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39 1997

TAXES CONSOLIDATION ACT, 1997

PART 41

Self Assessment

Interpretation ( Part 41 ).

[FA88 s9(1) to (3); FA90 s23(3) (a); FA91 s45(a) (i) to (v) and (vii) to (viii); FA92 s244]

950. —(1) In this Part, except where the context otherwise requires—

appeal” means an appeal under section 933 or, as respects capital gains tax, an appeal under section 945 ;

appropriate inspector”, in relation to a chargeable person, means—

(a) the inspector who has last given notice in writing to the chargeable person that he or she is the inspector to whom the chargeable person is required to deliver a return or statement of income or profits or chargeable gains,

(b) in the absence of an inspector referred to in paragraph (a), the inspector to whom it is customary for the chargeable person to deliver such return or statement, or

(c) in the absence of an inspector referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), the inspector of returns;

assessment” means an assessment to tax made under the Income Tax Acts, the Corporation Tax Acts or the Capital Gains Tax Acts, as the case may be;

chargeable gain” has the same meaning as in section 545 (3);

chargeable period” has the same meaning as in section 321 (2);

chargeable person” means, as respects a chargeable period, a person who is chargeable to tax for that period, whether on that person's own account or on account of some other person but, as respects income tax, does not include a person—

(a) whose total income for the chargeable period consists solely of emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 applies, and for this purpose a person whose total income for the chargeable period, other than emoluments to which that Chapter applies, is deducted in determining the amount of his or her tax-free allowances for the chargeable period by virtue of regulation 10(1)(b) of the Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, 1960 (S.I. No. 28 of 1960), shall be deemed for that chargeable period to be a person whose total income consists solely of emoluments to which that Chapter applies,

(b) who for the chargeable period has been exempted by an inspector from the requirements of section 951 by reason of a notice given under subsection (6) of that section, or

(c) who is chargeable to tax for the chargeable period by reason only of section 237 , 238 or 239 ,

but paragraph (a) shall not apply to a person who is a director or, in the case of a person to whom section 1017 applies, whose spouse is a director (within the meaning of section 116 ) of a body corporate other than a body corporate which during a period of 3 years ending on the 5th day of April in the chargeable period—

(i) was not entitled to any assets other than cash on hands, or a sum of money on deposit within the meaning of section 895 , not exceeding £100,

(ii) did not carry on a trade, business or other activity including the making of investments, and

(iii) did not pay charges on income within the meaning of section 243 ;

determination of the appeal” means a determination by the Appeal Commissioners under section 933 (4), and includes an agreement referred to in section 933 (3) and an assessment becoming final and conclusive by virtue of section 933 (6);

due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax” has the meaning assigned to it by section 958 (2);

inspector”, in relation to any matter, includes such other officer as the Revenue Commissioners shall appoint in that behalf;

inspector of returns” means the inspector nominated by the Revenue Commissioners under section 951 (11) to be the inspector of returns;

precedent partner” has the same meaning as in Part 43 ;

prescribed form” means a form prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners or a form used under the authority of the Revenue Commissioners, and includes a form which involves the delivery of a return by any electronic, photographic or other process approved of by the Revenue Commissioners;

preliminary tax” means the amount of tax which a chargeable person is required to pay in accordance with section 952 ;

specified provisions” means sections 877 to 881 and 884, paragraphs (a) and (d) of section 888 (1), and section 1023 ;

specified return date for the chargeable period”, in relation to a chargeable period, means—

(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment, the 31st day of January in the year of assessment following that year,

(b) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company and subject to paragraph (c), the last day of the period of 9 months commencing on the day immediately following the end of the accounting period, and

(c) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company which ends on or before the date of commencement of the winding up of the company and the specified return date in respect of that accounting period would but for this paragraph fall on a date after the date of commencement of the winding up but not within a period of 3 months after that date, the date which falls 3 months after the date of commencement of the winding up;

tax” means income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax, as the case may be.

(2) Except in so far as otherwise expressly provided, this Part shall apply notwithstanding any other provision of the Tax Acts or the Capital Gains Tax Acts.

(3) (a) Where any obligation or requirement is imposed on a person in any capacity under this Part and a corresponding obligation or requirement is imposed on that person in another capacity, the discharge of any one of those obligations or requirements shall not release the person from the other obligation or requirement.

(b) A person shall not in any capacity have an obligation or requirement imposed on that person under this Part by reason only that such obligation or requirement is imposed on that person in any other capacity.

(c) Where but for any of the subsequent provisions of this Part any such obligation or requirement would have been imposed on a person in more than one capacity, a release from such obligation or requirement under any of those provisions by reason of any fact or circumstance applying in relation to that person's liability to tax in any one capacity shall not release that person from such obligation or requirement as is imposed on that person in a capacity other than that in which that fact or circumstance applies.

