Finance (1909-10) Act 1910

45 Reduction of duty in case of hotels or restaurants.

(1) Where in the case of any licensed premises which are structurally adapted to be used and bonâ fide used for the purpose of the reception of guests and travellers desirous to sleep in the premises, or which are licensed premises structurally adapted for use, and bonâ fide used as a restaurant, it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that the receipts from the sale of intoxicating liquor were in the preceding year less in the case of a restaurant than two-fifths, and in the case of any other premises than one-third of the total receipts in that year from the business of all descriptions carried on' by the licence holder in the premises, the duty payable under this Act in respect of the licence shall, subject to the minimum provided by this section, be a reduced duty bearing the same proportion to the full duty payable as the receipts from the sale of intoxicating liquor bear to the total receipts.

(2) For the purpose of the calculation of receipts under this section, the year shall be the year ending the thirty-first day of March or such other day as the Commissioners may fix for any area or to meet the circumstances of a particular case or cases.

(3) The reduced duty payable under this section may, at the option of the person by whom the duty is payable (but subject to the minimum provided by this section), be a duty of twenty-five per cent. on such amount as the Commissioners of Inland Revenue certify to be the annual licence value of the premises, and those Commissioners shall, on the application of any person by whom the duty is payable, certify that amount subject to appeal in manner herein-before provided in any case where that amount has not been determined for the purpose of the register to be prepared under this Act.

(4) The reduced duty payable under this section shall not be less than one-thirtieth of the annual value of the premises in the case of fully licensed premises, and in any other case one-fifteenth of the full duty, but shall not in any case to which a minimum duty is applicable under Scale 3 in the First Schedule to this Act be less than that minimum duty.

(5) The Commissioners may make regulations for adapting the provisions of this section to cases where a licence is granted in respect of premises for which such a licence has not previously been in force or where the annual licence value of the premises has not been certified, and may by those regulations provide for the grant of a licence in cases where they are satisfied that it is probable that the premises for which the licence is granted are premises to which this section will apply, on a provisional payment of one-fifth of the lull duty, and for adjustment of the duty after the licence has been in force for six months in accordance with the receipts for those six months, or after the, annual licence value has been certified, either by the repayment of any duty which is found to have been paid in excess, or by the recovery as a debt due to His Majesty of any sum by which the amount paid as duty falls short of the amount which is found to be payable.

(6) The power to obtain a licence on payment of a reduced amount of duty in the case of a six-day licence and in the ease of an early closing licence shall not apply where a reduced duty is payable under this section ; but, in cases to which this section applies, effect shall be given to the statutory enactments as to six-day and early closing licences by calculating the full duty payable as the amount of that duty reduced in the case of a six-day or early closing licence by one-seventh, and in the case of a licence which is both a six-day and an early closing licence by two-sevenths.