The Gazette 1958-61

or send them to the nearest Irish Consul for legal– isation of the notary's signature and seal. The Consul General has pointed out that it is not the practice of Irish consular officers in the United States to legalise the signatures and seals of notaries public practising in the various States of the Union and accordingly an instruction in the form mentioned sometimes causes delay and occasionally extra expense when the client is required to make a journey to one of the consular offices concerned. The present practice is to require the signature and seal of a notary public practising in the United States to be authenticated by the certificate of the county clerk within whose area the notary practises. Only when this certificate is affixed to the document witnessed by the notary can it be legalised by an Irish consular officer. The certificate of the county clerk costs only 25 cents. As an alternative to the above arrangement the Department points out that under the Commis– sioners for Oaths (Diplomatic and Consular) Act, 1931, Irish diplomatic and consular officers are authorised to do notarial acts and it is accordingly open to any solicitor desiring to have a document authenticated abroad to arrange for its direct authentication by the nearest Irish diplomatic or consular officer. The fees charged for such services are prescribed by the Diplomatic and Consular Fees Regulations, 1956 CS.I. No. 263 of 1956). (See Gazette, November 1956, page 45.) With regard to the many States in which there are no Irish Consulates, it would appear that the most convenient and least expensive method of having the seal of a notary public authenticated would be to have the notary's seal certified in the first instance by the Local County Clerk, and then to have the document forwarded to the Irish Consul within whose Consular jurisdiction the State in question lies for authentication of the County Clerk's signature and seal. A list of the States which lie within the Consular jurisdiction of the Irish Diplomatic and Consular Offices in the United States is appended. New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida. BOSTON : Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. CHICAGO : North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin. 40 CONSULAR DISTRICTS. NEW YORK :

of the income as is applied for the benefit of annuities under the contracts and schemes mentioned. Section 43 contains a number of machinery provisions. It prescribes the manner in which relief in respect of a qualifying premium is to be claimed and gives the taxpayer a right of appeal if his claim is not admitted. It also enables the Revenue Com– missioners to make regulations as regards certain matters of procedure and provides a penalty for false claims to relief. Section 54 is intended broadly to bring the position in the High Court as to recovery of tax into line with that existing in the Circuit and District Courts under Section n of the Finance Act 1924 and Section 39 of the Finance Act 1926. It authorises, without prejudice to existing methods of recovery, High Court proceedings to be taken in the name of an officer of the Revenue Commissioners, and pre– scribes a simplified mode of prima facie proof. Section 58 exempts from Stamp Duty receipts issued by the Land Commission for certain payments made to them in their capacity as successors to the Commissioners of Church Temporalities in Ireland. Section 59 exempts from Stamp Duty any instru– ments where the amount of duty chargeable thereon would have to be stamped solely out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. Section 60 repeals the Stamp Duty at present chargeable on bonds required for Customs and Excise purposes. These bonds relate mainly to the temporary importation of motor vehicles, the importation of goods for further manufacture, ^he payment of Entertainments Duty on the basis of certified returns, etc. First Schedule of the Act Retirement Annuities (Adjustments of Limit on Qualifying Premiums). The First Schedule modifies the limits of relief in respect of " qualifying premiums " specified in Section 41 of the Act in certain cases. Part I of the Schedule provides for a reduction in the £500 limit in the case of a person whose earnings include remuneration from a pensionable employ– ment. Part II increases both the £500 limit and the percentage limit on a sliding scale according to age in the case of persons who had attained the age of 40 years before the ist January last. EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS IN U.S.A. THE Society has received a letter from the Depart– ment of External Affairs drawing attention to certain matters in connection with the completion of affidavits and other documents by persons resident in the United States of America intended for use in Eire. It appears that in some cases Irish solicitors instruct their clients in the United States to execute documents before notaries public and then to bring