Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 509

Interpretation (Chapter 1)

Section 509 sets out the definitions and rules that apply to approved profit sharing schemes (APSS) under Chapter 1 of Part 17, including provisions on share disposal ordering, capital gains tax treatment, and delegation of Revenue powers.

• Defines key terms used throughout the APSS provisions, including "approved scheme", "participant", "initial market value", "locked-in value", "period of retention", "release date", and "specified securities", with the latter covering certain non-ordinary-share securities transferred from an employee share ownership trust (ESOT) to APSS trustees following a corporate merger or reorganisation.
• Requires that where a participant disposes of shares, the statutory ordering rules — including the First In, First Out (FIFO) basis — override any contrary directions the participant may give to the trustees, ensuring relieved shares are always identified and disposed of in the correct sequence.
• Provides that for capital gains tax purposes, no deduction is allowed from disposal proceeds merely because an amount is chargeable to income tax under the APSS rules, and any income tax charge on capital receipts is disregarded when determining whether a distribution is a capital distribution.
• Enables the Revenue Commissioners to delegate any of their functions under the APSS and Schedule 11 provisions to a nominated Revenue officer.