Refund on unoccupied buildings
7.—(1)  Where tax has been paid under the provisions of this Act in respect of any building, the Comptroller shall, subject to this section, refund a part of the tax proportionate to any period during which the building is unoccupied except that no refund shall be allowed in respect of any unbroken period of less than 30 days or a calendar month.
[25/63; 24/73]
(2)  Any owner of a building claiming under this section a refund of the tax which he has paid in respect of that building, for any period commencing from 1st November in any year to 31st October in the ensuing year, shall submit his claim in writing to the Comptroller not later than 15th November in the ensuing year or such other date as the Minister may by order prescribe.
[46/96]
(3)  The Comptroller may, in his discretion, make a refund under this section to the extent of the whole or any part thereof, where —
(a)the person claiming the refund failed to submit his claim within the time specified in subsection (1) and the Comptroller is satisfied as to the reason for such failure; or
(b)part of the continuous period of 30 days falls before 1st November in any year and another part of that period falls on or after that date.
[46/96]
(4)  No refund shall be allowed in respect of any building unless the owner satisfies the Comptroller —
(a)that the building is in good repair and fit for occupation;
(b)that every reasonable effort to obtain a tenant has been made;
(c)that the rent demanded is a reasonable one; and
(d)that the building has been vacant during the whole of the period in respect of which a refund is claimed.
(5)  Where a refund is claimed in respect of a period during which the building has been undergoing repairs for the purposes of rendering it fit for occupation, it shall not be necessary to prove in respect of the claim, the matters specified in subsection (4)(a), (b) and (c).
[25/63]