The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

APRIL /MAY 1996

the offence of causing deleterious matter to enter waters under Section 171 to be an offence of strict liability not requiring mens rea. The footnotes refer to a like but expanded issue in the case of Shannon Regional Fisheries Board -v- Cavan County Council, which is an unreported High Court judgment following a consultative case stated, but again this item is omitted from the Table of Cases (and incidentally is also under appeal). This book is very well indexed. It has all the definitions. If you have concerns about water, whether it be quality, supplies of, discharges to, contraventions in respect of, offences, enforcements etc., the relevant legislation is all to be found in this book. For those concerned in the administration of waters, whether they be planning or sanitary authorities, fisheries, architects, industrialists or lawyers, I would see this book as a most useful tool of the trade, which will provide ready access to all the law relevant as at 31 January, 1995. Capital Acquisition Tax By Brian Bohan. Published by Butterworths, 858pp, hardback, £75.00. It is appropriate that this year when Brian Bohan becomes only the second solicitor to be elected President of the Institute of Taxation, he has just written the definitive work on Capital Acquisitions Tax. As a former revenue official Brian was involved in the conception of the 1976 Act. Since then he has given many lectures on different aspects of the legislation to hundreds of students and practitioners in the Law Society. He has also contributed to many important reforms of the legislation through budget submissions and other work as a former chairman and member of the Law Society Taxation Committee. No-one else is more fitting to produce this magnificent work. George V. Moloney.

The importance of this work lies in the enormous details and depth of knowledge of this subject, the many excellent examples which help to clarify some of the more complex areas and some very useful practical information which he has passed on to us after his 20 years experience of the legislation. In addition, as he says himself in the preface, many of the arguments used in the work are based on the decided cases, most of which are analysed thoroughly. As a practitioner in this area myself I have found the following topics covered by him to have been of enormous assistance already:- 1. His chapter on territoriality. For example, he lists 11 questions which should be asked in order to help determine the domicile of an individual. 2. His treatment of locality or situs of an asset which is very clearly analysed. 3. His chapters on valuation dates and agricultural property. He gives excellent examples of tax planning in order to avail of agricultural relief where the beneficiary may not be a "farmer" at the date of death. 4. He also gives us some very practical information regarding the conduct of an appeal, e.g. time limits, production of particulars, form and contents of notice of appeal and general procedures. He also discusses some very important topics which affect taxation generally, e.g. the interpretation of taxation legislation, Section 86 of the Finance Act, 1989 which deals with what they Section 172 of the Finance Act, 1995, which obliges tax advisers to cease to act in circumstances where the client has been in flagrant breach of the tax code. be termed "philosophical anti- avoidance," revenue audits and This publication will answer may CAT problems which we as practitioners face on a daily basis and it will be a permanent testament to Brian's abounding energy, his analytical skills and complete mastery

of his subject. I hope Brian can find time to write regular updates.

John Costello

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Income Tax by Norman Judge. Published by Butterworths, 2086 pp, hardback, £90.00. Norman Judge published his first edition on Irish Income Tax in 1985 and has produced annual updates since then. Now, ten years later in his 1995/1996 annual update he has moved from a loose,leaf format to a single bound volume of over 1000 pages. As he says in his forward: "it is hard to believe that the technology now permits the full contents of the previous two volume work to be housed in his much more portable book. " The latest edition has incorporated all the relevant amendments made by the 1995 Finance Act. For example, he has now updated his chapter on tax incentives for Urban Renewal to incorporate the reliefs available for Seaside Resort Areas as introduced by last years Finance Act. In his chapter on farmers taxation he has explained how the special stock relief for "young trained farmers" applies under the 1995 Act. Taxation of Individuals, Estates and Settlements, Retirement Plans and Investments cover topics which any solicitor might be asked to advise on. In the family law area Mr. Judge's explanation of the income tax provisions regarding separations and maintenance agreements is essential reading for anyone advising a client in a legal separation case. He distinguishes between two types of maintenance payments:- One which is paid under a "maintenance arrangement" involving payments under a legally enforceable obligation, and the other, the making of maintenance payments under an informal arrangement not involving a legal obligation. The income tax rules also differ depending on whether the The above examples deal with specialist areas. However, his chapters on

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