The High Court granted the Revenue Commissioners final judgment for €210,845.34 and interest against James Joseph Daly in a dispute over a VAT assessment for July to December 2012.
In a judgment delivered on 19 May 2017, Mr Justice Robert Eagar said the Revenue had made a valid assessment by letter dated 6 February 2013. Daly had not appealed it. The court concluded that he had raised no valid defence to the Revenue’s application for summary judgment.
The Revenue sought €210,845.34, including a principal VAT balance of €169,062, together with continuing interest. Its affidavit evidence said Daly had not filed a return for the six-month period and that an assessment of €200,000 was issued. The Revenue said the assessment became final and conclusive when no appeal was brought within 21 days. It credited payments against the assessment and claimed the remaining principal and accrued interest.
Daly disputed the amount and the timing of the assessment. In affidavits, he said his own calculation put the VAT liability at €35,272, that he had paid €30,973.73, and that he believed only €4,334.27 remained due. He said his accountants could not file the return through Revenue’s online service because of the estimate. He also argued that the estimate was raised before the return was due and was therefore invalid. Those were his claims and submissions; the court did not accept them as a defence to the summary application.
The judgment reviewed authorities on the statutory appeal process for tax assessments. It said that, absent an appeal, a court could intervene outside that process only if the procedure was beyond the statutory powers or the relevant legislation was unconstitutional. The court noted that judicial review proceedings were involved in two authorities cited for Daly, but did not identify judicial review proceedings in this case.
The court’s decision addressed the Revenue’s application for final judgment. It did not determine the VAT amount through a fresh assessment or refer the dispute for a plenary hearing. It ordered judgment for €210,845.34 and interest.