1A) The power of the Minister under subsection (1) to impose conditions includes the power to impose such conditions as the Minister considers necessary or appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that an approved project is conducted in accordance with the terms of its approval.”,

• (c) by inserting the following after subsection (3):