The Gazette 1975

DAIL EIREANN—30 January 1975 Questions on Office Transfers from Estate Duty Office Mr. Collcy asked the Minister for Financc whether a,, y staff were transferred. permanently or temporarily, from the Estate Duty Office for work in connection with the Capital Taxation proposals; and, ff so, the number of persons and the grades involved. Mr. R. Ryan: In the Office of the Revenue Com- missioners work on taxation proposals is, as a matter practice, allocated to the branch whose existing functions have the closest affinity to the proposals. In hxing staffing complement for each branch regard •s had to the necessity for dealing with taxation pro- posals as well as administering existing taxes. Because of the Estate Duly staff was already experi- enced in the technicalities of.Capital Taxation the new proposals in that field weré allocated to them. No officers were transferred from the Estate Duty branch; on the contrary, at critical times, assistance was pro- vided to the officers in it from other areas in the Revenue administration. Sincc no officers were trans- ferred from the branch, the second part of the question does not arise. Mr. Collcy: Were any officers transferred from their ordinary Estate Duty Office work to work in con- nection with the capital taxation proposals? Mr. R. Ryan: In the ordinary course of the business °f the public services officers who have experience in Particular areas of administration are necessarily involved in the drafting of any changes in legislation affecting their area of administration and, of course, that happened in the Estate Duty Office as anywhere else. Mr. Colley: May I ask the Minister whether, as a result of the carrying out of work on the capital taxation proposals by members of the Estate Duty Office staff, the work of the Estate Duty Office went into further arrear than that in which it was? Mr. R. Ryan: No. I can categorically assert that this is not a fact. I would point out to Deputy Colley that when I was in Opposition I addressed questions from the Opposition benches about the delays in the Estate Duty Office. When I assumed responsibility in the Department of Finance I took steps to ensure that many 0 f the previous delays would be eliminated, ^ne of those steps was making arrangements as and ftom August, 1973 whereby all new inland revenue affidavits would be assessed provisionally on receipt. Consequently, many of the delays which previously arose and which could easily have been avoided have s , n c e - been prevented. If the Deputy is referring to some recent printed complaints, at least some of those are in Jpspect of the administration of estates where the Estate Duty Office are awaiting information from the People who are making complaints. Until such time as t h e corrective affidavits are filed, the finalisation of the e s t a t es in question cannot be arranged. The fault does n ° t lie with the Estate Duty Office because the public ar « now getting a speedier service there than they used 10 receive. Mr. Collcy: Are we to take it from the Minister has that he is satisfied there is no shortage of staff to e a l with the work?

Mr. Ryan: I am never satisfied if there is anv delav on the part of the public service which could be eliminated. I am satisfied that the steps which we look to eliminate previous delays and to anticipate any pressures which might arise on the staff of the Estate Duty Office in dealing with the reform of the whole taxation code ensured that the situation would not get worse. In fact, it has improved a great deal I Mr. R. Ryan: There have unfortunately» been a number of illnesses and unforeseen retirements and resignations ahead of the normal period but the strength has nonetheless been maintained. Now that we are about to get rid of death duties the whole administration of this office will be under far less strain and difficulty than it has been in the past. Mr. Davern: What does the Minister consider a reasonable time for the Estate Duty Office to complete its work on any particular case? Mr. Ryan: The Estate Duty Office completes its work usually within a matter of weeks after receipt of affidavits. Where queries arise which require replies from the person who lodged the affidavits, obviously the length of time taken to deal with the matter will depend on the length of time taken by the people to reply to the queries which are presented to them. Many of the complaints that have recently been voiced in public have been made by people who themselves are in default. There is no loss to any individual as a consequence of delays in the Estate Duty Office because interest does not run as long as the handling of a particular administration is in the hands of the Estate Duty Office. It is only when it has left the Estate Duty Office and work requires to be done by others that interest runs. Mr. Davern: I feel that two and three years on a simple, straightforward case of, say, a £16,000 estate where there is only a widow left is too long. Mr. R. Ryan: The Deputy will appreciate that I speak with experience from both sides of the fence. There can be ordinary human delays but the com- plexity of the death duty laws and the difficulties of valuation and so on can often lead to a situation where you have those lengthy periods of administration. I share with the Deputy a desire to eliminate those. This is one of the reasons why we are eliminating death duties because of the delays and inconveniences and difficulties which are inevitable as long as we retain the old form of estate duty. Estate Duty Mr. Colley asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to a newspaper article (details suplied) concerning the principal value of property passing on death; and if he will make a state- ment on the matter. Mr. R. Ryan: The main point made in the article is that difficulties can arise when share values fall between the date of a person's death and the date of payment of estate duty. The difficulties referred to are, of course, not new. As the Deputy will appreciate they could on a rising market operate in the opposite direction so far as the Exchequer is con- 52 am glad to say over the last 18 months. Mr. Colley: Is the staff at full strength?