Enforcement

CAT Act

57

Overpayment of tax.

(1)In this section—

“relevant date”, in relation to a repayment of tax means—

(a)the date which is 93 days after the date on which a valid claim in respect of the repayment is made to the Commissioners, or

(b)where the repayment is due to a mistaken assumption in the operation of the tax on the part of the Commissioners, the date which is the date of the payment of the tax which has given rise to that repayment;

“repayment” means a repayment of tax including a repayment of—

(a)any interest charged,

(b)any surcharge imposed,

(c)any penalty incurred,

under any provision of this Act in relation to tax;

“tax” includes probate tax, payment on account of tax, interest charged, a surcharge imposed or a penalty incurred under any provision of this Act.

(2)Where, a claim for repayment of tax made to the Commissioners, is a valid claim, the Commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of this section, give relief by means of repayment of the excess or otherwise as is reasonable and just.

(3)Notwithstanding subsection (2), no tax shall be repaid to an accountable person in respect of a valid claim unless that valid claim is made within the period of 4 years commencing on—

(a)31 December in the year in which that tax was due to be paid in accordance with section 46(2A), or

(b)the valuation date or the date of the payment of the tax concerned (where the tax has been paid within 4 months of the valuation date) in respect of inheritances to which sections 15(1) and 20(1) apply.

(4)Subsection (3) shall not apply to a claim for repayment of tax arising by virtue of section 18(3), Article VI of the First Schedule to the Finance Act 1950, or Article 9 of the Schedule to the Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Estates of Deceased Persons and Inheritances and on Gifts) (United Kingdom) Order 1978 (S.I. No. 279 of 1978).

(5)Subsection (3) shall not apply to a claim for repayment of tax arising on or before the date of the passing of the Finance Act 2003, where a valid claim is made on or before 31 December 2004.

(6)Subject to the provisions of this section, where a person is entitled to a repayment, the amount of the repayment shall, subject to a valid claim in respect of the repayment being made to the Commissioners and subject to section 960H(4) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, carry simple interest at the rate of 0.011 per cent, or such other rate (if any) prescribed by the Minister for Finance by order under subsection (11), for each day or part of a day for the period commencing on the relevant date and ending on the date upon which the repayment is made.

(7)A claim for repayment under this section shall only be treated as a valid claim when—

(a)it has been made in accordance with the provisions of the law (if any) relating to tax under which such claim is made, and

(b)all information which the Commissioners may reasonably require to enable them determine if and to what extent a repayment is due, has been furnished to them.

(8)Interest shall not be payable under this section if it amounts to €10 or less.

(9)Except as provided for by this Act or by section 941 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as it applies for the purposes of capital acquisitions tax, the Commissioners shall not repay an amount of tax paid to them or pay interest in respect of an amount of tax paid to them.

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

(11)(a)The Minister for Finance may, from time to time, make an order prescribing a rate for the purposes of subsection (6).

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

(12)The Commissioners may make regulations as they deem necessary in relation to the operation of this section.

58

Penalties.

[CATA 1976 s63]

(1)(a)Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any requirement or provision under section 46 shall be liable to a penalty of €3,000.

(b)Where the contravention or failure referred to in paragraph (a) continues after judgment has been given by the court before which proceedings for the penalty have been commenced, the person concerned shall be liable to a further penalty of €30 for each day on which the contravention or failure so continues.

(1A)Where a person deliberately or carelessly fails to comply with a requirement to deliver a return or additional return under subsection (2) or (8) of section 46 that person is liable to a penalty of—

(a)€3,000, and

(b)the amount of the difference specified in subsection (5A).

(2)Where, under, or for the purposes of, any of the provisions of this Act, a person is authorised to inspect any property for the purpose of reporting to the Commissioners the market value of that property and the person having custody or possession of that property prevents such inspection or obstructs the person so authorised in the performance of that person’s functions in relation to the inspection, the person so having custody or possession is liable to a penalty of €3,000.

(3)Where an accountable person deliberately or carelessly—

(a)delivers any incorrect return or additional return,

(b)makes or furnishes any incorrect statement, declaration, evidence or valuation in connection with any property comprised in any disposition,

(c)makes or furnishes any incorrect statement, declaration, evidence or valuation in connection with any claim for any allowance, deduction, exemption or relief, or

(d)makes or furnishes any incorrect statement, declaration, evidence or valuation in connection with any other matter,

on the basis of which the amount of tax assessable in respect of a taxable gift or taxable inheritance would be less than it would have been if the correct return, additional return, statement, declaration, evidence or valuation had been delivered, made or furnished, that person is liable to a penalty of—

(i)€6,345, and

(ii)the amount of the difference specified in subsection (5).

(4)Where any such return, additional return, statement, declaration, evidence or valuation as is mentioned in subsection (3) was delivered, made or furnished neither deliberately nor carelessly by a person and it comes to that person’s notice that it was incorrect, then, unless the error is remedied without unreasonable delay, such matter is treated, for the purposes of this section, as having been carelessly done by that person.

