European Union (Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation) Regulations 2012

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 549/2012
• Year: 2012

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 1st January, 2013.

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 2011/16/EU of 15 February 20111 , hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation) Regulations 2012.

2. These Regulations come into operation on 1 January 2013.

3. (1) In these Regulations–

“Act of 1997” means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997);

“authorised officer” means a person appointed as an authorised officer under Regulation 12;

“competent authority”, in relation to the State, shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 4;

“Council Directive” means Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011 on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and repealing Directive 77/799/EEC1;

“instrument” means any instrument or decision which emanates from the competent authorities of the requesting Member State and concerns the application in its territory of legislation referable to taxes that are the subject of the Council Directive and which contains the information referred to in Article 13(2) of the Council Directive;

“person” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3(11) of the Council Directive;

“requested authority” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3(6) of the Council Directive;

“requesting authority” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3(5) of the Council Directive.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and that is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Directive.

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and that is also used in the Act of 1997 has, subject to paragraph (2), and unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Act of 1997.

4. The Revenue Commissioners are the competent authority in the State for the purposes of the Council Directive and shall comply with the requirements imposed by the Council Directive on competent authorities in a Member State.

5. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations apply to all taxes of any kind levied by, or on behalf of, a Member State or its territorial or administrative subdivisions, including local authorities.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to—

(a)(i) value-added tax, customs duties, or excise duties covered by other legislation of the European Union on administrative cooperation between Member States, or

(ii) compulsory social security contributions payable to a Member State or a subdivision of a Member State or to social security institutions established under public law,

(b) fees for documents issued by public authorities, and

(c) consideration due under a contract.

6. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), the requested authority shall, at the request of the requesting authority, disclose to the requesting authority any information which is permitted to be disclosed by virtue of the Council Directive.

(2) The requested authority shall not be obliged to provide information for the purposes of the Council Directive where the requesting authority is unable to provide similar information.

(3) The requested authority shall not be obliged to disclose any information for the purposes of the Council Directive that would, in the opinion of the requested authority, disclose any commercial, industrial or professional secret or of a commercial process, or of information whose disclosure would be contrary to public policy.

(4) Nothing in these Regulations permits the requested authority to authorise the use of information disclosed by virtue of the Council Directive to a requesting authority other than for the purposes set out in Article 16 of the Council Directive.

(5) Where the requested authority is unable to supply the requested information to the requesting authority, it shall provide the grounds for the refusal to the requesting authority.

7. The Revenue Commissioners shall not disclose any information in pursuance of the Council Directive unless satisfied that the...