Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 (Number 39 of 1997) 784A.Approved retirement fund. (1)(a)In this section— “approved retirement fund” means a fund which is managed by a qualifying fund manager and which complies with the conditions of section 784B; “EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement; “EEA state” means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; “qualifying fund manager” means— (a)a person who is a holder of a licence granted under section 9 or an authorisation granted under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971, or a person who holds a licence or other similar authorisation under the law of an EEA state, other than the State, or of the United Kingdom, which corresponds to a licence granted under the said section 9, (b)a building society within the meaning of the Building Societies Act 1989, or a society established in accordance with the law of a Member State of the European Union, other than the State, or of the United Kingdom, which corresponds to that Act, (c)a trustee savings bank within the meaning of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989, (g)the Post Office Savings Bank, (h)a credit union within the meaning of the Credit Union Act, 1997, (i)a collective investment undertaking within the meaning of section 172A, (j)the holder of— (i)an authorisation under the European Union (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 485 of 2015), in respect of insurance of a class listed in Schedule 2 to those Regulations, or (ii)an authorisation granted by the authority charged by law with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in a Member State of the European Union (other than the State), Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway in accordance with Article 14 of Directive 2009/138/EC1 or an authorisation granted by the authority in the United Kingdom charged by law with the duty of supervising persons carrying on the business of insurance in the United Kingdom, who is carrying on the business of life assurance in the State, or (k)a person— (i)which is an authorised member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange, within the meaning of the Stock Exchange Act, 1995, or a member firm (which carries on a trade in the State through a branch or agency) of a stock exchange of any other Member State of the European Communities or the United Kingdom, and (ii)which has sent to the Revenue Commissioners a notification of its name and address and of its intention to act as a qualifying fund manager, or (l)a firm approved under section 10 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, which is authorised to hold client money, other than a firm authorised as a Restricted Activity Investment Product Intermediary, where the firm’s authorisation permits it to engage in the proposed activities, or a business firm which has been authorised to provide similar investment business services under the laws of a Member State of the European Communities or the United Kingdom which correspond to that Act; “tax reference number”, in relation to an individual, has the meaning assigned to it by section 885 in relation to a specified person within the meaning of that section. (b)For the purposes of this Chapter, references to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as a reference to assets in an approved retirement fund which are managed for an individual by a qualifying fund manager and which are beneficially owned by the individual. (c)Nothing in this Part shall be construed as authorising or permitting a person who is a qualifying fund manager to provide any services which that person would not otherwise be authorised or permitted to provide in the State. (d)Any reference in this section to a distribution in relation to an approved retirement fund shall be construed as including any payment or transfer of assets out of the fund or any assignment of the fund or of assets out of the fund by any person, including a payment, transfer or assignment to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets, other than a payment, transfer or assignment to another approved retirement fund the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the individual who is beneficially entitled to the assets in the first-mentioned approved retirement fund, whether or not the payment, transfer or assignment is made to the said individual. (e)For the purposes of this section, any distribution in relation to an approved retirement fund shall be deemed to have been made by the qualifying fund manager. (1A)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(d), where assets of an approved retirement fund are used in connection with any of the transactions referred to in subsection (1B), the transaction shall be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section of the amount specified in that subsection. (1B)The transactions referred to in subsection (1A) and the amount to be regarded as a distribution in relation to any such transaction are as follows— (a)in the case of a loan made— (i)to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund or to any person connected with that individual, or (ii)to a close company, where the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund, or any person connected with that individual, is a participator in that close company, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets of the approved retirement fund used to make such a loan or used as security for such a loan, (b)in the case of the acquisition of property from the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund or from any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, (c)in the case of the sale of any asset in an approved retirement fund to the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund or to any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the asset sold, (d)in the case of the acquisition of— (i)any property which is to be used as holiday property, or (ii)property which is to be used as a residence, by the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund or by any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, but where property is acquired, on or after 6 February 2003, in relation to the acquisition