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6 1967

INCOME TAX ACT, 1967

PART XXXIII

Collection

Collection of tax in public offices.

476. —Where the tax on any salaries, fees, wages, perquisites, or other profits, or any annuities, pensions, or stipends, of any office for which commissioners are specially appointed, is deducted, the respective commissioners shall cause duplicates of assessment to be delivered to the proper officers in the departments or offices concerned, and those officers shall keep true accounts of and be answerable for all tax so deducted, and such tax shall be accounted for and paid to the Revenue Commissioners.

Time for payment of tax.

477. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, income tax contained in an assessment for any year shall be payable on or before the 1st day of January in that year, except that tax included in an assessment for any year which is made on or after the 1st day of January shall be deemed to be due and payable on the day next after the day on which the assessment is made.

(2) The following tax charged for any year, that is to say—

(a) tax charged under Schedule A in respect of income which is earned income; and

(b) tax charged under Schedule B on any individual or firm in respect of lands occupied for husbandry only; and

(c) tax charged under Schedule D on any individual or firm in respect of the profits or gains of any trade or profession; and

(d) subject to the provisions of section 126, tax charged on any individual in respect of any office or employment except individuals whose tax is deducted at definite intervals of less than half a year,

shall, instead of being payable on or before the 1st day of January in that year or on such other date as is specified in subsection (1), be payable in two equal instalments, the first on or before the 1st day of January in that year, or on such other day as aforesaid and the second on or before the following 1st day of July, and the provisions of this Act as to the recovery of tax shall apply to each instalment of the tax, in the same manner as they apply to the whole amount of the tax:

Provided that where the assessment is not made until after the said following 1st day of July, this subsection shall not have effect and the tax shall be due and payable as provided in subsection (1).

(3) Railway companies shall pay tax under Schedule D by four quarterly payments, that is to say, on or before the 20th days of June, September, December and March respectively, in each year.

Issue of demand notes and receipts.

478. —(1) The Collector shall, when the tax becomes due and payable, make demand of the respective sums contained in the duplicates, and given to him in charge to collect, from the persons charged therewith, or at the places of their last abode, or on the premises in respect of which the tax is charged, as the case may require.

(2) On payment of the tax the Collector shall, without charge, give a receipt under his hand, on the prescribed form.

Collection by means of stamps.

479. —If the Revenue Commissioners make arrangements for the collection of tax by means of stamps in any case, they may prepare and issue any stamps required for the purpose, and the provisions (including penal provisions) of the Stamp Duties Management Act, 1891, and section 65 of the Post Office Act, 1908, shall apply to any such stamps.

Distraint.

480. —(1) If a person neglects or refuses to pay the sum charged, upon demand made by the Collector in accordance with the assessments and warrants delivered to him, the Collector shall, for non-payment thereof, distrain upon the lands, tenements and premises in respect of which the tax is charged, or distrain the person charged by his goods and chattels, and all such other goods and chattels as the Collector is hereby authorised to distrain, without any further authority for that purpose than the warrant delivered to him on his appointment:

Provided that no distraint shall be made on the lands, tenements and premises in respect of which the tax is charged if such lands, tenements and premises have been sold for valuable consideration and the person on whom the tax is charged is no longer the occupier thereof.

(2) For the purpose of levying any such distress, the Collector may, after obtaining a warrant for that purpose, under the hands and seals of the Special Commissioners, break open, in the daytime, any house or premises, calling to his assistance any member of the Garda Síochána. Every such member shall, when so required, aid and assist the Collector in the execution of the warrant and in levying the distress in the house or premises.

(3) A levy or warrant to break open shall be executed by, or under the direction of, and in the presence of, the Collector.

(4) A distress levied by the Collector shall be kept for five days, at the costs and charges of the person neglecting or refusing to pay.

(5) If the person aforesaid does not pay the sum due, together with the costs and charges, within the said five days, the distress shall be appraised by two or more inhabitants of the parish in which the distress is taken, or by other sufficient persons, and shall be sold by public auction by the Collector or his deputy for payment of the sum due and all costs and charges. The costs and charges of taking, keeping, and selling the distress shall be retained by the Collector or his deputy, and any overplus coming by the distress, after the deduction of the costs and charges and of the sum due, shall be restored to the owner of the goods distrained.

