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8 1976

CAPITAL ACQUISITIONS TAX ACT, 1976

PART VII

Payment and Recovery of Tax

Payment of tax and interest on tax.

41. —(1) Tax shall be due and payable on the valuation date.

(2) Simple interest at the rate of one and one-half per cent. per month or part of a month, without deduction of income tax, shall be payable upon the tax from the valuation date to the date of payment of the tax and shall be chargeable and recoverable in the same manner as if it were part of the tax.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2), interest shall not be payable on tax which is paid within three months of the valuation date, and where tax and interest, if any, thereon is paid within thirty days of the date of assessment thereof, interest shall not run on that tax for the period of thirty days from the date of the assessment or any part of that period.

(4) A payment on account of tax shall be applied—

(a) if there is interest due on tax at the date of the payment, to the discharge, so far as may be, of the interest so due; and

(b) if there is any balance of that payment remaining, to the discharge of so much tax as is equal to that balance.

(5) Subject to the provisions of subsections (2), (3) and (4), payments on account may be made at any time, and when a payment on account is made, interest shall not be chargeable in respect of any period subsequent to the date of such payment on so much of the payment on account as is to be applied in discharge of the tax.

(6) In the case of a gift which becomes an inheritance by reason of its being taken under a disposition where the date of the disposition is within two years prior to the death of the disponer, the provisions of this section shall have effect as if the references to the valuation date in subsections (1), (2) and (3) were references to the date of death of the disponer.

(7) In the case of a gift or inheritance taken prior to the date of the passing of this Act, the provisions of this section shall have effect as if the references to the valuation date in subsections (1), (2) and (3) were references to the date of the passing of this Act, or to the valuation date, whichever is the later.

(8) Where the value of a limited interest falls to be ascertained in accordance with rule 8 of the First Schedule as if it were a series of absolute interests, this section shall have effect, in relation to each of those absolute interests, as if the references to the valuation date in subsections (1), (2) and (3) were references to the date of the taking of that absolute interest.

(9) All sums due under the provisions of this Act shall be paid to the Accountant-General of the Commissioners.

Set-off of gift tax paid in respect of an inheritance.

42. —Where an amount has been paid in respect of gift tax (or interest thereon) on a gift which, by reason of the death of the disponer within two years after the date of the disposition under which the gift was taken, becomes an inheritance in respect of which inheritance tax is payable, the amount so paid shall be treated as a payment on account of the inheritance tax.

Payment of tax by instalments.

43. —(1) Subject to the payment of interest in accordance with section 41 and save as hereinafter provided, the tax due and payable in respect of a taxable gift or a taxable inheritance may, at the option of the person delivering the return or additional return, be paid by five equal yearly instalments, the first of which shall be due at the expiration of twelve months from the date on which the tax became due and payable and the interest on the unpaid tax shall be added to each instalment and shall be paid at the same time as such instalment.

(2) An instalment not due may be paid at any time before it falls due.

(3) In any case where and to the extent that the property of which the taxable gift or taxable inheritance consists is sold or compulsorily acquired, all unpaid instalments shall, unless the interest of the donee or successor is a limited interest, be paid on completion of the sale or compulsory acquisition and, if not so paid, shall be tax in arrear.

(4) This section shall not apply in any case where and to the extent to which a taxable gift or a taxable inheritance consists of personal property in which the donee, or the successor, or the transferee referred to in section 23 (1), as the case may be, takes an absolute interest.

(5) In any case where the interest taken by a donee or a successor is an interest limited to cease on his death, and his death occurs before all the instalments of the tax in respect of the taxable gift or taxable inheritance would have fallen due if such tax were being paid by instalments, any instalment of such tax which would not have fallen due prior to the date of the death of that donee or successor shall cease to be payable, and the payment, if made, of any such last-mentioned instalment shall be treated as an overpayment of tax for the purposes of section 46.

Postponement, remission and compounding of tax.

44. —(1) Where the Commissioners are satisfied that tax leviable in respect of any gift or inheritance cannot without excessive hardship be raised at once, they may allow payment to be postponed for such period, to such extent and on such terms (including the waiver of interest) as they think fit.

(2) If, after the expiration of the relevant period immediately following the date on which any tax became due and payable, the tax or any part thereof remains unpaid, the Commissioners may, if they think fit, remit the payment of any interest accruing after such expiration on the unpaid tax; and in this subsection, “relevant period” means the period at the end of which the interest on an amount payable in respect of tax would, at the rate from time to time chargeable during that period in respect of interest on tax, equal the amount of such tax.

(3) If, after the expiration of twenty years from the date on which any tax became due and payable, the tax or any part thereof remains unpaid, the Commissioners may, if they think fit, remit the payment of such tax or any part thereof and all or any interest thereon.

(4) Where, in the opinion of the Commissioners, the complication of circumstances affecting a gift or inheritance or the value thereof or the assessment or recovery of tax thereon are such as to justify them in doing so, they may compound the tax payable on the gift or inheritance upon such terms as they shall think fit, and may give a discharge to the person or persons accountable for the tax upon payment of the tax according to such composition.

Payment of inheritance tax by transfer of securities.

