Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform
Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed)
2:30 pm
Mr. John O'Callaghan:
Exactly. Having a full equitable jurisdiction in things like declaring who owns what land, etc., would not necessarily be appropriate, but there has to be some scope for us to review Revenue discretion. I believe we should have an appeal over Revenue discretion. I have had cases where somebody has claimed that his wife actually owned half the land because of equity, that she had worked, etc. I have always held, as has my colleague, that is a matter for the High Court. That is the equitable jurisdiction of the High Court. I do not suggest we should stray into that kind of territory. However, with regard to practical cases, we should be able to move away from the rigid legal basis on which we currently operate essentially to be fair.
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