The Gazette 1946-49

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GAZETTE JUNE 1988
In
this
Issue
Viewpoint
Date of Discoverability
Rule and s.11 of the
Statute of Limitations 125
People & Places 138
For Your Diary 142
Professional Information 153
*
Executive Editor:
Mary Gaynor
Committee:
Geraldine Clarke, Chairman
Seamus Brennan
John F. Buckley
Gary Byrne
Michael Carrigan
Jim Hickey
Nathaniel Lacy
Frank Lanigan
Charles R. M. Meredith
Desmond Moran
Daire Murphy
John Schutte
Maxwell Sweeney
Advertising:
Liam O hOisin. Telephone: 305236
307860
Printing:
Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford.
The views expressed in this publication,
save where otherwise indicated, are the
views of the contributors and not
necessarily the views of the Council of
the Society.
The appearance of an advertisement in
this publication does not necessarily
indicate approval by the Society for the
product or service advertised.
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Tel.: 710711. Telex: 31219. Fax: 710704.
GAZETTE INCORPORATE D
LAW SOCIETY
OF IRELAND
Vol.82 No.5 June 1988
Viewpoint
Since the introduction of Value
Added Tax it has been the norm for
luxuries to be charged at the highest
rate of tax. This rate is currently
25%. It is not unreasonable to expect
that those who wish to spend their
money on luxury goods or the
provision of luxury services should
pay a higher rate of tax than is levied
on necessary goods or services.
The rate of VAT on legal services
is 25% — equating them with
luxuries. People choose to buy
luxuries or to have luxury services
provided for them. The legal services
they require do not constitute luxury.
Buying a home is not a luxury.
Bringing a law suit to protect one's
rights or to claim compensation for
personal injuries is not a luxury. Even
less is defending a claim, which may
have been unjustly brought against
one, a luxury. By establishing both
Criminal and Civil Legal Aid Schemes,
however inadequately funded the
latter may be, the State has
recognised that citizens w i t h
inadequate means should have access
to legal advice and assistance.
Neither of these Schemes are
luxuries for those who are entitled to
avail of them and yet VAT charges are
attached to them as if they were.
The Society's former President,
David Pigot, drew attention last year
to the discriminatory element of VAT
on legal services. It is the ordinary
man in the street who actually pays
VAT. The former President estimated
that the cost of access to the Courts
for a person registered for VAT was
some 20% less than for a non-
registered person. This appears to be
a clear discrimination against those
who are not registered for VAT. The
trader or the limited company, large
or small who use legal services, will
be registered and can recover the VAT
charge. The ordinary individual making
a Will, taking out a probate to a
father's estate or paying the cost of
litigation ends up paying the full charge
The rate of VAT on legal services
is the highest in any EEC country.
Harmonisation of VAT rates may
bring about a reduction, but there
should be no need to have to rely on
the EEC to right this wrong.
Some clients may believe that it is
the solicitor who pays the VAT since
it appears on his bill. Of course this
is not the case — the solicitor is in
the usual position for the profession,
that of unpaid collector of taxes or
duties for the State. Non-commercial
clients have no lobbies working for
them precisely because they are
ordinary individuals — they have no
organisations wh i ch can bring
pressure to bear on their behalf to
lessen this impact.
It behoves the legal profession to
continue to speak out on behalf of
these citizens and draw attention to
the inequity of a system which is so
clearly discriminatory.
In the same speech Mr. Pigot drew
attention to another iniquitous
burden, this time on house buyers,
namely, the high level of stamp duty
payable on house purchases. The
modest concession in the 1988
budget has hardly relieved the
position significantly.
The concessions in stamp duty and
the grants given to purchasers of new
houses have a discriminatory effect.
To exclude second hand houses has
the inevitable result of driving first
time purchasers out to the suburbs
of our cities and towns where most
new private housing can only be
found. The renewal and revival of the
older areas of our towns and cities
should be assisted by taxation
concessions, not made more difficult.
Even in the suburban areas the
concessions and grants have a
distorting effect on the market. A
person who has to sell a second hand
house on a housing estate which is
still being developed cannot hope to
achieve the same price for his or her
house as the asking price of the new
houses on the estate given the stamp
duty savings and grants which are
available to buyers of the new
houses. If first-time buyers are to be
given financial incentives to buy
houses then those incentives should
apply to all houses and not just new
ones. A change to this policy would
encourage the purchase and
renovation of second hand houses
and avoid the distortions of the
market in housing estates.
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