(5)The difference referred to in subsection (3) is the difference between—

(a)the amount of tax payable in respect of the taxable gift or taxable inheritance to which the return, additional return, statement, declaration, evidence or valuation relates, and

(b)the amount which would have been the amount so payable if the return, additional return, statement, declaration, evidence or valuation as made or submitted had been correct.

(5A)In relation to any matter that would have been included in a return or additional return if the return or additional return had been delivered by a person and had been correct, the difference referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1A) is the difference between—

(a)the amount of tax paid by that person in respect of the taxable gift or inheritance to which the return or additional return relates before—

(i)unless subparagraph (ii) applies, the date of the notice in writing from the Revenue Commissioners to the person concerned of an inquiry or investigation by the Revenue Commissioners or a Revenue officer into the matter, or

(ii)where the Revenue Commissioners had announced publicly that they had started an inquiry or investigation into the matter, the date of that public announcement,

and

(b)the amount of tax that would have been payable if the return or additional return had been delivered by that person and that return or additional return had been correct.

(6)For the purpose of subsection (3), where anything referred to in that subsection is delivered, made or furnished on behalf of a person, it is deemed to have been delivered, made or furnished by that person unless that person proves that it was done without that person’s knowledge or consent.

(7)Any person who assists in or induces the delivery, making or furnishing for any purposes of the tax of any return, additional return, statement, declaration, evidence or valuation which that person knows to be incorrect shall be liable to a penalty of €3,000.

(8)This section shall not affect any criminal proceedings.

(9)Subject to this section—

(a)sections 987(4), 1062, 1063, 1064, 1066 and 1068 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to a penalty under this Act as if the penalty were a penalty under the Income Tax Acts, and

(b)section 1077E or 1077F, as appropriate of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to a penalty under this Act as if the penalty were a penalty relating to income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax, as the case may be.

59

Postponement, remission and compounding of tax.

[CATA 1976 s44]

(1)Where the Commissioners are satisfied that tax leviable in respect of any gift or inheritance can not without excessive hardship be raised at once, they may allow payment to be postponed for such period, to such extent and on such terms (including the waiver of interest) as they think fit.

(2)If, after the expiration of the relevant period immediately following the date on which any tax became due and payable, the tax or any part of that tax remains unpaid, the Commissioners may, if they think fit, remit the payment of any interest accruing after such expiration on the unpaid tax; and in this subsection, “relevant period” means the period at the end of which the interest on an amount payable in respect of tax would, at the rate from time to time chargeable during that period in respect of interest on tax, equal the amount of such tax.

(3)If, after the expiration of 20 years from the date on which any tax became due and payable, the tax or any part of that tax remains unpaid, the Commissioners may, if they think fit, remit the payment of such tax or any part of that tax and all or any interest on that tax.

(4)Where, in the opinion of the Commissioners, the complication of circumstances affecting a gift or inheritance or the value of that gift or inheritance or the assessment or recovery of tax on that gift or inheritance are such as to justify them in doing so, they may compound the tax payable on the gift or inheritance on such terms as they shall think fit, and may give a discharge to the person or persons accountable for the tax on payment of the tax according to such composition.

62Certificate relating to registration of title based on possession.
[FA 1994 s146]

(1)In this section—

“Act of 1964” means the Registration of Title Act 1964, as amended by the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006;

“Authority” means the Property Registration Authority established by section 9 of the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006;

“relevant period”, in relation to a person’s application to be registered as owner of property, means the period commencing on 28 February 1974 and ending on the date as of which the registration was made, but—

(a)where the certificate referred to in subsection (2) is a certificate for a period ending prior to the date of the registration, the period covered by the certificate shall be deemed to be the relevant period if, at the time of the registration, the Authority had no reason to believe that a death relevant to the application for registration occurred after the expiration of the period covered by the certificate, and

(b)where the registration of the person (if any) who, at the date of that application, was the registered owner of the property had been made as of a date after 28 February 1974, the relevant period shall commence on the date as of which that registration was made;

“the Rules of 1972” means the Land Registration Rules 1972 (S.I. No. 230 of 1972).

(2)A person shall not be registered as owner of property in a register of ownership maintained under the Act of 1964 on foot of an application made to the Authority on or after the date of the passing of this Act which is—

(a)based on possession, and

(b)made under the Rules of 1972, or any other rule made for carrying into effect the objects of the Act of 1964,

unless the applicant produces to the Authority a certificate issued by the Commissioners to the effect that the Commissioners are satisfied—

(i)that the property did not become charged with gift tax or inheritance tax during the relevant period, or

(ii)that any charge for gift tax or inheritance tax to which the property became subject during that period has been discharged, or will (to the extent that it has not been discharged) be discharged within a time considered by the Commissioners to be reasonable.

(3)In the case of an application for registration in relation to which a solicitor’s certificate is produced for the purpose of rule 19(3), 19(4) or 35 of the Rules of 1972, the Authority may accept that the application is not based on possession if the solicitor makes to the Authority a declaration in writing to that effect.

(4)Where, on application to them by the applicant for registration, the Commissioners are satisfied that they may issue a certificate for the purpose of subsection (2), they shall issue a certificate for that purpose, and the certificate and the application for that certificate shall be on a form provided by the Commissioners.

