S.I. No. 358/1988:

IMPOSITION OF DUTIES (No. 290) (RELIEF FROM TRANSFER STAMP DUTY IN THE CASE OF RECONSTRUCTION OR AMALGAMATIONS OF CERTAIN COMPANIES) ORDER, 1988.

IMPOSITION OF DUTIES (No. 290) (RELIEF FROM TRANSFER STAMP DUTY IN THE CASE OF RECONSTRUCTION OR AMALGAMATIONS OF CERTAIN COMPANIES) ORDER, 1988.

The Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 1 of the Imposition of Duties Act, 1957 (No. 7 of 1957), and section 22 of the Finance Act, 1962 (No. 15 of 1962), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Imposition of Duties (No. 290) (Relief from Transfer Stamp Duty in the case of Reconstructions or Amalgamation of Certain Companies) Order, 1988.

2. This Order shall come into operation on the 20th day of December, 1988, and shall not have effect with respect to any instrument executed before that date.

3. (1) Where in the course of a bona fide reconstruction or amalgamation of companies which, except for the fact that the transferee company is not registered in the State but is duly registered in another Member State of the European Economic Community, is in accordance with the provisions of section 31 of the Finance Act, 1965 (No. 22 of 1965)--

(a) the transferee company acquires all of the issued share capital of a particular existing company and the consideration for the acquisition consists wholly of the issue of shares in the transferee company to the holders of shares in the existing company in exchange for the shares held by them in the existing company, and

(b) the particular existing company and the transferee company are shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners to be wholly owned subsidiaries of the same holding company, then stamp duty under the heading "Conveyance or Transfer on Sale" in the First Schedule to the Stamp Act, 1891, shall not be chargeable on any instrument made for the purposes of or in connection with the transfer of the shares.

(2) In this Article "holding company" and "subsidiaries" have the same meanings as they have in the Companies Act, 1963 (No. 33 of 1963).

4. This Order shall be construed together with the Stamp Act, 1891, and the enactments amending or extending that Act.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government, this 20th day of December, 1988.

CHARLES J. HAUGHEY,

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order provides for:

the extension of the stamp duty relief which is available under section 31 of the Finance Act, 1965 , in the case of reconstructions or amalgamations of companies to cover the situation where the transferee or acquiring company is registered in a Member State of the European Economic Community. The availability of the relief in such a case will be subject to a number of restrictions (see paragraph 3 of Order).

This Order comes into operation on 20th December, 1988.