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12 1988

FINANCE ACT, 1988

Chapter II

Arrangements with regard to Returns, Assessments and Appeals

Interpretation ( Chapter II ).

9. —(1) In this Chapter, except where the context otherwise requires—

appeal” means an appeal under section 416 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ;

appropriate inspector” means, in relation to a chargeable person—

(a) the inspector who has last given notice in writing to the chargeable person that he is the inspector to whom the chargeable person is required to deliver a return or statement of income or profits,

(b) in the absence of such an inspector as is referred to in paragraph (a), the inspector to whom it is customary for the chargeable person to deliver such return or statement, or

(c) in the absence of such an inspector as is referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), the inspector of returns;

assessment” means an assessment to tax made under the Income Tax Acts or the Corporation Tax Acts, as the case may be;

chargeable period” has the same meaning as in paragraph 1 of the First Schedule to the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ;

chargeable person” means, as respects a chargeable period, a person who is chargeable to tax for that period, whether on his own account or on account of some other person, but does not include a person—

(a) whose total income for the chargeable period consists solely of emoluments to which Chapter IV of Part V of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , applies, and for this purpose a person whose total income for the chargeable period, other than emoluments to which the said Chapter IV applies, is deducted in determining the amount of his tax-free allowances for the chargeable period by virtue of Regulation 10 (1) (b) of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960), shall be deemed for that chargeable period to be a person whose total income consists solely of emoluments to which the said Chapter IV applies,

(b) who, for the chargeable period, has been exempted by an inspector from the requirements of section 10 by reason of a notice given under subsection (6) of that section, or

(c) who is chargeable to tax for the chargeable period by reason only of the provisions of section 433 or 434 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , or section 151 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ;

determination of the appeal” means a determination by the Appeal Commissioners under section 416 (4) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and includes an agreement referred to in section 416 (3) of that Act and an assessment becoming final and conclusive by virtue of section 416 (6) of that Act;

due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax” has the meaning assigned to it by section 18 (1);

inspector”, in relation to any matter, includes such other officer as the Revenue Commissioners shall appoint in that behalf;

inspector of returns” means the inspector nominated by the Revenue Commissioners under section 10 (11) to be the inspector of returns;

precedent partner” has the same meaning as in Chapter III of Part IV of the Income Tax Act, 1967 ;

prescribed form” means a form prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners or a form used under the authority of the Revenue Commissioners and includes a form which involves the delivery of a return by any electronic, photographic or other process approved of by the Revenue Commissioners;

preliminary tax” means the amount of tax which a chargeable person is required to pay in accordance with the provisions of section 11 ;

relevant chargeable period” means—

(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment, the year 1988-89 and any subsequent year of assessment, or

(b) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, an accounting period ending on or after such a date as may be prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations;

specified return date for the chargeable period” means, in relation to a relevant chargeable period—

(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment, the 31st day of December in the year, and

(b) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, the last day of the period of 9 months commencing on the day immediately following the end of the accounting period;

specified sections” has the same meaning as in section 48 of the Finance Act, 1986 ;

tax” has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph 1 (3) of the First Schedule to the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 .

(2) Except in so far as it is otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of this Chapter shall apply notwithstanding any other provisions of the Tax Acts or the Capital Gains Tax Acts.

(3) (a) Where any obligation or requirement is imposed on a person in any capacity under any of the provisions of this Chapter and a corresponding obligation or requirement is imposed upon that person in another capacity, the discharge of any one of those obligations or requirements shall not release the person from the other obligation or requirement.

(b) A person shall not, in any capacity, have an obligation or requirement imposed upon him under the provisions of this Chapter by reason only that he has such obligation or requirement imposed upon him in any other capacity.

(c) Where, but for any of the subsequent provisions of this Chapter, a person would have had any such obligation or requirement imposed upon him in more than one capacity, a release from such obligation or requirement under any of those provisions by reason of any fact or circumstance applying in relation to his liability to tax in any one capacity shall not release him from such obligation or requirement as is imposed upon him in a capacity other than that in which that fact or circumstance applies.