(6) If lands charged under Schedule A are unoccupied, and no distress can be found thereon at the time the tax is payable, the Collector may at any future time when there is any distress to be found on the lands, enter, seize, and sell, under the same powers as if a distraint had been made on the lands at the time the tax became due and as if the occupier had been in occupation at that time.

Collection and recovery of tax under Schedules A and B.

481. —(1) Tax under Schedules A and B may be collected, recovered and levied by the Collector by distress from the person charged, or from the occupier of the property charged, or upon the premises in respect of which the assessment is made, and all goods and chattels, to whomsoever they may belong, found upon any such premises may be distrained and sold for the recovery of any such tax; or such tax, or any arrears thereof, may be collected, recovered and levied in the same manner as other tax charged under this Act may be collected, recovered and levied:

Provided that no distress may be levied on the occupier of the property charged or upon the premises in respect of which the assessment is made if such property or premises has or have been sold for valuable consideration and the tax is in respect of a period prior to the sale.

(2) Tax charged under Schedule A in respect of any property may be collected, recovered and levied by the Collector from the landlord or immediate lessor of the premises charged, whether he be named in the assessment or not.

(3) Where an assessment under Schedule A has been made on the tenant or occupier of premises charged, the landlord or immediate lessor shall only be liable to proceedings under subsection (2), in default of payment by the tenant or occupier, and for so much only of the tax charged as is chargeable in respect of the rent payable yearly to him for the premises charged.

Priority of tax over other debts.

482. —(1) No goods or chattels whatever, belonging to any person at the time any tax becomes in arrear, shall be liable to be taken by virtue of any execution or other process, warrant, or authority whatever, or by virtue of any assignment, on any account or pretence whatever, except at the suit of the landlord for rent, unless the person at whose suit the execution or seizure is made, or to whom the assignment was made, pays or causes to be paid to the Collector, before the sale or removal of the goods or chattels, all arrears of tax which are due at the time of seizure, or which are payable for the year in which the seizure is made.

(2) Where tax is claimed for more than one year, the person at whose instance the seizure has been made, may, on paying to the Collector the tax which is due for one whole year, proceed in his seizure in like manner as if no tax had been claimed.

(3) In case of neglect or refusal to pay the tax so claimed or the tax for one whole year, as the case may be, the Collector shall distrain the goods and chattels, notwithstanding the seizure or assignment, and shall proceed to the sale thereof, as prescribed by this Act, for the purpose of obtaining payment of the whole of the tax charged and claimed, and the reasonable costs and charges attending such distress and sale, and the Collector so doing shall be indemnified by virtue of this Act.

Commitment of defaulter to prison.

483. —(1) If a person neglects or refuses to pay tax charged upon him by virtue of this Act within ten clear days after demand as aforesaid, and no sufficient distress can be found whereby the same may be levied, the Special Commissioners may, by warrant under their hands and seals, commit him to prison, there to be kept without bail until payment be made of that sum or security given to their satisfaction for payment thereof, together with such further sum, as the Commissioners shall adjudge to be reasonable, for the costs and expenses of apprehending and conveying him to prison; and every such person shall be detained and kept in prison according to the tenor and effect of the warrant.

(2) By direction of the Minister for Finance or of the Revenue Commissioners, the Special Commissioners shall issue their warrant to the governor of the prison in which any defaulter is detained under their warrant, directing the liberation of the defaulter, and, on receipt thereof, the governor shall forthwith release and discharge him out of custody, if he is under detention for no other cause than as set forth in the warrant of commitment.

Duty of employer as to tax payable by employees.

484. —(1) Where any employed person has omitted to make payment of any income tax under Schedule D or E due and payable by him for any year, the Revenue Commissioners may give notice to his employer at any time after a period of three months has elapsed since such income tax became due and payable, requiring the employer to deduct the amount of income tax so in arrear from any remuneration payable by him to the employed person.

(2) On receipt of the notice the employer shall deduct such sums, not exceeding in the aggregate the total amount of income tax so in arrear, at such times, and in such manner, as the Revenue Commissioners may direct and shall forthwith pay over the amounts so deducted to the Accountant General of Revenue.

