The Gazette 1995

M

W

H

GAZETTE

MAY/JUNE 1995

D I

Section 153 Finance Bill 1995

The first article on the now-famous Section 153 of the Finance Bill, 1995 was published in the Irish Independent on 7 April, 1995. The article was printed prior to the publication of the Bill. The heading of the article was "Solicitors Warned: Tell the Taxman or face Prison". The article stated that lawyers and accountants will face jail sentences and heavy fines if they fail to tell the Revenue Commissions about tax dodging by their clients. It was reported that this measure will be included in the Finance Bill to be published next week by Finance Minister, Ruairi Quinn. The article also stated as a result of an interview by the writer of the article, Brian Dowling, with the Director General, "the move will spark widespread opposition from solicitors and last night the Director General of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, said that they would vehemently resist any attempts The Finánce Bill was published on 12 May and a press release was issued by the Law Society on 13 May. The opposition of the Law Society was reported in the Irish Independent, Irish Press and the Cork Examiner on 14 April. The Irish Independent quoted from the press release that: "the Bill would have an "adverse affect" on the administration of justice because clients would be inhibited from disclosing to Irish Solicitors relevant information about their business affairs for fear of being reported to the Revenue Commissioners". The headline in the Irish Press read: "'Whistle-blower' Finance Bill roundly condemned". It was reported in the Sunday Business Post on 16 April that the new measures in the Finance Bill could be counter productive and lead to a greater concealment of fraud. Business and Finance published an to include solicitors within the provisions of the Finance Bill."

article headed "The Informers Charter" which stated that the Law Society was "gravely concerned" about the Finance Bill. It stated that the rights of clients to confidentiality when seeking help from a solicitor would be seriously undermined if this proposal was enacted. The Southern Law Association issued a press release in opposition to S. 153 on 19 April which was covered in the Cork Examiner on 20 April. In the Irish Times on 21 April an article was published in the Business Supplement with the headline "TDs to Face Dilemma In Offering Tax Advice". The article quoted Ken Murphy as saying that the proposed section was "bad in principle, unenforceable, probably unconstitutional and may turn out to be counter productive". The Sunday Business Post published an article headed "Solicitors considering challenge on Finance Bill" on 23 April. The article quoted Ken Murphy as saying the "the Law Society in no way condones tax evasion and any advisors who get involved in tax evasion. Any solicitor found to be colluding with a client avoiding tax runs the risk of a charge of misconduct which carries the ultimate sanction of being struck off the Solicitors Roll by the High Court." The Irish Independent published an article on 27 April with the headline "The Professional As Informer" and it stated that lawyers and tax consultants are furious about provisions in the Finance Bill that could force them to 'shop' their clients for tax crimes or face jail sentences. The Dublin Solicitors Bar Association issued a press release in opposition to S.153 on 1 May and this was covered in the Irish Independent, the Irish Times and the Irish Press. On 3 May a joint press release was issued by the Law Society, the Institute of Taxation and the CCABI. The press release

stated that "the professional bodies announced that they were with regret suspending their participation from the Taxation Administration Liaison Committee pending the resolution of the professions concern with Section 153 of the Finance Bill 1995. This was covered extensively on the RTE TV 9 o'clock news and the story was carried in the Irish Times and the Irish Independent on 4 May 1995. A press release was issued on 5 May by the Law Society based on an opinion of counsel that the section was unconstitutional which stated that solicitors would not comply with S.153 if enacted in its present form. In a live interview on Morning Ireland, Ken Murphy stated that legal advice had been obtained that Section 153 was unconstitutional and based on this compelling legal opinion, it had been decided by the Council of the Law Society that solicitors should not comply with Section 153 of the Bill. 98 FM news also carried a statement to this effect by Ken Murphy, Director General. On 6 May 1995 the Irish Times printed an article headed "Quinn seeks advice on legality of tax move" with a subheading "threat of court challenge by Law Society prompts action". The article stated that a spokesman for the Minister said that the AG would be examining S.153 and that this move followed yesterday's Law Society recommendation that its members not comply with Section 153 if it is enacted as part of the Finance Bill next month. A front page article of the Sunday Business Post on 7 May with the headline "Tax Informer Plan Faces Collapse" was written by Mark O'Connell and Aileen O'Toole. It was reported that "The A.G. has advised the Government that any attempt to compel lawyers to report suspected tax improprieties under Section 153 of the Finance Bill is unconstitutional." The article stated that the Law Society, in particular, has advised its

145