(4) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Obligation to make a return.

10. —(1) Every chargeable person shall, as respects a relevant chargeable period, prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period, a return in the prescribed form of—

(a) in the case of a chargeable person, who is chargeable to income tax for a chargeable period which is a year of assessment, all such matters and particulars as would be required to be contained in a statement delivered pursuant to a notice given to the chargeable person by the appropriate inspector under section 169 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , if the period specified in such notice were the year of assessment immediately preceding the relevant chargeable period, and where the chargeable person is an individual who is chargeable to income tax for a relevant chargeable period, in addition to such matters and particulars as aforesaid, all such matters and particulars as would be required to be contained in a return for the period delivered to the appropriate inspector pursuant to a notice given to the chargeable person by the appropriate inspector under section 172 of the said Act, or

(b) in the case of a chargeable person who is chargeable to corporation tax for a relevant chargeable period which is an accounting period, all such matters and particulars in relation to the chargeable period as would be required to be contained in a return delivered pursuant to a notice given by the appropriate inspector to the chargeable person under section 143 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 ,

and such further particulars as may be required by the prescribed form.

(2) The precedent partner of any partnership shall be deemed to be a chargeable person for the purposes of this section and shall, as respects any relevant chargeable period, deliver to the appropriate inspector on or before the specified return date for that chargeable period the return which he would be required to deliver for that period under the provisions of section 70 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , if the inspector had given notice under that section before the said specified date.

(3) If, by reason of subsection (1) or (2), a person delivers a return to an inspector, he shall be deemed to have been required by a notice under section 169 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , to deliver a statement containing the matters and particulars contained in the return or to have been required by a notice under section 70 or 172 of the said Act or under section 143 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , to deliver the return, as the case may be. Any provision of the Tax Acts relating to the taking of any action on the failure of a person to deliver a statement or return pursuant to a notice given under any of the aforementioned sections shall apply to a chargeable person, in a case where such a notice has not been given, as if he had been given a notice, on the specified return date for the relevant chargeable period, under such one or more of those sections as is appropriate to the provision in question.

(4) A chargeable person shall prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector a return for a relevant chargeable period as required by this section notwithstanding that he has not received a notice from an inspector to prepare and deliver a statement or return for that period under any of the sections referred to in subsection (3).

(5) A return required by this section may be prepared and delivered by the chargeable person or by another person acting under the chargeable person's authority in that regard. Where a return is prepared and delivered by such other person, the provisions of the Tax Acts shall apply as if it had been prepared and delivered by the chargeable person. A return purporting to be prepared and delivered by or on behalf of any chargeable person shall, for all the purposes of the Tax Acts, be deemed to have been prepared and delivered by that person or by his authority, as the case may be, unless the contrary is proved.

(6) An inspector may exclude a person from the provisions of this section by giving him a notice in writing stating that he is excluded from those provisions and the notice shall have effect for such chargeable period or periods or until such chargeable period or until the happening of such event as shall be specified in the notice:

Provided that, where, before the passing of this Act, a person has been given notice by the inspector that he need not prepare and deliver a return for or until a specified chargeable period or until the happening of any event, he shall be deemed to have been given notice to that effect under this subsection.

(7) This section shall not affect the giving of a notice by an inspector under any of the specified sections and shall not remove from any person any obligation or requirement imposed on the person by such a notice. The giving of a notice under any of the specified sections to a person shall not remove from that person any obligation to prepare and deliver a return under the provisions of this section.

(8) In a case to which section 197 (4) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , applies, a return containing for both the husband and the wife the matters and particulars required by subsection (1) shall, if delivered by one spouse, satisfy the obligation of the other spouse under this section.

(9) Nothing in the specified sections or in a notice given under any of those sections shall operate so as to require a chargeable person to deliver a return for a relevant chargeable period on a date earlier than the specified return date for the chargeable period.

