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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 8 May 1957

Vol. 161 No. 8

Financial Resolutions. - Resolution No. 2—Customs and Excise. Tobacco.

I move:—

(1) That in this Resolution—

"the Act of 1932" means the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932);

"the Act of 1934" means the Finance Act, 1934 (No. 31 of 1934);

"the Act of 1956" means the Finance Act, 1956 (No. 22 of 1956).

(2) That the duty of customs on tobacco imposed by Section 20 of the Act of 1932 shall, as on and from the 9th day of May, 1957, be charged, levied and paid at the several rates specified in Part I of the Schedule to this Resolution in lieu of the several rates at which the said duty is now chargeable by virtue of Section 8 of the Act of 1956.

(3) That the duty of excise on tobacco imposed by Section 19 of the Act of 1934 shall, as on and from the 9th day of May, 1957, be charged, levied and paid at the several rates specified in Part II of the Schedule to this Resolution in lieu of the several rates at which the said duty is now chargeable by virtue of Section 8 of the Act of 1956.

(4) That sub-sections (3) and (4) of the said Section 19 of the Act of 1934, and sub-section (5) thereof subject to paragraph (5) of this Resolution, shall apply to tobacco which is chargeable with the duty of excise imposed by sub-section (1) of the said Section 19 at a rate specified in Part II of the Schedule to this Resolution, and for the purpose of such application references in the said sub-sections (3), (4) and (5) of the said Section 19 to Part I of the Sixth Schedule to the said Act of 1934 shall be construed and have effect as references to Part II of the Schedule to this Resolution.

(5) That the rebate on unmanufactured tobacco mentioned in subsection (3) of Section 20 of the Act of 1932, as amended by Section 18 of the Act of 1934, and in sub-section (5) of Section 19 of the Act of 1934, shall, on and from the 9th day of May, 1957, be at the rate of five pence per lb.

(6) That the rebate on hard pressed tobacco mentioned in sub-section (2) of Section 17 of the Finance Act, 1940 (No. 14 of 1930), shall, in respect of any such tobacco sold and sent out for use within the State by any licensed manufacturer on or after the 9th day of May, 1957, be at the rate of twelve shillings and ten pence per lb.

(7) That as respects unmanufactured tobacco which, apart from this paragraph, would be entitled by virtue of Section 5 of the Finance Act, 1950 (No. 18 of 1950), to the preferential rates of customs duties specified in the Second Schedule to the Finance Act, 1949 (No. 13 of 1949), the duty of customs chargeable thereon on delivery from bonded warehouse shall, as on and from the 9th day of May, 1957, be charged, levied and paid at the rates for unmanufactured tobacco specified in Part III of the Schedule to this Resolution.

(8) That, subject to the provisions of paragraph (9) of this Resolution, there shall be charged, levied and paid on all stocks of tobacco of every description which at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th day of May, 1957, are in the ownership or possession of a licensed manufacturer of tobacco and in any place in the State other than a bonded warehouse, a duty of excise, payable by the manufacturer, at the following rate, that is to say:

(a) so far as the stocks consist of unmanufactured tobacco, 3/2 for every lb. weight of the stocks, and

(b) so far as the stocks consist of tobacco (including snuff) other than unmanufactured tobacco, 3/2 for every lb. weight of unmanufactured tobacco from which, in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners, the stocks were derived.

(9) That the duty provided for by paragraph (8) of this Resolution shall not be chargeable on any manufactured tobacco (including cigarettes, cigars and snuff other than offal snuff) as to which it is shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that it was at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th day of May, 1957, fully prepared for sale by retail and that either—

(i) it was not the product of any operation carried out by any manufacturer in whose ownership or possession it was at that time; or

(ii) it was at that time held as retail stock in premises used for selling tobacco by retail; or

(iii) it was at that time in transit from seller to buyer under a contract of sale:

Provided that no tobacco shall be deemed for the purposes of this paragraph to have been fully prepared for sale by retail if, according to the ordinary course of business of the person in whose ownership or possession it was or to whom it was in transit, it had still to be subjected to some further process (other than packing) before being sold by him.

(10) That every licensed manufacturer of tobacco shall not later than the 15th day of May, 1957, make a return to the Revenue Commissioners in a form approved by them giving such information as they may thereby require and, in particular, showing the quantities by weight of tobacco of every description in his ownership or possession at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th day of May, 1957, in any place in the State other than a bonded warehouse.