Obligation to make a return.

[FA88 s10; FA90 s23(3) (b); FA91 s46]

951. —(1) Every chargeable person shall as respects a chargeable period prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period a return in the prescribed form of—

(a) in the case of a chargeable person who is chargeable to income tax or capital gains tax for a chargeable period which is a year of assessment—

(i) all such matters and particulars as would be required to be contained in a statement delivered pursuant to a notice given to the chargeable person by the appropriate inspector under section 877 , if the period specified in such notice were the year of assessment which is the chargeable period, and

(ii) where the chargeable person is an individual who is chargeable to income tax or capital gains tax for a chargeable period, in addition to those matters and particulars referred to in subparagraph (i), all such matters and particulars as would be required to be contained in a return for the period delivered to the appropriate inspector pursuant to a notice given to the chargeable person by the appropriate inspector under section 879 , or

(b) in the case of a chargeable person who is chargeable to corporation tax for a chargeable period which is an accounting period, all such matters and particulars in relation to the chargeable period as would be required to be contained in a return delivered pursuant to a notice given to the chargeable person by the appropriate inspector under section 884 ,

and such further particulars as may be required by the prescribed form.

(2) The precedent partner of any partnership shall be deemed to be a chargeable person for the purposes of this section and shall as respects any chargeable period deliver to the appropriate inspector on or before the specified return date for that chargeable period the return which that partner would be required to deliver for that period under section 880 , if the inspector had given notice under that section before that specified date.

(3) (a) Where under subsection (1) or (2) a person delivers a return to an inspector, the person shall be deemed to have been required by a notice under section 877 to deliver a statement containing the matters and particulars contained in the return or to have been required by a notice under section 879 , 880 or 884 to deliver the return, as the case may be.

(b) Any provision of the Tax Acts relating to the taking of any action on the failure of a person to deliver a statement or return pursuant to a notice given under any of the sections referred to in paragraph (a) shall apply to a chargeable person in a case where such a notice has not been given as if the chargeable person had been given a notice on the specified return date for the chargeable period under such one or more of those sections as is appropriate to the provision in question.

(4) A chargeable person shall prepare and deliver to the appropriate inspector a return for a chargeable period as required by this section notwithstanding that the chargeable person has not received a notice from an inspector to prepare and deliver a statement or return for that period under any of the sections referred to in subsection (3) (a).

(5) (a) A return required by this section may be prepared and delivered by the chargeable person or by another person acting under the chargeable person's authority in that regard.

(b) Where a return is prepared and delivered by such other person, the Tax Acts shall apply as if it had been prepared and delivered by the chargeable person.

(c) A return purporting to be prepared and delivered by or on behalf of any chargeable person shall for the purposes of the Tax Acts be deemed to have been prepared and delivered by that person or by that person's authority, as the case may be, unless the contrary is proved.

(6) An inspector may exclude a person from the application of this section by giving the person a notice in writing stating that the person is excluded from the application of this section, and the notice shall have effect for such chargeable period or periods or until such chargeable period or until the happening of such event as shall be specified in the notice; but—

(a) where before the 25th day of May, 1988, a person has been given notice by the inspector that the person need not prepare and deliver a return for or until a specified chargeable period or until the happening of any event, the person shall be deemed to have been given notice to that effect under this subsection;

(b) where a person who has been given a notice under this subsection is chargeable to capital gains tax for any chargeable period, this subsection shall not operate so as to remove the person's obligation under subsection (1) to make a return of the person's chargeable gains for that chargeable period.

(7) (a) This section shall not affect the giving of a notice by an inspector under any of the specified provisions and shall not remove from any person any obligation or requirement imposed on the person by such a notice.

(b) The giving of a notice under any of the specified provisions to a person shall not remove from that person any obligation to prepare and deliver a return under this section.

(8) In a case to which section 1023 (5) applies, a return containing for both the husband and the wife the matters and particulars required by subsection (1) shall, if delivered by one spouse, satisfy the obligation of the other spouse under this section.

(9) Nothing in the specified provisions or in a notice given under any of those provisions shall operate so as to require a chargeable person to deliver a return for a chargeable period on a date earlier than the specified return date for the chargeable period.

(10) A certificate signed by an inspector which certifies that he or she has examined the relevant records and that it appears from those records—

(a) that as respects a chargeable period a named person is a chargeable person, and

(b) that on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period a return in the prescribed form was not received from that chargeable person,

shall be evidence until the contrary is proved that the person so named is a chargeable person as respects that chargeable period and that that person did not on or before the specified return date deliver that return, and a certificate certifying as provided by this subsection and purporting to be signed by an inspector may be tendered in evidence without proof and shall be deemed until the contrary is proved to have been signed by that inspector.