(10) A certificate signed by an inspector which certifies that he has examined the relevant records and that it appears from them that, during a stated period, a stated return was not received from a chargeable person shall be evidence until the contrary is proved that the chargeable person did not, during that period, deliver that return and a certificate certifying as provided by this subsection and purporting to be signed by an inspector may be tendered in evidence without proof and shall be deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by such inspector.

(11) (a) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate an inspector to be the inspector of returns for the purposes of this Chapter.

(b) The inspector of returns shall take delivery of returns under this section directed by him to be delivered to him and returns from persons in relation to whom he is the appropriate inspector in the circumstances specified in paragraph (c) of the definition of “appropriate inspector” in section 9 (1).

(c) The name of an inspector nominated as aforesaid and the address to which returns being delivered to him shall be directed shall be published annually in the Iris Oifigiúil.

(12) Sections 500 and 503 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply to a failure by a chargeable person to deliver a return in accordance with subsection (1) or (2) as they apply to a failure to deliver a return referred to in the said section 500 and Schedule 15 to that Act is hereby amended by the insertion in Column 1 of “Finance Act, 1988, section 10 (1) and (2)”.

Obligation to pay preliminary tax.

11. —(1) Every person who is a chargeable person as respects any relevant chargeable period shall be liable to pay to the Collector in accordance with this section and section 18 the amount of his preliminary tax appropriate to that chargeable period.

(2) The amount of a chargeable person's preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period is the amount of tax which, in the opinion of the chargeable person, is likely to become payable by him for the chargeable period by reason of an assessment or assessments for the chargeable period made or to be made by the inspector or which would be made by the inspector if he did not elect pursuant to section 13 (4) not to make an assessment.

(3) Preliminary tax shall be payable notwithstanding that the inspector has not given notice in respect of that tax under section 12 .

(4) Where, on or before the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period, the chargeable person by whom the tax is payable has received notice of an assessment for the period, he shall not be liable to pay preliminary tax for that chargeable period.

(5) Any amount of preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period which is paid by, and not repaid to, a chargeable person in any capacity shall, to the extent of the amount of that payment or the extent of the amount of that payment less any amount that has been repaid, be treated as a payment on foot of the tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, being tax which is specified in an assessment or assessments made or to be made for that period on the chargeable person in that capacity.

Notices of preliminary tax.

12. —(1) Where—

(a) a chargeable person defaults in the making of a payment of preliminary tax for a relevant chargeable period, or

(b) at any time prior to the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for a relevant chargeable period, the inspector considers it appropriate to do so,

the inspector may give notice in writing to the chargeable person of the amount of the preliminary tax which, in the opinion of the inspector, ought to be paid by the chargeable person for that chargeable period:

Provided that a notice shall not be given under this subsection to a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period at any time after the chargeable person has delivered a return for that chargeable period.

(2) Subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, an amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice under subsection (1) shall be due and payable to the Collector by the chargeable person on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the relevant chargeable period to which the notice relates.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), where, on or before the specified return date for a chargeable period, the chargeable person makes a payment of preliminary tax for the chargeable period under section 11 , or on or before that date the chargeable person gives notice in writing to the Collector that he considers that he will not have a liability to pay tax for the chargeable period by reason of any assessment or assessments made or to be made by the inspector, the amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period specified in a notice given to the chargeable person under subsection (1), or the excess, if any, of that amount over the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, shall not be payable.

(4) Where the chargeable person defaults in delivering a return for a relevant chargeable period to which a notice of preliminary tax under subsection (1) relates and the amount of preliminary tax specified in the notice, as increased under the provisions of section 48 of the Finance Act, 1986 , is greater than the amount, if any, of the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person under section 11 , as also increased under the provisions of the said section 48, subsection (3) shall, with effect from the specified return date for the chargeable period, not apply to that chargeable person for the chargeable period and the amount of preliminary tax specified in the notice, as increased under the provisions of the said section 48 but reduced by any preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person in the capacity to which the notice relates for the chargeable period, shall become due and payable in all respects as if subsection (3) had not been enacted.

