The Gazette 1978

JULY-AUGUST

197

GAZETTE

Revenue) on overdue tax is reduced from 1.5% per month (18% p.a.) to 1.25% per month (15% p.a.) by Section 44

(d) Alteration of the time for payment of tax by full-time farmers. It will henceforth be January 1st in the relevant year of assessment. The Minister did not indicate in his budget speech whether he proposed to introduce marginal relief. Section 13 of the Finance Act, 1978, provides marginal relief for farmers the rateable valuation of whose land is in the valuation range £60-£69. At £60 rateable valuation the tax charge will be one tenth of the full tax, at £61 two- tenths, and so on until the full charge comes into operation at £69. Section 13 also provides that if a farmer's rates in a previous local financial year exceed his tax bill he will not thereby be able to claim a tax refund. This restricts the rates relief quite considerably. As far as the national system is concerned two things can be deducted from farm profits for tax purposes:— (a) Wages paid to "permanent employees" in working the farm land. "Permanent employees" are employees whose emoluments are subject to P.A.Y.E. and in respect of which the farmer pays social welfare contributions. (b) Amounts paid to agricultural contractors in respect of agricultural work carried on by them on farm land. The term "agricultural contractor" is defined in the Act as "A person who carries on agricultural work on farm land". The term "agricultural work" is defined in the Act as "Work which forms an integral part of the cultivation of farm land or the harvesting of the produce of such land". Agricultural and Fishery Co-operatives: The exemption from Corporation Tax which was enjoyed by these societies prior to 1976 is restored. However sales to the E.E.C. Intervention Agency will not be exempted. Interest on Overdue Tax Interest payable (either by the taxpayer or the BOOK REVIEWS KERR on the Law and Practice as to Receivers, 15th Edition by Raymond Walton, M.A., B.C.L. 1978 Sweet & Maxwell, p.p. 385. Most practitioners, when the word "Receiver" is mentioned in their presence, think, primarily, of Receivers appointed over the assets of a company by a debenture holder. A practitioner who becomes involved with a company Receivership, in this sense, whether advising a Receiver or representing clients who are in confrontation with him, needs to know his way round the fairly complex problems that arise, and, perhaps unfortunately, a comparatively small number of Irish Solicitors seem to have taken the trouble to become experienced in this exceptionally interesting field of legal practice. The practitioner who wishes to acquire expertise on the subject of Receiverships and Receivers will be tempted by the title "Kerr on Receivers", and may be interested by buying a copy. I bought a copy of the 14th edition, in the hope that it would solve all my problems, and have not frequently consulted it since. I do not expect the 15th edition to be much more useful to me, nor would I expect it to be of particular value to any practitioner in the field of Receivership, as we normally use the word.

of the Finance Act, 1978. Capital Acquisitions Tax

The exempt thresholds other than the £50,000 for spouses and children are doubled. Section 42 increases as from and including this year the annual exemption for small gifts from £250 to £500. Section 37 exempts from Capital Acquisitions Tax houses and gardens which are shown to be of national, scientific, historic or artistic interest if certain conditions are fulfilled. Amongst these conditions is the provision of reasonable facilities for viewing to members of the public. Wealth Tax Wealth Tax has been abolished with effect from 5th April, 1978. Capital Gains Tax Separate legislation is to be introduced in order to bring into operation the changes announced by the Minister for Finance in his budget speech. The Minister has announced that:— (a) The rate of capital gains tax is to be increased with effect from 6th April, 1978. (b) The 30% rate is to taper to nil in three year steps over a 21 year period from the date of acquisition of the asset. This tapering relief will not apply to shares and land with a development potential. (c) An inflation adjustment by reference to the consumer price index is to be made in all cases. This will, of course, reduce the amount of the gain which will bear tax and will ensure that only real rather than inflationery gains will be subject to capital gains tax. This book deals principally with Receivers appointed by the Court, a topic that takes up the first 270 or so pages. By a coincidence, a few days after I was sent this copy of review, I was consulted in connection with a a case where a Receiver by way of equitable execution had been appointed for the purpose of enforcing a judgment debt, die second such case I have had to deal with in over twenty years of legal practice. Unless my experience is unusual, I imagine few practitioners will be interested in buying the book, or frequently consulting it, in connection with this type of Receivership. I found the 50 or so pages in this volume devoted to the topic of Company Receivership, as we normally know it, rather unsatisfactory and it does not show signs of having been recently reconsidered and updated. For example, the statement (on page 319) that a Receiver may "now" apply to the Court for directions reads oddly when one bears in mind that the right to do so has existed in England for 30 years. Again, a practitioner representing a borrowing company or a financial institution might get himself into trouble if he relied on the statement (page 314) "under all forms of floating charge, however, the company is at liberty to create charges and other similar rights, at least in the ordinary course of business, ranking in priority to the floating charge, even 109