Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 229/2012
• Year: 2012

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 3rd July, 2012.

I, JOAN BURTON, Minister for Social Protection, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 2(1), 4 (amended by section 96 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011 (No. 10 of 2011)) and 34A (amended by section 11 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012 (No. 12 of 2012)) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (No. 26 of 2005), and by sections 13, 17 (amended by section 13 of the Social Welfare Act 2011 (No. 37 of 2011)) and 25(1)(d) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 , with the consent of the Minister for Finance, given after consultation with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation and construction.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.

(2) These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) Regulations 1996 to 2011 shall be read together as one and may be cited together as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) Regulations 1996 to 2012.

Definitions.

2. In these Regulations—

“Principal Regulations” means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) Regulations 1996 ( S.I. No. 312 of 1996 ), and

“Regulations of 2010” means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Contributions and Insurability) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 684 of 2010 ).

Commencement.

3. These Regulations come into operation on 1 July 2012.

Amendment of definitions in Part I of Principal Regulations.

4. Article 3 of the Principal Regulations is amended—

(a) by deleting the definition of “reckonable earnings” (amended by article 4 of the Regulations of 2010),

(b) by substituting the following definition for the definition of “reckonable income” (amended by article 4 of the Regulations of 2010):

“ ‘reckonable income’, in relation to a voluntary contributor, means all income derived from any employment, including any trade, business, profession, office or vocation and such reckonable income shall include share-based remuneration realised, acquired or appropriated, as the case may be, on or after 1 January 2011;”, and

(c) by deleting the definition of “special contributor” (amended by article 4 of the Regulations of 2010).

Remittance of certain contributions in respect of share-based remuneration.

5. The Principal Regulations are amended by inserting the following article after article 8:

“Prescribed manner for remittance of certain contributions in respect of share-based remuneration.

8A.(1) A person to whom paragraph (a) of section 13(4A) applies shall be liable to pay to the Collector-General employment contributions in accordance with section 13(2)(b) in respect of any gain so realised within 30 days of the realisation of that gain.

(2) A person to whom paragraph (b) of section 13(4A) applies shall be liable to pay to the Minister employment contributions in accordance with section 13(2)(b) in respect of any gain so realised within 30 days of the realisation of that gain.”.

Charging of interest on arrears of contributions.

6. The Principal Regulations are amended by substituting the following article for article 10:

“Charging of interest on arrears of contributions.

10. (1) Where any amount in respect of an employment contribution, including an amount estimated under the provisions of article 11 or 12, which—

(a) an employer is liable to pay to the CollectorGeneral or to the Minister, as the case may be, or

(b) an employed contributor to whom paragraph (a) or (b) of section 13(4A) applies is liable to pay to the CollectorGeneral or to the Minister, as the case may be,

is not so paid, simple interest on that amount shall be paid by the employer or the employed contributor, as the case may be, and such interest shall be calculated—

(i) at the rate at which, for the time being, interest is chargeable on unpaid income tax under section 991 of the Act of 1997, and

(ii) from the expiration of—

(I) the time specified in the Regulations of 2001, as applied to employment contributions, for the payment of the amount in the case of an employment contribution payable in respect of an employee in receipt of emoluments as defined in paragraph (a) in the definition of reckonable earnings in section 2(1), and

(II) the time specified in article 9 in any other case.

(2) Interest charged on employment contributions shall be collected and be recoverable by the Collector-General or, by the Minister in the case of an employment contribution payable in respect of a special contributor, and shall be accounted for by the CollectorGeneral or the Minister, as the case may be, and paid into the Social Insurance Fund.”.

Return of contributions — share-based remuneration.

7. Chapter 2 of Part III of the Principal Regulations is amended—

(a) by inserting the following articles after article 71:

“Return of certain contributions in respect of share-based remuneration.

71A.(1) Any contributions referred to in subparagraph (i) of section 34A(1)(a) that have been paid in respect of an employed contributor or special contributor shall be returned by the Minister or Collector-General, as appropriate—

(a) to that employed contributor or special contributor, as the case may be, or

(b) to the employer of that employed contributor or...