(1) Regulations may make provision for remitting or repaying, subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in the regulations or as the Revenue Commissioners may impose, the tax chargeable in respect of the supply of goods, or of such goods as may be specified in the regulations, in cases where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied-

(a) that the goods have been or are to be exported.

(b) that the goods have been shipped on board an aircraft or ship proceeding to a place outside the State.

(c) that the goods are, or are to be used in, a fishing vessel used or to be used for the purposes of commercial sea fishing.

(1A) The Revenue Commissioners shall, subject to and in accordance with regulations (if any), allow the application of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 11 (hereafter referred to in this section as "zero-rating") to-

(a) the supply of a traveller's qualifying goods, and

(b) the supply of services by a VAT refunding agent consisting of the service of repaying the tax claimed by a traveller in relation to the supply of a traveller's qualifying goods or the procurement of the zero-rating of the supply of a traveller's qualifying goods,

where they are satisfied that the supplier of the goods or services as the case may be-

[(i) has at the time of the supply of the goods taken all reasonable steps to confirm that the purchaser is a traveller as defined in this section,

(ii) has proof that the goods were exported by or on behalf of the traveller by the last day of the third month following the month in which the supply takes place,]¹

[(iia) has proof that, where an amount of tax has been charged to the traveller in respect of a supply of goods covered by subparagraph (ii), that the amount to be repaid to the traveller has been repaid to that traveller no later than the twenty-fifth working day following receipt by the supplier of the traveller’s claim to repayment,]²

(iii) notifies the traveller in writing of any amount (including the mark-up) charged by the supplier for procuring the repayment of the amount claimed or arranging for the zero-rating of the supply, [and where an amount so notified is expressed in terms of a percentage or a fraction, such percentage or fraction shall relate to the tax remitted or repayable under this subsection,]³

(iv) uses, as the exchange rate in respect of monies being repaid to a traveller in a currency other than the currency of the State, the latest selling rate recorded by the Central Bank of Ireland for the currency in question at the time of the repayment, or where there is an agreement with the Revenue Commissioners for a method to be used in determining the exchange rate, the exchange rate obtained using the said method, and

(v) has made known to the traveller such details concerning the transaction as may be specified in regulations.

(1B) Regulations may make provision for the authorisation, subject to certain conditions, [of accountable persons]¹ or a class [of accountable persons]¹ for the purposes of zero-rating of the supply of a traveller's qualifying goods or to operate as a VAT refunding agent in the handling of a repayment of tax on the supply of a traveller's qualifying goods and such regulations may provide for the cancellation of such authorisation and matters consequential to such cancellation.

(1C) A VAT refunding agent acting as such may, in accordance with regulations, treat the tax charged to the traveller on the supply of that traveller's qualifying goods as tax that is deductible by the agent in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 12, provided that that agent fulfils the conditions set out in subsection (1A) in respect of that supply.

(1D) Where, in relation to a supply of goods, any of the conditions of subparagraphs (i) to (v) of subsection (1A) are not complied with or are not complied with within the time limits specified in those subparagraphs, where applicable, then—

(a) that supply is not a supply of traveller’s qualifying goods, and

(b) zero-rating is not applicable to the supply of services by a VAT refunding agent, if any, in respect of those goods.

(2) Regulations may make provision for remitting or repaying, subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in the regulations or as the Revenue Commissioners may impose, the tax chargeable in respect of the supply of all or any one or more (as may be specified in the regulations) of the following services:

(a) services directly linked to the export of goods or the transit of goods from a place outside the State to another place outside the State,

(b) the repair, maintenance and hiring of plant or equipment used in a vessel or an aircraft specified in [paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 2]¹,

(c) the repair, maintenance and hiring of a vessel used, or of plant or equipment used in a vessel used, for the purposes of commercial sea fishing.

(3)(a) The Revenue Commissioners shall, in accordance with regulations, repay to a person to whom this subsection applies, deductible tax chargeable in respect of supplies of goods or services to him or in respect of goods imported by him.

[(b) This subsection applies to a person who satisfies the Revenue Commissioners that the person—

(i) carries on a business outside the Community, and

(ii) supplies no goods or services in the State (other than services for which, in accordance with section 8(1A)(aa), (ab), (f) or (g) or (1B)(b) or (2), the person to whom they are supplied is solely liable for the tax that is chargeable).]¹

(c) In this subsection "deductible tax", in relation to a person to whom this subsection applies, means tax chargeable [(including any flat-rate addition)]² in respect of goods or services used by him for the purposes of any business carried on by him to the extent that such tax would be deductible by him under section 12 if the business were carried on by him within the State but does not include tax chargeable in respect of goods for supply within the State ...³ ...⁴.

(3A)(a) The Revenue Commissioners shall, in accordance with regulations, repay to a person to whom this subsection applies the residual tax included in the consideration for supply of a new means of transport, where such new means of transport is subsequently dispatched or transported to another Member State.

(b) This subsection applies to a person not entitled to a deduction under section 12 of the tax borne or paid by him on the purchase, intra-Community acquisition or importation of the goods in question.

(3B) In this section-

"traveller" means a person whose domicile or habitual residence is not situated within the Community and includes a person who is normally resident in the Community but who, at the time of the supply of the goods intends to take up residence outside the Community in the near future and for a period of at least 12 consecutive months;

"traveller's qualifying goods" means goods, other than goods transported by the traveller for the equipping, fuelling and provisioning of pleasure boats, private aircraft or other means of transport for private use, which are supplied within the State to a traveller and which are exported by or on behalf of that traveller by the last day of the third month following the month in which the supply takes place;

"VAT refunding agent" means a person who supplies services which consist of the procurement of a zero-rating or repayment of tax in relation to supplies of a traveller's qualifying goods.

(3C) For the purposes of this section, and subject to the direction and control of the Revenue Commissioners, any power, function or duty conferred or imposed on them may be exercised or performed on their behalf by an officer of the Revenue Commissioners.

(4) ...

(5) ...