Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 May 1977

Vol. 299 No. 10

Finance Bill, 1977: Financial Resolutions.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 54 of the Finance Act 1974 (No. 27 of 1974), be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution so as to ensure that, in the circumstances specified in the last mentioned Act, dividends paid by a body corporate which has claimed and is entitled to relief from tax under Part XXV of the Income Tax Act, 1967 (No. 6 of 1967), or Part IV or V of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 (No. 7 of 1976), being dividends which are received directly or indirectly by a person who renders services to or for the benefit of that body corporate or of a person connected with that body corporate, shall, to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution, be charged to tax as emoluments received for the rendering of those services.

Mr. Colley

In view of the short time available for Committee Stage I do not propose to contribute on any of these Financial Resolutions unless it should be made necessary. We agree to all of them on that basis. We will get a better opportunity to say the few words we are being allowed to say on Committee Stage.

Mr. R. Ryan

I am only too happy to agree to that very reasonable course.

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That Chapter II of Part I of the Finance Act, 1974 (No. 27 of 1974), be amended—

(1) by the substitution of "£75" for "£100" in section 15 (3),

(2) by the deletion of "(other than an individual who shows that the rateable valuation of all farm land occupied by him did not, at any time during the relevant year of assessment, exceed £50)" in section 16 (1),

(3) so as to ensure that section 19 of the said Finance Act, 1974, shall not have effect, as from the year 1977-78, in relation to an individual who occupies farm land the rateable valuation of which is £100 or more,

(4) so as to provide, in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution, for the assessment of profits or gains from farming for the year 1977-78 in an amount determined by a formula to be set out in the said Act.

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 30 of the Finance Act, 1976 (No. 16 of 1976), be amended, in relation to an assessment made by virtue of section 21 of the Finance Act, 1974 (No. 27 of 1974), by the addition of the following proviso to the definition of "the specified amount of tax":

"Provided that, and notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2), in the case of an assessment to tax which consists of tax, or includes any amount of tax, applicable to the profits or gains from farming, charged in accordance with the provisions of section 21 of the Finance Act, 1974, `the specified amount of tax', in relation to any instalment of tax payable on a date prior to the 1st day of January, 1978, means the tax assessed which is payable in that instalment;".

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 28 (7) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976, (No. 7 of 1976), be amended, as respects franked investment income arising in the year 1976-77 or in subsequent years of assessment, by the insertion after "companies within the group" of ", and for this purpose a company shall be treated as a member of a group and franked investment income received by the company from another company shall be treated as coming from companies within the group where, but only where, if such income had been such payment as is referred to in section 105 (1), it would have been paid without deduction of income tax or would have been so paid if the companies had so elected".

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution so that, for the purposes of the Tax Acts (within the meaning of section 155 (2) of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 (No. 7 of 1976)) and the Capital Gains Tax Act, 1975 (No. 20 of 1975), references in any of those Acts to a child (including references to a son or daughter) shall include references to a stepchild, a child adopted under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1976, and a child adopted under a similar adoption law of another State and that such further provision be made as may be necessary and consequential on the said construction of such references.

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 8 (1) of the Finance Act, 1973 (No. 19 of 1973), be amended by the substitution of "the 1st day of April, 1979" for "the 1st day of April, 1977".

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That provision be made for imposing charges to income tax and corporation tax (including charges to any such tax on the income represented by the aggregate of a dividend and the tax credit in respect of it arising out of the operation of the Convention between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital gains and the Protocol amending the Convention which were brought into force by the Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and Capital Gains) (United Kingdom) Order, 1976 (S.I. No. 319 of 1976).

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 171 of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 (No. 7 of 1976), be amended, as on and from the 6th day of April, 1976 by the insertion after "Tax Acts" of "(other than in sections 3, 8 and 151)".

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 31 of the Finance Act, 1975 (No. 6 of 1975), be amended by the addition of the following subsection:

"(9) Where in any accounting period which ends on or after the 6th day of April, 1973, a company carries on a trade which consists partly of trading operations of any of the classes mentioned in the definition of `trade' in subsection (1) (hereinafter referred to as `qualifying trading operations') and partly of other trading operations, the company shall be regarded as carrying on a trade which consists wholly or mainly of qualifying trading operations if, but only if, the total amount receivable by the company from sales made in the course of the qualifying trading operations in the accounting period is not less than 75 per cent of the total amount receivable by the company from all sales made in the course of its trade in the accounting period."

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 31A of the Finance Act, 1975 (No. 6 of 1975), be amended by the addition of the following subsection:

"(11) Where in any accounting period which ends on or after the 6th day of April, 1975, a company carries on a trade which consists partly of trading operations of any of the classes mentioned in the definition of `trade' in subsection (1) (hereinafter referred to as `qualifying trading operations') and partly of other trading operations, the company shall be regarded as carrying on a trade which consists wholly or mainly of qualifying trading operations if, but only if, the total amount receivable by the company from sales made in the course of the qualifying trading operations in the accounting period is not less than 75 per cent of the total amount receivable by the company from all sales made in the course of its trade in the accounting period."

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution for varying the excise duty chargeable on a licence taken out annually by a distiller of spirits and on a licence taken out annually by a brewer of beer for sale.

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution for the reduction, in relation to beer brewed in the year beginning on the 1st day of July, 1977, of the rebate paid to brewers under section 41 of the Finance Act, 1932 (No. 20 of 1932), for two pounds per standard barrel to one pound per standard barrel.

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 1 (1) of the Wealth Tax Act, 1975 (No. 25 of 1975), be amended by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of "discretionary trust":

" `discretionary trust' means any disposition whereby, or by virtue or in consequence of which, property is held on trust to accumulate the income or part of the income of the property, or any disposition whereby, or by virtue or in consequence of which, property is held on trust to apply, or with a power to apply, the income or capital or part of the income or capital of the property to or for the benefit of any person or persons or of any one or more of a number or of a class of persons whether at the discretion of trustees or any other person and notwithstanding that there may be a power to accumulate all or any part of the income or that the income or capital or part of the income or capital of the property is limited to any person for any period of time other than the life of such person and for the purposes of this definition `disposition' includes any disposition whether by deed or will and any covenant, agreement, or arrangement whether effected with or without writing;'.".

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 17 of the Finance Act, 1938 (No. 25 of 1938), be repealed.

Question put and agreed to.

Minister for Finance (Mr. R. Ryan)

I move:

That section 67 (4) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act. 1976 (No. 8 of 1976), be repealed in relation to gifts and inheritances the dates of which are on or after the date of the passing of the Act giving effect to this Resolution.

Question put and agreed to.