(5)A certificate issued by the Commissioners for the purpose of subsection (2) shall be in such terms and subject to such qualifications as the Commissioners think fit, and shall not be a certificate for any other purpose.

(6)In subsection (2), the reference to a certificate issued by the Commissioners shall be construed as including a reference to a certificate to which subsection (7) relates, and subsection (2) shall be construed accordingly.

(7)(a)In this subsection—

“the relevant particulars” means the particulars of title to the relevant property which are required to be produced to the Authority for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Form 5 of the Schedule of Forms referred to in the definition of “Forms” contained in rule 2(1) of the Rules of 1972;

“the relevant property” means the property in respect of which the application for registration is being made.

(b)A certificate to which this subsection relates is a certificate by the solicitor for the applicant for registration in which it is certified, on a form provided by the Commissioners, that the solicitor—

(i)is satisfied—

(I)in a case where the applicant is a statutory authority within the definition of “statutory authority” contained in section 3(1) of the Act of 1964, that the market value of the relevant property at the time of the application does not exceed €127,000, or

(II)in any other case, that—

(A)the area of the relevant property does not exceed 5 hectares, and

(B)the market value of the relevant property at the time of the application does not exceed €19,050,

and

(ii)having investigated the title to the relevant property, has no reason to believe that the relevant particulars, in so far as relating to the relevant property at any time during the relevant period, are particulars which related at that time to significant other real property, that is, real property which, if combined with the relevant property for the purposes of subparagraph (i), would cause a limit which applies to the relevant property by virtue of that subparagraph to be exceeded.

(8)Notwithstanding subsection (7), a certificate by the solicitor for the applicant for registration shall be a certificate to which subsection (7) relates if it certifies, on a form provided by the Commissioners, that the solicitor is satisfied that—

(a)the area of the property in respect of which the application for registration is being made does not exceed 500 square metres,

(b)the market value of that property at the time of the application does not exceed €2,540, and

(c)the application is not part of a series of related applications covering a single piece of property the total area of which exceeds 500 square metres or the market value of which at the time of the application exceeds €2,540.
63Recovery of tax and penalties.
[CATA 1976 s49]

(3)If any accountable person is liable under section 46 to deliver to the Commissioners a return or an additional return and makes default in so doing, the Commissioners may sue by action or other appropriate proceeding in the Circuit Court for an order directing the person so making default to deliver such return or additional return or to show cause to the contrary; and the Circuit Court may by order direct such accountable person to deliver such return or additional return within such time as may be specified in the order.

PART 8

Appeals

66

Appeals regarding value of real property.

[CATA 1976 s51]

(1)If a person is aggrieved by the decision of the Commissioners as to the market value of any real property, that person may appeal against the decision in the manner prescribed by section 33 of the Finance (1909-10) Act 1910, and the provisions as to appeals under that section of that Act shall apply accordingly with any necessary modifications.

(2)The particulars of any transfer or lease which are presented to or obtained by the Commissioners under section 12(2) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 shall, in any appeal under this section, be received as prima facie evidence of all matters and things stated in such particulars.

67

Appeals in other cases.

[CATA 1976 s52]

(2)(a)Subject to the other provisions of this Act, a person aggrieved by an assessment made by the Commissioners on that person may appeal the assessment to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, within the period of 30 days after the date of the notice of assessment.

(b)In default of an appeal, in accordance with paragraph (a) or section 66, as the case may be, being made by a person to whom a notice of assessment has been given, the assessment made on the person shall be final and conclusive.

(c)An assessment that is otherwise final and conclusive shall not, for any purpose of this Act, be regarded as not final and conclusive or as ceasing to be final and conclusive by reason only of the fact that a Revenue officer has amended, or may amend, the assessment.

(3)An appeal shall not lie under this section in relation to the market value of real property.

(8)(a)The Commissioners may serve notice in writing, referring expressly to this subsection, on any person whom they have reason to believe to be accountable for the payment of tax, of any decision they have made which is relevant to such tax.

(b)A person on whom notice of a decision has been served and who is aggrieved by the decision may appeal that decision to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, within 30 days after the date of the notice of that decision.

Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 (Number 1 of 2003)
67A.Payment of tax following determination of an appeal
(1)Where, on the determination of an appeal made under section 67(2) against an assessment of tax, the amount of tax payable by a person is in excess of the amount of tax that the person paid in respect of the assessment before the making of the appeal, the excess shall be due and payable on the same date as the tax charged by the assessment is due and payable.

(2)Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the amount of tax that a person paid before the making of an appeal is not less than 90 per cent of the amount of tax found to be payable on the determination of the appeal, the excess referred to in subsection (1) shall be due and payable not later than one month from the date of the determination of the appeal.

Conditions before appeal may be made.
[CATA 1976 s52A]

No appeal shall lie under section 66 or 67 until such time as the person aggrieved by the decision or assessment (as the case may be) complies with section 46(2) in respect of the gift or inheritance in relation to which the decision or assessment is made, as if there were no time-limit for complying with section 46(2) and that person were a person primarily accountable for the payment of tax by virtue of section 45(1) and required by notice in writing by the Commissioners to deliver a return.