PART VII

Miscellaneous

131. — Section 17 (as amended by the Finance Act, 1976 ) of the Finance Act, 1970 , is hereby amended by the addition of the following subsections after subsection (13):

“(14) Any person who is aggrieved by a refusal by the Revenue Commissioners to issue a certificate of authorisation under this section may, by notice in writing to that effect given to the Revenue Commissioners within 30 days from the date of such refusal, apply to have his application heard and determined by the Appeal Commissioners.

(15) The Appeal Commissioners shall hear and determine an appeal made to them under subsection (14) as if it were an appeal against an assessment to income tax and, subject to subsection (16), all the provisions of the Income Tax Acts relating to such an appeal (including the provisions relating to the rehearing of an appeal and to the statement of a case for the opinion of the High Court on a point of law) shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications.

(16) On the hearing of an appeal made under subsection (14) the Appeal Commissioners shall have regard to all matters to which the Revenue Commissioners may or are required to have regard under the provisions of this section.

(17) For the purposes of the hearing or rehearing of an appeal under subsection (14), the Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers to act on their behalf.”.

132. —(1) In this section—

“the principal section” means section 22 of the Finance Act, 1950 ;

“the 1989 amending section” means section 91 of the Finance Act, 1989 ;

“the fortieth additional annuity” means the sum charged on the Central Fund under subsection (4);

“the Minister”, “the Account” and “capital services” have the same meanings respectively as they have in the principal section.

(2) In relation to the twenty-nine successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1990, subsection (4) of the 1989 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£48, 061, 329” for “£48, 206, 431”.

(3) Subsection (6) of the 1989 amending section shall have effect with the substitution of “£36, 385, 006” for “£37, 052, 550”.

(4) A sum of £44, 965, 113 to redeem borrowings, and interest thereon, in respect of capital services shall be charged annually on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof in the thirty successive financial years commencing with the financial year ending on the 31st day of December, 1990.

(5) The fortieth additional annuity shall be paid into the Account in such manner and at such times in the relevant financial year as the Minister may determine.

(6) Any amount of the fortieth additional annuity, not exceeding £34, 561, 200 in any financial year, may be applied towards defraying the interest on the public debt.

(7) The balance of the fortieth additional annuity shall be applied in any one or more of the ways specified in subsection (6) of the principal section.

133. — Section 51 of the Finance Act, 1978 , is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (2) of “£20,000,000” for “£10,000,000”, and the said subsection, as so amended, is set out in the Table to this section.

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(2) The Minister for Finance shall not so exercise the powers conferred on him by this section that the amount or aggregate amount of money which he may at any one time be liable to pay under contracts of guarantee and loan contracts, together with the amounts (if any) which the said Minister has previously paid under contracts of guarantee and loan contracts and have not been repaid to him, exceeds £20,000,000.

134. —(1) The Minister for Finance may, whenever and so often as he thinks fit—

(a) make, in such manner and in respect of such cases as he considers appropriate, or

(b) give notice in such manner and in respect of such cases as he considers appropriate of his intention to make, either on a specified day or at a specified time on a day,

an offer of conversion of any existing holding of stock of Government loan, or any part thereof (in this section referred to as the “existing stock”) into a holding of stock (in this section referred to as the “offered stock”) of—

(i) another existing and specified Government loan or loans, or

(ii) a new Government loan or loans, or

(iii) partly another existing and specified Government loan or loans and partly a new Government loan or loans,

subject to such terms and conditions as he thinks fit.

(2) (a) Where an offer of conversion was made under this section in respect of an existing stock, every stockholder to whom the offer was made who duly accepts conversion in accordance with the offer shall have his holding of the stock or, where provided for in the terms and conditions of the offer, part of his holding of the stock (as the case may be) converted into offered stock of such amount and upon such terms and conditions as are applicable in accordance with the offer.

(b) An acceptance under this subsection shall, subject to subsection (3), be made in such manner as is specified in the terms and conditions of the offer of conversion.

(3) (a) An acceptance under subsection (1) in respect of stock which is standing in the books of the Bank in the names of two or more persons may be made—

(i) if all of those persons are alive, by a majority of them,

(ii) if one or more but not all of those persons is or are dead, by the sole survivor or a majority of the survivors, or

(iii) if all of those persons are dead, by the personal representative or a majority of the personal representatives of the last survivor.

(b) An acceptance under subsection (1) in respect of stock which is standing in the books of the Bank in the name of one person only may, if that person is dead, be made by the personal representative or a majority of the personal representatives of that person.

(4) Where a person, in whose name either alone or jointly, any stock of Government loan is standing, is under a disability specified in the first column of the Table to this subsection and an offer of conversion is made under this section in respect of all or any of that stock, then acceptance of the offer may be made on his behalf by the appropriate person specified in the second column of that Table, and such acceptance may be made either alone or jointly (including jointly as constituting a majority), as the case may require.

TABLE

(5) Where an offer of conversion is made under subsection (1)—

(a) trustees and other persons holding in a fiduciary capacity any existing stock and persons having the control or management of any such stock may, at their discretion, accept conversion in accordance with the terms and conditions of the offer or refrain from so accepting, and no such person shall be liable for any loss resulting from so accepting or refraining (as the case may be), and

(b) neither accepting nor refraining from accepting an offer by virtue of this subsection shall be a variation of the investment of the trust funds within the meaning of any provision in the instrument creating or regulating the trust whereby the consent of any person to any such variation is required or such variation is otherwise restricted or controlled.

