PART II

Customs and Excise

30. —In this Part—

“the Act of 1980” means the Finance Act, 1980 ;

“the Order of 1975” means the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975).

31. —(1) The duty of excise on beer imposed by paragraph 7 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the rate of £112.266 for, in the case of all beer brewed within the State, every 36 gallons of worts of a specific gravity of 1,055 degrees, and, in the case of all imported beer, every 36 gallons of beer of which the worts were before fermentation of a specific gravity of 1,055 degrees, in lieu of the rate mentioned in section 64 (1) of the Act of 1980.

(2) Subject to paragraph 5 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 250) (Beer) Order, 1981 (S.I. No. 10 of 1981), the drawback on beer provided for in paragraph 7 (3) of the Order of 1975 shall, as respects beer on which it is shown, to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, that duty at the rate mentioned in subsection (1) of this section has been paid, be calculated, according to the original specific gravity of the beer, at the rate of £112.266 on every 36 gallons of beer of which the original specific gravity was 1,055 degrees.

32. —(1) In this section and in the Second Schedule to this Act “cigarettes”, “cigars”, “cavendish or negrohead”, “hard pressed tobacco”, “other pipe tobacco”, “smoking tobacco”, “chewing tobacco” and “tobacco products” have the same meanings as they have in the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , as amended by the Imposition of Duties (No. 243) (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 296 of 1979).

(2) The duty of excise on tobacco products imposed by section 2 of the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977 , shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the several rates specified in the Second Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Third Schedule to the Act of 1980.

(3) Paragraph 10 (4) of the Order of 1975, as amended by the Imposition of Duties (No. 243) (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Order, 1979, shall be amended by the substitution for “£0.99 per kilogram for each kilogram” of “£1,97 per kilogram for each kilogram”.

33. —(1) In this section “alcohol” means pure ethyl alcohol.

(2) The duty of excise on spirits imposed by paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the several rates specified in the Third Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Second Schedule to the Act of 1980.

(3) Nothing in this section shall operate to relieve from or to prejudice or affect the additional duty of excise in respect of immature spirits imposed by paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1975 and the third column of the First Schedule to that Order as amended by paragraph 4 (2) of the Imposition of Duties (No. 244) (Excise Duties on Spirits, Beer and Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 415 of 1979), and the third column of the First Schedule to that Order.

(4) If any person proves to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that spirits in respect of which a duty of excise has been paid by him have become spoilt or otherwise unfit for consumption, the person may, with the permission of the Revenue Commissioners and subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose, destroy the spirits and, upon proof of such destruction to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners, they may, subject to compliance with such conditions as they may think fit to impose, repay to such person any duty of excise paid on such spirits.

34. —(1) In the Fourth Schedule to this Act—

“actual alcoholic strength by volume” means the number of volumes of pure alcohol contained at a temperature of 20°C in 100 volumes of the product at that temperature;

“% vol” means alcoholic strength by volume.

(2) The duty of excise on wine imposed by paragraph 5 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the several rates specified in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1980.

(3) The duty of excise on made wine imposed by paragraph 6 (2) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the several rates specified in Part II of the Fourth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in Part II of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1980.

35. —(1) The duty of excise on mineral hydrocarbon light oil imposed by paragraph 11 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the rate of £16.53 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate specified in section 70 (2) of the Act of 1980.

(2) The duty of excise on hydrocarbon oil imposed by paragraph 12 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the rate of £10.88 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate specified in section 70 (3) of the Act of 1980.

(3) As on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, the rate of any repayment allowed under paragraph 12 (11) of the Order of 1975 in respect of hydrocarbon oil on which such repayment is allowable and on which the excise duty mentioned in subsection (2) of this section was paid at the rate of £10.88 per hectolitre shall be £9.09 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate allowable immediately before the 29th day of January, 1981.

(4) The duty of excise on gaseous hydrocarbons in liquid form imposed by section 41 (1) of the Finance Act, 1976 , shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the rate of £0.40 per gallon in lieu of the rate specified in section 70(14) of the Act of 1980.

(5) (a) In this subsection—

“hydrocarbon oil” means hydrocarbon oil delivered on or after the 1st day of June, 1981, on which the excise duty imposed by paragraph 12 of the Order of 1975 has been paid;

“sea-fishing boat” means a sea-fishing boat which—

(i) is registered in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Registry, Lettering and Numbering of Fishing Boats) (Regulations) Order, 1927 (S.R. & O., No. 105 of 1927), and

(ii) is registered under the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955 ;

“sea-fishing” does not include sea-angling.