(3) If any employer refuses or neglects to pay over to the Accountant General of Revenue any sums within the time specified in the notice, the employer shall be liable to pay any such sum as if it had been duly assessed upon him, and proceedings for the recovery thereof may be taken in any manner prescribed by this Act, including the issue by the Special Commissioners of their warrant to the Collector, requiring him to distrain the said employer by his goods and chattels, and failure on the part of the employer to deduct any such sum from the employed person shall not be any bar to the recovery of the sum by proceedings or distraint.

(4) Where the employer is a body of persons sections 178 (3) (4) and 207 (2) (3) shall apply in relation to anything required to be done under this section.

(5) Nothing in this section shall affect Rule 5 of Schedule 2.

(6) An employer who pays over to the Accountant General or to the Collector any such sum of income tax as is required by any such notice shall be acquitted and discharged of so much money as is represented by the payment as if that sum of money had actually been paid as remuneration to the employed person.

Recovery by sheriff or county registrar.

485. —(1) Whenever any person makes default in paying any sum which may be levied upon him in respect of income tax, and notwithstanding (in the case of a Schedule A assessment) that the defaulter is not named in the assessment of the tax, the Collector may issue a certificate to the county registrar or sheriff of the county in which the defaulter resides or has a place of business or (when the tax in default is charged on lands or tenements) in which the lands and tenements are situate, certifying the amount of the sum so in default and the person upon whom the same is leviable and the lands and tenements (if any) on which the sum is charged.

(2) Immediately upon receipt of the certificate the county registrar or sheriff shall proceed to levy the sum therein certified to be in default by seizing all or any of the goods, animals and other chattels within his bailiwick belonging to the defaulter and (when the tax in default is charged on lands or tenements) all or any goods, animals and other chattels which may be found on such lands or tenements, and for such purposes he shall (in addition to the rights, powers and duties conferred on him by this section) have all such rights, powers and duties as are for the time being vested in him by law in relation to the execution of a writ of fieri facias so far as the same are not inconsistent with the additional rights, powers and duties conferred on him by this section.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), subsections (1) and (2) shall apply in relation to the recovery of sur-tax, whether assessed before or after the passing of this Act, as they apply in relation to the recovery of income tax.

(4) In any application of subsection (1) in relation to the recovery of sur-tax, that subsection shall have effect with the substitution of “an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, authorised by them for the purposes of this subsection,” for “the Collector”.

(5) A county registrar or sheriff executing a certificate under this section shall be entitled—

(a) if the sum certified in the certificate to be in default exceeds £600, to charge and (where appropriate) to add to that sum and (in any case) to levy under the certificate such fees and expenses, calculated according to the scales appointed by the Minister for Justice under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 14 of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926 , and for the time being in force, as he would be entitled so to charge or add and to levy if the certificate were an execution order within the meaning of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926 , (in this section referred to as an “execution order”) of the High Court,

(b) if the sum certified in the certificate to be in default exceeds £50 but does not exceed £600, to charge and (where appropriate) to add to that sum and (in any case) to levy under the certificate such fees and expenses, calculated according to the said scales, as he would be entitled so to charge or add and to levy if the certificate were an execution order of the Circuit Court, and

(c) if the sum certified in the certificate to be in default does not exceed £50, to charge and (where appropriate) to add to that sum and (in any case) to levy under the certificate such fees and expenses, calculated according to the said scales, as he would be entitled so to charge or add and to levy if the certificate were an execution order of the District Court.

(6) Where an order which was made before the passing of this Act under section 12 of the Court Officers Act, 1945 , contains a reference to levy under a certificate issued under section 7 of the Finance Act, 1923 , or to levy under a certificate issued under the said section 7 as extended by section 55 of the Finance Act, 1958 , the reference shall be construed as being a reference to levy under a certificate issued under this section.

Power of Collector and authorised officers to sue.

486. —(1) Where the amount due (whether before or after the passing of this Act) in respect of income tax or sur-tax does not exceed £600, the Collector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners, duly authorised to collect the said tax may 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 so due does not exceed £50, the Collector or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners duly authorised to collect the said tax may 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 the 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 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.

Continuance of pending proceedings.