(11) (a) The Revenue Commissioners may nominate an inspector to be the inspector of returns for the purposes of this Part.

(b) The inspector of returns shall take delivery of returns under this section which he or she has directed to be delivered to him or her and of returns from persons in relation to whom he or she is the appropriate inspector in the circumstances specified in paragraph (c) of the definition of “appropriate inspector” in section 950 (1).

(c) The name of an inspector nominated under paragraph (a) and the address to which returns being delivered to him or her shall be directed shall be published annually in Iris Oifigiúil.

(12) Sections 1052 and 1054 shall apply to a failure by a chargeable person to deliver a return in accordance with subsections (1) and (2) as they apply to a failure to deliver a return referred to in section 1052 .

Obligation to pay preliminary tax.

[FA 88 s11]

952. —(1) Every person who is a chargeable person as respects any chargeable period shall be liable to pay to the Collector-General in accordance with this section and section 958 the amount of that person's preliminary tax appropriate to that chargeable period.

(2) The amount of a chargeable person's preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period shall be the amount of tax which in the opinion of the chargeable person is likely to become payable by that person for the chargeable period by reason of an assessment or assessments for the chargeable period made or to be made by the inspector or which would be made by the inspector if the inspector did not elect under section 954 (4)) not to make an assessment.

(3) Preliminary tax shall be payable notwithstanding that the inspector has not given notice in respect of that tax under section 953 .

(4) Where on or before the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period the chargeable person by whom the tax is payable has received notice of an assessment for the period, the chargeable person shall not be liable to pay preliminary tax for that chargeable period.

(5) Any amount of preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period which is paid by and not repaid to a chargeable person in any capacity shall, to the extent of the amount of that payment or the extent of the amount of that payment less any amount that has been repaid, be treated as a payment on foot of the tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, being tax which is specified in an assessment or assessments made or to be made for that period on the chargeable person in that capacity.

Notices of preliminary tax.

[FA88 s12; FA91 s47; FA97 s146(1) and Sch9 PtI par15]

953. —(1) Where—

(a) a chargeable person defaults in the making of a payment of preliminary tax for a chargeable period, or

(b) at any time before the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for a chargeable period the inspector considers it appropriate to do so,

the inspector may give notice in writing to the chargeable person of the amount of the preliminary tax which in the opinion of the inspector ought to be paid by the chargeable person for that chargeable period; but a notice shall not be given under this subsection to a chargeable person for a chargeable period at any time after the chargeable person has delivered a return for that chargeable period.

(2) Subject to this section, an amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice under subsection (1) shall be due and payable to the Collector-General by the chargeable person on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period to which the notice relates.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), where on or before the specified return date for a chargeable period the chargeable person—

(a) makes a payment of preliminary tax for the chargeable period under section 952 , or

(b) gives notice in writing to the Collector-General that the chargeable person considers that the chargeable person will not have a liability to pay tax for the chargeable period by reason of any assessment or assessments made or to be made by the inspector,

then, the amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period specified in a notice given to the chargeable person under subsection (1), or the excess (if any) of that amount over the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, shall not be payable.

(4) Where—

(a) the chargeable person defaults in delivering a return for a chargeable period to which a notice of preliminary tax under subsection (1) relates, and

(b) the amount of preliminary tax specified in the notice as increased under section 1084 is greater than the amount (if any) of the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person under section 952 as increased under section 1084 ,

then—

(i) with effect from the specified return date for the chargeable period, subsection (3) shall not apply to that chargeable person for the chargeable period, and

(ii) the amount of preliminary tax specified in the notice, as increased under section 1084 but reduced by any preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person in the capacity to which the notice relates for the chargeable period, shall become due and payable in all respects as if subsection (3) had not been enacted.

(5) (a) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (4) but subject to paragraph (b), an amount of preliminary tax, or any excess of that amount over the amount (if any) of the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period to which the notice relates, specified in a notice given under subsection (1) shall cease to be due and payable as on and from the date on which the inspector makes an assessment on the chargeable person for that chargeable period.

(b) Where action for the recovery of an amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice given under subsection (1) has been taken, being action by means of the institution of proceedings in any court or the issue of a certificate under section 962 , this subsection shall not apply to that amount of preliminary tax.

(6) (a) Subject to subsections (1) to (5), the amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice given under subsection (1) shall be collected and paid in all respects as if it were tax charged by an assessment in respect of which no appeal was pending.

(b) Section 870 shall apply to preliminary tax specified in a notice as it applies to tax specified in an assessment.

