The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

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JULY/AUGUST 1993

N E W S Special General Meeting Votes to Discontinue Opposition to Part VII, Finance Act

A Special General Meeting, attended by 100 members of the profession on 17 June, 1993, adopted a resolution stating that in the light of assurances received about solicitor/client confidentiality from the Revenue Commissioners and other concessions, there was no basis for continuing to oppose the reporting requirements of Part VII of the Finance Act, 1992. The meeting heard a detailed presentation from the Chairman of the Taxation Committee, Frank Daly, on lengthy discussions with the Revenue Commissioners which had commenced following the Special General Meeting in June, 1992 when the profession had resolved to oppose the reporting provisions of the legislation. A very firm stand had been taken against encroachment by the Revenue Commiss- ioners on solicitor/client confidentiality and the Society had stated its opposition to this aspect of the legislation very publicly, he said. Following meetings with the Revenue Commissioners, i categoric assurances about confidenti- ality had been received, followed by the publication of a statement of practice which stated "the Revenue Com- missioners accept within the bounds of professional relationships the principle of client confidentiality." Frank Daly also pointed out that the statement of practice had provided that one would not | have to give information about on whose behalf a payment had been made, but only to whom it had been made. Furthermore, in the statement of practice the Revenue raised the reporting threshold to £3,000. Frank Daly said he thought these developments represented substantial concessions to the profession. Discussions with Revenue Having obtained these assurances, the Taxation Committee of the Society then engaged in a series of meetings and extensive correspondence with the Revenue Commissioners aimed at alleviating the administrative burden

At the Special General Meeting to consider Part VII of the Finance Act, 1992 were l-r: William Devine, Solicitor, Hanby Wallace; Gerard Doherty, Law Society Council; Elma Lynch, Law Society Council, and Michael D. Murphy, Solicitor.

changed in this country; there was no public sympathy anymore for tax evaders or for people who failed to comply with their tax duties. Any further refusal by the profession to comply with the Act would be pilloried in the press, radio and TV, the profession would be attacked in the Dail, and ultimately, members of the profession might be prosecuted for non compliance. Committee, had put a tremendous effort into negotiations on the legislation and had obtained many very valuable concessions. He queried what the alternative to compliance would be. profession on a legal challenge to the | legislation, or in supporting individual solicitors prosecuted for non- compliance if, in the light of opinion received from Counsel, the chances of success would be slim? ! The meeting was then opened to the floor. A representative on behalf of the Midland Bar Association expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Law j Society but dissatisfaction with the increasingly bureaucratic workload which the solicitors' profession had to , undertake on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners. Speakers from the Would it be wise to expend the resources of the Society and the Seconding the motion, Emest Margetson, said the Taxation

involved in complying with the legislation. He outlined a series of additional concessions which had been obtained during these negotiations, among them: a minimum level of £100 below which payments would not have to be recorded, waiver of reporting requirements in respect of apportion- ment of rents, a waiver in connection with certain sensitive "matrimonial- type" type payments, a later starting date in respect of keeping records by solicitors, a threshold of £500 for the reporting of ground rent collections, and tax allowances in respect of expenditure on software packages installed for the purposes of complying with the legislation. Frank Daly then went on to outline the advice that had been sought from Senior Counsel concerning confidentiality of solicitor/client communications. The view of Counsel had been unanimous that the disclosure obligations imposed by the legislation were not incompatible with any provisions of the Constitution; | solicitor/client confidentiality was based on contract and must yield to statute. ! Concluding his address, Frank Daly said that he felt that the battle on Part VII of the Finance Act was over and that the profession had made substantial i progress through its negotiations with

the Revenue Commissioners. In his view, the climate of opinion had

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