45. —The provisions of section 22 of the Finance Act, 1954 , (which relates to the payment of death duties by the transfer of securities to the Minister for Finance) and the regulations made thereunder shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to the payment of inheritance tax by the transfer of securities to the Minister for Finance, as they apply to the payment of death duties by the transfer of securities to the Minister for Finance.

Overpayment of tax.

46. —Where, on application to the Commissioners for relief under this section, it is proved to their satisfaction that an amount has been paid in excess of the liability for tax or for interest on tax, they shall give relief by way of repayment of the excess or otherwise as is reasonable and just; and any such repayment shall carry simple interest (not exceeding the amount of such excess), without deduction of income tax, from the date on which the payment was made, at the same rate as that at which the tax would from time to time have carried interest if it were due and such payment had not been made.

Tax to be a charge.

47. —(1) Tax due and payable in respect of a taxable gift or a taxable inheritance shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be and remain a charge on the property (other than money or negotiable instruments) of which the taxable gift or taxable inheritance consists at the valuation date and the tax shall have priority over all charges and interests created by the donee or successor or any person claiming in right of the donee or successor or on his behalf:

Provided that where any settled property comprised in any taxable gift or taxable inheritance shall be subject to any power of sale, exchange, or partition, exercisable with the consent of the donee or successor, or by the donee or successor with the consent of another person, the donee or successor shall not be precluded by the charge of tax on his taxable gift or taxable inheritance from consenting to the exercise of such power, or exercising any power with proper consent, as the case may be; and where any such power is exercised, the tax shall be charged upon the property acquired, in substitution for charging it on the property previously comprised in the gift or inheritance, and upon all moneys arising from the exercise of any such power, and upon all investments of such moneys.

(2) Property comprised in a taxable gift or taxable inheritance shall not, as against a bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for full consideration in money or money's worth, or a person deriving title from or under such a purchaser or mortgagee, remain charged with or liable to the payment of tax after the expiration of twelve years from the date of the gift or the date of the inheritance.

(3) Tax shall not be a charge on property under subsection (1) as against a bona fide purchaser or mortgagee of such property for full consideration in money or money's worth without notice, or a person deriving title from or under such a purchaser or mortgagee.

Receipts and certificates.

48. —(1) When any amount in respect of tax is paid, the Commissioners shall give a receipt for the payment.

(2) The Commissioners shall, on application to them by a person who has paid the tax in respect of any property comprised in any taxable gift or taxable inheritance, give to the person a certificate, in such form as they think fit, of the amount of the tax paid by him in respect of that property.

(3) The Commissioners shall, on application to them by a person who is an accountable person in respect of any of the property of which a taxable gift or taxable inheritance consists, if they are satisfied that the tax charged on the property in respect of the taxable gift or taxable inheritance has been or will be paid, or that there is no tax so charged, give a certificate to the person, in such form as they think fit, to that effect, which shall discharge the property from liability for tax (if any) in respect of the gift or inheritance, to the extent specified in the certificate.

(4) A certificate referred to in subsection (3) shall not discharge the property from tax in case of fraud or failure to disclose material facts and, in any case, shall not affect the tax payable in respect of any other property:

Provided that a certificate purporting to be a discharge of the whole tax payable in respect of any property included in the certificate in respect of a gift or inheritance shall exonerate from liability for such tax a bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for full consideration in money or money's worth without notice of such fraud or failure and a person deriving title from or under such a purchaser or mortgagee.

Recovery of tax and penalties.

49. —(1) Any sum due and payable in respect of tax or interest thereon and any penalty incurred in connection with tax or interest thereon shall be deemed to be a debt due by the accountable person or, if he is dead, by his personal representative, to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund and shall be payable to the Commissioners and may (without prejudice to any other mode of recovery thereof) be sued for and recovered by action, or other appropriate proceeding, at the suit of the Attorney-General or the Minister for Finance or the Commissioners in any court of competent jurisdiction, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Inland Revenue Regulation Act, 1890.

(2) Any person who, having received any sum of money as or for any tax, interest, or penalty under this Act, does not apply the money to the due payment of the tax, interest or penalty, and improperly withholds or detains the same, shall be accountable for the payment of the tax, interest or penalty to the extent of the amount so received by him and the same shall be a debt due by him to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund and shall be recoverable in like manner as a debt under subsection (1).

(3) If any accountable person is liable under section 36 to deliver to the Commissioners a return or an additional return and makes default in so doing, the Attorney-General or the Minister for Finance or the Commissioners may sue by action or other appropriate proceeding in the Circuit Court for an order directing the person so making default to deliver such return or additional return or to show cause to the contrary; and the Circuit Court may by order direct such accountable person to deliver such return or additional return within such time as may be specified in the order.

(4) Whenever property is subject to a charge by virtue of section 47, the Attorney-General or the Minister for Finance or the Commissioners may sue by action or other appropriate proceeding in any court of competent jurisdiction for, and the court may make, an order directing the owner of the property to pay the tax with which the property is charged.

Evidence in proceedings for recovery of tax.

50. —The provisions of section 39 of the Finance Act, 1926 , shall apply in any proceedings in the Circuit Court or the District Court for or in relation to the recovery of the tax.