Section 71 Application and adaptation of other Parts of this Act

Summary

The stamp duty code requires that a document be impressed with a stamp. Since it is not possible to impress a stamp on an operator-instruction it is necessary to adjust certain parts of the code. These adjustments are made in this section. In the main they provide that—

• the duty becomes due and payable on the date the operator-instruction advising the Registrar of a company to update the register is generated,
• the penalties and interest for late payment of the duty apply to electronic transfers as they apply to written transfers,
• the Revenue Commissioners may assess the duty due on an operator-instruction and the appeal procedures will apply to such assessment, and

Details

This section adapts the stamp duty code to ensure that most of the existing provisions will apply notwithstanding the fact that there is no document which can be physically stamped.

(a) The transferee is accountable for the payment of stamp duty on operator-instructions

(b) The operator-instruction does not have to be stamped. Stamp duty on an operator-instruction is due and payable on the date that the operator-instruction is generated. The operator-instruction is deemed to be duly stamped for the purposes of section 2(4) when the duty and interest relating to such duty has been paid to the Revenue Commissioners.

(c) Where there is an agreement in place, under section 72, between the Revenue Commissioners and the operator of the system, any duty collected by the operator is deemed to have been paid to the Revenue Commissioners on the date on which it became due and payable even though it may actually be paid over on a different date. In the absence of such an agreement the duty would have had to be paid over to the Revenue Commissioners on the date the operator-instruction was generated (see paragraph (b)).

(d) Interest on late payment of stamp duty is to apply to electronic transfers as they apply to written transfers.

(e) Certain provisions of the stamp duty code do not apply to electronic transfers. The provisions which do not apply relate in the main to instruments and the physical impression of stamps on instruments

(f) The Revenue Commissioners may make an assessment (including correcting assessments) of any duty due on an electronic transfer (see also section 159C as regards the time limit for making certain assessments from 1 January 2005). The appeal procedures contained in section 21 apply to such assessments.

(g) Reliefs or exemptions from stamp duty (see Part 7) which require the document to be adjudicated (see section 20) by the Revenue Commissioners also apply to an operator-instruction notwithstanding the fact that the operator-instruction cannot be stamped with an adjudged stamp.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2014