S.I. No. 163/1996:

INCOME TAX (RELEVANT CONTRACTS) REGULATIONS, 1996.

INCOME TAX (RELEVANT CONTRACTS) REGULATIONS, 1996.

The Revenue Commissioners, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 17 of the Finance Act, 1970 (No. 14 of 1970), as amended, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1996.

(2) The Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1971 to 1993, and these Regulations shall be construed together and cited as the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1971 to 1996.

(3) (a) Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (a) and paragraphs (d), (e) and (g) of Regulation 3 of these Regulations shall be deemed to apply and have effect as respects relevant contracts entered into on or after the 15th day of May, 1996.

(b) The provisions of Regulation 3 of these Regulations, other than those specified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, shall come into operation on the 6th day of July, 1996.

2. In these Regulations "the Principal Regulations" means the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1971 ( S.I. No. 1 of 1971 )--

(a) as amended by the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1976 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1976 ), the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1985 ( S.I. No. 239 of 1985 ), and the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 240 of 1991 ),

(b) as construed by reference to the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 281 of 1992 ), and

(c) as amended by the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1993 ( S.I. No. 31 of 1993 ).

3. The Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1971 to 1993, are hereby amended--

(a) in Regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations--

(i) by the deletion of the definition of "payee",

(ii) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of "principal":

"'principal' means a principal within the meaning of the principal section of the kind referred to in subsection (2) of that section;",

(b) by the insertion in the Principal Regulations of the following Regulation after Regulation 2:

"Declaration by parties to relevant contract.

2A (1) Prior to entering into a relevant contract, the persons who intend to enter into such a contract shall, in the form which from time to time may be specified for that purpose by the Revenue Commissioners, make a declaration to the effect that, having regard to the guidelines which from time to time may be published by the Revenue Commissioners for the information of such persons as to the distinctions between contracts of employment and relevant contracts, and without prejudice to the question of whether the contract is a contract of employment or a relevant contract, they have satisfied themselves that in their opinion the contract which they propose to enter into is not a contract of employment.

(2) Any declaration made for the purposes of paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be retained by the principal for the period specified in Regulation 21 (4) of these Regulations.",

(c) in Regulation 8 of the Principal Regulation, by the insertion after "containing such particulars" of ", including the sub-contractor's date of birth and identifying number, known as the Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) Number,",

(d) as respects relevant contracts entered into on or after the 15th day of May, 1996, by the deletion of Regulation 9 of the Principal Regulations,

(e) in Regulation 13 of the Principal Regulations--

(i) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (1):

"(1) Any claim for any repayment period by an uncertified sub-contractor for the repayment of tax deducted from a payment pursuant to subsection (2) of the principal section shall be made in the prescribed form.",

and

(ii) by the substitution of the following clause for clause (i) of subparagraph (a) of paragraph (3):

"(i) the amount of tax which was deducted from payments received by the claimant in the repayment period, and",

(f) in Regulation 15 of the Principal Regulations, by the substitution, in paragraph (1), for "and construction tax deduction cards" of ", construction tax deduction cards and declarations made in accordance with Regulation 2A of these Regulations (inserted by the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1996)",

(g) by the substitution of the following Regulation for Regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations:

"Death of principal.

16. On the death of a principal anything which the principal would have been liable to do under these Regulations shall be done by the personal representative of the principal.".

(h) in Regulation 21 of the Principal Regulations--

(i) by the insertion in paragraph (1), after "the particulars" of ", including the sub-contractor's date of birth and identifying number, known as the Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) Number,",

(ii) by the insertion in subparagraph (a) of paragraph (2), after "such particulars" of ", which shall include the sub-contractor's date of birth and identifying number, known as the Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) Number.",

(iii) by the insertion in subparagraph (c) of paragraph (3), after "prescribed form", of "which shall include the sub-contractor's date of birth and identifying number, known as the Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) Number", and

(iv) by the substitution in paragraph (4), for "and relevant tax deduction cards" of ", relevant tax deduction cards and declarations made in accordance with Regulation 2A of these Regulations (inserted by the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1996)",

and

(i) by the insertion in the Principal Regulations of the following Regulation after Regulation 22:

"Information (to be given to principals by subcontractors.

23.Every sub-contractor shall furnish to a principal all such information or particulars as are required by the principal to enable the principle to comply with any provision of these Regulations.".

GIVEN this 4th day of June, 1996.

D. B. QUIGLEY,

Revenue Commissioner.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations amend the Income Tax (Relevant Contracts) Regulations, 1971 to 1993, to provide--

(a) for the deletion of Regulation 9 of the Income Tax (Construction Contracts) Regulations, 1971 which deals with gangs or groups of sub-contractors, consequent on the enactment of section 41 of the Finance Act, 1996 ,

(b) that before entering into a relevant contract, both principal contractors and sub-contractors must make a joint declaration to the effect that, having regard to guidelines published by the Revenue Commissioners, they are satisfied that the contract they are about to enter into is not a contract of employment, and

(c) that sub-contractors' dates of birth and tax reference numbers must, in future, be included on documents used in the Relevant Contract Tax Deduction Scheme.

The deletion of Regulation 9 applies to relevant contracts entered into on or after 15th May, 1996, while the other changes have effect from 6th July, 1996.