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27 1924

FINANCE ACT, 1924

PART I.

INCOME TAX.

Income tax and super tax for 1924-25.

1. —(1) Income tax shall be charged for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1924, at the rate of five shillings in the pound, and super tax shall be charged-for that year at the following rates:—

In respect of the first two thousand pounds of the income

Nil.

In respect of the excess over two thousand pounds,

For every pound of the first five hundred pounds of the excess

One shilling and sixpence.

For every pound of the next five hundred pounds of the excess

Two shillings.

For every pound of the next one thousand pounds of the excess

Two shillings and sixpence.

For every pound of the next one thousand pounds of the excess

Three shillings.

For every pound of the next one thousand pounds of the excess

Three shillings and sixpence.

For every pound of the next one thousand pounds of the excess

Four shillings.

For every pound of the remainder of the excess

Four shillings and sixpence.

(2) The several statutory and other provisions which were in force during the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1923, in relation to income tax and super tax shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have effect in relation to the income tax and the super tax to be charged as aforesaid, for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1924.

Payment of interest on Saorstát securities without deduction of tax.

2. —(1) The Minister for Finance may direct that any securities already issued or hereafter to be issued under his authority shall be deemed to have been, or shall be, issued subject to the condition that the interest thereon shall be paid without deduction of tax.

(2) The interest on all securities issued, or deemed to have been issued, subject to the condition aforesaid shall be paid without deduction of tax, but all such interest shall be chargeable under Case III. of Schedule D of the Income Tax Act, 1918, and, where any funds under the control of any court or public department are invested in any such securities, the person in whose name the securities are invested shall be the person so chargeable in respect of the interest thereon.

(3) Where interest on any security is paid under this section without deduction of tax, every person to whom such interest is paid, and every person who receives such interest on behalf of a registered or inscribed holder of the security, and also every person who has acted as an intermediary in the purchase of the security, shall, on being so required by the Revenue Commissioners, furnish to them—

(a) the name and address of the person to whom such interest has been paid, or on whose behalf such interest has been received, and the amount of the interest so paid or received, or (as the case may require)

(b) the person on whose behalf such security was purchased and the amount of such security.

(4) There shall be added to Rule I. of Case III. of Schedule D of the Income Tax Act, 1918, the following clause, that is to say—

(g) interest on any securities issued under the authority of the Minister for Finance—cases where such interest is paid without deduction of tax.

Exemption of income of charities in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

3. —Exemption shall be granted—

(a) from tax for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1924, under Schedule A of the Income Tax Act, 1918, in respect of the rents and profits of any lands, tenements, hereditaments, or heritages belonging to any hospital, public school, or almshouse in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, or vested in trustees in Great Britain or Northern Ireland for charitable purposes so far as the same are applied to charitable purposes only:

Provided that any assessment upon the respective properties shall not be vacated or altered, but shall be in force and levied, notwithstanding the allowance of any such exemption;

(b) from tax for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1924, under Schedule C of the Income Tax Act, 1918, in respect of any interest, annuities, dividends, or shares of annuities, and from tax for the same year under Schedule D of the said Act in respect of any yearly interest or other annual payment, forming part of the income of any body of persons or trust in Great Britain or Northern Ireland for charitable purposes only, or which, according to the rules or regulations established by Act of Parliament, charter, decree, deed of trust, or will in Great Britain or Northern Ireland are applicable to charitable purposes only, and so far as the same are applied to charitable purposes only;

(c) from tax for the year beginning on the 6th day of April, 1924, under Schedule C of the Income Tax Act, 1918, in respect of any interest, annuities, dividends, or shares of annuities, in the names of trustees in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, and applicable solely towards the repairs of any cathedral, college, church, or chapel, or any building used solely for the purpose of divine worship, and so far as the same are applied to those purposes:

Provided that this section shall only apply where the lands, tenements, hereditaments, or heritages aforesaid belonged to such hospital, public school, or almshouse, or were vested in such trustees, on the 5th day of April, 1923, or where the interest, annuities, dividends, shares of annuities, yearly interest, or other annual payments arise from investments or other property which were held by such body of persons, trust, or trustees, or were subject to such rules or regulations, on the 5th day of April, 1923.

Method of charging cost of living bonus.

