S.I. No. 60/1993:

TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES REGULATIONS, 1993.

TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES REGULATIONS, 1993.

I, BERTIE AHERN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 141 (3) of the Finance Act, 1992 (No. 9 of 1992), hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1993.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

"the Act" means the Finance Act, 1992 (No. 9 of 1992);

"business use" means use in the direct exercise of an activity carried on for gain;

"person established outside the State" means an individual having his normal residence outside the State or a person (other than an individual) having his only or principal place of business outside the State;

"private use" means use other than business use;

"transport of goods for the purpose of industry or commerce" does not include--

( a ) the transport of apparatus for use in the transmission of programmes by sound or television broadcasting or in the making of sound recordings, television films or cinematograph films, or

( b ) transport for a purpose connected solely with an election to Dáil Éireann.

(2) ( a ) In these Regulations "normal residence" means the place where a person usually lives, that is to say, where he lives for at least 185 days in each year, because of personal and occupational ties, or, in the case of a person with no occupational ties, because of personal ties.

However, the normal residence of a person whose occupational ties are in a different place from his personal ties and who consequently lives in turn in different places situated in 2 or more countries shall be regarded as being the place of this personal ties:

Provided that such person returns to the place of his personal ties regularly. This proviso shall not apply if the person is living in a country in order to carry out a task of a definite duration.

A person who lives in a country primarily for the purposes of attending a school or university or other educational or vocational establishment shall not be regarded as having his normal residence in that country.

( b ) Proof of normal residence may be given by means of documents relating to the acquisition of property or to employment of cessation of employment or to other transactions carried out in the course of day to day living and, in addition to or in substitution for the foregoing documents or any of them, any other documentary evidence the Commissioners require or accept.

3. An expression or word used in these Regulations and also used in Chapter IV of Part II of the Act shall, unless the contrary intentions appears, have in these Regulations the meaning that it has in that Chapter.

4. (1) These Regulations shall apply only to a vehicle which has been acquired under the general conditions of taxation in force in the domestic market of a country and which is not the subject, on the grounds of exportation or departure from that country, of any exemption from or any refund of value-added tax, excise duty or any other consumption tax.

(2) Where a vehicle is--

( a ) supplied under diplomatic or consular arrangements, or

( b ) supplied to an international organisation recognised as such by the Minister for Foreign Affairs or to a member of such an organisation within the limits and under the conditions laid down by the international convention establishing the organisation or by another similar agreement,

the conditions specified in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be deemed to have been complied with.

(3) ( a ) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be presumed to be complied with in relation to a vehicle if the vehicle bears an identification mark of its country of registration (other than a mark assigned to a vehicle temporarily registered),

( b ) However, in the case of a vehicle registered in a country where the issue of such an identification mark is not conditional upon compliance with the general conditions of taxation in force on the domestic market in that country, the Commissioners may require evidence that any taxes payable there in respect of the vehicle have been paid.

5. (1) The exemption under section 135 (a) of the Act shall be granted for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date upon which the vehicle concerned was brought into the State or such longer period as the Commissioners in their discretion may allow in any particular case, if the vehicle--

( a ) is owned by or registered in the name of a person established outside the State,

( b ) is not disposed of or hired out in the State or lent to a person established in the State, and

( c ) whilst in the State, is not driven by a person established in the State save with the permission of the Commissioners.

(2) When a category A vehicle is temporarily brought into the State for business use, the vehicle shall not be used in the State--

( a ) for the carriage of persons for reward other than persons carried when it entered the State or persons being carried on a journey to a place outside the State, unless such carriage is authorised by law,

( b ) for the transport of goods for the purposes of industry or commerce, between places within the State, whether for reward or not.

(3) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1) (b), a category A vehicle belonging to a car hire firm established outside the State may, if the vehicle is in the State under a contract, which expired in the State, for the hire of the vehicle--

( a ) be re-hired once only if it is so re-hired to a person established outside the State with a view to its being taken out of the State, or

( b ) be returned by an employee of the car hire firm concerned to the country where the contract was made whether or not the employee is established in the State.

(4) ( a ) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Regulation, where a category A vehicle is registered in another country being the country of normal residence of the user and is used regularly by him for the journey from his residence to his place of work in an undertaking in the State, the period of the exemption under that paragraph shall not be subject to any time limit,

( b ) Notwithstanding the said paragraph (1), where a student residing temporarily in the State primarily for the purpose of pursuing a course of studies uses a category A vehicle in the State and the vehicle is registered outside the State in the country of his normal residence, or (in the case of a vehicle brought into the State before the date of the making of these Regulations by a student who was so residing), in any country outside the State, the exemption referred to in that paragraph shall apply for the period the student remains in the State pursuing such studies.