(5) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, an amount of preliminary tax, or any excess of that amount over the amount, if any, of the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the relevant chargeable period to which the notice relates, specified in a notice given under subsection (1) shall cease to be due and payable as on and from the date on which the inspector makes an assessment on the chargeable person for that relevant chargeable period:

Provided that, where action for the recovery of an amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice given under subsection (1), being action by way of the institution of proceedings in any court or the issue of a certificate under section 485 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , has been taken, this subsection shall not apply to that amount of preliminary tax.

(6) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice given under subsection (1) shall be collected and paid in all respects as if it were tax charged by an assessment in respect of which no appeal was pending. Section 113 of the Finance Act, 1986 , shall apply in all respects to an amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice under subsection (1) as if it were an amount of tax specified in an assessment. Section 537 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply to preliminary tax specified in a notice as it applies to tax specified in an assessment.

(7) Where the amount of preliminary tax paid by a chargeable person for any chargeable period exceeds his tax liability for that period, the excess shall be repaid and the amount repaid shall carry interest at the rate at which it would carry interest if it were an amount of tax repaid under the provisions of section 30 (4) of the Finance Act, 1976 :

Provided that—

(a) interest shall not be payable under this subsection if it amounts to less than £10, and

(b) income tax shall not be deductible on payment of interest under this subsection and such interest shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Tax Acts.

(8) Where for a relevant chargeable period a notice of preliminary tax has been given to a person by the inspector and the inspector is satisfied that—

(a) the person being a chargeable person has discharged all his tax liability for the chargeable period,

(b) the person is not a chargeable person as respects that chargeable period, or

(c) it is appropriate to do so,

he may reduce the amount of preliminary tax specified in the notice given to the person to such amount, including nil, as the inspector deems appropriate having regard to the circumstances of the case.

(9) Where a provision of this section has the effect of providing that any preliminary tax specified in a notice under subsection (1) ceases to become payable, the provision shall not have the effect of removing from any chargeable person an obligation imposed upon him by section 11 to pay an amount of preliminary tax.

(10) Section 190 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to notices of preliminary tax under this section as it applies to assessments.

Making of assessments.

13. —(1) An assessment shall not be made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period at any time before the specified return date for the chargeable period unless at that time the chargeable person has delivered a return for the chargeable period and an assessment shall not be made at a time when the making of the assessment is precluded under the provisions of section 14 (2).

(2) Subject to subsection (3), an assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period shall be made by the inspector by reference to the particulars contained in the chargeable person's return and, where appropriate, having regard to the provisions of section 20 .

(3) If—

(a) a chargeable person makes default in the delivery of a return for a relevant chargeable period, or

(b) the inspector is not satisfied with the return which has been delivered, or has received any information as to its insufficiency,

nothing in this section shall prevent the inspector from making an assessment in accordance with the provisions of section 184 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , or section 144 (4) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , as appropriate.

(4) Where, as respects a relevant chargeable period, the inspector is satisfied that a chargeable person has paid all amounts of tax which, if he were to make an assessment on the chargeable person for that relevant chargeable period, would be payable by the chargeable person for the relevant chargeable period, the inspector may elect not to make an assessment on the chargeable person for that chargeable period and, where he so elects, he shall give notice of the election to the chargeable person and the amounts paid by the chargeable person shall be deemed to have been payable in all respects as if the inspector had made the assessment:

Provided that, subject to section 14 (2), nothing in this subsection shall prevent an inspector from making an assessment on the chargeable person for that relevant chargeable period at any time after the giving of the notice of election under this section.

(5) Where the inspector makes an assessment—

(a) under any of the provisions referred to in subsection (3), in default of the delivery of a return, or

(b) in circumstances where the chargeable person has calculated the amount of tax which will be payable by him on foot of an assessment and the inspector does not at the time of the making of the assessment disagree with the tax as so calculated,

it shall not be necessary to set forth in the notice of assessment any particulars other than particulars as to the amount of tax to be paid by the chargeable person.