4. —For the purposes of any assessment to income tax for any year which is made on or after, or has not become final and conclusive before, the 13th day of June, 1924, or of any deduction on account of income tax for any year, any increase of or addition to any salary, remuneration, pension, annuity, or stipend by way of war bonus, and any other like temporary increase or addition granted in order to meet the rise in the cost of living, shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, chargeable to tax as salary, remuneration, pension, annuity, or stipend, as the case may be, and not as perquisites.

Relief in respect of certain stocks, shares, and rents.

5. —(1) If any person who has been assessed and charged to tax for any of the years ending on the 5th day of April, 1924, the 5th day of April, 1925, and the 5th day of April, 1926, respectively in respect of income arising from stocks, shares, or rents in Great Britain or Northern Ireland under the rules applicable to Case V. of Schedule D of the Income Tax Act, 1918, as amended by section 12 of the Finance Act, 1923 (No. 21 of 1923), claims and proves to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners in the manner provided by this section that the total amount of his actual income arising from such stocks, shares, or rents for that year is less by more than twenty per cent, than the average income on which he has or should have been assessed and charged in respect of such stocks, shares, or rents, he shall be entitled to repayment of such part of the tax paid by him as is equal to the difference between the amount of the tax so paid and the amount which would have been so paid if he had been assessed or charged on the total amount of his actual income arising from such stocks, shares, or rents for that year.

(2) Every claim under this section shall be made by giving notice in writing to the inspector of taxes setting out particulars of the total amount of the actual income arising from such stocks, shares, or rents for the year of assessment and for each of the three years preceding the said year of assessment, and the Revenue Commissioners shall be entitled to call for such evidence as they may deem necessary to enable them to ascertain the correctness of such particulars.

(3) Every claim under this section shall be made within the time limited for an appeal against the assessment in respect of which the claim is made or within twelve months from the end of the year to which the assessment relates, whichever shall be the later.

(4) Any person making a claim under this section who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Revenue Commissioners thereon shall have a right of appeal to the special commissioners whose determination on such appeal shall be final and conclusive.

Remuneration of persons entrusted with the payment of interest, etc.

6. —(1) Where a person entrusted with the payment of any interest, dividends, or other annual payments payable out of any public revenue other than that of Saorstát Eireann or in respect of the stocks, funds, shares, or securities of any foreign company, society, adventure, or concern complies with the conditions prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners under sub-section (2) of section 10 of the Finance Act, 1923 (No. 21 of 1923), such person shall be entitled to such remuneration as is provided for by Rule 5 of the Rules applicable to Schedule C of the Income Tax Act, 1918, as to interest, etc., with the payment of which persons other than the Bank of England, the Bank of Ireland, and the National Debt Commissioners are entrusted.

(2) Rule 7 of the Miscellaneous Rules applicable to Schedule D of the Income Tax Act, 1918, shall at all times hereafter be read as if at the time of the enactment of the said Rule 7 the foregoing sub-section had been enacted.

(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any enactment, the Bank of Ireland shall be deemed to be a person entrusted with the payment of dividends within the meaning of the Rules applicable to Schedule C of the Income Tax Act, 1918, as to interest, etc., with the payment of which persons other than the Bank of England, the Bank of Ireland, and the National Debt Commissioners are entrusted, and, where the Bank of Ireland does all things required by those Rules to be done by a person entrusted with the payment of dividends, remuneration shall be payable to the Bank of Ireland in accordance with the provisions of Rule 5 of the said Rules.

(4) Where the Bank of Ireland does all such things as are necessary to enable the tax to be assessed and paid in respect of British Government Stocks and India Stocks inscribed in its books in Dublin, the Bank shall receive as remuneration an allowance to be calculated by reference to the amount of dividends paid in respect of such Stocks from which tax is deducted and to be fixed by the Minister for Finance.

(5) This section shall be deemed to have come into force and had effect as on and from the commencement of the Finance Act, 1923 (No. 21 of 1923).

Rules in First Schedule added to Schedule C of Income Tax Act, 1918.

7. —(1) The Rules set out in the First Schedule to this Act shall be added to Schedule C of the Income Tax Act, 1918, at the end of the “Rules applicable to Schedule C” and shall be construed and take effect as part of those Rules.

(2) This section shall be deemed to have come into force and had effect as on and from the commencement of the Finance Act, 1923 (No. 21 of 1923).

Relief in respect of error or mistake.