(c) Sections 928 (2) and 967 shall apply in all respects to an amount of preliminary tax specified in a notice under subsection (1) as if it were an amount of tax specified in an assessment.

(7) Where the amount of preliminary tax paid by a chargeable person for any chargeable period exceeds that person's tax liability for that period, the excess shall be repaid and the amount repaid shall carry interest at the rate of 0.6 per cent, or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by regulations, for each month or part of a month for the period from the date or dates of the payment of the amount or amounts giving rise to the overpayment, as the case may require, to the date on which the repayment is made; but—

(a) interest shall not be payable under this subsection—

(i) if it amounts to less than £10, or

(ii) to the extent that the excess arises from relief provided for by section 438 (4),

and

(b) income tax shall not be deductible on payment of interest under this subsection and such interest shall not be reckoned in computing income for the purposes of the Tax Acts.

(8) Where for a chargeable period a notice of preliminary tax has been given to a person by the inspector and the inspector is satisfied that—

(a) the person, being a chargeable person, has discharged all that person's tax liability for the chargeable period,

(b) the person is not a chargeable person as respects that chargeable period, or

(c) it is appropriate to do so,

the inspector may reduce the amount of preliminary tax specified in the notice given to the person to such amount (including nil) as the inspector deems appropriate having regard to the circumstances of the case.

(9) Where a provision of this section has the effect of providing that any preliminary tax specified in a notice under subsection (1) ceases to become payable, the provision shall not have the effect of removing from any chargeable person an obligation imposed on that person by section 952 to pay an amount of preliminary tax.

(10) Section 929 shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to notices of preliminary tax under this section as it applies to assessments.

(11) Apart from subsection (7), this section shall not apply to capital gains tax.

(12) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Making of assessments.

[FA88 s13; FA91 s48]

954. —(1) An assessment shall not be made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period at any time before the specified return date for the chargeable period unless at that time the chargeable person has delivered a return for the chargeable period, and an assessment shall not be made at a time when the making of the assessment is precluded under section 955 (2).

(2) Subject to subsection (3), an assessment made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period shall be made by the inspector by reference to the particulars contained in the chargeable person's return.

(3) Where—

(a) a chargeable person makes default in the delivery of a return for a chargeable period, or

(b) the inspector is not satisfied with the return which has been delivered, or has received any information as to its insufficiency,

nothing in this section shall prevent the inspector from making an assessment in accordance with section 919 (4) or 922 , as appropriate.

(4) (a) Where as respects a chargeable period the inspector is satisfied that a chargeable person has paid all amounts of tax which, if the inspector were to make an assessment on the chargeable person for the chargeable period, would be payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, the inspector may elect not to make an assessment on the chargeable person for the chargeable period and, where the inspector so elects, he or she shall give notice of the election to the chargeable person, and the amounts paid by the chargeable person shall be deemed to have been payable in all respects as if the inspector had made the assessment.

(b) Subject to section 955 (2), nothing in this subsection shall prevent an inspector from making an assessment on the chargeable person for the chargeable period at any time after the giving of the notice of election under this section.

(5) Where an inspector makes an assessment—

(a) under either of the provisions referred to in subsection (3) in default of the delivery of a return, or

(b) in circumstances where the chargeable person has calculated the amount of tax which will be payable by that person on foot of an assessment and the inspector does not at the time of the making of the assessment disagree with the tax as so calculated,

it shall not be necessary to set out in the notice of assessment any particulars other than particulars as to the amount of tax to be paid by the chargeable person.

(6) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (5) but subject to section 955 (2), where a chargeable person has delivered a return for a chargeable period, the chargeable person may by notice in writing given to the inspector require the inspector to make an assessment for the chargeable period and the inspector shall make the assessment forthwith.

(7) Nothing in this section shall prevent an inspector from making an assessment in accordance with—

(a) section 977 (3) or subsection (2) or (3) of section 978 , as appropriate, and, notwithstanding sections 952 and 958 , tax specified in such an assessment shall be due and payable in accordance with section 979 ,

(b) subsection (4) or (5), as appropriate, of section 980 and, not withstanding sections 952 and 958 , tax specified in such an assessment shall be due and payable in accordance with section 980 (10), or

(c) section 1042 and, notwithstanding sections 952 and 958 , tax specified in such an assessment shall be due and payable in accordance with section 1042 .

Amendment of and time limit for assessments.

[FA88 s9(1) (part of) and s14; FA91 s45(a) (vi) and s49]

955. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) and to section 1048 , an inspector may at any time amend an assessment made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period by making such alterations in or additions to the assessment as he or she considers necessary, notwithstanding that tax may have been paid or repaid in respect of the assessment and notwithstanding that he or she may have amended the assessment on a previous occasion or on previous occasions, and the inspector shall give notice to the chargeable person of the assessment as so amended.