(11) That every licensed manufacturer of tobacco shall—

(a) produce, if so required, to any officer of Customs and Excise the trade books and all accounts and documents belonging to or in the possession of such manufacturer which are necessary for verifying the return made in pursuance of paragraph (10) of this Resolution, and

(b) render all reasonable assistance to such officer in the taking of an account of the tobacco which was in the ownership or possession of such manufacturer at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th day of May, 1957.

(12) That every licensed manufacturer of tobacco shall, immediately upon making the return required by paragraph (10) of this Resolution or on the 15th day of May, 1957, whichever is the earlier, pay to the Revenue Commissioners the full amount of the duty mentioned in this Resolution on any tobacco which was in his ownership or possession at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th day of May, 1957, and was chargeable with the said duty, and the Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit, defer the payment of the duty to a date not later than the 1st day of January, 1958, upon the manufacturer giving security by bond or otherwise to their satisfaction that such duty will be paid.

(13) That every manufacturer required by paragraph (10) of this Resolution to make such return as is mentioned in that paragraph who either fails to make such return or makes a return which is incomplete, false or misleading in any material respect or fails or refuses to do anything which he is required by paragraph (11) of this Resolution to do shall be guilty of an offence under the statutes relating to duties of excise and shall for every such offence incur an excise penalty of fifty pounds, and all tobacco in relation to which such offence was committed shall be forfeited.

(14) That where drawback is payable in respect of tobacco on which the excise duty provided for by paragraph (8) of this Resolution has been paid, such drawback shall, to the extent of the duty paid in pursuance of the said paragraph (8) as determined by the Revenue Commissioners, be a drawback of excise.

(15) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).

SCHEDULE

DUTIES ON TOBACCO

PART I

CUSTOMS

£

s.

d.

Unmanufactured:—

If Stripped or Stemmed:—

Containing 10 lbs. or more of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

the lb.

2

5

11½

Containing less than 10 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. of weight thereof

,,

2

11

½

If Unstripped or Unstemmed:—

Containing 10 lbs. or more of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

5

11

Containing less than 10 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

11

0

Full

Preferential

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Manufactured:—

Cigars

the lb.

2

19

0

2

9

2

Cigarettes

,,

2

16

6

2

7

1

Cavendish or Negrohead

,,

2

18

6

2

8

9

Cavendish or Negrohead manufactured in Bond

,,

2

17

6

2

7

11

Other Manufactured Tobacco

,,

2

16

6

2

7

1

Snuff containing more than 13 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

16

0

2

6

8

Snuff not containing more than 13 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

18

6

2

8

9

PART II

EXCISE

Unmanufactured:—

£

s.

d.

Containing 10 lbs. or more of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

the lb.

2

4

10

Containing less than 10 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

9

10

Manufactured:—

Cavendish or Negrohead manufactured in Bond

,,

2

6

10

PART III

PREFERENTIAL RATES OF CUSTOMS DUTIES ON UNMANUFACTURED TOBACCO

£

s.

d.

Unmanufactured:—

If Stripped or Stemmed:—

Containing 10 lbs. or more of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

the lb.

2

4

5

Containing less than 10 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

9

If Unstripped or Unstemmed:—

Containing 10 lbs. or more of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

4

Containing less than 10 lbs. of moisture in every 100 lbs. weight thereof

,,

2

9

4

Could the Minister tell us more about this?

I do not think I can tell you very much more. As I explained, the effect of this increased duty is to increase the ordinary 2/10 packet of cigarettes to 3/—I do not know what effect it will have on other cigarettes which are not sold at the ordinary price —and to affect hard-pressed tobacco by 2d. an ounce on the average.

What is the estimated fall in consumption that it will bring? Is the Minister not in a position to give me an answer?

No, not at the moment.

The Minister did mention that there was some concession in respect of plug tobacco. Will he be good enough to say what the impact would be on plug tobacco if the full scale of tax applied to it and what is the difference between that figure and the figure he is proposing? Do I understand him to say that he does not propose that the full tax will pass on to plug tobacco? What is the reduction he has in mind?

As a matter of fact, I am not offering a very big concession, I admit. The increase would be 2½d. which, I came to the conclusion, would probably be 3d. Therefore, I brought it down to 2d. so as to put on 2d. instead of 3d. That is what it amounts to really.

Could the Minister say if hard-pressed tobacco will be increased by 2d. or more than 2d.?

It will increase by 2d.

It will not be more than 2d.?

It should not. I should say that the retailer will get the ordinary margin that he ordinarly got, including that 2d. It should not be any more.

