Vol. 387 No. 9
asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the concern of many companies about the implication of a recent court decision which cast doubt on the reliability of advance rulings by the Revenue Commissioners; and the action he proposes to take on the matter.
22.
asked the Minister for Finance if he has any proposals to remove the uncertainty in respect of the status of advance tax rulings by the Revenue Commissioners arising from the decision of the High Court in the case of a company (details supplied) and others; and if the effect is such that rulings were not binding on the tax inspector.
24.
asked the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself with the reliability of advance rulings on tax matters given by the Revenue Commissioners; the procedure for the granting of such rulings; their purposes; and if their value has been called into question by a recent court ruling.
35.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will introduce legislation to ensure that advance rulings by tax inspectors will in all cases be binding on tax inspectors.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 22, 24 and 35 together.
The Revenue Commissioners' essential function in collecting taxes is necessarily dependent on events having occurred which given rise to a liability to tax. However, in certain circumstances in order to facilitate taxpayers, the commissioners are prepared to give an opinion, in advance, on the possible tax consequences of a proposed course of action. In replying to such representations the conditional nature of the opinion is made clear. This is because the final determination of the tax liability rests upon the facts as they are revealed to the Inspector of Taxes, or on the hearing of an appeal, and neither the fact finding process nor the eventual application of the law to those facts is predetermined by an advance opinion by the Revenue Commissioners. It would seriously compromise the inspector's statutory function to hold him bound by a ruling given in advance of the completion of the events which determine what the actual ruling should be. The courts have confirmed in the case referred to by Deputies that "an Inspector is not bound by a prior opinion expressed to the taxpayer by the Revenue Commissioners". Consequently, there is no uncertainty in respect of the status of prior opinions given by the Revenue Commissioners and I do not propose to take any action in the matter.
