Revenue Note for Guidance

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Revenue Note for Guidance

205C Exemption in respect of Cervical Check payments

Summary

This section provides an exemption from income tax and capital gains tax for payments made to women impacted by the failures in the CervicalCheck screening programme, or where such a woman is deceased when the payment is made, payments made directly to her dependant(s). Income and capital gains accruing from the investment of such payment made to an impacted woman is also exempt from income tax and capital gains tax where they arise to the impacted woman.

Details

Definitions

(1) “Act of 2019” means the CervicalCheck Tribunal Act 2019.

“appropriate person” has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the CervicalCheck Tribunal Act 2019, i.e., the relevant woman or where the relevant woman is deceased, her dependant. For these purposes, 'dependant' has the same meaning assigned to it by Part IV of the Civil Liability Act 1961 which includes, inter alia, a spouse, parent, grandparent, step-parent, child, grandchild, step-child, brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister, and certain cohabitants of the deceased.

“relevant payment” means any of the following:

  1. a payment made pursuant to the CervicalCheck non-disclosure ex-gratia Scheme (that is to say the scheme administered, under that title, by the Minister for Health in furtherance of a decision of the Government of 11 March 2019);
  2. a payment made pursuant to the CervicalCheck Tribunal Act 2019;
  3. a payment to an appropriate person in respect of compensation following the institution by or on behalf of a relevant woman of a civil action for damages in respect of personal injury, but excluding any compensation to an appropriate person other than a relevant woman, for mental distress resulting from the relevant woman’s death.

“relevant woman” has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the of the CervicalCheck Tribunal Act 2019.

Application

(2) Income that:

  • (2)(a)consists of a relevant payment made to an appropriate person, or
  • (2)(b)arises to a relevant woman from the investment in whole or in part of a relevant payment or of income arising from such a payment is also exempt from income tax to the extent that it would otherwise be chargeable to tax under —
    • Schedule C (interest paid out of public revenue),
    • Case III (for example certain interest paid in the State without deduction of tax) of Schedule D,
    • Case IV (by virtue of section 59 (income taxed at source), section 745 (offshore income gains) and section 747E (disposal of an interest in offshore funds)) of Schedule D,
    • Case V (rents) of Schedule D, or
    • Schedule F (distributions by Irish companies),

is exempt from income tax.

(3)Gains accruing to a relevant woman on the disposal of assets acquired directly or indirectly with a relevant payment or with exempt income derived from such a payment are exempt from capital gains tax.

(4)Where it is necessary to decide how much income is exempt income or how much gains are exempt gains, apportionment on a just and reasonable basis is to apply. This may be required where the payments or monies derived therefrom together with other funds available to the individual concerned are used to purchase an asset.

(5)Any excess tax paid as a consequence of application of these exemptions in any of the years of assessment 2008 to 2020 (both years inclusive) may, on the making of a claim by the appropriate person on or before 31 December 2025, be repaid by the Revenue Commissioners notwithstanding the general time limit for making a claim for a repayment of tax set out in section 865, and such a claim is a valid claim within the meaning of section 865(1)(b).

Commencement

This section is deemed to come into operation on 1 September 2008.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2024