The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

NOVEMBER 1993

First Conferring of Diplomas in Property Tax

At a ceremony recently in the Law Society, 24 solicitors who successfully completed the first diploma in property tax course staged by the Law Society were awarded with their diplomas. The diplomas were presented by the then Chainnan of the Education Committee, Pat 0 'Connor, who expressed great satisfaction with the success of the first course and the commitment and hard work undergone by the successful participants. The course which was staged from February to June 1993, involved attendance at 60 hours of lectures on topics such as Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax and Income Tax. Brian Bohan, Solicitor, Ernst & Young, presented a prize of £500 to Stephen Maher, Solicitor, who achieved first place on the course. This prize will be awarded annually and will be entitled "The Ernst & Young Property Tax Prize". Second and third place on the course were awarded to Alison Crawford and Janet Tarrant respectively. It is proposed to run the Diploma course again in Dublin in the Autumn of 1994. In the meantime, plans are at an advanced stage to stage the course in Cork in the Spring of 1994 and details of the course will be published in the December issue of the Gazette. The Diploma in Property Tax is not the only initiative in the teaching of taxation that has been taken by the Society recently. A computer assisted learning programme, the Basic Principles of Capital Acquisition Tax, has been developed and is now being used by apprentice solicitors attending the Law School's Professional Courses. The programme, written by solicitors Brenda Agnew and Cathy O'Brien, while they were employed by the Society, is a clear, comprehensive guide to CAT and deals with the basic legal principles, computing the tax, agri– cultural and other reliefs. It was written specifically for students, but it would provide a very useful introduction to CAT for any practitioner. It is hoped that similar programmes dealing with other areas of taxation will be developed in the future. 0

Brian Bohall, Solicitor, EnlSt &. Young (left), presentillg the Emst &. YOIIllS Property Tax prize to Stephen Maher, Solicitor (right) who was awarded first place on the course. Also pictured is Pat O'Connor, then Chairman of the Education Committee.

L-r: Harriet Kinahall, Education Officer, Law Society; Kirby Tarrallt alld Jallet Tarrallt, who was awarded third place on the course, with their daugilter, Rebecca.

L-r: Pat O'Connor, then Chairman o( the Education Committee, presenting" diploma to his brother, John O'Connor, Solicitor.

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