Railway Safety Act 2005

Levy.

26.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), for the purpose of meeting expenses properly incurred by the Commission in the discharge of its functions under this Act, the Commission, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, may make regulations imposing a levy (“levy”) to be paid each year by such classes of railway undertakings as may be specified by the Commission in the regulations.

(2) The Commission shall not impose levy before 31 December 2007.

(3) Regulations made under subsection (1) may provide for the following—

(a) rates of levy payable,

(b) the keeping of records and the making of returns by persons liable to pay levy,

(c) the collection and recovery of levy,

(d) exemption from levy, and

(e) such other matters as are necessary or incidental to the procurement of the payment of levy.

(4) Levy shall be payable to the Commission at such time and at such rates as may be prescribed in regulations made by the Commission under subsection (1) and different rates may be prescribed in respect of different classes of railway undertakings liable to pay levy, and such regulations may provide for an exemption from payment of levy for railway undertakings whose operating revenue is below a threshold prescribed in the regulations.

(5) Any increase in levy may only take effect in the year after the year in which the increase is made in regulations.

(6) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, direct the Commission to pay into the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof, such sum as he or she may specify, being a sum that represents the amount by which the gross income received by the Commission in each financial year exceeds the gross expenditure incurred in the administration of its office in that year.

(7) The Commission may recover, as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction, from any person by whom it is payable any amount due and owing to it under this section.