Finance Act, 1950

Determination of reduced Irish rate.

14.—(1) In this section, the expressions “the reduced Irish rate”, “double taxation relief” and “the company” have the same meaning as in the last preceding section and the word “dividend” means a dividend to which that section applies.

(2) The reduced Irish rate in relation to any dividend shall be taken to be the rate which is produced by deducting—

(a) the rate of double taxation relief for the period for which the dividend is paid, from

(b) the rate of tax authorised to be deducted from the dividend by Rule 20 of the General Rules.

(3) Subject to any adjustment which is required by subsection (4) of the last preceding section or by subsection (4) of this section, the rate of double taxation relief for the period for which the dividend is paid shall be taken to be—

(a) in the case of a dividend paid for a period which falls wholly within any year of assessment, the rate which is produced by dividing the double taxation relief for that year of assessment by a sum consisting of the total income of the company as computed for income tax purposes for that year reduced by the amount of any income the income tax upon which the company is entitled, otherwise than under Rule 20 of the General Rules, to charge against any other person;

(b) in the case of a dividend paid for a period which falls partly within one year of assessment and partly within another year of assessment or other years of assessment, the rate which is produced by determining, in relation to each of those years,—

(i) the rate which would have been applicable if the dividend had been paid for a period falling wholly within that year, and

(ii) the portion of that rate which bears the same proportion to that rate as the part of the period for which the dividend is paid which falls within that year bears to the whole period,

and then aggregating the portions so determined.

(4) Where any matter affecting the calculation of the rate of double taxation relief has not been fully determined at the time when the reduced Irish rate falls to be determined in relation to any dividend, the rate of double taxation relief shall be estimated according to the best of the information available at the time, and, if it is subsequently found that the rate so estimated was excessive or deficient, the appropriate adjustment shall be made in determining the reduced Irish rate applicable to the next subsequent dividend on the occasion of which it is practicable to make the adjustment, and shall be made by reducing or, as the case may be, increasing the rate of double taxation relief, as calculated for the purposes of that subsequent dividend in accordance with the foregoing subsection, by a rate which bears the same proportion to the excess or deficiency in the rate applicable to the first-mentioned dividend as the total amount of the first-mentioned dividend bears to the total amount of that subsequent dividend.

(5) Where the double taxation relief for any year of assessment includes any credit which has been taken into account for the purposes of determining the reduced Irish rate applicable to any dividends received by the company, the amount of that credit shall be taken to be the sum of the amounts which are produced by applying to each such dividend the rate which represents the excess of the rate of tax authorised to be deducted from that dividend by Rule 20 of the General Rules over the reduced Irish rate applicable to that dividend.

(6) For the purposes of this section, a dividend which is not expressed to be paid for any specified period shall be deemed to be paid for the last period for which accounts of the company were made up which ended before the dividend became payable.