Revenue Note for Guidance

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Revenue Note for Guidance

501 Claims

Summary

This section provides the procedure for claiming relief.

Claims for relief

(1)(a) A claim to the relief shall be made not earlier than -

  • (1)(a)(i) In the case of an investment under SURE the date on which the company commences to carry on relevant trading activities or a company has expended not less than 30 per cent of the relevant investment on research and development activities which are connected with and undertaken with a view to the carrying on of relevant trading activities.
  • (1)(a)(ii) In the case of accompany which had not commenced relevant trading activities at the time the eligible shares were issued and does not begin to carry on relevant trading activities, the time of the disposal and in any other case the end of the period of four months, following the commencement of trading, as provided for in section 489(4)(a) in the case an investment under the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII),

(1)(a)(iii) In the case of the relief on the ten fortieths under section 489(2)(b), the date on which the relevant period ends,

and

(1)(b) A claim to the relief shall be made not later than -

  • (1)(b)(i) two years after the end of the year of assessment in which the shares were issued, in tandem with the commencement of trading requirement provided for in section 489(4), which linked condition is re-emphasised here, for the avoidance of doubt, or
  • (1)(b)(ii) three months after the date that the statement, in the required format, is furnished to the Revenue Commissioners, by the qualifying company or its agent, where such statement is furnished within the three months prior to the expiry of the time specified in subparagraph (1)(b)(i) above.

(2) A claim for relief must be accompanied by a certificate from the company in which the investment is made certifying that it satisfies, as regards the company and the trade, the conditions for relief.

(3) Before a company can issue such a certificate it must furnish the inspector with a statement showing that, in relation to the company and the trade, all conditions necessary for relief have been satisfied throughout the period —

  • beginning on the date the shares issued and ending 3 years later, or
  • where the company was not at that date carrying on a qualifying trade, beginning on the date the shares issued and ending 3 years after the date the company subsequently began to carry on such a trade.

(4) No such certificate can be issued without the authority of the inspector or where if, after the issue of eligible shares but before the admission of a claim, the company has received information that some event has occurred which would lead to a withdrawal of the relief.

(5) The statement from the company (under subsection (3)) must be made in the manner prescribed by the Revenue Commissioners and contain all such information as may be reasonably required. It must also contain a declaration from the company that the statement is correct to the best of the company’s knowledge and belief.

Penalty

(6) A company shall be liable to a penalty of €4,000 where it has issued a certificate under subsection (2) or has furnished a statement under subsection (3), that is false or misleading, or where it has furnished a certificate in contravention of subsection (4). Where a certificate is issued either without the authority of the inspector or if the company has information that an event has occurred which would trigger the withdrawal of relief (subsection (4)), the penalty is €4,000.

PAYE

(7) The relief may be given under PAYE, but only if a claim for relief has been made and admitted.

Interest on overdue tax

(8) Any amount of interest imposed by section 1080 (interest on overdue tax) in a case where tax is not paid by the due date remains unaffected by the fact that relief may be due under the scheme for the year in question. Unless paid earlier or due and payable later such part of the tax outstanding equivalent to the amount of the relief due is to be treated as paid on the date the claim is made. Section 1081 which provides for the writing off of interest due on an amount of tax which is subsequently discharged because of a claim to a personal relief is not to apply to any amount of tax which is discharged or repaid by reason of relief under this Part.

The interest charge on tax outstanding is to run up to the date on which the tax is paid or the claim to relief under this Chapter is made, whichever is the earlier.

A claim for relief under either section 489(2) or section 493 will not be allowed unless at the time the claim is made the company qualifies for a tax clearance certificate under section 1095.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2021