(2) (a) Where a chargeable person has delivered a return for a chargeable period and has made in the return a full and true disclosure of all material facts necessary for the making of an assessment for the chargeable period, an assessment for that period or an amendment of such an assessment shall not be made on the chargeable person after the end of the period of 6 years commencing at the end of the chargeable period in which the return is delivered and no additional tax shall be payable by the chargeable person and no tax shall be repaid to the chargeable person after the end of the period of 6 years by reason of any matter contained in the return.

(b) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the amendment of an assessment—

(i) where a relevant return does not contain a full and true disclosure of the facts referred to in paragraph (a),

(ii) to give effect to a determination on any appeal against an assessment,

(iii) to take account of any fact or matter arising by reason of an event occurring after the return is delivered,

(iv) to correct an error in calculation, or

(v) to correct a mistake of fact whereby any matter in the assessment does not properly reflect the facts disclosed by the chargeable person,

and tax shall be paid or repaid where appropriate in accordance with any such amendment, and nothing in this section shall affect the operation of section 804 (3).

(3) A chargeable person who is aggrieved by an assessment or the amendment of an assessment on the grounds that the chargeable person considers that the inspector was precluded from making the assessment or the amendment, as the case may be, by reason of subsection (2) may appeal against the assessment or amended assessment on those grounds and, if on the hearing of the appeal the Appeal Commissioners determine—

(a) that the inspector was so precluded, the Tax Acts shall apply as if the assessment or the amendment, as the case may be, had not been made, and the assessment or the amendment of the assessment as appropriate shall be void, or

(b) that the inspector was not so precluded, the assessment or the assessment as amended shall stand, except to the extent that any amount or matter in that assessment is the subject of a valid appeal on any other grounds.

(4) (a) Where a chargeable person is in doubt as to the application of law to or the treatment for tax purposes of any matter to be contained in a return to be delivered by the chargeable person, that person may deliver the return to the best of that person's belief as to the application of law to or the treatment for tax purposes of that matter but that person shall draw the inspector's attention to the matter in question in the return by specifying the doubt and, if that person does so, that person shall be treated as making a full and true disclosure with regard to that matter.

(b) This subsection shall not apply where the inspector is, or on appeal the Appeal Commissioners are, not satisfied that the doubt was genuine and is or are of the opinion that the chargeable person was acting with a view to the evasion or avoidance of tax, and in such a case the chargeable person shall be deemed not to have made a full and true disclosure with regard to the matter in question.

(5) (a) In this subsection, “relevant chargeable period” means—

(i) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax, the year 1988-89 and any subsequent year of assessment,

(ii) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for capital gains tax, the year 1990-91 and any subsequent year of assessment, and

(iii) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, an accounting period ending on or after the 1st day of October, 1989.

(b) Sections 919 (5) (b) and 924 shall not apply in the case of a chargeable person for any relevant chargeable period, and all matters which would have been included in an additional first assessment under those sections shall be included in an amendment of the first assessment or first assessments made in accordance with this section.

(c) For the purposes of paragraph (b), where any amount of income, profits or gains or, as respects capital gains tax, chargeable gains was omitted from the first assessment or first assessments or the tax stated in the first assessment or first assessments was less than the tax payable by the chargeable person for the relevant chargeable period concerned, there shall be made such adjustments or additions (including the addition of a further first assessment) to the first assessment or first assessments as are necessary to rectify the omission or to ensure that the tax so stated is equal to the tax so payable by the chargeable person.

Inspector's right to make enquiries and amend assessments.

[FA88 s15; FA91 s50]

956. —(1) (a) For the purpose of making an assessment on a chargeable person for a chargeable period or for the purpose of amending such an assessment, the inspector—

(i) may accept either in whole or in part any statement or other particular contained in a return delivered by the chargeable person for that chargeable period, and

(ii) may assess any amount of income, profits or gains or, as respects capital gains tax, chargeable gains, or allow any deduction, allowance or relief by reference to such statement or particular.

(b) The making of an assessment or the amendment of an assessment by reference to any statement or particular referred to in paragraph (a) (i) shall not preclude the inspector—

(i) from making such enquiries or taking such actions within his or her powers as he or she considers necessary to satisfy himself or herself as to the accuracy or otherwise of that statement or particular, and

(ii) subject to section 955 (2), from amending or further amending an assessment in such manner as he or she considers appropriate.

