2 Interpretation.

(1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires —

“the Act” means the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997;

“authorised officer” means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing for the purposes of these Regulations;

“authorised person” in relation to Regulations 29 and 30, means an employer who has been authorised in writing by the Collector-General for the purposes of Regulation 29 and, “authorise”, “authorised” and “authorisation” shall be construed accordingly;

“certificate of tax credits and standard rate cut-off point” has the meaning specified in paragraph (2) of Regulation 11;

“Collector-General” means the Collector-General appointed under section 851 of the Act;

“cumulative emoluments” in relation to any date means the sum of all payments of emoluments made by the employer to the employee from the beginning of the year up to and including that date;

“cumulative gross tax” means the sum of cumulative tax due at the standard rate of tax and cumulative tax due at the higher rate of tax;

“cumulative standard rate cut-off point” in relation to any date means the sum of the standard rate cut-off point from the beginning of the year up to and including that date as specified on the employee's tax deduction card;

“cumulative tax” means cumulative gross tax less cumulative tax credits;

“cumulative tax credits” in relation to any date means the sum of the tax credits from the beginning of the year up to and including that date as specified on the employee's tax deduction card;

“cumulative tax due at higher rate of tax” in relation to any date means tax due at the higher rate of tax in respect of the cumulative emoluments to that date to the extent that they exceed the cumulative standard rate cut-off point to that date as specified on the employee's tax deduction card;

“cumulative tax due at standard rate of tax” in relation to any date means tax due by reference to the standard rate of tax for the year in respect of the cumulative emoluments, to that date, up to the amount of the cumulative standard rate cut-off point to that date as specified on the employee's tax deduction card;

“domestic employee” means an employee who is employed solely on domestic duties (including the minding of children) in the employer's private dwelling house;

“domestic employment” means employment by reference to which an employee is a domestic employee;

[“electronic communications” has the meaning assigned to it by section 864A(1)(a) of the Act;]¹

“emoluments” means emoluments to which Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the Act applies;

“employee” means any person in receipt of emoluments;

“employer” means any person paying emoluments;

“general tax credit” has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Act;

“higher rate of tax” means the rate of income tax known by that description and provided for in section 15 of the Act;

“income tax month” means a calendar month;

[“inspector” means an inspector of taxes; taxes or other officer of the Revenue Commissioners;]²

[“notional payment” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2) of section 985A (inserted by the Finance Act 2003) of the Act; and;]³

“personal public service number” has the same meaning as in section 223 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993;

“personal tax credit” has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Act;

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners;

“reliefs from income tax” means allowances, deductions and tax credits;

“standard rate cut-off point” in relation to an employee, means the standard rate cut-off point advised by the inspector on the certificate of tax credits and standard rate cut-off point;

“standard rate of tax” means the rate of income tax known by that description and provided for in section 15 of the Act;

“tax credits” in relation to an employee means the appropriate amount of personal tax credits and general tax credits to which the employee is entitled under the Act;

[“tax deduction card” means a tax deduction card in the form prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners or such other document corresponding to a tax deduction card as may be authorised by the Revenue Commissioners in any particular case;]⁴

[“temporary tax deduction form” means any form as may be prescribed on which particulars of emoluments paid and the aggregate of —

(i) tax deducted from those emoluments and,

(ii) tax which was not so deducted, but which was remitted by the employer under section 985A(4) of the Principal Act in relation to notional payments,

are to be recorded by the employer pending receipt of a tax deduction card;

“total net tax deducted” means, in relation to the emoluments paid to any employee during any period, the aggregate of —

(i) the total tax deducted from those emoluments, and

(ii) tax which was not so deducted but which was remitted by the employer for that period under section 985A(4) of the Principal Act in relation to notional payments,

less any tax repaid to the employee;]⁵

“year” means year of assessment;

[(1A) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires —

(a) references to a payment of emoluments shall include references to notional payments in respect of emoluments, and

(b) references to tax deducted or to be deducted, or to a requirement to deduct tax, from a payment of emoluments shall include references to —

(i) tax deducted or to be deducted, or to a requirement to deduct tax, from the payment, and

(i) tax remitted or to be remitted, or a requirement to remit tax, under section 985A(4) of the Principal Act,

in respect of notional payments, as the circumstances may require,

and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.]⁶

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Income Tax Acts has, except where the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations that it has in those Acts.