904I Power of inspection: returns and collection of dividend withholding tax.

(1) In this section—

“accountable person” means—

(a) a company resident in the State which makes, and

(b) an authorised withholding agent who is treated under section 172H as making,

a relevant distribution;

“authorised withholding agent”, “dividend withholding tax”, and “relevant distribution” have, respectively, the meanings assigned to them by section 172A;

“authorised officer” means an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, authorised by them in writing to exercise the powers conferred by this section;

“records” means all records which relate to compliance by an accountable person with obligations under Chapter 8A of Part 6 including all declarations (and accompanying certificates) and notifications which are made, or, as the case may be, given to an accountable person in accordance with that Chapter of that Part and Schedule 2A.

(2) An authorised officer, having regard to Chapter 8A of Part 6, may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of an accountable person for the purposes of auditing a return made by the accountable person under section 172K.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the authorised officer may—

(a) examine the procedures put in place by the accountable person for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the accountable person with its obligations under Chapter 8A of Part 6, and

(b) check all, or a sample of or a class of, the records in the power, possession or procurement of the accountable person to determine whether—

(i) the procedures referred to in paragraph (a) have been observed in practice and whether they are adequate, and

(ii) there is information in the accountable person’s possession which can reasonably be taken to indicate that the information contained in one or more of the records is or may be incorrect.

(4) An authorised officer may require an accountable person or an employee of the accountable person to produce records and to furnish information, explanations and particulars and to give all assistance which the authorised officer reasonably requires for the purposes of his or her audit and examination under subsections (2) and (3).

(5) An authorised officer may make extracts from or copies of all or any part of the records made available to him or her or require that copies of such records be made available to him or her, in exercising or performing his or her powers or duties under this section.

(6) An employee of an accountable person who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer’s powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of €1,265.

(7) An accountable person who fails to comply with the requirements of the authorised officer in the exercise or performance of the authorised officer’s powers or duties under this section shall be liable to a penalty of €19,045 and if that failure continues a further penalty of €2,535 for each day on which the failure continues.