The Gazette 1958-61

Acts, as extended by sections 31 and 35 of the Housing Acts, 1952 and similar legislation, whether by way of conveyance, assignment, or lease, the Society approves of the adoption of a scale of costs of i£% on the amount of the fine or purchase money whether payable in a lump sum or by instalments with a minimum fee of £10, to include the work of the solicitor for the local authority in connection with the conveyance, assignment, cr lease, and a fee of i|% as the costs of the solicitor acting for the purchaser or lessee, to include the costs of perusing and completing the conveyance, assignment or lease, calculated on the amount of the fine or purchase money whether payable in a lump sum or by instalments with a minimum of £10, provided that in all cases an additional fee of 2 guineas shall be chargeable if there is a separate mortgage or other document to secure or guarantee any moneys payable by the purchaser or lessee. (Reprinted from Society's GAZETTE, June, 1955). VALUATION OFFICE A statement was published in the Society's GAZETTE in March, 1956 and reprinted in issue for February, 1960, under the title "Delays in the Valuation Office", in which it was stated that in the course of an interview with representa tives of Council the Commissioner of Valua tion had pointed out that a valuation for the purpose of final determination required a very detailed and thorough examination and that in such cases it might be necessary to insist on a higher figure than in cases in which the Valuation Office accept the figures submitted by the tax payer without any final determination. It was stated that this arose by reason of the fact that after a final determination the Valuation Office cannot reopen a figure even on a subsequent sale at a higher sum while the client can, on the other hand, claim repayment if the sale is subsequently made at a lower figure. The Society has had some further correspondence with the Valuation Office on the subject of the statement that the question of value may be reopened by the client after final determination. It is now understood that there is no authority for this proposition and that in the event of the sale of property after a final determination of value has been made the matter cannot be reopened whether the sale price is above or below the figure finally determined as the value. STAMP DUTY ON LEASES OF SITES FOR BUILDING DEVELOPMENT Members have written about the practice recently adopted by the Revenue Commissioners of requiring

building leases to be lodged for adjudication of the stamp duty. The Society has been in touch with officers of the Revenue Commissioners and it may be taken that the following sets out the Commissioners' practice in dealing with building leases. 1. Where no buildings have been completed at the date of the lease :— If a lease of a site is granted in consideration of (a) a rent reserved by the lease and (b) of a bona fide covenant to expend moneys on the erection or completion of buildings on the site, the duty is charged only on the rent. Such a lease containing a covenant to expend a specified sum in building development and to employ a named builder, e.g., the lessor, is ordinarily regarded as exempt from duty on the building expenditure, and adjudication is not considered necessary in such cases. 2. Where buildings are completed or are in a state of substantial completion at the date of the lease. (a) Where there is a previous agreement with the lessee to grant a lease, and a collateral building agreement, the duty charged on the lease depends upon the substance of the antecedent agreements. If the agreement for the lease is such that the lessee can enforce the grant of the lease independently of the completion of the building contract the lease is not normally regarded as chargeable with ad valorem duty in respect of the building price. If, however, the documents show that the lessee cannot enforce the grant of the lease until the building contract has been completed ad valorem duty is charged in respect of the building price. (/>) On the granting of a lease of a site from A to B, where buildings are erected on the site between the date of the agreement and the date of the lease, the fact that the buildings are mentioned in the parcels clause of the lease does not of itself mean that duty will be claimed on the value of the buildings, if they were erected under a collateral independent agreement. If it appeared from a lease that substantial buildings had been demised in consideration of a ground rent only, or in considera tion of expenses incurred by the lessee, the Revenue Commissioners would be obliged to investigate the facts of the case on adjudication to ascertain whether or not there was in fact an independent building agreement. (c) Adjudication may also be necessary in the case of a lease or other document in order to establish the facts on which duty has to be assessed. In some cases of leases expressed to grant undeveloped sites for terms of years, with covenants by the lessees to erect buildings, it was found on investigation that