Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 22 Jul 1969

Vol. 241 No. 7

Committee on Finance. - Finance Bill, 1969: Financial Resolutions.

Minister for Finance (Mr. Haughey)

I move:

(1) That, subject to paragraph (2) of this Resolution, income tax in two or more assessments falling to be made on a person for the year 196263 or any earlier year of assessment under Schedule A, B, D or E of the Income Tax Act, 1967, or under any two or more of those Schedules, which, by virtue of the Act giving effect to this Resolution and section 183 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is stated in one sum, shall for the purposes of sections 550 to 552 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, be deemed to be tax charged by an assessment to income tax.

(2) That, where an appeal is pending against any one or more of such assessments, so much of the tax stated in one sum as is, by virtue of the Act giving effect to this Resolution and the said section 183, treated as referable to assessments not under appeal shall for the purposes of the said sections 550 to 552, be deemed to be tax charged by an assessment to income tax.

These are financial resolutions which are immediately connected with the Finance Bill. As Deputies are aware we have already dealt with all the financial resolutions imposing taxation as announced in the Budget but arising out of the Finance Bill there are a number of small and less important provisions which, because they may impose some element of taxation, require a financial resolution. That is the purpose of this series of resolutions. For instance, the first one, No. 6, is made necessary because of some provisions which we are making to deal with the system of one taxpayer, one charge.

No. 7 arises out of the provisions in the Bill dealing with grants for ships and the withdrawal of investment amounts and so on. Is that clear to the House?

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

That, for the purposes of income tax (including sur-tax) and corporation profits tax, provision be made for withholding or withdrawing shipping investment allowances (including such allowances for past years of assessment or accounting periods) in respect of so much of any expenditure as is taken into account for the purposes of any grant made by the Minister for Transport and Power towards that expenditure under the Shipping Investment Grants Act, 1969 (No. 11 of 1969).

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

That it is expedient to authorise such charges to income tax and sur-tax as arise from or are incidental to provisions connected with the repeal of Schedules A and B of the Income Tax Act, 1967, and in particular from—

(a) the transfer to a new Case V of Schedule D of profits or gains arising from rents from premises or receipts from easements;

(b) the cessor, in relation to the occupation of lands, tenements or hereditaments in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, of the measure of income provided by paragraph 1 (2) of Part III of Schedule 6 to the Income Tax Act, 1967;

(c) the limiting of relief in respect of deficiencies arising in relation to rents from premises and receipts from easements to Case V of Schedule D;

(d) the charging of payments made or deemed to be made for any period in which a sale of premises takes place;

(e) the inclusion in emoluments chargeable under Schedule E of an amount in respect of premises occupied by, or by the wife or husband of, the holder of an office or employment (including any person who is a director within the meaning of section 119 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1967) at no rent or at a rent less than the annual value.

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

(1) That, where a building the greater part of which is intended for use as offices is constructed, altered or enlarged on or after the 1st day of August, 1969, and the construction, alteration of enlargement or part of the construction, alteration or enlargement is not the subject of a contract, the Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require the owner of the building to deliver to them, within thirty days after the date of the requisition, the instrument containing the notification or a copy of such instrument (in this Resolution referred to as the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 (Permission) Regulations, 1964, of the grant under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, by the relevant planning authority, within the meaning of that Act, of permission or approval in relation to the construction, alteration or enlargement, together with a statement of the total outlay expended or to be expended on the construction, alteration or enlargement, and the said notification shall—

(a) be stamped with the amount of stamp duty with which it would be charged, and

(b) be subject to the statutory provisions in relation to the charge of stamp duty to which it would be subject,

if it were a contract for the construction, alteration or enlargement aforesaid and the amount or value of the consideration for its performance were the total outlay expended or to be expended on the construction, alteration or enlargement aforesaid.

(2) That paragraph (1) of this Resolution shall not apply—

(a) in any case where the amount or the aggregate amount of the outlay expended on the construction, alteration or enlargement of a building does not exceed £50,000,

(b) in relation to the construction, alteration or enlargement of a building owned by a Minister of State, the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, or a local authority,

(c) in relation to the construction, alteration or enlargement of a building in an area which, at the date of the commencement of the construction, alteration or enlargement is an undeveloped area within the meaning of the Undeveloped Areas Act, 1952.

