Section 21 Right of appeal of persons dissatisfied with assessment

Summary

This section gives a right of appeal to the Appeal Commissioners against a stamp duty assessment made by the Revenue Commissioners (see section 20).

The stamp duty appeals procedure is based on the appeals procedure which applies for the purposes of income tax.

Details

Definitions

(1) “Appeal Commissioners” takes it’s meaning from section 850 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and “time for bringing an appeal” means 30 days after the date of the assessment.

Accountable person may appeal

(2) An accountable person, who is dissatisfied with an assessment made by the Revenue Commissioners, may appeal against the assessment to the Appeal Commissioners on giving notice in writing of the appeal to the Revenue Commissioners within 30 days after the date of the assessment. The decision of the Appeal Commissioners is final unless the appeal is required to be reheard by the Circuit Court or is submitted to the High Court on a point of law.

No appeal where duty is self assessed or duty agreed

(3) An appeal cannot be made against

• an assessment made by an accountable person, or
• an assessment made by the Revenue Commissioners where the duty had been agreed between the Commissioners and the accountable person, or any person authorised by the accountable person, before the assessment was made.

No appeal unless return is filed and duty paid

(4) An appeal cannot be made against an assessment made by the Commissioners unless, within 30 days after the date of the assessment,

• a return is filed in relation to the instrument under the e-stamping system, and
• the accountable person pays the duty based on the return filed.

For the purposes of subsection (4), the amount of the duty to be paid includes any surcharge under section 14A(3), interest calculated in accordance with section 159D and any costs incurred or amounts charged in pursuing the collection of the duty.

Notice of appeal

(5) The notice of appeal against an assessment must specify

• each amount or matter in the assessment with which the accountable person is aggrieved, and
• details of the grounds of the appeal as respects each amount or matter.

(6) Where a notice of appeal does not comply with subsection (5), the notice is invalid and the appeal is deemed not to have been brought.

(7) The accountable person is not entitled to rely on any ground of appeal that is not specified in the notice of appeal unless the Appeal Commissioners, or the Circuit Court, is satisfied that the ground could not reasonably have been stated in the notice.

Appeals against value of land

(8) Appeals against the value of land are not heard by the Appeal Commissioners: rather they must be made to the Land Values Reference Committee.

Appeals relating to expression of doubt

(9) An accountable person may appeal against a decision of the Revenue Commissioners under section 8(C)(5) that an expression of doubt is not genuine by giving notice in writing within 30 days after the notification of the decision.

On hearing the appeal the Appeal Commissioners must have regard only to whether the expression of doubt was genuine.

Income Tax appeal provisions to apply

(10) The provisions relating to appeals under income tax legislation apply to stamp duty appeals.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2014