131 / 448
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.
George V. Moloney.
•
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.
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
be termed "philosophical anti-
avoidance," revenue audits and
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.
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
•
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.
The above examples deal with specialist
areas. However, his chapters on
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
115