of which a distribution is not treated as arising under this Chapter and that property commences to be used for one of the purposes mentioned in subparagraphs (i) or (ii) of this paragraph, the distribution shall be treated as arising at the date such use commences and the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets of the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with the acquisition together with any assets used in or in connection with any expenditure on the improvement or repair of the property in question, (e)in the case of the acquisition of shares or any other interest in a company, which is a close company or which would be a close company but for the fact that the company is not resident in the State, in relation to which the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund or a person connected with that individual is a participator, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, (f)in the case of the acquisition of tangible moveable property, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, (g)in the case of the acquisition of property which is to be used in connection with any business of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund or in connection with any business of any person connected with that individual, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with that acquisition, but where property is acquired, on or after 2 February 2006, in relation to the acquisition of which a distribution is not treated as arising under this Chapter and that property commences to be used for the purpose mentioned in this paragraph, the distribution shall be treated as arising at the date such use commences and the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section is an amount equal to the value of the assets of the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with the acquisition together with any assets used in or in connection with any expenditure on the improvement or repair of the property in question, and (h)in the case of the acquisition by the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘ARF investor’) of any interest (whether solely or jointly with another person or persons) in units or shares of any description or class (in this paragraph referred to as ‘units’) in any fund, trust or scheme (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘relevant fund’), or sub-fund, sub-trust or sub-scheme of any such relevant fund (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘relevant sub-fund’), whether acquired directly or indirectly, then where the circumstances set out in both of the following subparagraphs (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘circumstances’) arise, namely— (i)where a relevant pension arrangement (within the meaning of section 787O(1)), a member or holder of which is a person connected (within the meaning of section 10 as it applies for the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts) with the ARF investor, (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘pension investor’), acquires, at any time, any interest (whether solely or jointly with another person or persons) in units in the same relevant fund or relevant sub-fund or in any other relevant fund or relevant sub-fund, whether directly or indirectly, and (ii)there is any arrangement whereby the value of the units held by the pension investor increases, or may increase in the future, and that increase is attributable in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to the units held by the ARF investor, the amount to be regarded as a distribution for the purposes of this section (at the time the circumstances arise) is an amount equal to the value of the assets in the approved retirement fund used in or in connection with the acquisition of the units by the ARF investor. (1C)An amount which has been regarded as a distribution from an approved retirement fund, other than a specified amount referred to in section 790D(4), shall not be regarded as an asset in that approved retirement fund for any purpose. (1D)Any property, the acquisition or sale of which is regarded as giving rise to a distribution of assets in an approved retirement fund, shall not be regarded as an asset in that approved retirement fund. (1E)For the purposes of subsection (1B) references to the value of an asset in an approved retirement fund shall, except where the asset is cash, be construed as references to the market value of the asset, within the meaning of section 548. (2)Subject to subsections (3) and (4), exemption from income tax and capital gains tax shall be allowed in respect of the income and chargeable gains arising in respect of assets held in an approved retirement fund. (3)Subject to subsections (3A) and (4)— (a)the amount or value of any distribution by a qualifying fund manager in respect of assets held in an approved retirement fund shall, notwithstanding anything in section 18 or 19, be treated as a payment to the person beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund of emoluments to which Schedule E applies and, accordingly, the provisions of Chapter 4 of Part 42 shall apply to any such distribution, and (b)the qualifying fund manager shall deduct tax from the distribution at the higher rate for the year of assessment in which the distribution is made unless the qualifying fund manager has received from the Revenue Commissioners a revenue payroll notification (within the meaning of section 983). (3A)Subsection (3) shall not apply where the distribution referred to in that subsection is made for the purpose of— (a)reimbursing, in whole or in part, an administrator (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) in respect of the payment by that administrator of income tax charged on a chargeable excess in respect of the person beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund, or (b)payment by the qualifying fund manager of the amount, or part of the amount, of the appropriate share (within the meaning of section 787R(2A)(b)) of a non-member (within the meaning of section 787O(1)) (being the person beneficially entitled to the assets in the fund) of income tax charged on a chargeable excess, under the provisions of Chapter 2C of this Part. (4)(a)Where the