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Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 (Number 39 of 1997)

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478A. Stay and spend tax credit

(1) In this section—

eligible service provider” means a person who—

(a) provides a qualifying service in the course of carrying on a business,

(b) has been issued with a tax clearance certificate in accordance with section 1095 and such tax clearance certificate has not been rescinded under subsection (3A) of that section, and

(c) is an accountable person under section 5 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 and has been assigned a VAT registration number under section 65 of that Act;

food and drink” means food with or without drink, but does not include drink without food;

holiday accommodation” means accommodation at—

(a) premises that are registered in a register maintained and kept by the National Tourism Development Authority under Part III of the Tourist Traffic Act 1939, or

(b) premises that are listed in the list published or caused to be published by the National Tourism Development Authority under section 9 of the Tourist Traffic Act 1957;

PPS Number”, in relation to an individual, means the individual’s Personal Public Service Number within the meaning of section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;

qualifying expenditure” means expenditure on a qualifying service provided by a qualifying service provider but does not include expenditure incurred—

(a) on the provision of any alcoholic drink provided as part of the qualifying service, or

(b) on a particular instance of the provision of a qualifying service where the expenditure so incurred is less than €25;

qualifying period” means the period beginning on 1 October 2020 and expiring on the day that is the later of—

(a) 30 April 2021, and

(b) where the Minister for Finance makes an order for the purposes of this paragraph, the day specified in the order;

qualifying service” means—

(a) the provision of holiday accommodation, or

(b) the provision of food and drink, in a form suitable for human consumption without further preparation, in a hotel, restaurant, cafe, licensed premises (within the meaning of section 2 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018) or other similar establishment, where the food and drink so provided is consumed in the establishment in which it is provided;

qualifying service provider” means an eligible service provider who has provided to the Revenue Commissioners (through such electronic means as the Revenue Commissioners make available) the information specified in subsection (2) and to whom a notice has been issued by the Revenue Commissioners in accordance with subsection (3)(a); 35

tax reference number” means, in the case of an individual, the individual’s PPS Number and, in the case of a company, the reference number stated on any return of income form or notice of assessment issued to the company by the Revenue Commissioners;

tax year” means a year of assessment for income tax purposes.

(2) The information referred to in the definition of ‘qualifying service provider’ in subsection (1) is as follows:

(a) the service provider’s name, including any trading name (if different);

(b) the service provider’s business address;

(c) the service provider’s tax reference number;

(d) the service provider’s VAT registration number;

(e) the service provider’s tax clearance access number (within the meaning of section 1094);

(f) where the service provider provides holiday accommodation—

(i) details of the type of accommodation provided,

(ii) in the case of premises registered in a register kept by the National Tourism Development Authority under Part III of the Tourist Traffic Act 1939, details of such registration, and

(iii) in the case of premises listed in the list published or caused to be published by the National Tourism Development Authority under section 9 of the Tourist Traffic Act 1957, details of such listing;

(g) where the service provider provides food and drink, details of the type of establishment in which the food and drink is provided;

(h) a declaration that the service provider is an eligible service provider for the purposes of this section;

(i) such other information as may reasonably be required by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of determining whether the requirements of this section are met.

(3) As soon as practicable after receipt of the information referred to in subsection (2) from a service provider the Revenue Commissioners shall—

(a) where they are satisfied that the information is complete and accurate, issue to that service provider a notice specifying that the service provider is a qualifying service provider for the purposes of this section, or

(b) where they are not so satisfied, issue to that service provider a notice specifying that the service provider is not a qualifying service provider for the purposes of this section and the reasons why they are not so satisfied,

and any such notice may be issued in writing or by electronic means.

(4) Notwithstanding any obligation imposed on the Revenue Commissioners under section 851A in relation to the confidentiality of taxpayer information (within the meaning of that section), the trading name, business address and nature of the business of all qualifying service providers shall be published on the website of the Revenue Commissioners.

(5) Subject to this section, where, for a tax year, an individual (in this section referred to as the ‘claimant’), on making a claim in that behalf, proves that, in the part of the tax year that coincides with the qualifying period, qualifying expenditure was incurred by—

(a) in a case in which the claimant is a married person assessed to tax for the tax year in accordance with section 1017 or a civil partner assessed to tax for the tax year in accordance with section 1031C, the claimant or his or her spouse or civil partner, or

(b) in any other case, the claimant,

then the claimant shall be entitled to a tax credit (to be known as the ‘stay and spend tax credit’) equal to—

(i) in a case referred to in paragraph (a), the lesser of—

(I) €250, and

(II) 20 per cent of the total qualifying expenditure incurred by the claimant, or his or her spouse or civil partner, in the part of the tax year that coincides with the qualifying period,

or

(ii) in any other case, the lesser of—

(I) €125, and

(II) 20 per cent of the total qualifying expenditure incurred by the claimant in the part of the tax year that coincides with the qualifying period.

(6) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), where a claimant is entitled under this section to a tax credit for each of the tax years 2020 and 2021, the aggregate of the tax credits for those tax years shall not exceed—

(i) in a case in which the claimant is, for each of those tax years, a married person assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017 or a civil partner assessed to tax in accordance with section 1031C,€250, or

(ii) in the case of any other claimant, €125.

(b) Where a claimant is entitled under this section to a tax credit for each of the tax years 2020 and 2021 and is, for only one of those tax years, a married person assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017 or a civil partner assessed to tax in accordance with section 1031C, the aggregate of the tax credits in respect of the claimant and his or her spouse or civil partner for those tax years shall be determined as if the claimant were a married person assessed to tax in accordance with section 1017 or a civil partner assessed to tax in accordance with section 1031C for each of those tax years.

(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Income Tax Acts or Part 18D, where the amount of a tax credit to which a claimant is entitled under this section in a tax year is greater than the amount of income tax payable by the claimant for the tax year after any other allowance, deduction or relief specified in the Table to section 458 has been given to the claimant, the difference between the amount of the tax credit and the amount of income tax payable may be set against a charge to universal social charge which is due and payable by the claimant for that tax year.

(8) On making a claim under this section, a claimant shall provide to the Revenue Commissioners, through such electronic means as the Revenue Commissioners make available, the following information:

(a) his or her name, address and PPS Number;

(b) in the case of a claimant referred to in subsection (5)(a), the name, address and PPS Number of the claimant’s spouse or civil partner;

(c) full particulars of the qualifying expenditure incurred, including—

(i) the trading name and business address of the qualifying service provider,

(ii) details of the qualifying service,

(iii) a copy of the statement issued by the qualifying service provider on receipt of payment specifying the qualifying service provided to the claimant, and

(iv) any other relevant information that may reasonably be required by the Revenue Commissioners to determine whether the requirements of this section are met.

(9) A qualifying service provider shall, when required to do so by notice in writing by the Revenue Commissioners, furnish the Revenue Commissioners, within such time (not being less than 30 days) as may be specified in the notice, with such information as the Revenue Commissioners consider necessary for the purposes of determining whether the requirements of this section are met.

(10)(a) The Minister for Finance may, in order to mitigate the adverse economic consequences resulting, or likely to result, from the spread of Covid-19, by order specify a day for the purpose of paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘qualifying period’.

(b) The Minister for Finance shall not specify in an order under paragraph (a) a day that falls after 31 December 2021.

(c) An order under this subsection shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it has been made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

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Inserted by the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020 s7(b).