(c) Any enquiries and actions referred to in paragraph (b) shall not be made in the case of any chargeable person for any chargeable period at any time after the expiry of the period of 6 years commencing at the end of the chargeable period in which the chargeable person has delivered a return for the chargeable period unless at that time the inspector has reasonable grounds for believing that the return is insufficient due to its having been completed in a fraudulent or negligent manner.

(2) (a) A chargeable person who is aggrieved by any enquiry made or action taken by an inspector for a chargeable period, after the expiry of the period referred to in subsection (1) (c) in respect of that chargeable period, on the grounds that the chargeable person considers that the inspector is precluded from making that enquiry or taking that action by reason of subsection (1)(c) may, by notice in writing given to the inspector within 30 days of the inspector making that enquiry or taking that action, appeal to the Appeal Commissioners, and the Appeal Commissioners shall hear the appeal in all respects as if it were an appeal against an assessment.

(b) Any action required to be taken by the chargeable person and any further action proposed to be taken by the inspector pursuant to the inspector's enquiry or action shall be suspended pending the determination of the appeal.

(c) Where on the hearing of the appeal the Appeal Commissioners—

(i) determine that the inspector was precluded from making the enquiry or taking the action by reason of subsection (1)(c), the chargeable person shall not be required to take any action pursuant to the inspector's enquiry or action and the inspector shall be prohibited from pursuing his enquiry or action, or

(ii) decide that the inspector was not so precluded, it shall be lawful for the inspector to continue with his or her enquiry or action.

Appeals.

[FA88 s17; FA91 s51]

957. —(1) No appeal may be made against—

(a) a notice of preliminary tax under section 953 ,

(b) the amount of any income, profits or gains or, as respects capital gains tax, chargeable gains, or the amount of any allowance, deduction or relief specified in an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period, where the inspector has determined that amount by accepting without the alteration of and without departing from the statement or statements or the particular or particulars with regard to income, profits or gains or, as respects capital gains tax, chargeable gains, or allowances, deductions or reliefs specified in the return delivered by the chargeable person for the chargeable period, or

(c) the amount of any income, profits or gains or, as respects capital gains tax, chargeable gains, or the amount of any allowance, deduction or relief specified in an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period, where that amount had been agreed between the inspector and the chargeable person, or any person authorised by the chargeable person in that behalf, before the making of the assessment or the amendment of the assessment, as the case may be.

(2) (a) Where—

(i) a chargeable person makes default in the delivery of a return, or

(ii) the inspector is not satisfied with the return which has been delivered by a chargeable person, or has received any information as to its insufficiency,

and the inspector makes an assessment in accordance with section 919 (4) or 922 , no appeal shall lie against that assessment until such time as—

(I) in a case to which subparagraph (i) applies, the chargeable person delivers the return, and

(II) in a case to which either subparagraph (i) or (ii) applies, the chargeable person pays or has paid an amount of tax on foot of the assessment which is not less than the tax which would be payable on foot of the assessment if the assessment were made in all respects by reference to the statements and particulars contained in the return delivered by the chargeable person,

and the time for bringing an appeal against the assessment shall be treated as commencing at the earliest date on which both the return has been delivered and that amount of tax has been paid, and references in this subsection to an assessment shall be construed as including references to any amendment of the assessment which is made before that earliest date.

(b) References in this subsection to an amount of tax shall be construed as including any amount of interest which would be due and payable under section 1080 on that tax at the date of payment of the tax, together with any costs incurred or other amounts which may be charged or levied in pursuing the collection of the tax contained in the assessment or the assessment as amended, as the case may be.

(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), where an assessment is amended under section 955 (not being an amendment made by reason of the determination of an appeal), the chargeable person may appeal against the assessment as so amended in all respects as if it were an assessment made on the date of the amendment and the notice of the assessment as so amended were a notice of the assessment, except that the chargeable person shall have no further right of appeal, in relation to matters other than additions to, deletions from, or alterations in the assessment, made by reason of the amendment, than the chargeable person would have had if the assessment had not been amended.

(4) Where an appeal is brought against an assessment or an amended assessment made on a chargeable person for any chargeable period, the chargeable person shall specify in the notice of appeal—

(a) each amount or matter in the assessment or amended assessment with which the chargeable person is aggrieved, and

(b) the grounds in detail of the chargeable person's appeal as respects each such amount or matter.

(5) Where, as respects an amount or matter to which a notice of appeal relates, the notice does not comply with subsection (4), the notice shall, in so far as it relates to that amount or matter, be invalid and the appeal concerned shall, in so far as it relates to that amount or matter, be deemed not to have been brought.

(6) The chargeable person shall not be entitled to rely on any ground of appeal that is not specified in the notice of appeal unless the Appeal Commissioners, or the judge of the Circuit Court, as the case may be, are or is satisfied that the ground could not reasonably have been stated in the notice.