487. —Where, before or after the passing of this Act, the Collector duly appointed to collect any income tax has instituted under section 486 or continues under this section any proceedings brought under subsection (1) or (2) of section 486 for the recovery of such tax and, while such proceedings are pending, such Collector ceases for any reason to be the Collector so appointed to collect such tax, the right of such Collector to continue such proceedings shall forthwith terminate and the Collector duly appointed to collect such tax in succession to the Collector so ceasing shall, if he so desires, be entitled to become and be a party to such proceedings in the place of the Collector so ceasing and be entitled to continue such proceedings accordingly.

High Court proceedings.

488. —(1) Without prejudice to any other means by which payment of sums due in respect of income tax or sur-tax may be enforced, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, authorised by them for the purposes of this subsection, may sue in his own name in the High Court for the recovery of any sum due in respect of any of those taxes, as a debt due to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund, from the person charged therewith or from his executors or administrators or from any person from whom the sum in question is collectable, whether the person so charged was so charged before or after the passing of this Act, and the proceedings may be commenced by summary summons.

(2) If an officer who has commenced proceedings pursuant to this section, or who has continued the proceedings by virtue of this subsection, dies or otherwise ceases for any reason to be an officer authorised for the purposes of subsection (1)—

(a) the right of such officer to continue the proceedings shall cease and the right to continue them shall vest in such other officer so authorised as may be nominated by the Revenue Commissioners,

(b) where such other officer is nominated, he shall be entitled accordingly to be substituted as a party to the proceedings in the place of the first-mentioned officer, and

(c) where an officer is so substituted, he shall give notice in writing of the substitution to the defendant.

(3) In proceedings pursuant to this section, a certificate signed by a Revenue Commissioner certifying the following facts, namely, that a person is an officer of the Revenue Commissioners and that he has been authorised by them for the purpose of subsection (1), shall be evidence until the contrary is proved of those facts.

(4) In proceedings pursuant to this section, a certificate signed by a Revenue Commissioner certifying the following facts, namely, that the plaintiff has ceased to be an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them for the purposes of subsection (1), that another person is an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, that such other person has been authorised by them for the purposes of that subsection and that he has been nominated by them, in relation to the proceedings, for the purposes of subsection (2), shall be evidence until the contrary is proved of those facts.

(5) In proceedings pursuant to this section—

(a) a certificate signed by an inspector certifying the fact that before the institution of the proceedings a stated sum for income tax or sur-tax became due and payable by the defendant under an assessment which had become final and conclusive, and

(b) a certificate signed by the Collector certifying the following facts, namely, that he is the Collector duly authorised to collect the said stated sum, that before the institution of the proceedings payment of the said stated sum was duly demanded from the defendant and that the said stated sum or a stated part thereof remains due and payable by the defendant,

shall be evidence until the contrary is proved of those facts.

(6) (a) Each of the following provisions of this section shall be a relevant provision of this section for the purposes of this subsection:

(i) subsection (3),

(ii) subsection (4),

(iii) paragraph (a) of subsection (5),

(iv) paragraph (b) of subsection (5).

(b) In proceedings pursuant to this section, a certificate certifying the fact or facts referred to in a relevant provision and purporting to be signed as specified in that provision may be tendered in evidence without proof and shall be deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by a person holding, at the time of the signature, the office or position indicated in the certificate as the office or position of the person signing.

(7) All or any of the sums due from any one person in respect of either or both of the taxes mentioned in subsection (1) may be included in the same summons.

(8) Subject to this section, the rules of the High Court for the time being applicable to civil proceedings commenced by summary summons shall apply to proceedings pursuant to this section.

Evidence in proceedings for recovery of tax.

489. —(1) In any proceedings in the Circuit Court or the District Court for or in relation to the recovery of income tax or sur-tax, an affidavit duly made by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners (including as regards the matters mentioned in paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection the Collector) deposing to any of the following matters—

(a) that the assessment of tax was duly made,

(b) that the assessment has become final and conclusive,

(c) that the tax or any specified part thereof is due and outstanding,

(d) that demand for the payment of the tax has been duly made,

shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, of the matters so deposed to.

(2) If the averments in the affidavit are not disputed by the defendant or respondent, it shall not be necessary for the officer by whom the affidavit was made to attend or give oral evidence at the hearing of the proceedings nor shall it be necessary to produce or put in evidence at the hearing any register, file, book of assessment, or other record relating to the tax.