(6) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, but subject to section 14 (2), where a chargeable person has delivered a return for a relevant chargeable period, he may, by notice in writing given to the inspector, require him to make an assessment for that relevant chargeable period and the inspector shall make the assessment forthwith.

Amendment of and time limit for assessments.

14. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) and to section 211 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , an inspector may, at any time, amend an assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period by making such alterations therein or additions thereto as he thinks necessary, notwithstanding that tax may have been paid or repaid in respect of the assessment and notwithstanding that he may have amended the assessment on a previous occasion or on previous occasions and he shall give notice to the chargeable person of the assessment as so amended.

(2) Where a chargeable person has delivered a return for a relevant chargeable period and has made in the return a full and true disclosure of all material facts necessary for the making of an assessment for the relevant chargeable period, an assessment for that period or an amendment of such an assessment shall not be made on the chargeable person after the end of the period of 6 years commencing at the end of the chargeable period in which the return is delivered and no additional tax shall be payable by the chargeable person and no tax shall be repaid to the chargeable person after the end of the period of 6 years by reason of any matter contained in the return:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent the amendment of an assessment—

(a) where a relevant return does not contain a full and true disclosure of the aforementioned facts,

(b) to give effect to a determination upon any appeal against an assessment,

(c) to take account of any fact or matter arising by reason of an event occurring after the return is delivered,

(d) to correct an error in calculation,

(e) to correct a mistake of fact whereby any matter in the assessment does not properly reflect the facts disclosed by the chargeable person, or

(f) to give effect to the provisions of section 20 (2),

and tax shall be paid or repaid, where appropriate, in accordance with any such amendment and nothing in this section shall affect the operation of section 455 (3) of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , or section 54 (4) (b) of the Finance Act, 1974 .

(3) A chargeable person who is aggrieved by an assessment or the amendment of an assessment on the grounds that he considers that the inspector was precluded from making the assessment or the amendment, as the case may be, by reason of the provisions of subsection (2) may appeal against the assessment or amended assessment on those grounds and if, on the hearing of the appeal, the Appeal Commissioners determine that the inspector was so precluded, all the provisions of the Tax Acts shall apply as if the assessment or the amendment, as the case may be, had not been made and the assessment or the amendment of the assessment, as appropriate, shall be void. If the Appeal Commissioners determine that the inspector was not so precluded, the assessment or the assessment as amended shall stand good, save to the extent that any amount or matter therein is the subject of a valid appeal on any other grounds.

(4) Where the chargeable person is in doubt as to the application of law to or the treatment for tax purposes of any matter to be contained in a return to be delivered by him, he may deliver the return to the best of his belief as to the application of law to or the treatment for tax purposes of that matter but he shall draw the inspector's attention to the matter in question in the return by specifying the doubt and, if he so does, he shall be treated as making a full and true disclosure with regard to that matter:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply where the inspector is or, on appeal, the Appeal Commissioners are, not satisfied that the doubt was genuine and is or are of the opinion that the chargeable person was acting with a view to the evasion or avoidance of tax and in such a case the chargeable person shall be deemed not to have made a full and true disclosure with regard to the matter in question.

(5) Section 186 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , and section 144 (5) (a) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 , shall not apply in the case of a chargeable person for any relevant chargeable period and all matters which would have been included in an additional first assessment under those sections shall be included in an amendment of the first assessment or first assessments made in accordance with this section and, for this purpose, where any amount of income, profits or gains was omitted from the first assessment or first assessments or the tax stated in the first assessment or first assessments was less than the tax payable by the chargeable person for that chargeable period, there shall be made such adjustments or additions (including the addition of a further first assessment) to the first assessment or first assessments as are necessary to rectify the omission or to ensure that the tax so stated is equal to the tax so payable by the chargeable person.

Inspector's right to make enquiries and amend assessments.

