Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 32:

In page 43, to delete lines 4 to 11 and substitute the following:“Revenue Commissioners to give effect to decisions of High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court

949AT.(1) Section 949AM shall apply to a determination made by the Appeal Commissioners that has been reversed, affirmed or amended by the High Court or the Court of Appeal as it applies to a determination that has not been so reversed, affirmed or amended but, in the case of a decision of the High Court that is appealed to the Court of Appeal under section 949AS, the application (by virtue of this subsection) of section 949AM does not operate for any part of the period during which the appeal to the Court of Appeal remains undisposed of.

(2) Where, in respect of a decision of the High Court or the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, in the circumstances specified by the Constitution, decides to exercise its appellate jurisdiction subsection (1) shall have effect as if—

(a) after 'Court of Appeal', where it first occurs in that subsection, there were inserted 'or the Supreme Court',

(b) for 'decision of the High Court that is appealed to the Court of Appeal under section 949AS' in that subsection there were substituted ‘decision of the High Court or the Court of appeal in respect of which the Supreme Court, in the circumstances specified by the Constitution, decides to exercise its appellate jurisdiction’, and

(c) for 'Court of Appeal', where it last occurs in that subsection, there were substituted 'Supreme Court'.".

This amendment deals with the requirement for the Revenue Commissioners to give effect to the determination of the appeal commissioners and the courts by, for example, amending a disputed tax assessment to reflect the tax liability as finally determined. The amendment clarifies that the Revenue Commissioners are not required to give effect to a determination where the appeals process continues after a determination has been made. This can happen where, for example, a decision of the appeal commissioners is appealed to the High Court or a decision of the High Court is appealed to the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.

Amendment No. 35 relates to the new section 949AU which deals with the summoning and examination of appellants and other witnesses by the appeal commissioners and which imposes a monetary penalty of €3,000 where a person who has been summoned to attend before the appeal commissioners fails to comply with the summons or, who having attended, refuses to swear an oath or to answer any lawful questions relating to the matter in dispute.

However, while the section imposes a penalty it does not deal with a situation where a person does not agree with the appeals commissioner that he or she is liable to the penalty. The amendment addresses this deficiency by providing for an application to the District Court by the appeals commissioner so that the court can determine the liability to a penalty. It is to give potential for effect to the penalty. I recommend these amendments.