S.I. No. 228/1998:

VALUE-ADDED TAX (WAIVER OF EXEMPTION) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1998.

VALUE-ADDED TAX (WAIVER OF EXEMPTION) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1998.

The Revenue Commissioners, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 7 and 32 of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1972 (No. 22 of 1972), hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Value-Added Tax (Waiver of Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations, 1998.

2. These Regulations shall be deemed to have come into effect on the 26th day of March, 1997.

3. Regulation 4 of the Value-Added Tax Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 63 of 1979 ), is hereby amended--

(a) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (2):

"(2A) Where a taxable person makes an exempt letting of immovable goods referred to in paragraph (iv) of the First Schedule to the Act, and those immovable goods were acquired or developed by him for the purpose of his taxable supplies, then, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2), that taxable person may apply to the Revenue Commissioners to waive his right to exemption in respect of that letting from a date earlier than the commencement of the current taxable period referred to in subparagraph (d) of paragraph (1).

(2B) An application under paragraph (2A) shall be made in writing to the Revenue Commissioners and shall include the following:

(a) the name, address and registration number of the taxable person making the application,

(b) the tenant's name, address and registration number,

(c) details of the letting agreement,

(d) the date from which the taxable person desires that the waiver shall have effect.

(2C) A waiver of exemption shall be backdated only where the tenant would have been entitled to deduct, in accordance with section 12 of the Act, all the tax that would have been chargeable in respect of the letting if the waiver had applied from the date specified in accordance with subparagraph (d) of paragraph (2B) to the date specified in paragraph (2E).

(2D) Where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the provisions of paragraph (2C) apply, they shall, subject to paragraph (2F), notify the applicant that the waiver may by back-dated in respect of the letting for which back-dating of a waiver was sought specifying the date to which the waiver shall be back-dated.

(2E) Where a waiver is back-dated in respect of a specific letting, the taxable person shall be deemed to have waived his exemption in respect of all exempt lettings referred to in paragraph (iv) of the First Schedule to the Act which he supplies, from a date, not being earlier than the commencement of the current taxable period, specified by the Revenue Commissioners in the notification issued in accordance with paragraph (2D).

(2F) A waiver may not be back-dated to a date prior to the 26th day of March, 1997.

(2G) Any tax chargeable on the letting of immovable goods resulting from the back-dating of a waiver prior to the date specified in paragraph (2E) shall, for the purposes of the Act, be deemed to have been due and paid by the taxable person in accordance with section 19 of the Act and deducted by the tenant in accordance with section 12 of the Act.

(2H) For the purposes of these Regulations--

"back-dating" in relation to a waiver means the waiving of a right to exemption from tax in respect of an exempt letting of immovable goods to which paragraph (iv) of the First Schedule to the Act refers, from a date earlier than the current taxable period referred to in subparagraph (d) of paragraph (1), and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

"registration number" in relation to a person, means the number assigned to the person for the purposes of registration under section 9 of the Act.",

and

(b) in subparagraph (b) (ii) of paragraph (3) by the substitution of "the total of the amounts of tax referred to at paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (3) of section 7 of the Act" for "the total amount of tax refunded to him in accordance with section 20(1) of the Act ".

GIVEN this 30th day of June, 1998.

D. B. QUIGLEY,

Revenue Commissioner.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations amend Regulation 4 of the Value-Added Tax Regulations, 1979 to provide for the back-dating of a waiver of exemption for VAT on short term lettings of immovable property in specified circumstances. They also amend Regulation 4 to take account of the VAT on property changes contained in the Finance Act, 1997 to section 7(3) of the VAT Act which deals with the calculation of the amount due on the cancellation of a waiver.