(b) Where the owner or master of a sea-fishing boat shows to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that hydrocarbon oil was used for combustion in the engine of that boat while engaged in sea-fishing, the Revenue Commissioners may, subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose, repay excise duty at the rate of £0.44 per hectolitre on the oil so used.

(c) Except where the Revenue Commissioners otherwise allow, an application for repayment of duty under this subsection shall be in respect of hydrocarbon oil used within a period of three months and shall be made not later than six months following the end of such period.

36. —The duty of excise on televisions imposed by paragraph 5(1) of the Imposition of Duties (No. 236) (Excise Duties on Motor Vehicles, Televisions and Gramophone Records) Order, 1979 (S.I. No. 57 of 1979), shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 29th day of January, 1981, at the several rates specified in the Fifth Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several rates specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Act of 1980.

37. —(1) Paragraph 9 of the Order of 1975 is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution for subparagraph (2) of the following subparagraph:

“(2) In addition to any other duty which may be chargeable, there shall be charged, levied and paid upon table waters made in the State which are sent out, on or for sale or otherwise, from the premises of the manufacturer or sold for consumption on the premises of the manufacturer, and on table waters imported into the State, a duty of excise at the rate of £0.372 per gallon.”,

(b) by the substitution for subparagraph (3) of the following subparagraph:

“(3) In this Order ‘table waters’ includes any aerated waters and any beverages (including syrups or other liquors intended to be consumed only in a diluted form) put up for sale in bottles, cans, casks or other closed containers or receptacles other than—

(a) any liquor for the retail sale of which an excise licence is required,

(b) milk and milk products, whether or not flavoured,

(c) soups and broths, and

(d) fruit and vegetable juices which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, have not lost their original character through the addition of water or of other substances for sweetening, preservative or other purposes.”.

(2) Section 69 of the Act of 1980 is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of the following paragraph:

“(a) Subject to the subsequent paragraphs of this subsection, every manufacturer of table waters on which the duty of excise imposed by paragraph 9 (2) of the Order of 1975, as amended, is paid by him shall, on and after the 1st day of March, 1981, be allowed a rebate of the duty as follows in relation to each premises in which he manufactures the table waters:

(3) This section shall have effect as on and from the 1st day of June, 1981.

38. —(1) The duty of excise on Refreshment House licences, imposed by section 1 of the Refreshment Houses (Ireland) Act, 1860, shall be charged, levied and paid at the rate of £10 in lieu of the rate specified in section 77(5) of the Act of 1980.

(2) This section shall have, and be deemed to have had, effect as on and from the 1st day of April, 1981, and any duty of excise paid in excess of £10 under the said section 77(5) in respect of any Refreshment House licence issued on or after such day may be repaid.

39. —The Imposition of Duties (No. 246) (Beer) Order, 1980 (S.I. No. 49 of 1980), is hereby confirmed.

40. —(1) Section 94 of the Finance Act, 1973 (No. 19 of 1973), is hereby amended by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (b) of subsection (2):

“(b) £16.50 in relation to a vehicle which does not exceed 16 horse-power, is fitted with a taximeter and is lawfully used as a street service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 , or for purposes incidental to such user and for no other purpose;

(c) £20 in relation to any other vehicle (not being a vehicle in respect of which the said duty of excise is not chargeable or leviable or a vehicle to which paragraph (d) of this subsection applies);

(d) £10 in relation to a vehicle which exceeds 16 horse-power, is fitted with a taximeter and is lawfully used as a street service vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 , or for purposes incidental to such user and for no other purpose.”.

(2) This section shall have effect—

(a) as respects licences under section 1 of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 , taken out for periods beginning on or after the 1st day of March, 1981, in respect of specified vehicles (within the meaning of the said section 94) to which paragraphs (b) and (c) (inserted by this section) of the said subsection (2) apply, and

(b) as respects other mechanically propelled vehicles to which paragraphs (c) and (d) (inserted by this section) of the said subsection (2) apply and in respect of which licences under the said section 1 are taken out for periods beginning on or after the said 1st day of March, 1981.

(3) The appropriate repayments shall be made having regard to the provisions of the preceding subsections of this section and the repayments shall be made in accordance with such directions as may be given by the Minister for the Environment.

41. — Section 1 (2)(b) of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 , is, as respects licences under that Act for periods beginning on or after the 1st day of March, 1981, hereby amended by the substitution of “twenty pounds or less” for “ten pounds or less” (inserted by the Act of 1980).