15. —(1) For the purpose of making an assessment on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period or for the purpose of amending such an assessment, the inspector may accept either in whole or in part any statement or other particular contained in a return delivered by the chargeable person for that chargeable period and he may assess any amount of income, profits or gains or allow any deduction, allowance or relief by reference to such statement or particular; but the making of an assessment or the amendment of an assessment by reference to any such statement or particular contained in the chargeable person's return shall not preclude the inspector from making such enquiries or taking such actions, within his powers, as he considers necessary to satisfy himself as to the accuracy or otherwise of that statement or particular and, subject to section 14 (2), shall not preclude the inspector from amending or further amending an assessment in such manner as he considers appropriate:

Provided that any such enquiries and any such actions shall not be made in the case of any chargeable person for any relevant chargeable period at any time after the expiry of the period of 6 years commencing at the end of the chargeable period in which the chargeable person has delivered a return for the relevant chargeable period unless at that time the inspector has reasonable grounds for believing that the return is insufficient due to its having been completed in a fraudulent or negligent manner.

(2) A chargeable person who is aggrieved by any enquiry made or action taken by an inspector for a chargeable period, after the expiry of the period referred to in the proviso to subsection (1) in respect of that chargeable period, on the grounds that he considers that the inspector is precluded from making that enquiry or taking that action by reason of the proviso to subsection (1) may, by notice in writing given to the inspector within 30 days of the inspector making that enquiry or taking that action, appeal to the Appeal Commissioners and the Appeal Commissioners shall hear the appeal in all respects as if it were an appeal against an assessment. Any action required to be taken by the chargeable person and any further action proposed to be taken by the inspector pursuant to the inspector's enquiry or action shall be suspended pending the determination of the appeal. If on the hearing of the appeal the Appeal Commissioners determine that the inspector was so precluded, the chargeable person shall not be required to take any action pursuant to the inspector's enquiry or action and the inspector shall be prohibited from pursuing his enquiry or action. If the Appeal Commissioners decide that he was not so precluded, it shall be lawful for the inspector to continue with his enquiry or action.

Application of section 48 (surcharge for late submission of returns) of Finance Act, 1986.

16. Section 48 of the Finance Act, 1986 , shall have effect, as respects any chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period, as if the definition of “return of income” in the said section 48 included the return which the chargeable person is required to deliver under the provisions of section 10 and as if references to the specified date in relation to a return of income were references to the specified return date for the chargeable period for which a return is to be delivered and it shall apply in relation to an amount of preliminary tax, whether paid under section 11 or specified in a notice under section 12 , as it applies to an amount of tax specified in an assessment.

Appeals.

17. —(1) No appeal may be made against—

(a) a notice of preliminary tax under section 12 ,

(b) the amount of any income, profits or gains or the amount of any allowance, deduction or relief specified in an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period where the inspector has determined that amount by accepting without the alteration of and without departing from the statement or statements or the particular or particulars with regard to income, profits or gains or allowances, deductions or reliefs specified in the return delivered by the chargeable person for that chargeable period, or

(c) the amount of any income, profits or gains or the amount of any allowance, deduction or relief specified in an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period where that amount had been agreed between the inspector and the chargeable person, or any person authorised by the chargeable person in that behalf, prior to the making of the assessment or the amendment of the assessment, as the case may be.

(2) (a) Where—

(i) a chargeable person makes default in the delivery of a return, or

(ii) the inspector is not satisfied with the return which has been delivered by a chargeable person, or has received any information as to its insufficiency,

and the inspector makes an assessment in accordance with any of the provisions referred to in section 13 (3), no appeal shall lie against that assessment until such time as—

(I) in a case to which paragraph (a) (i) applies, the chargeable person delivers the return, and

(II) in a case to which either subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (a) applies, the chargeable person pays or has paid an amount of tax on foot of the assessment which is not less than the tax which would be payable on foot of the assessment if the assessment were made in all respects by reference to the statements and particulars contained in the return delivered by the chargeable person,

and the time for bringing an appeal against the assessment shall be treated as commencing at the earliest date on which both the return has been delivered and the said amount of tax has been paid and references in this subsection to an assessment shall be construed as including references to any amendment of the assessment which is made before the said earliest date.

