Finance Act 1999

127 Interest on repayments

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, where the Commissioners are liable to repay an amount to any person in consequence of—

(a) the payment to them by way of customs duty of an amount that was not due from that person, or

(b) any requirement to repay an amount of customs duty in accordance with the Community Customs Code or Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93,

then, if and to the extent that they would not be liable to do so apart from this section, the Commissioners shall pay interest to him on that amount for the applicable period.

(2) The amounts that carry interest under subsection (1) above—

(a) include only so much of any amount mentioned in that subsection as is the subject of a claim that the Commissioners are required to satisfy or have satisfied; and

(b) do not include any amount of interest under this section.

(3) Subject to section 128 below, in relation to any amount that carries interest under subsection (1) above, the applicable period for the purposes of this section is the period which—

(a) begins with the sixty-first day after the making of the claim for repayment of that amount; and

(b) ends with the date on which the Commissioners issue the repayment of that amount.

(4) The Commissioners shall not be liable to pay interest under this section except on the making of a claim for that purpose.

(5) A claim under this section must be in writing and must be made not more than three years after the end of the applicable period to which it relates.

(6) Any reference in this section to the issue by the Commissioners of any repayment of any amount includes a reference to the discharge by way of set-off of the Commissioners' liability to repay that amount.

(7) Interest under this section shall be payable at the rate applicable under section 197 of the [1996 c. 8.] Finance Act 1996.

(8) In this section and section 128 below—

• “the Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

• “the Community Customs Code” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code; and

• “customs duty” includes any agricultural levy of the European Community.

(9) The Commissioners may by order modify subsection (3) above so as to provide for interest under this section to begin to run from a time before the sixty-first day after the making of the claim for repayment.

(10) The power of the Commissioners to make an order under subsection (9) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.

(11) This section has effect in relation only to a repayment the claim for which is made on or after such day as the Treasury may by order made by statutory instrument appoint; and different days may be appointed under this subsection for different purposes.