European Communities (Exemption from Value-Added Tax on the Permanent Importation of Certain Goods) Regulations 2012.

• Statutory Instrument No.: 267/2012
• Published date: 27 July 2012

CONTENTS

Regulation

1 Citation and construction

2 Interpretation

3 Personal property of natural persons transferring their normal place of residence to Community

4. Goods imported on occasion of marriage

5 Personal property acquired by inheritance

6 School outfits, educational materials and related household effects

7 Goods of negligible value

8 Capital goods and other equipment imported on transfer of activities

9 Therapeutic substances, medicines, laboratory animals and biological or chemical substances

10 Goods for charitable or philanthropic organisations

11 Articles for the benefit of persons with disabilities

12 Goods imported for benefit of disaster victims

13 Importation of goods in context of certain aspects of international relations

14 Samples of negligible value

15 Printed matter and advertising material

16 Goods used or consumed at trade fair or similar event

17 Goods imported for examination, analysis or test purposes

18 Consignments sent to organisations protecting copyrights or industrial and commercial patent rights

19 Tourist information literature

20 Miscellaneous documents and articles

21 Ancillary materials for stowage and protection of goods during their transport, and litter, fodder and feedstuff for animals during their transport

22 Fuels and lubricants present in land motor vehicles and special containers

23 Goods for construction, upkeep or ornamentation of memorials to, or cemeteries for, war victims, coffins, funerary urns and ornamental funerary articles

24 Saving for privileges, immunities and exemptions

25 Saving for requirement of payment of tax on goods chargeable to tax on importation

26 Non-application of certain provisions

27 Offence

28 Revocation

Schedule

S.I. No. 267 of 2012

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (EXEMPTION FROM VALUE-ADDED TAX ON THE PERMANENT IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN GOODS) REGULATIONS 2012

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 27th July, 2012.

I, MICHAEL NOONAN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 2009/132/EC of 19 October 20091 , hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and construction

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Exemption from Value-Added Tax on the Permanent Importation of Certain Goods) Regulations 2012.

(2) These Regulations shall be construed together with the Act and the Customs Acts (other than the provisions thereof specified in Regulation 26) and any instrument relating to the customs made under statute (other than the instrument specified in the said Regulation 26).

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“Act” means Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 (No. 31 of 2010);

“alcoholic products” means products (beer, wine, aperitifs with a wine or alcohol base, brandies, liqueurs and spirituous beverages, etc.) falling within headings 22.03 to 22.08 of the Common Customs Tariff;

“Community” means territory of the Member States where Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 20062 applies;

“household effects” means personal effects, household linen and furnishings and items of equipment intended for the personal use of the persons concerned or for meeting their household needs;

“importation” in relation to goods, has the meaning assigned to it by Article 30 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“personal property” means any property intended for the personal use of the persons concerned or for meeting their household needs, and includes—

(a) household effects,

(b) cycles and motor-cycles, private motor vehicles and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure craft and private aeroplanes,

(c) household provisions appropriate to normal family requirements, household pets and saddle animals, and

(d) portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts required by the person concerned for the pursuit of his of her trade or profession, but does not include property whose nature or quantity reflects a commercial interest or property intended for an economic activity within the meaning of Article 9(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006;

“tax” means value-added tax;

“value for the purposes of tax chargeable at importation” means the value of imported goods for the purposes of section 53(1) of the Act.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in Council Directive No. 2009/132/EC of 19 October 20091, shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning in these Regulations that it has in that Directive.

Personal property of natural persons transferring their normal place of residence to Community

3. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (8), tax shall not be charged on goods, being the personal property of any person, other than—

(a) alcoholic products,

(b) tobacco and tobacco products,

(c) commercial means of transport, and

(d) articles for use in the exercise of a trade or profession, excluding portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts,

imported from a country outside the Community by a natural person transferring his or her normal place of residence to the State and which—

(i) except in special cases justified by the circumstances, have been in the possession of, and, in the case of durable goods, used by that person for a minimum period of 6 months before the date on which he or she ceases to have his or her normal place of residence outside the Community,

(ii) are intended to be used at his or her normal place of residence in the State for the purpose for which they were used immediately before such importation,

(iii) have borne either in the country of origin or in the country from which he or she is departing any customs or fiscal charges to which they are normally liable and are not the subject, on the grounds of exportation, of any exemption from or refund of such charges,

(iv) are the personal property of that person, being a person whose normal place of residence has been outside the Community for a continuous period of at least 12 months, or who shows to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that his or her intention was to reside outside the Community for a continuous period of at least 12 months, and

(v) except in special cases justified by the circumstances, are entered for customs purposes, for permanent importation within 12 months of the date of establishment in the State by that person of his or her normal place of residence.

(2) In the case of goods which are—

(a) supplied under diplomatic or consular arrangements, or

(b) supplied to international organisations recognised as such by the public authorities in the State, or to members of such organisations within the limits and under the conditions laid down by the international conventions establishing the organisations or by headquarters agreements,

the reference in paragraph (1)(i) to 6 months shall be construed as a reference to 12 months, and the conditions specified in paragraph (1)(iii) shall be deemed to have been complied with.

(3) Goods the subject of relief under paragraph (1) or (2) may be imported in several separate consignments within the period specified in paragraph (1)(v).

(4) Until 12 months have elapsed from the date of the declaration for their final importation, goods which have been imported tax-free under this Regulation may not be lent, given as security, hired out or transferred, whether for a consideration or free of charge, except in circumstances duly justified to the satisfaction of, and with the prior sanction of, the Revenue Commissioners.

(5) Any lending, giving as security, hiring out or transfer before the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph (4) shall entail payment of the relevant tax on the goods concerned, at the rate applying on the date of such loan, giving as security, hiring out or transfer, on the basis of the type of goods and the value for the purposes of tax chargeable at importation as ascertained or accepted on that date by the Revenue Commissioners.

(6)(a) Relief under this Regulation shall also apply in respect of personal property permanently imported before the person concerned establishes his or her normal place of residence in the State, provided that the person gives an undertaking in writing to the Revenue Commissioners that he or she will actually establish his or her normal place of residence in the State within a period of 6 months after the importation. Such undertaking shall be accompanied by security, the form and amount of which shall be determined by the Revenue Commissioners.

(b) For the purpose of subparagraph (a) the period specified in paragraph (1)(i) shall be calculated from the date of the importation of the personal property into the State.

(7)(a) Subject to subparagraphs (b) and (c), where the person concerned leaves the country situated outside the Community where he or she had his or her normal place of residence and, because of occupational commitments, does not simultaneously establish his or her normal place of residence in the State, although having the intention of ultimately doing so, relief under this Regulation shall apply in respect of the personal property which he or she transfers into the State for this purpose.

(b) Relief in respect of the personal property referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be granted in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Regulation on the basis that—

(i) the periods specified in paragraph (1)(i) and (v) shall be calculated from the date of importation, and

(ii) the period specified in paragraph (4) shall be calculated from the date when the person concerned actually establishes his or her normal place of residence in...