Date for payment of tax.

[FA88 s18; FA90 s24(d) (iii), (iv) and (v); FA91 s52(a); FA92 s32; FA93 s40; FA94 s13; FA95 s31]

958. —(1) In this section—

pre-preceding chargeable period”, in relation to a chargeable period, means the chargeable period next before the preceding chargeable period;

specified due date” in relation to a year of assessment, means the 30th day of April in the year of assessment next after the year of assessment following that year of assessment.

(2) Preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period shall be due and payable—

(a) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax and subject to subsection (10), on or before the 1st day of November in the year of assessment,

(b) where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for capital gains tax, on or before the 1st day of November following the year of assessment, or

(c) where the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company—

(i) within the period of 6 months from the end of the accounting period, or

(ii) where apart from this subparagraph the last day of the period within which the preliminary tax would be due and payable would be a day after the 28th day of the month in which that period of 6 months ends, not later than the 28th day of that month,

and accordingly references in this Part to the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax shall be construed as references to the 1st day of November in the year of assessment, the 1st day of November following the year of assessment, the last day of that period of 6 months or the 28th day of the month in which that period of 6 months ends, as the case may be.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), tax specified in an assessment made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period shall be due and payable—

(a) where the assessment is made before the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period, on or before that date, or

(b) where the assessment is made on or after that date—

(i) if the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax, on or before the specified due date for the year of assessment,

(ii) if the chargeable period is a year of assessment for capital gains tax, on or before the specified return date for the chargeable period or, if later, not later than one month from the date on which the assessment is made, and

(iii) if the chargeable period is an accounting period of a company, not later than one month from the date on which the assessment is made.

(4) Where but for this subsection tax specified in an assessment made on a chargeable person for a chargeable period would be due and payable in accordance with subsection (3) (b) and—

(a) the chargeable person has defaulted in the payment of preliminary tax for the chargeable period,

(b) the preliminary tax paid by the chargeable person for the chargeable period is less than, or less than the least of, as the case may be—

(i) 90 per cent of the tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period,

(ii) in the case of an assessment to income tax made on a chargeable person for the chargeable period (being a year of assessment), the income tax payable for the preceding chargeable period, or

(iii) in the case of an assessment to income tax for the chargeable period (being a year of assessment) made on a chargeable person to whom subsection (10) applies, other than a chargeable person in relation to whom the amount of income tax payable or, taken in accordance with subsection (5) (a) to be payable, for the pre-preceding chargeable period was nil, 105 per cent of the income tax payable for the pre-preceding chargeable period,

or

(c) the preliminary tax payable by the chargeable person for the chargeable period was not paid by the date on which it was due and payable,

the tax specified in the assessment shall be deemed to have been due and payable on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period.

(5) For the purposes of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of subsection (4) (b)

(a) subject to subsection (7), where the chargeable person was not a chargeable person for the preceding chargeable period or for the pre-preceding chargeable period, the income tax payable for the preceding chargeable period or the pre-preceding chargeable period, as the case may be, shall be taken to be nil, and

(b) where, after the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for a chargeable period which is a year of assessment, an amount of additional income tax for the preceding chargeable period or, in the case of a chargeable person to whom subsection (10) applies, the pre-preceding chargeable period becomes payable, that additional income tax shall not be taken into account only if it became due and payable one month following the amendment to the assessment or the determination of the appeal, as the case may be, by virtue of subsection (8) (b) or (9) (b).

(6) For the purpose of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of subsection (4) (b), where the chargeable person is chargeable to income tax for a chargeable period—

(a) the tax payable for the preceding chargeable period or, in the case of a chargeable person to whom subsection (10) applies, the pre-preceding chargeable period shall be determined without regard to any relief to which the chargeable person is or may become entitled for the preceding chargeable period or the pre-preceding chargeable period, as the case may be, under Part 16 , and

(b) the tax payable for the preceding chargeable period or, in the case of a chargeable person to whom subsection (10) applies, the pre-preceding chargeable period shall be determined without regard to any relief to which the chargeable person is or may become entitled for the preceding chargeable period or the pre-preceding chargeable period, as the case may be, under section 481 .

(7) Where for a chargeable period, being a year of assessment for income tax, a chargeable person is assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017 , and that person was not so assessed for the preceding chargeable period or for the pre-preceding chargeable period or for both of those periods either—

(a) because the person's spouse was so assessed for either or both of those periods, or

(b) because the person and the person's spouse were assessed to tax in accordance with section 1016 or 1023 for either or both of those periods,

subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of subsection (4) (b) and subsection (5) (a) shall apply as if the person and the person's spouse had elected in accordance with section 1018 or 1019 , as the case may be, for the person to be assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017 for any of those periods for which the person or the person's spouse were entitled to so elect or would have been so entitled if section 1019 had applied.