Resolution put.
The Committee divided: Tá, 78; Níl, 57.

  • Aiken, Frank
  • Allen, Denis
  • Bartley, Gerald
  • Beegan, Patrick
  • Blaney, Neal T
  • Boland, Gerald
  • Boland, Kevin
  • Booth, Lionel
  • Brady, Philip A.
  • Brady, Seán
  • Breen, Dan.
  • Brennan, Joseph.
  • Brennan, Paudge.
  • Breslin, Cormac
  • Browne, Seán.
  • Burke, Patrick.
  • Butler, Bernard.
  • Calleary, Phelim A.
  • Carroll, James.
  • Carty, Michael.
  • Childeres, Erskine.
  • Clohessy, Patrick.
  • Collins, James J.
  • Corry, Martin J.
  • Cotter, Edward.
  • Crowley, Honor M.
  • Cunningham, Liam.
  • Davern, Mick.
  • de Valera, Eamon.
  • de Valera, Vivion.
  • Donegan, Batt.
  • Dooley, Patrick.
  • Egan, Kieran P.
  • Egan, Nicholas.
  • Fanning, John.
  • Faulkner, Padraig.
  • Flanagan, Seán.
  • Flynn, Stephen.
  • Gallagher, Colm.
  • Galvin, John.
  • Geoghegan, John.
  • Gibbons, James.
  • Gilbride, Eugene.
  • Gogan, Richard P.
  • Griffin, James.
  • Haughey, Charles.
  • Healy, Augustine A.
  • Hillery, Patrick J.
  • Hilliard, Michael.
  • Humphreys, Francis.
  • Kenneally, William.
  • Kennedy, Michael J.
  • Killilea, Mark.
  • Kitt, Michael F.
  • Lemass, Noel T.
  • Lemass, Seán.
  • Loughman, Frank.
  • Lynch, Celia.
  • Lynch, Jack.
  • MacCarthy, Seán.
  • McEllistrim, Thomas.
  • MacEntee, Seán.
  • Maher, Peadar.
  • Medlar, Martin.
  • Moher, John W.
  • Moloney, Daniel J.
  • Ó Briain, Donnchadh.
  • O'Malley, Donogh.
  • Ormonde, John.
  • O'Toole, James.
  • Russell, George E.
  • Ryan, James.
  • Ryan, Mary B.
  • Sheldon, William A.W.
  • Sheridan, Michael.
  • Smith, Patrick.
  • Traynor, Oscar.
  • Wycherley, Florence.

Níl.

  • Barrett, Stephen D.
  • Barry, Richard.
  • Beirne, John.
  • Belton, Jack.
  • Blowick, Joseph.
  • Browne, Noel C.
  • Burke, James.
  • Byrne, Patrick.
  • Carew, John.
  • Casey, Seán.
  • Coburn, George.
  • Coogan, Fintan.
  • Corish, Brendan.
  • Cosgrave, Liam.
  • Costello, Declan D.
  • Costello, John A.
  • Crotty, Patrick J.
  • Desmond, Daniel.
  • Dillon, James M.
  • Dockrell, Maurice E.
  • Donnellan, Michael.
  • Esmonde, Anthony C.
  • Everett, James.
  • Fagan, Charles.
  • Finucane, Patrick.
  • Flanagan, Oliver J.
  • Rooney, Eamonn.
  • Spring, Dan.
  • Sweetman, Gerard.
  • Giles, Patrick
  • Hogan, Bridget.
  • Hughes, Joseph.
  • Jones, Denis F.
  • Kenny, Henry.
  • Kyne, Thomas A.
  • Lindsay, Patrick.
  • Lynch, Thaddeus.
  • McAuliffe, Patrick.
  • MacEoin, Seán.
  • McGilligan, Patrick.
  • McMenamin, Daniel.
  • McQuillan, John.
  • Mulcahy, Richard.
  • Murphy, John.
  • Murphy, Michael P.
  • Murphy, William.
  • Norton, William.
  • O'Donnell, Patrick.
  • O'Higgins, Michael J.
  • O'Higgins, Thomas F.
  • O'Reilly, Patrick.
  • O'Sullivan, Denis J.
  • Palmer, Patrick W.
  • Reynolds, Mary.
  • Rogers, Patrick J.
  • Tierney, Patrick.
  • Tully, John.
Tellers:—Tá: Deputies Ó Briain and Hilliard; Níl: Deputies O'Sullivan and Kyne.
Resolution declared carried.
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