S.I. No. 267/1985:

IMPOSITION OF DUTIES (NO. 279) (MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTOR-CYCLES) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1985.

IMPOSITION OF DUTIES (NO. 279) (MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTOR-CYCLES) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1985.

The Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 1 of the Imposition of Duties Act, 1957 (No. 7 of 1957), section 22 of the Finance Act, 1962 (No. 15 of 1962), section 46 of the Finance Act, 1975 (No. 6 of 1975), and section 29 of the Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 1978 (No. 34 of 1978), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Imposition of Duties (No. 279) (Motor Vehicles and Motor-cycles) (Amendment) Order, 1985.

2. In this Order--

"the Order of 1979" means the Imposition of Duties (No. 236) (Excise Duties on motor Vehicles, Televisions and Gramophone Records) Order, 1979 ( S.I. No. 57 of 1979 );

"the Order of 1984" means the Imposition of Duties (No. 272) (Excise Duties on motor Vehicles) Order, 1984 ( S.I. No. 353 of 1984 ).

3. Paragraph 3(a) of the Order of 1979 is hereby amended--

( a ) by the insertion before the definition of "category A motor vehicles" of the following definition:

"'ambulance' means a motor vehicle which is specially designed, constructed or adapted for the conveyance of injured or seriously ill persons to a hospital on stretchers and which is permanently fitted to accommodate and hold in position two or more standard stretchers;",

( b ) by the substitution for the definition of "category A motor vehicles" of the following definition:

"'Category A motor vehicles' means motor vehicles (excluding ambulances, hearses, omnibuses and special purpose vehicles)--

(i) which are designed, constructed or adapted, solely or mainly for the carriage of the driver alone or the driver and one or more other persons, or,

(ii) which are of not more than three tonnes unladen weight and have, to the rear of the driver's seat, a roofed area--

(A) which is fitted with one or more side windows, or,

(B) in which openings, suitable for the fitting of side windows, are or were incorporated and such openings are not closed and sealed in accordance with such conditions as may be prescribed from time to time by the Revenue Commissioners, or,

(C) in which one or more seats have been fitted or in which are provided fixtures or other devices for the purpose of fitting one or more seats, or,

(D) in which the floor is constructed or fitted otherwise than in accordance with such conditions as may be prescribed from time to time by the Revenue commisioners;",

( c ) by the insertion after the definition of "motor vehicle" of the following definition:

"'omnibus' means a motor vehicle which is designed, constructed or adapted for the carriage of more than sixteen persons (inclusive of the driver);",

( d ) by the substitution for the definition of "'secondhand motor vehicle' (inserted by the Order of 1984) of the following definition:

"'second-hand motor vehicle' means a used motor vehicle which has been previously registered for road-tax purposes in the name of a person other than the person who is the owner thereof at the time of the charging thereon of the duty imposed by paragraph 4 of this Order, or which, prior to the time at which the duty imposed by the said paragraph 4 became chargeable thereon, had been in ordinary use for a period of not less than six months;", and

( e ) by the insertion after the definition of "second-hand motor vehicle" (inserted by subparagraph (d) of this paragraph) of the following definition:

"'special purpose vehicle' means a motor vehicle which is designed, constructed or adapted solely or mainly for a purpose other than the carriage of persons or goods;".

4. The Order of 1984 is hereby amended--

( a ) in paragraph 3--

(i) by the deletion of the definition of "horsepower", and

(ii) by the insertion of the following definition:

"'cylinder capacity' means cylinder capacity calculated in accordance with regulations for the time being in force made by the Minister for the Environment under section 1 (3) of the Finance (Excise Duties) (Vehicles) Act, 1952 (No. 24 of 1952), for the purpose of a rate of duty specified in the Schedule to that Act;", and

( b ) in paragraph 5, by the substitution for clause (i) of subparagraph (a) of the following clause:

"(i) insofar as it is chargeable on category A motor vehicles the engines of which have a cylinder capacity exceeding 2012 cubic centimetres, at the rate of an amount equal to 26 per cent. of the chargeable value, and".

5. The Imposition of Duties (No. 273) (Excise Duty on Motor-cycles) Order, 1984 ( S.I. No. 354 of 1984 ), is hereby amended by the substitution of "cylinder capacity" for "cubic capacity" in each place where those words occur in paragraphs 3 (1), 4 (2) and 5 (2).

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government this 16th day

of August, 1985.

DICK SPRING,

Tanaiste.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order amends the definition of Category A motor vehicles in the Imposition of Duties (No. 236) (Excise Duties on Motor Vehicles, Televisions and Gramophone Records) Order, 1979 ( S.I. No. 57 of 1979 ) to remove any doubts as to the type of vehicles liable to the Category A rates of excise duty and introduces some other minor regulatory amendments to the motor vehicle and motor-cycle excise duty regimes.