(5) The provisions of paragraph (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to a motor-cycle.

6. (1) The exemption under subsection (aa) (inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1992 (No. 28 of 1992)) of section 135 of the Act shall be granted for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date upon which the vehicle concerned was brought into the State, or such longer period as the Commissioners in their discretion may allow in any particular case, if the vehicle--

( a ) is owned by or registered in the name of a person established outside the State,

( b ) is not driven or used by a person established in the State other than for business use on behalf of a person established outside the State,

( c ) is not disposed of or hired out in the State, or lent to a person established in the State, and

( d ) is not used in the State,

(i) for the carriage of persons for reward other than persons it carried when it entered the State or persons being carried on a journey to a place outside the State, or

(ii) for the transport of goods for the purposes of industry or commerce between places within the State, whether for reward or not,

unless such carriage is authorised by law.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in paragraph (1) (c) of this regulation, a vehicle, other than a category A vehicle or a motor-cycle, temporarily brought into the State under a contract for the temporary hire of the vehicle may, with the permission of the Commissioners and subject to such conditions as they may impose, be re-hired once only if it is so re-hired to a person established outside the State and if the re-hiring is effected through a person whose business in the State is or includes the letting out of vehicles for hire and whose only or principal place of business and principal place of residence are in the State.

(3) Where a vehicle has been re-hired under paragraph (2) of this Regulation, the person to whom the vehicle is re-hired shall as from the date of such re-hiring be deemed for the purpose of these Regulations to be the person who brought the vehicle into the State.

7. The exemption under section 135 (b) of the Act shall be granted, on written application to the Commissioners--

( a ) in case the vehicle concerned is brought into the State as a representative sample of a particular vehicle, to be displayed or used for demonstration with a view to obtaining orders for similar vehicles, of the vehicle--

(i) is owned by or registered in the name of a person established outside the State,

(ii) whilst in the State is not put to normal use, except for the purpose of demonstration,

(iii) is not used for hire or reward,

(iv) whilst in the State remains the property of a person established outside the State, and

(v) is intended to be taken out of the State on fulfilment of such purpose,

( b ) in any other case if the vehicle--

(i) is not intended to be sold or offered for sale in the State,

(ii) is intended to be taken out of the State on the fulfilment of the purpose specified in the said section 135 (b) for which it was brought into the State, and

(iii) is being brought into the State by a person whose normal residence is in the State, on provision to the Revenue Commissioners of such security as they may require for the payment of any taxes or duties which, but for this exemption, would be payable in respect of the vehicle on its being so brought into the State.

8. The exemption under section 135 (c) of the Act shall be granted by the Commissioners for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date upon which the vehicle was brought into the State or such longer period as the Commissioners in their discretion may allow in any particular case, if the vehicle--

( a ) is owned by or registered in the name of a person established outside the State,

( b ) whilst in the State remains the property of a person established outside the State, and

( c ) is intended to be taken out of the State.

9. (1) an exemption under section 135 of the Act shall cease to have effect upon the expiration of the period fixed by or under these Regulations in relation thereto or if the owner of the vehicle concerned ceases to be established outside the State.

(2) The documents relating to the ownership, registration or bringing into the State of a vehicle temporarily brought into the State under these Regulations shall be kept with the vehicle when it is in use in and shall be produced at the request of an officer of the Commissioners, duly authorised by them in that behalf and on production of his authorisation if so requested by any person affected.

10. Nothing in these regulations shall be construed as exempting a person temporarily bringing a vehicle into the State from compliance with any legal requirement, obligation, restriction or prohibition.

11. These Regulations shall be construed together with the statues which relate to the duties of excise and the management of those duties and any instrument relating to the duties of excise and the management of those duties made under statute.

12. The Motor Vehicles (Temporary Importation) Regulations, 1970 ( S.I. No. 54 of 1970 ), and the European Communities (Exemption from Import Charges of Certain Vehicles, etc., Temporarily Imported) Regulations, 1983 ( S.I. No. 422 of 1983 ), are hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 2nd day of March, 1992.

BERTIE AHERN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations, which are effective from 1st January, 1993, prescribe the criteria for eligibility for exemption form the requirement to be registered with the Revenue Commissioners where a vehicle is temporarily brought into the State.