The High Court has ruled in favour of Jacqueline O’Dwyer on two questions of law arising from a €431,230.60 capital gains tax assessment connected to the €4.5 million sale of a property in 2006.
Mr Justice Liam Kennedy held that the Tax Appeals Commission had erred in deciding that a 1986 deed transferred both legal and beneficial ownership of the property to O’Dwyer.
The deed was executed by her father, Patrick O’Dwyer, and transferred the property to his daughter in fee simple. Crucially, however, it reserved to him for life the full right to reside in and occupy the property, together with all rents and profits.
Revenue argued that Jacqueline O’Dwyer became both legal and beneficial owner in 1986, subject only to her father’s personal rights. On that basis, Revenue assessed her for CGT when the property was sold in 2006.
The High Court disagreed. Kennedy J held that the deed had to be read as a whole and in its factual context. While legal title passed to O’Dwyer, her father retained the practical benefits and control of ownership throughout his lifetime. She had no right to occupy the property, share its income or otherwise enjoy it while those rights subsisted.
The judge relied in particular on the Supreme Court’s 1931 decision in National Bank v Keegan, which remains binding in relation to the pre-2009 law governing such interests. He found that Patrick O’Dwyer retained a lifetime equitable interest and that the property therefore became settled property.
The 2006 transaction did not alter that conclusion. The court noted that the sale could not have proceeded without Patrick O’Dwyer releasing his rights, and that the distribution of the sale proceeds supported the conclusion that he remained the beneficial owner until that release.
The court answered both questions in the stated case in O’Dwyer’s favour. Final orders were left for a later listing on 29 October 2025.