distribution referred to in subsection (3) is made following the death of the individual who was prior to death beneficially entitled to the assets of the approved retirement fund, the amount or value of the distribution shall be treated as the income of that individual for the year of assessment in which that individual dies and, subject to paragraph (b), subsection (3) shall apply accordingly. (b)Subsection (3) shall not apply to a distribution made following the death of the individual who was prior to death beneficially entitled to the assets in an approved retirement fund where the distribution is made— (i)to another such fund (hereafter in this subsection referred to as “the second-mentioned fund”) the beneficial owner of the assets in which is the spouse or civil partner of the said individual, or (ii)to, or for the sole benefit of, any child of the individual or any child of the civil partner of the individual. (c)Where, in a case referred to in paragraph (b), the distribution is made— (i)to a person who had attained the age of 21 years at the date of death of the individual beneficially entitled to the assets in the approved retirement fund, or (ii)following the death of the beneficial owner of the second-mentioned fund, not being a distribution to or for the sole benefit of a child or child of the civil partner of that owner who at the time of death of that person had not attained the age of 21 years, the qualifying fund manager shall deduct income tax from the distribution under Case IV of Schedule D at a rate of 30 per cent, and— (I)the amount so charged to tax— (A)shall not be reckoned in computing total income for the purposes of the Tax Acts, and (B)shall be computed without regard to any amount deductible from, or deductible in computing, total income for the purposes of the Tax Acts, (II)the charging of the distribution in such manner shall be without any relief or reduction specified in the Table to section 458, or any other deduction from that distribution, and (III)section 188 shall not apply as regards the amount so charged. (d)Where a qualifying fund manager deducts tax in accordance with paragraph (c), subsections (8) to (15) of section 790AA shall, with any necessary modifications, apply as if any reference in those subsections— (i)to the administrator were a reference to the qualifying fund manager, (ii)to a relevant pension arrangement were a reference to an approved retirement fund, and (iii)to an excess lump sum were a reference to a distribution of a kind referred to in paragraph (c). (5)For the purposes of this section, Chapter 1 of Part 26 shall apply as if references in that Chapter to pension business were references to moneys held in an approved retirement fund. (6)Notwithstanding Chapter 4 of Part 8, that Chapter shall apply to a deposit (within the meaning of that Chapter) where the deposit consists of money held by a qualifying fund manager in that capacity as if such a deposit were not a relevant deposit (within the meaning of that Chapter). (7) (a)At any time when the qualifying fund manager— (i)is not resident in the State, or (ii)is not trading in the State through a fixed place of business, the qualifying fund manager shall, in relation to the discharge of all duties and obligations relating to approved retirement funds which are imposed on the qualifying fund manager by virtue of this Chapter— (I)enter into a contract with the Revenue Commissioners enforceable in an EEA state or in the United Kingdom in relation to the discharge of those duties and obligations and in entering into such a contract the parties to the contract shall acknowledge and agree in writing that— (A)it shall be governed solely by the laws of the State, and (B)that the courts of the State shall have exclusive jurisdiction in determining any dispute arising under it, or (II)ensure that there is a person resident in the State, appointed by the qualifying fund manager, who will be responsible for the discharge of all of those duties and obligations and shall notify the Revenue Commissioners of the appointment of that person and the identity of that person. (b)A qualifying fund manager shall be liable to pay to the Collector-General income tax which the fund manager is required to deduct from any distribution by virtue of this Chapter and the individual beneficially entitled to assets held in an approved retirement fund, including the personal representatives of a deceased individual who was so entitled prior to that individual’s death, shall allow such deduction; but where there are no funds or insufficient funds available out of which the qualifying fund manager may satisfy the tax required to be deducted, the amount of such tax for which there are insufficient funds available shall be a debt due to the qualifying fund manager from the individual beneficially entitled to the asset in the approved retirement fund or from the estate of the deceased individual, as the case may be. (8)(a)Within one month of commencing to act as manager of approved retirement funds, a qualifying fund manager shall give notice to that effect to the Revenue Commissioners. (b)A qualifying fund manager who commenced to act as manager of an approved retirement fund prior to the passing of the Finance Act 2003 shall give notice to that effect to the Revenue Commissioners within three months of the passing of that Act. (c)A notice under paragraph (a) or (b) shall specify the date the qualifying fund manager commenced to so act. (9)The Revenue Commissioners may by notice in writing require a qualifying fund manager or the person appointed under subsection (7)(a)(II), as the case may be, to provide within 30 days of the date of such notice, such information and particulars as may be specified in the notice as they may reasonably require for the purposes of this Chapter, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such information and particulars may include— (a)the name, address and tax reference number of the individual in whose name the approved retirement fund is or was held, (b)the name, address and tax reference number of any individual to whom any distribution has been made, and (c)the amount of any distributions referred to in paragraph (b). Footnotes 1OJ No. L335, 17.12.2009, p. 1