(b) References in this subsection to an amount of tax shall be construed as including any amount of interest which would be due and payable under section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , on that tax at the date of payment of the tax together with any costs incurred or other amounts which may be charged or levied in pursuing the collection of the tax contained in the assessment or the assessment as amended, as the case may be.

(3) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, where an assessment is amended under section 14 (not being an amendment made by reason of the determination of an appeal), the chargeable person may appeal against the assessment as so amended in all respects as if it were an assessment made on the date of the amendment and the notice of the assessment as so amended were a notice of the assessment, save that the chargeable person shall have no further right of appeal, in relation to matters other than additions to, deletions from, or alterations in the assessment, made by reason of the amendment, than he would have had if the assessment had not been amended.

(4) Where an appeal is brought against an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person for any relevant chargeable period, the chargeable person shall specify in the notice of appeal—

(a) each amount or matter in the assessment or amended assessment with which he is aggrieved, and

(b) the grounds, in detail, of his appeal as respects each such amount or matter.

(5) Where, as respects an amount or matter to which a notice of appeal relates, the notice does not comply with the provisions of subsection (4), the notice shall, in so far as it relates to that amount or matter, be invalid and the appeal concerned shall, in so far as it relates to that amount or matter, be deemed not to have been brought.

(6) The chargeable person shall not be entitled to rely on any ground of appeal that is not specified in the notice of appeal unless the Appeal Commissioners, or the judge of the Circuit Court, as the case may be, are or is satisfied that the ground could not reasonably have been stated in the notice.

Date for payment of tax.

18. —(1) Preliminary tax appropriate to a relevant chargeable period shall be due and payable—

(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment, on or before the 1st day of October in that year of assessment, or

(b) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, within the period of 6 months from the end of the accounting period,

and references in this Chapter to the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax shall be construed as references to the 1st day of October in the relevant year of assessment or the last day of that period of 6 months, as the case may be.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), tax specified in an assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period shall be due and payable—

(a) where the assessment is made before the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period, on or before that date, or

(b) where the assessment is made on or after that date, on the day next after the day on which the assessment is made.

(3) Where, but for this subsection, tax specified in an assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period would be due and payable on the day next after the day on which the assessment is made and—

(a) the chargeable person has defaulted in the payment of preliminary tax for that chargeable period,

(b) the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period is less than 90 per cent. of the tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, or

(c) the preliminary tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period was not paid within one month of the date on which it was due and payable,

the tax specified in the assessment shall be deemed to have been due and payable on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), any additional tax due by reason of the amendment of an assessment for a relevant chargeable period shall be deemed to be due and payable on the same day as the tax charged by the assessment prior to its amendment was due and payable:

Provided that if—

(a) the assessment was made after the chargeable person had delivered a return containing a full and true disclosure of all material facts necessary for the making of the assessment, or

(b) the assessment had previously been amended following the delivery of the return containing such disclosure,

the additional tax so due shall be deemed to have been due and payable on the day immediately following the date of the amendment.

(5) The amount by which the tax, found to be payable for a relevant chargeable period on the determination of an appeal against an assessment made on a chargeable person for the chargeable period, is in excess of the amount of the tax for the chargeable period referred to in section 17 (2) (a) (ii) (II) which the chargeable person had paid prior to the making of the appeal, shall be deemed to be due and payable on the same date as the tax charged by the assessment is due and payable:

Provided that—

(a) where the tax which the chargeable person had so paid is not less than 90 per cent. of the tax so found to be payable on the determination of the appeal, and

(b) where the tax charged by the assessment was due and payable in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2),

the said excess shall be deemed to be due and payable on the date of the determination of the appeal.

Interest.

19. —(1) Subsection (2A) of section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall not apply to an assessment made on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period.

(2) The said section 550 is hereby amended by the substitution of “one month” for “two months” in each place where it occurs.