(3) If any averment contained in the affidavit is disputed by the defendant or respondent, the judge or justice shall upon such terms as to costs as he thinks just give a reasonable opportunity by adjournment of the hearing or otherwise for the officer by whom the affidavit was made to attend and give oral evidence in the proceedings and for any such record as aforesaid to be produced and put in evidence in the proceedings.

Form of execution order in High Court or Circuit Court.

490. —(1) This section applies to any proceedings instituted in the High Court or the Circuit Court for the recovery of income tax or sur-tax or for any fine, penalty or forfeiture in connection with any such tax.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary provided by or under any enactment or by any rule of court—

(a) where judgment against the defendant for any amount is given by the High Court in proceedings to which this section applies, the form of execution order to be issued in relation to the amount shall be in the form set out in Schedule 14, Part I, and the sum recoverable for the costs of the execution order shall be the sum of £1 10s. 0d.,

(b) where the judgment is given by the Circuit Court, the form of execution order to be so issued shall be in the form set out in Schedule 14, Part II, and the sum recoverable for the costs of the execution order shall be the sum of 16s. 6d.

Recovery of moneys due.

491. —(1) Every sum due in respect of income tax or sur-tax and also every fine, penalty, or forfeiture incurred in connection with income tax or sur-tax, shall be deemed to be a debt due to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund and shall be payable to the Revenue 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 in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(2) Moneys so due or payable to or for the benefit of the Central Fund shall have attached to them all such rights, privileges, and priorities as have heretofore attached thereto, but this subsection shall not operate to make such moneys payable in priority to other debts.

Judgments for recovery of tax.

492. —(1) Where, in any proceedings for the recovery of income tax or sur-tax, judgment is given against the person against whom the proceedings are brought and the judgment provides for the arrest and imprisonment of that person and a sum is accepted on account or in part payment of the amount for which the judgment was given—

(a) such acceptance shall not prevent or prejudice the recovery under the judgment of the balance remaining unpaid of the said amount, and

(b) the judgment shall be capable of being executed and enforced in respect of the balance as fully in all respects and by the like means as if the balance were the amount for which the judgment was given, and

(c) the law relating to the execution and enforcement of the judgment shall apply and have effect in respect of the balance accordingly, and

(d) a certificate by a secretary or an assistant secretary of the Revenue Commissioners stating the amount of the balance shall, for the purposes of the enforcement and execution of the judgment, be conclusive evidence of the amount of the balance.

(2) In this section “judgment” includes any order or decree.

Duration of imprisonment for non-payment of tax.

493. —Where any person was or shall be committed to prison by a court of competent jurisdiction for non-payment of a sum of money due to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund in respect of income tax or sur-tax, the Revenue Commissioners are hereby authorised and required at the expiration of six months from the date of the committal of such person to prison to order his discharge from prison whether the sum for the non-payment of which he was so committed shall or shall not have been paid.

Recovery of tax charged on profits not distrainable.

494. —(1) Where tax is charged on the profits of royalties, markets or fairs, or on tolls, fisheries or any other annual or casual profits not distrainable, the owner or occupier or receiver of the profits thereof shall be answerable for the tax so charged, and may retain and deduct the same out of any such profits.

(2) In every such case the Collector may distrain upon the persons respectively answerable, and may exercise all the powers in that behalf conferred by this Act.

Proceedings against a collector or his sureties.

495. —(1) On the trial of any action against the sureties of a collector appointed under section 7 of the Finance Act, 1934 , on a bond entered into by him or on the execution of a writ of inquiry of damages in any such action, the production of an account, in the handwriting of such collector or signed by him, of any sum of money collected or received by him for or on account of the tax or moneys, shall be sufficient proof of the receipt by him of every sum of money therein mentioned, on account of the tax given to him in charge for collection.

(2) A schedule delivered upon oath by such collector in pursuance of section 175 of the Income Tax Act, 1918, and containing, or purporting to contain, the names of persons who have made default in payment of the tax and the sums remaining in arrear, shall, in any such action and upon all other occasions, be sufficient evidence to charge the collector and his sureties, respectively, with all other sums of money comprised in the duplicate or duplicates given to him in charge to collect, and not included in that schedule or previously accounted for and paid over to the proper officer; and all such sums not so included in the schedule, or previously accounted for and paid over, shall be deemed to have been collected and received by the collector and to remain in his hands unpaid and in arrear.