(6) (a) A power or direction (whether created or given before or after the passing of this Act) to invest money in stock of a Government loan in relation to which an offer of conversion has been made under this section shall be construed and have effect as including a power or direction (as the case may be) to invest in the offered stock and no such power or direction shall be terminated by reason only of that conversion.

(b) A power of attorney authorising the attorney to transfer specified stock of a Government loan shall, in relation to an offer of conversion which—

(i) has been made under this section in respect of the stock, and

(ii) provides for the conversion of the whole or part of that stock,

be construed and have effect as authorising the attorney to accept at his discretion an offer of conversion under this section and where such conversion into the offered stock takes place, to transfer in accordance with the said power that stock on conversion.

(c) Where an existing stock is converted under this section into another stock of Government loan that other stock and the dividends thereon shall be subject to the same trusts, charges, rights, distringas and restraints as affected the first-mentioned stock and the dividends thereon and any powers, directions, requests as to dividends and other documents which related to the first-mentioned stock or the dividends thereon shall apply to the said other stock and the dividends thereon.

(7) Where any balance in the sinking fund of a Government loan in relation to which an offer of conversion has been made under this section is not required to meet redemptions of the loan, the balance shall be paid into the Exchequer and brought to account as money raised by the creation of debt.

(8) All expenditure incurred by the Minister in carrying this into effect shall be charged on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(9) The Government Loans (Conversion) Act, 1951 , is hereby repealed.

(10) In this section—

“the Bank” means the Central Bank of Ireland;

“Government loan” means any security charged to the Central Fund and created and issued, whether before or after the passing of this Act.

135. —Any payments for the purpose of changing the currency denomination of any part of the capital share paid by the State to the European Investment Bank may be made from the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

136. —As respects the year 1990-91 and subsequent years of assessment, Part I of the Third Schedule to the Finance Act, 1982 , is hereby amended by the insertion after paragraph 4 of the following paragraph:

“4A. The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers, including an inspector, to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this Schedule to be performed or discharged by them.”.

137. —As respects the year 1990-91 and subsequent years of assessment, the Second Schedule to the Finance Act, 1986 , is hereby amended by the addition after paragraph 14 of the following paragraph:

“15. The Revenue Commissioners may nominate any of their officers, including an inspector, to perform any acts and discharge any functions authorised by this Schedule to be performed or discharged by them.”.

138. —(1) In this section—

“owner”, in relation to securities, means, at any time, the person who would be entitled, if the securities were redeemed at that time by the issuer, to the proceeds of the redemption;

“securities” means—

(a) non-interest-bearing securities issued by the Minister for Finance at a discount, including Exchequer Bills and Exchequer Notes, and

(b) Agricultural Commodities Intervention Bills issued by the Minister for Agriculture;

“tax” means income tax or corporation tax, as appropriate.

(2) Section 28 of the Finance Act, 1984 , is hereby amended, as respects issues of securities which are made after the passing of this Act, by the substitution of the following subsections for subsection (2)—

“(2) This section applies to securities within the meaning of section 138 of the Finance Act, 1990.

(3) Where the owner of a security (being the owner within the meaning of section 138 of the Finance Act, 1990)—

(a) sells or otherwise disposes of the security, or

(b) receives on redemption of the security an amount greater than the amount paid by him for that security either on its issue or otherwise,

any profit, gain or excess arising to the owner from such sale, disposal or receipt shall be exempt from tax (within the meaning of the said section 138 ) where the said owner is not ordinarily resident in the State:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply in respect of corporation tax chargeable on the income of an Irish branch or agency of a company not resident in the State.”.

139. —All taxes and duties imposed by this Act are hereby placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

140. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Finance Act, 1990.

(2) Parts I and VII (so far as relating to income tax) shall be construed together with the Income Tax Acts and (so far as relating to corporation tax) shall be construed together with the Corporation Tax Acts and (so far as relating to capital gains tax) shall be construed together with the Capital Gains Tax Acts.

(3) Part II (so far as relating to customs) shall be construed together with the Customs Acts and (so far as relating to duties of excise) shall be construed together with the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties.

(4) Part III shall be construed together with the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1989, and may be cited together therewith as the Value-Added Tax Acts, 1972 to 1990.

(5) Part IV shall be construed together with the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(6) Part V shall be construed together with Part VI of the Finance Act, 1983 .

(7) Part VI shall be construed together with the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976 , and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

(8) Part I shall, save as is otherwise expressly provided therein, be deemed to have come into force and shall take effect as on and from the 6th day of April, 1990.

(9) Part III (other than sections 98 to 101 , paragraph (c) (ii) of section 102 , sections 104 to 106 and paragraphs (b) to (d) of section 107 ) shall be deemed to have come into force and shall take effect as on and from the 1st day of March, 1990, paragraph (c) of section 107 shall take effect as on and from the 1st day of July, 1990, paragraph (b) of section 107 shall take effect as on and from the 1st day of October, 1990, and sections 98 , 99 and 101 , paragraph (c) (ii) of section 102 , section 104 and paragraph (c) of section 106 shall take effect as on and from the 1st day of January, 1991.

(10) Any reference in this Act to any other enactment shall, except so far as the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any other enactment including this Act.

(11) In this Act, a reference to a Part, section or Schedule is to a Part or section of, or Schedule to, this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(12) In this Act, a reference to a subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, clause or subclause is to the subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, clause or subclause of the provision (including a Schedule) in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.