A recent decision of the
In
New Stamp Duty Charge
The amendment to Irish stamp duty law was announced in the Budget Statement for 2020 and introduced by section 61 of Finance Act 2019. According to the Budget Statement, the amendment's purpose was an anti-avoidance measure to protect the stamp duty base. The effect of the measure was that a 1% stamp duty charge would apply on cancellation schemes if used for the acquisition of a company. The new charge applies to transactions where the scheme order was made by a court on or after
Capital Taxes Directive 2008/7 (Directive)
The Appellant's principal ground of appeal was based on Directive 2008/7, the Capital Taxes Directive, which prohibits the imposition of indirect taxes on a company's capital. One of the main purposes of the Directive is to promote the free movement of capital within the EU by prohibiting capital duties and narrowing the scope for Member States to impose other indirect taxes that inhibit the movement of capital. The Directive's stated objective is to phase out capital duties and indirect taxes within the EU.
Revenue also argued that a cancellation scheme was a transaction that fell outside the scope of the Directive and that the Directive should only apply to transactions where both parties were situated in a Member State. Rejecting these arguments, the TAC held that a broad interpretation was required to give effect to the goals of the Directive. The TAC found that the cancellation scheme did come within the definition of "restructuring operations" under Article 4 of the Directive and that under Article 5 it could not be subject to stamp duty at any rate.
Doctrine of Conforming Interpretation
The leading decision on the doctrine of conforming interpretation is the
During the hearing, the Appellant put forward several suggestions of additional words that could be implied into section 31D SDCA 1999 so that the section could be read to conform with the Directive. The TAC approved the additional wording to section 31D(c) so that it read:
"the shareholders of the target company receive consideration [which does not consist, even in part of shares] for the cancellation of those shares held by them."
The words in parenthesis are the words implied into section 31D(c) SDCA 1999 by the TAC. The implied words are inspired by Article 4(1)(b) of the Directive and are designed to ensure that certain cancellation schemes will be interpreted as falling within the definition of a "restructuring operation" under the Directive. The TAC's interpretation means that in a cancellation scheme where the shareholders of the target company receive only cash, stamp duty will apply, but where the consideration consists even in part of shares, it will be a restructuring operation and stamp duty will not apply.
Comment
Revenue has appealed the TAC's decision to the
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