Voluntary disclosure interest liability: unpaid tax under the disclosure scheme attracted statutory interest despite claimed immunity.

Interest was payable under section 6 of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976 on tax due in respect of income disclosed under section 14, because the disclosure scheme had to be read with sections 14(5), 5 and 6 together. Section 5 required payment of at least half the tax by 31 March 1976 and the balance by 31 March 1977, while section 6 imposed simple interest at 12% per annum on unpaid tax after 31 March 1976. Section 14(5A) was treated as an additional benefit for declarants who cleared unpaid tax and interest by 1 January 1978, and the circular relied on addressed immunity only, not interest.

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Issues: Whether interest was leviable under section 6 of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Act, 1976 on tax payable in respect of income disclosed under section 14, and whether the immunity under section 14 could be claimed without complying with the payment requirements in section 5.

Analysis: The disclosure under section 14 was held to be subject to the statutory scheme of sections 14(5), 5 and 6 taken together. Section 5 required payment of at least half the tax by 31 March 1976 and the balance by 31 March 1977, while section 6 expressly imposed simple interest at 12% per annum if the tax remained unpaid after 31 March 1976. The insertion of section 14(5A) was treated as an additional benefit for declarants who made up the unpaid tax and interest by 1 January 1978. The circular relied upon dealt only with immunity and not with interest, and therefore did not control the liability under section 6.

Conclusion: Interest under section 6 was leviable, and the declarant was not entitled to resist that liability on the footing that the disclosure was made under section 14.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the levy of interest failed because the statutory scheme made payment of interest part of the conditions governing immunity for voluntary disclosure of income.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the special disclosure provision makes immunity conditional upon compliance with the payment scheme, the separate interest provision applies according to its plain terms unless the statute expressly excludes it.

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