ACT No. XIV of 2020 AN ACT to amend the Eco-Contribution Act, Cap. 473, and to provide for other matters dealing with them or ancillary thereto.

I assent.

(L.S.)

GEORGE VELLA

President

3rd April, 2020

ACT No. XIV of 2020

AN ACT to amend the Eco-Contribution Act, Cap. 473, and to

provide for other matters dealing with them or ancillary thereto.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Eco-Contribution Short title.

(Amendment) Act, 2020 and this Act shall be read and construed as

one with the Eco-Contribution Act, hereinafter referred to as ''the Cap. 473.

principal Act''.

PART I

Amendments to the Eco-Contribution Act

Paragraph (h) of article 13 of the principal Act shall be Amendment of

renumbered as paragraph (i) and immediately after paragraph (g) article

principal Act.

thereof, there shall be added the following new paragraph

''(h) to remit administrative penalties and for prescribing

conditions under which part of the penalty or all the

administrative penalty incurred under this Act may be remitted;''.

Article 13C of the principal Act shall be substituted by the

Minnufih wara l-artikolu 14 tal-Att prinċipali għandu jiżdied

dan l-artikolu ġdid li ġej

(1) Any notice issued by the competent

authority showing any amount of eco-contribution and

administrative penalty due by a person shall, unless the

contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence that that

amount is due to the competent authority by that person

and shall constitute an executive title within the

meaning and for the purposes of Title VII of Part I of

Book Second of the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure.

(2) The competent authority may request the

payment of any eco-contribution and administrative

penalty payable by any person in terms of this Act by

means of a demand note, and if the payment requested

is not made within thirty days from the date when the

said demand note is served on that person, the

competent authority may proceed to enforce payment

in virtue of the executive title referred to in sub-article

(1) after two days from the service on that person of an

intimation for payment made by means of a judicial

a c t . U p o n t h e l a p s e of t h e p e r i o d o f t w o d a y s

mentioned in this sub-article the competent authority

shall be entitled to register in the public registry or land

registry, as the case may be, a note of privilege for the

amount demanded in the judicial act which note of

privilege shall be registered by any advocate or notary.

(3) The provisions of article 467 of the Code of

Organization and Civil Procedure shall apply with

respect to any warrant issued on the strength of an

executive title mentioned in this article and to the

paying out of the proceeds of the sale by auction of the

property seized, and no opposition or reservation in the

schedule of deposit shall stay the paying of any sum

deposited in court following any such warrant as

aforesaid.''.

4. Immediately after article 14 of the principal Act there shall be

added the following new article

(1) When a person furnishes a return within

the time laid down in the relevant provisions of this Act

and such a return is accompanied by a payment of all or

part of the eco-contribution declared to be payable

therein, such payment shall be deemed to be made on

account of the eco-contribution payable on that return.

(2) When a person furnishes a return within the

time laid down in the relevant provisions of this Act

and such a return is not accompanied by a payment of

all the eco-contribution declared to be payable therein,

such person may request, by the furnishing of such

form as may be acceptable to the competent authority,

that any payment accompanying such form shall be

deemed to be made on account of the eco-contribution

declared to be payable in such a return, so however

that

(a) such request shall not be valid if it is

made later than six months from the time within

which the return is required to be furnished in

terms of the relevant provisions of this Act;

(b) the provisions of sub-article (3) shall

apply to such payment.

(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-articles (1),

and (2), when an administrative penalty is due by a

person, other than a penalty the payment of which may

be kept in abeyance in terms of article 20, any payment

made by that person to the competent authority shall,

notwithstanding any declaration made by that person,

be appropriated to such administrative penalty before it

is appropriated to any eco-contribution.

(4) Subject to the other provisions of this article,

when eco-contribution due by a person, other than eco-

contribution the payment of which may be kept in

abeyance in terms of the provisions of this Act, became

due on more than one occasion, any payment made by

that person to the competent authority shall,

notwithstanding any declaration made by that person,

be appropriated to that amount of eco-contribution that

became due at the earliest of those occasions before it

is appropriated to the eco-contribution that became due

on subsequent occasions.

(5) When a payment is made by a person to the

competent authority in circumstances which indicate

that that person intended that payment to relate to a

return, that payment shall be deemed to relate to that

tax return for the purposes of this article without

prejudice to the power of the competent authority under

any other provision of this Act to appropriate that

payment in any other manner.''.

5. Article 15 of the principal Act shall be substituted by the

(1) Any secretary, manager, director,

liquidator or other principal officer of an entity or of a

body of persons, any heir and any testamentary

executor and any curator of the vacant inheritance of a

deceased person, and any person who is a tutor, curator,

administrator or trustee of any other person or of any

trust, fund or other entity shall, for the purposes of this

Act, be a representative of that body of persons,

deceased person, other person, trust, fund or other

entity, as the case may be.

(2) (a)

Subject to the provisions of sub-article

(4) a representative of a person shall be liable in the

same manner and to the same extent as the person of

whom he is a representative for all the obligations

imposed by or under this Act.

(b) Anything done or omitted to be done

by a representative acting as such shall for the

purposes of this Act be deemed to have been

done or omitted to be done by the person of

whom he is a representative.

(c) Any notice served on a representative

in his capacity as such under any of the

provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have

been served on or to have been made to the

person of whom he is a representative.

(d) The existence of or the designation of

a person as a representative of another person

shall not relieve the latter person from any

obligation or liability under this Act.

(3) A representative who has under his

management or control any funds or property

belonging to or due to the person of whom he is a

representative shall not dispose of such funds or

property unless he has made adequate provision for any

eco-contribution due under this Act.

(4) A representative shall be jointly and severally

liable with the person of whom he is a representative

for the eco-contribuation due by that person

Provided that where the representative has

acted in good faith and is not knowingly in breach of

sub-article (3) or of any other obligation under this Act,

his liability under this sub-article shall be limited to the

funds or to the value of any property under his

management or control which belongs or is due to the

person of whom he is a representative.".

6. Article 16(5) of the principal Act shall be deleted.

Amendment of

article 16 of the

principal Act.

7. Article 18 of the principal Act shall be deleted.

Deletion of

article 18 of the

principal Act.

8. Immediately after paragraph (d) in article 24 of the principal Amendment of

article 24 of the

Act there shall be added the following proviso

principal Act.

''Provided that, where such notice is not served on a person

because that person could not be found or for other reasons

attributable to that person and the competent authority publishes

a notice in the Gazette and in one or more daily newspapers

stating that a notice has been made and inviting that person to

call for it as and where directed by the competent authority, then

such notice shall also be deemed to have been duly notified on

the date of such publication on a daily newspaper.''.

PART II

Consequential Amendments

9. The Eco-Contribution Regulations shall be amended as Amendments to

the Eco-

Contribution

Regulations.

(a) in regulation 4 thereof, for the words ''should have

been furnished.'' there shall substituted the words ''should have

been furnished:'' and immediately thereafter there shall be added

the following proviso

''Provided that such administrative penalty shall in no

case exceed two hundred and fifty euro (€250) for each

such return.''; and

(b) in regulation 5 thereof, for the words ''apply for

registration under the Second Schedule'' there shall be

substituted the words ''apply for registration under the Third

Schedule'' and for the words ''application for registration is

furnished to the Authority.'' there shall substituted the words

''application for registration is furnished to the Authority:'' and

immediately thereafter there shall be added the following

proviso

''Provided that such administrative penalty shall in no

case exceed two hundred and fifty euro (€250).''.

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 316 of the

30th March, 2020.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.72