The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1993

P R A C T I C E

N O T E

! Purchasers' solicitors will keep in Í mind, however, that property Í comprised in a taxable gift or taxable I inheritance shall not remain charged as against a bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for full consideration after the expiration of twelve years from the date of the gift or inheritance (section | 47 Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976).

I The Law Society's Standard General Conditions of Sale

Certificates of Discharge from CAT

! Section 22 (7) of the Building Control Act, 1990, contains a most helpful amnesty with regard to works executed prior to 13 December, 1989 in contravention of bye-laws. i I Section 19 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1992, introduced important alleviations in relation to enforcement procedures under the planning legislation. These I are dealt with comprehensively in an article by John Gore-Grimes published at page 383 et seq of the Gazette for December, 1992. (Vol. 86 No. 10). A vendor, anxious to avail of the foregoing amnesty and/or alleviations or any extension thereof and to rely on same, should disclose the non-conform- ! ing matter in his Special Conditions (possibly detailing appropriate dates I and other relevant data by way of ] Statutory Declaration), and provide (likewise by Special Condition) for any required consequential relaxation in, or departure from, the application of General Condition 36. Failure to cover a non-conforming issue as suggested or in some other appropriate manner will mean that the full vigour of General Condition 36 will continue to operate with resultant exposure on foot of the warranties therein specified. It should be mentioned that the latest (1991) edition of the Society's General Conditions of Sale was published prior to the coming into operation of the Building Control Act, 1990, and its attendant regulations, and same are, therefore, not referred to therein. Accordingly, any party desiring to provide for evidence of compliance with such regulations should cater for same by way of Special Condition. Conveyancing Committee

A number of queries have been received by the Conveyancing Com- mittee with regard to the acceptability of conditional Certificates of Discharge from Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) where the time limit has expired. A conditional certificate provides that, in the event of any variation from the market value accepted for tax on any portion of the property covered by it, occurring as a result of a sale or j compulsory acquisition within a period of (in the case of agricultural property) six years, and, (in the case of other property) three years, the taxable value of the gift/inheritance may be subject to adjustment. The argument has been made that, where a vendor is disposing of property and holds a certificate of conditional discharge, there is no necessity for an absolute certificate if the disposition occurs outside the time limit specified in the conditional certificate on the basis that the condition has withered. The difficulty with this argument is that is does not take account of the possibility of a prior transfer of part of the property which may have taken place within the limitation period. If this occurs then, although the subsequent disposition may have taken place outside the limitation period, a liability for tax may attach to it as a result of the earlier disposition. It is the view of the Conveyancing Committee that a purchaser should not be obliged to enquire into the existence of earlier dispositions and is entitled in all cases to an absolute Certificate of Discharge from CAT. The vendor's solicitor should experience no I difficulty or delay in obtaining such a j certificate provided, of course, that no tax is payable.

Conveyancing Committee

Warning on Advance Fee Fraud

It has come to the attention of the Law Society that a company purporting to provide financial services (including the purported arrangement of loans) has sought to enter into a business association with a number of firms of practising solicitors both in Dublin and j in other parts of the country. | The modus operandi of this company is to request in advance a loan negotiating fee. The loan as proposed does not then materialise and the would-be borrower finds himself at the loss of the advance fee so paid. Solicitors and their clients should be wary of situations where such a negotiating or other fee is sought in advance of the drawdown of a loan and should take all steps necessary to verify the bona fides and authenticity of persons proposing such transactions. •

District Court Sittings Balbriggan - correction

Readers are asked to note a further correction to the information published about District Court sittings in Balbriggan in the July/August 1993 I issue of the Gazette (Vol. 87 No. 6, page 206). Please note that the Court sits each Thursday between 10.30 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. and 4.00

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