The Court of Appeal has dismissed Gunter Falkenthal's challenge to a Revenue assessment arising from a tax avoidance dispute dating back to the 1996/97 tax year.
The dispute concerns losses Falkenthal claimed through Albany Partners, a partnership involved in acquiring, distributing and licensing films. In November 1998, Revenue formed the opinion that the arrangements amounted to a tax avoidance transaction and calculated a tax advantage of IR£31,252.80.
Falkenthal challenged that opinion through the Appeal Commissioners and Circuit Court. His appeal was dismissed in 2004. A further High Court appeal was withdrawn under a settlement reached in October 2012, under which he agreed to be bound by the Circuit Court judgment.
Revenue then treated its section 811 opinion as final and conclusive and issued an amended assessment in May 2013 for €34,583.70. Falkenthal sought to appeal that assessment, arguing in particular that statutory four-year time limits prevented Revenue from taking further action.
An Appeal Commissioner ruled in 2015 that no further appeal was available. After years of procedural delay, a case stated eventually reached the High Court, which upheld that decision in March 2025.
The Court of Appeal has now reached the same conclusion.
Mr Justice Michael McDonald held that section 811(5)(d) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 expressly displaced the ordinary appeal rights that would otherwise have existed under Part 41 of the Act once a section 811 opinion became final and conclusive.
The court distinguished the Supreme Court's earlier Droog decision, which concerned whether Revenue could form an opinion after the normal time limit had expired. Here, the opinion had been formed within time and had later become final following the concluded appeals and settlement.
The court also rejected Falkenthal's arguments on section 811(5A), finding that legislation enacted in 2012 allowed assessments or amended assessments after February 28, 2012 to give effect to final tax avoidance opinions, even where the tax year itself was much earlier.
The appeal was dismissed. Revenue was provisionally entitled to its costs, subject to any further submissions.