Estimation of certain amounts.

20. —(1) Where, in the case of a chargeable person who is chargeable to income tax for a relevant chargeable period (hereafter in this section referred to as “the first period”)—

(a) the total income of the chargeable person for the first period includes income from any source or sources which falls to be computed on the basis of the actual amounts receivable in the first period or where, in the first period, any deductions allowable on account of any sums paid out of the profits or gains of the chargeable person fall to be allowed as deductions in respect of the chargeable period in which they are payable, and

(b) at any time before the delivery by the chargeable person of a return for the immediately succeeding chargeable period, a computation of the tax payable by the chargeable person for the first period falls to be made by the inspector or the chargeable person or an assessment for the first period is being made or amended by the inspector,

the inspector or the chargeable person, as the case may be, shall make the computation, assessment or amendment, as the case may be, on the basis that—

(i) the amount of income from the source or each source referred to in paragraph (a) is an amount equivalent to the amount of the income from the source or each source receivable in the chargeable period immediately preceding the first period, and

(ii) the amount of the deductions referred to in paragraph (a) is an amount equivalent to the amount of those deductions in the chargeable period immediately preceding the first period.

(2) Where the chargeable person gives to the inspector particulars of the correct amount of the income or deductions referred to in subsection (1) (a), the inspector shall adjust any computation or assessment by reference to the difference between the correct amount and the amount which, by reason of subsection (1), was included in the computation or assessment and any amount of tax overpaid shall be repaid and any amount of tax underpaid shall be paid.

(3) An amount of tax repaid under subsection (2) shall be repaid with interest in all respects as if it were a repayment of preliminary tax under section 12 (7). Interest shall not be charged under section 550 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , on any amount of tax underpaid under the provisions of this section unless the amount is not paid within one month of the date on which the amount of the underpayment is notified to the chargeable person by the inspector and the amount of tax so unpaid shall not be treated as part of the tax payable for the chargeable period for the purposes of section 18 (3) (b).

(4) For the purposes of section 17 (1) (b), where for any relevant chargeable period an amount of income or deduction specified in an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person has been computed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1), the inspector shall be deemed to have determined that amount by accepting without alteration of or departing from the statement or particulars with regard to that amount specified in the chargeable person's return for that chargeable period.

(5) Section 528 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall not apply to a chargeable person as respects any relevant chargeable period.

Miscellaneous.

21. —(1) Section 211 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall apply to an amendment of an assessment under section 14 as it applies to an additional first assessment under section 186 of that Act.

(2) Section 509 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 , shall have effect as if the definition of “assessment” included an assessment as amended under the provisions of section 14 .

(3) Where the inspector or any other officer of the Revenue Commissioners acting with the knowledge of the inspector causes to issue, by any electronic, photographic or other process, a notice of preliminary tax bearing the name of the inspector or a notice of assessment or a notice of an amendment of an assessment bearing the name of the inspector, the said notice of preliminary tax shall, for all the purposes of the Tax Acts, be deemed to have been given by the inspector to the best of his opinion and the said assessment or amended assessment to which the notice of assessment or notice of amended assessment relates, as the case may be, shall, for those purposes, be deemed to have been made by the inspector to the best of his judgment.

(4) An assessment which is otherwise final and conclusive shall not, for any purpose of the Tax Acts, be regarded as not final and conclusive or as ceasing to be final and conclusive by reason only of the fact that the inspector has amended or may amend the assessment pursuant to the provisions of section 14 and where, in the case of a chargeable person, the inspector elects under section 13 (4) not to make an assessment for a chargeable period, the provisions of the Tax Acts shall apply as if an assessment for that chargeable period made on the chargeable person had become final and conclusive on the date the notice of election is given.

(5) The giving by a chargeable person of a notice pursuant to section 5 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1968 , shall not remove from the person an obligation to deliver a return under section 10 .

(6) Section 30 of the Finance Act, 1976 , shall not apply in relation to an assessment made on any person for a relevant chargeable period.