8. —(1) If any person who has paid tax charged under an assessment to income tax made for any year under Schedule D, or according to the Rules applicable to that Schedule, alleges that the assessment was excessive by reason of some error or mistake in the return or statement made by him for the purposes of the assessment, he may, at any time not later than three years after the end of the year of assessment for which the assessment was made, make an application in writing to the Revenue Commissioners for relief.

(2) On receiving any such application the Revenue Commissioners shall inquire into the matter and shall, subject to the provisions of this section, give by way of repayment such relief (including any consequential relief from super-tax) in respect of the error or mistake as is reasonable and just:

Provided that no relief shall be given under this section in respect of an error or mistake as to the basis on which the liability of the applicant ought to have been computed where the return or statement was in fact made on the basis or in accordance with the practice generally prevailing at the time when the return or statement was made.

(3) In determining any application under this section the Revenue Commissioners shall have regard to all the relevant circumstances of the case, and in particular shall consider whether the granting of relief would result in the exclusion from charge to income tax or super-tax of any part of the profits or income of the applicant, and for this purpose the Commissioners may take into consideration the liability of the applicant and assessments made on him in respect of other years.

(4) Any person who is aggrieved by the determination of the Revenue Commissioners on an application made by him under this section may, on giving notice in writing to those Commissioners within twenty-one days after the notification to him of their determination, appeal to the Special Commissioners.

(5) The Special Commissioners shall thereupon hear and determine the appeal in accordance with the principles to be followed by the Revenue Commissioners in determining the applications under this section, and subject thereto, in like manner as in the case of an appeal to them against an assessment under Schedule D, and the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to such an appeal (including the provisions relating to the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law but excluding the provisions of section 196 of the Income Tax Act, 1918) shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications:

Provided that neither the appellant nor the Revenue Commissioners shall be entitled to require a case to be stated for the opinion of the High Court otherwise than on a point of law arising in connection with the computation of profits or income.

Amendment of section 8 of the Finance Act, 1923 .

9. Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1923 , shall be construed and have effect, and shall be deemed always to have been construed and had effect, as if the words “tax upon” were inserted therein before the word “such” where that word secondly appears in the said section.

Extension of application of section 149 of Income Tax Act, 1918.

10. —(1) Section 149 of the Income Tax Act, 1918, shall, subject to the provisions of this section, apply to a determination given by a recorder or county court judge pursuant to section 196 of that Act in like manner as it applies to a determination by the general commissioners or the special commissioners.

(2) The notice in writing required under paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of section 149 of the Income Tax Act 1918, to be addressed to the clerk to the commissioners shall, in every case in which a recorder or county court judge is under the authority of this section required by any person to state and sign a case for the opinion of the High Court thereon, be addressed by such person to the registrar of the recorder or county court judge.

(3) The fee required under paragraph (c) of sub-section (1) of section 149 of the Income Tax Act, 1918, to be paid to the clerk to the commissioners shall in any such case as aforesaid be paid to the registrar of the recorder or county court judge.

(4) Sub-section (4) of the said section 149 shall be construed and have effect as if there were inserted in that sub-section—

(a) after the word “commissioners,” the words “or the determination of the recorder or county court judge,” and

(b) after the word “have,” the words “or has.”

(5) The words “and his determination thereon shall be final and conclusive ” in sub-section (2) of section 196 of the Income Tax Act, 1918, in so far as they are inconsistent with this section but no further or otherwise, shall cease to have effect.

Power of collector to sue for income tax in certain cases.

11. —(1) Where the amount due in respect of a tax duly assessed under the Income Tax Acts does not exceed £300, the collector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners duly authorised to collect the said tax may, on and after the coming into operation of Part II . of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1924), sue in his own name in the Circuit Court for the said amount so due as a debt due to the Minister for Finance.

(2) Where the amount due in respect of a tax duly assessed under the Income Tax Acts does not exceed £25, the collector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners duly authorised to collect the said tax may, on and after the coming into operation of Part III . of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1924), sue in his own name in the District Court for the said amount so due as a debt due to the Minister for Finance.

(3) In any proceeding brought by a collector or other officer under this section, the production of the collector's duplicate of the assessment of the tax or a copy of such duplicate purporting to be certified as a true copy by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners shall be conclusive evidence of the due assessment of the tax.

(4) The costs of any such proceeding as aforesaid shall be subject to the law and practice applicable to the costs of a like proceeding for the recovery of an ordinary civil debt of like amount in the same Court.