The High Court granted Gerard Harrahill summary judgment for €161,433.19 in a dispute with Ann O’Donnell over capital gains tax. Mr Justice Eagar ruled that the tax assessment had become final and conclusive because it was not appealed within the statutory time limit, and that no valid defence to the summary judgment application had been raised.
The claim concerned tax and interest arising from the 2007 sale of shares in K&F Sarolla Teoranta to Kilmac Formwork Ltd. The agreed consideration was €735,000. O’Donnell’s stated share was €612,500, while €122,500 related to her children’s shareholdings. She said €235,000 was paid at completion and the remaining €500,000 was never received.
O’Donnell argued that her capital gains tax liability should be recalculated to reflect the amount she actually received. She said Kilmac Formwork later entered receivership and that she did not expect to recover the outstanding balance. She also said she and her solicitors had pursued payment over several years. In a later affidavit, she apologised for an earlier statement suggesting the purchaser’s additional costs could have been claimed under warranties or indemnities in the share agreement.
Revenue’s evidence was that an assessment for €117,700.19 was issued in November 2011 on the basis of a computation submitted on O’Donnell’s behalf. It said no appeal was made within the 30-day period and the assessment therefore became final and conclusive. Revenue also disputed that a revised return filed in 2014 displaced the assessment, and said O’Donnell had not established that the deferred consideration had become irrecoverable under the relevant tax provisions.
The judge relied on the statutory appeal process and the Supreme Court decision in *Deighan v Hearne*. He said the court could interfere with an assessment outside that process only if the procedure was ultra vires or a relevant statutory provision was unconstitutional. No such basis was established in this application. The court concluded that no valid defence to summary judgment had been raised and entered judgment for €161,433.19.
The judgment does not state that the court separately determined the disputed share-sale balance or ordered payment of the claimed additional daily interest.