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

That Section 64 of the Finance Act, 1963 (No. 23 of 1963), be amended—

(a) by the substitution of "Sections 48 and 50 to 63" for "Sections 48 to 63" in subsection (1), and

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for sub-section (2):

"(2) Tax as aforesaid shall not be charged on—

(a) an article the sale of which for delivery within the State would, apart from any exemption in relation to sales of such articles to or by persons of a particular class, be an exempted activity for the purposes of Section 48 (2) of this Act,

(b) an article mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act imported as stock for his business by a registered person who is a dealer in such articles,

(c) an article, not being an article mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act, imported—

(i) as stock for his business,

(ii) as materials for manufacture,

(iii) as furniture, fittings, office requisites, plant or equipment for his business,

by a registered person,

(d) an article (other than a motor vehicle designed for the conveyance of persons by road or hydrocarbon oil for road transport vehicles) imported by a body corporate which establishes to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that its main activity consists in the transport of passengers or goods outside the State and that the article is imported for use in its business,

(e) an article imported by the Commissioners of Irish Lights for use in the maintenance of lightships or lighthouses."

Mr. Tully

I do not know whether this is relevant on this Resolution. The Minister must be aware that, at present, certain sections of agriculture are suffering badly because, apparently, we are importing fruit and selling it to the jam manufacturers with the result that the producers of fruit for jam are finding that they cannot sell any fruit at all. I know this is widening the debate but I do not know where else I could bring the matter to the notice of the Minister.

An Ceann Comhairle

It does not seem to arise.

Mr. Tully

Surely there must be some way of preventing the importation into this country of fruit which could and should be produced here?

Mr. Haughey

That would be very much a matter for the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. I will mention it to him. Perhaps the Deputy would like to write to him.

Mr. Tully

I deliberately raised it here because if the Minister raises a matter it is possible that it will be far more effective than any Deputy writing to a Minister. This is a really serious matter because the fruit growers are going out of business. They have got the fruit; they cannot sell it, and they are going broke.

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

That the provisions of section 6 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1966 (No. 22 of 1966), shall apply to a person registered for wholesale tax under section 4 of that Act who—

(1) has obtained taxable goods (within the meaning of that Act) on hire from another person so registered,

(2) has, in relation to the goods, given to the person from whom the goods are hired a statement in writing quoting the wholesale tax registration number of the person to whom the goods were hired, and has not withdrawn that statement, and

(3) uses those goods at any time during a period to which a payment for hire relates otherwise than in a production processed in the course of making goods,

as if—

(a) in accordance with section 5 of that Act he had purchased the goods in circumstances in which wholesale tax was not chargeable,

(b) on the occasion of each payment for hire of the goods relating to a period during which he had used the goods otherwise than in a production process in the course of making goods he had applied or appropriated the goods otherwise than—

(i) in the case of a manufacturer — as materials or as stock in trade, or

(ii) in any other case — as stock in trade, and

(c) each such payment for hire was a payment in respect of a sale of goods so applied or appropriated at the wholesale price current at the time of payment.

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

That section 11 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1966 (No. 22 of 1966), be amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

"(2) Tax as aforesaid shall not be charged on—

(a) an article the sale of which for delivery within the State would, apart from any exemption in relation to sales of such articles to or by persons of a particular class, or by persons other than persons of a particular class, be an exempted activity for the purposes of section 3 (5) of this Act,

(b) an article imported—

(i) by a manufacturer registered under section 4 of this Act and intended for use as materials or as stock for his business, or

(ii) by any other person registered under that section and intended for use as stock for his business,

(c) an article (other than a motor vehicle designed for the conveyance of persons by road or hydrocarbon oil for road transport vehicles) imported by a body corporate which establishes to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that its main activity consists in the transport of passengers or goods outside the State and that the article is for use in its business.

(d) an article imported by the Commissioners of Irish Lights for use in the maintenance of lightships or lighthouses."

Question put and agreed to.

Mr. Haughey

I move:

That a resolution passed by the Committee on Finance of Dáil Éireann which contains a declaration that it is expedient in the public interest that the resolution should have statutory effect as if contained in an Act of the Oireachtas shall not cease to have statutory effect on a dissolution of Dáil Éireann.

Mr. Cosgrave

This does away with the old provision. Am I right?

Mr. Haughey

This deals with the situation which we have——

Mr. Cosgrave

In the event of an election.

Mr. Tully

Between elections.

Mr. Haughey

Arising from a dissolution and an election.

Question put and agreed to.

Financial Resolutions reported and agreed to.