Tax Appeals Commission Determinations
Published 30 July – 17 August 2021
Case reference |
Tax head |
Legislation |
Case stated requested |
Matter under determination |
Corporation tax |
Section 284 TCA 1997 |
Unknown |
The primary issue in this appeal concerns the availability of capital allowances on the construction of a power station, including the fee for connections to be built and installed by the ESB and Bord Gáis Energy (“BGE”). Under the connection agreements the Appellant was obliged to transfer ownership of the connections and the land on which the connections were constructed to the ESB and BGE. Revenue contended that connections never belonged to the Appellant and, as such there was no entitlement to rely on the expenditure as a loss. The Appeal Commissioner determined that the connection fees constituted ancillary expenditure necessary for the provision of the plant and machinery used to generate electricity at the power station and on the basis that the plant and machinery belonged to the Appellant, the connection fees constituted capital expenditure on the provision of plant or machinery for the purposes of the trade within the meaning of section 284(1) TCA. |
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VAT |
Article 73, Council Directive 2006/112/EC |
Yes |
The appeal concerns the refusal of claims for a refund of VAT. The issue at appeal was whether volume-based discounts/ rebate payments constitute a reduction in consideration received by the Appellant in the supply of a medical product to private health insurance companies, and consequently, whether relief for a refund of VAT is available under section 39(2) VATCA 2010. Having considered the contractual arrangement between the Appellant and the private health insurance company which provided for the volume-based discount and in consideration of the decision in Finanzamt Bingen-Alzey -v- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH (Case C-462/16), the Appeal Commissioner determined that volume-based discounts/ rebate payments constituted a reduction in consideration received by the Appellant in respect of the supply and consequently, the Appellant was determined to be entitled to relief by a repayment of VAT. |
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Income tax |
Finance Act 2010 |
Yes |
This appeal concerns an election by the Appellant to be charged to income tax in 2010 on the basis of the average profits or gains from farming in the three years ending in that year of assessment in accordance with section 657(5). The issue at appeal relates to whether the Appellant “was not charged to tax in respect of profits or gains from farming in accordance with section 65(1)” in 2008, such that an election under section 657(4) could be relied on. It was determined that the Appellant did not satisfy the requirements in section 657(4), as the Appellant had incurred a loss from farming in 2008 and was not charged to tax in respect of profits or gains from farming in accordance with section 65(1) in that year. It was noted that a ‘charge to tax’ differs from being ‘chargeable to tax’ or a ‘chargeable person’. |
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Income tax – artists exemption |
Unknown |
This appeal concerns a book that the Appellant classified as an autobiography for which the Appellant submitted a claim for the artists exemption for determination by Revenue. The claim was refused on the grounds that, while the work was of non-fiction, it did not come within the specific criteria set out in paragraph 7 of the guidelines drawn up section 195 by an Comhairle Ealaíon and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The Appeal Commissioner determined the work to fall short of the characteristics of an autobiography and even where it was an autobiography it could not overcome the further tests set out in paragraph 7(2)(b) of the guidelines. |
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Income tax – artists exemption |
Unknown |
This appeal concerns a non-fiction book for which the Appellant submitted a claim for the artists exemption for determination by Revenue. The claim was refused on the grounds that, while the work was of non-fiction, it did not come within the specific criteria set out in paragraph 7 of the guidelines drawn up section 195 by an Comhairle Ealaíon and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The Appeal Commissioner determined that the work was neither an autobiography and/or a biography and so did not require further consideration of the terms of the test set out in paragraph 7(2)(b) of the guidelines, and as such the Appellant was not to be entitled to the artists exemption. |
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Income tax |
Section 112 TCA 1997, as amended by Finance Act 2017 |
Unknown |
The appeal concerns the treatment of backpay owing to the Appellant, a post-primary teacher, in respect of “relevant non-teaching experience”. The backpay represented arrears from 2013 to 2019 inclusive and were treated as earnings in 2019 under the PAYE system. Revenue contended that Schedule E income was chargeable on a receipts basis from 2018. Owing to the wording of section 112(3) TCA 1997, as amended the Appeal Commissioner determined, despite the income being earned from 2013 through to 2019, the income was taxable in the year it was paid to the Appellant. |
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Income tax |
Unknown |
This appeal concerns unsubstantiated claims for relief in respect of permanent health insurance made by the Appellant in their e-From 12 for the years 2017 to 2018. The Appeal Commissioner detailed that the onus of proof rests with the taxpayer. |
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VAT |
Unknown |
This appeal concerns Revenue’s decline to process claims for repayment of VAT on the basis that a valid claim for repayment had not been made within the four-year statutory period. Despite the difficult personal circumstances of the Appellant at the relevant time the Appeal Commissioner was not in a position to afford discretion on the statutory time limit under section 99(6) VATCA 2010. |