(8) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) and subsection (9), any additional tax due by reason of the amendment of an assessment for a chargeable period shall be deemed to be due and payable on the same day as the tax charged by the assessment before its amendment was due and payable.

(b) Where—

(i) the assessment was made after the chargeable person had delivered a return containing a full and true disclosure of all material facts necessary for the making of the assessment, or

(ii) the assessment had previously been amended following the delivery of the return containing such disclosure,

any additional tax due by reason of the amendment of the assessment shall be deemed to have been due and payable not later than one month from the date of the amendment.

(9) (a) The amount by which the tax, found to be payable for a chargeable period on the determination of an appeal against an assessment made on a chargeable person for the chargeable period, is in excess of the amount of the tax for the chargeable period referred to in section 957 (2) (a) (II) which the chargeable person had paid before the making of the appeal shall be deemed to be due and payable on the same date as the tax charged by the assessment is due and payable.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), where—

(i) the tax which the chargeable person had paid before the making of the appeal is not less than 90 per cent of the tax found to be payable on the determination of the appeal, and

(ii) the tax charged by the assessment was due and payable in accordance with subsection (3),

the excess referred to in that paragraph shall be deemed to be due and payable not later than one month from the date of the determination of the appeal.

(10) (a) This subsection shall apply to a chargeable person who authorises the Collector-General to collect preliminary tax by the debiting of the bank account of that person in accordance with paragraph (b) and complies with such conditions as the Collector-General may reasonably impose to ensure that an amount of preliminary tax payable by a chargeable person for a chargeable period will be paid by the chargeable person in accordance with this subsection on or before the 9th day of December in the year of assessment to which the preliminary tax relates by virtue of subsection (2) (a).

(b) Preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period where the chargeable period is a year of assessment for income tax shall be due and payable in the case of a chargeable person to whom this subsection applies in equal monthly instalments throughout the calendar year or a part of that year in which the due date for the payment of that preliminary tax in accordance with subsection (2) (a) falls, and the Collector-General shall debit the bank account of that chargeable person with such instalments on the 9th day of each month in that year or part of that year, as the case may be.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), the Collector-General may at any time agree to alter the amount of preliminary tax to be debited to the bank account of the chargeable person in accordance with this subsection.

(d) For the purposes of this section, a chargeable person who pays an amount of preliminary tax appropriate to a chargeable period in accordance with this subsection shall be deemed to have paid that amount of preliminary tax on the due date for the payment of an amount of preliminary tax for the chargeable period.

Miscellaneous ( Part 41 ).

[FA88 s20(5), s21(1), (3) to (5) and (7) to (8); FA91 s53; FA92 s33(1)]

959. —(1) Section 1048 shall apply to an amendment of an assessment under section 955 as it applies to an additional first assessment under section 924 .

(2) Where the inspector or any other officer of the Revenue Commissioners acting with the knowledge of the inspector causes to issue, manually or by any electronic, photographic or other process, a notice of preliminary tax bearing the name of the inspector or a notice of assessment or a notice of an amendment of an assessment bearing the name of the inspector, that notice of preliminary tax shall for the purposes of the Tax Acts and the Capital Gains Tax Acts be deemed to have been given by the inspector to the best of his or her opinion, and that assessment or amended assessment to which the notice of assessment or notice of amended assessment relates, as the case may be, shall for those purposes be deemed to have been made by the inspector to the best of his or her judgment.

(3) An assessment which is otherwise final and conclusive shall not for any purpose of the Tax Acts and the Capital Gains Tax Acts be regarded as not final and conclusive or as ceasing to be final and conclusive by reason only of the fact that the inspector has amended or may amend the assessment pursuant to section 955 and, where in the case of a chargeable person the inspector elects under section 954 (4) not to make an assessment for any chargeable period, the Tax Acts and the Capital Gains Tax Acts shall apply as if an assessment for that chargeable period made on the chargeable person had become final and conclusive on the date on which the notice of election is given.

(4) The giving by a chargeable person of a notice pursuant to section 876 shall not remove from the person an obligation to deliver a return under section 951 .

(5) The provisions of this Part as respects due dates for payment of tax shall apply subject to sections 579 (4) (b) and 981 .

(6) References in this Part to any provision of the Income Tax Acts shall, where appropriate for capital gains tax and unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference to those provisions as applied in relation to capital gains tax by sections 913 , 931 , 976 , 1051 , 1077 or 1083 , as appropriate.

(7) Section 926 shall not apply to a chargeable person as respects any chargeable period.