The Gazette 1982

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INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND GAZETTEVol. 76. No.8 October 1982
In this issue...
Bills before the Oireachtas 177
An Unwilling Response
Correspondence
Comment...
Executive Editor: Mary Buckley
Editorial Board: Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman
John F. Buckley
Gary Byrne
William Earley
Michael V. O'Mahony
Maxwell Sweeney
Advertising: Liam Ó hOisin, Telephone 305236
The views expressed in this publication, save where
other-wise indicated, are the views of the contributors
and not necessarily the views of the Council of the
Society.
*
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Anew era — the V.A.T. era — is upon us. By now,
hopefully, the initial trauma has passed but, as
yet, insufficient experience has been gained of the
problems of administering the system.
Several things have, however, become clear and, in
some instances, all too clear. At the time of writing, it
is reported by the V.A.T. authorities that, of the
Dublin solicitors, only about fifty per cent have as yet
registered themselves for V.A.T. To postulate that
fifty per cent of Dublin solicitors have a gross
turnover of less than £ 15,000 per annum is to draw
the long bow and the only tenable explanation has to
be that a number of heads are still buried in the sand.
It seems to be agreed by a substantial majority of
solicitors and their accountants that, ideally, the
"cash" basis of accounting for V.A.T. is the most
advantageous — or the least disadvantageous,
depending upon the point of view. Pragmatic
considerations have, however, tended to be the final
arbiter in the decision of whether to opt for the
"cash" or "invoice" basis; most practitioners realised
well before the end of August that it would be
impossible to reduce their Debtors' Ledgers by the
end of that month to a figure upon which they could,
with any equanimity, offer the Revenue a gratuitous
18% tax! Thus, a large number of solicitors has opted
for the "invoice" basis of accounting, coupled with a
vague intention of changing to the "cash" basis when
— and if — the level of the Debtors' Ledger, and
other circumstances, permit.
Clearly, the profession was unanimous in its
feeling that, whatever basis was adopted, it owed its
clients a duty, so far as possible, to save them from
becoming liable to bear unnecessary V.A.T. Much
midnight oil was burnt in costing, invoicing and
collection prior to 31st August.
Equally clearly, the very considerable but short-
term labour involved in mitigating the clients'
V.A.T. liability will be more than matched by the
additional long-term accountancy and administrative
procedures which will be necessary in order to
present to the Revenue the two-monthly V.A.T.
Returns. Depending upon the existing form of book-
keeping and accountancy, the additional procedures
will vary. Kalamazoo has produced completely
revised Accounts stationery, to replace its previous
system; certain computerised accounts systems are
already, or can be modified so as to be, able to handle
(Continued on P. 175)
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