1006 Poundage and certain other fees due to sheriffs or county registrars

Summary

This section confirms the entitlement of sheriffs and county registrars to fees or commission (known as poundage) in the execution of warrants for tax debts without having to resort to seizure of property when enforcing those debts.

Details

Definitions

(1) “the Acts” means the Tax Acts (Income Tax Acts and Corporation Tax Acts), the Capital Gains Tax Acts, the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 and the enactments amending or extending that Act, the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 and the enactments amending or extending that Act, Part VI of the Finance Act 1983 (which deals with residential property tax) and the enactments amending or extending that Part, the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, Part 18A (which relates to the income levy), Part 18B (which relates to the parking levy in urban areas), Part 18C (which relates to the domicile levy) and Part 18D (which relates to the universal social charge), and also any instruments made under those Acts.

“certificate”: under section 960L the Collector-General may issue a certificate to a county registrar or sheriff in respect of a tax defaulter. Such a certificate has the same status as an execution order issued by a court.

“county registrar” is a person appointed to be a county registrar under section 35 of the Court Officers Act, 1926.

“defaulter” is the person specified or certified in an execution order or certificate on whom an amount of tax or interest on unpaid tax is leviable.

“execution order” is defined in the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926. It means and includes any writ, decree, warrant, or other document by whatever name called issued by a court in a civil matter directing or authorising the execution of a court order by the seizure and sale of a person’s property or by putting a person in possession of lands or premises or delivering to him/her specific property.

“fees” refers to the poundage fees which are payable under section 14(1) of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926 and orders made under that provision for executing an execution order. It also means the fees corresponding to poundage fees payable under section 960L for executing a certificate issued by the Collector-General under that section.

“interest on unpaid tax” is the interest arising under any provision of the Acts providing for the charging of interest on unpaid tax, including interest on an undercharge of tax due to fraud or neglect.

“relevant amount” is an amount of tax or interest on unpaid tax.

“tax” means any tax, duty, levy or charge placed under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

References, as respects an execution order, to a relevant amount include references to any amount of costs specified in the order.

Poundage fees

(2) For the section to operate the following conditions must be fulfilled —

• an execution order or certificate must be lodged with the sheriff or county registrar,
• the sheriff or county registrar must have given notice to the defaulter of his/her intention to execute the execution order or certificate by seizing the defaulter’s property, or have demanded payment by the defaulter of the relevant amount, and
• the defaulter must have paid the sheriff, county registrar or Collector-General all or part of the amount in default, plus costs where appropriate, after the notice has been given or demand made by the sheriff or county registrar.

Where these conditions are fulfilled, then, for the purposes of the liability of the defaulter to poundage, the sheriff or county registrar is deemed to have seized the defaulter’s property and to have levied the amount paid by the defaulter. In these circumstances poundage fees are payable by the defaulter to the sheriff or county registrar in respect of the payment made by the defaulter.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2019