The High Court has allowed the Collector General to enter judgment against solicitor Cormac Lohan for €144,788.50, plus interest, in proceedings to recover VAT penalties previously imposed by the court.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons ruled on 13 October 2023 that Lohan had failed to disclose a credible defence to the Revenue’s application for summary judgment. The application concerned recovery of penalties set by a High Court order in 2017. The judge also said interest would accrue from the date of judgment.
The 2017 order imposed penalties of €47,379 for negligently delivering incorrect VAT returns for 2003 to 2007, €42,752 for deliberately furnishing incorrect returns for 2008 and 2009, and €54,657.50 for deliberately furnishing incorrect returns for 2010. The Court of Appeal dismissed Lohan’s appeal in 2019, leaving the High Court order in place.
The current proceedings were brought by the Collector General, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised to collect tax and interest for the Minister for Finance. Lohan argued that a revenue officer should reconsider the penalties in light of his accountant’s medical condition, which he said had affected the accuracy of the returns. He relied on a provision concerning reasonable excuse and argued that the officer had refused to reassess the penalties.
The judge said the argument misunderstood the statutory process. The earlier penalties had been imposed by the High Court, and the Court of Appeal had upheld them. The Revenue Commissioners could not reassess penalties imposed by the court, he said. The provision cited by Lohan concerned tax estimates or assessments, rather than penalties. The judge also found no evidence that Lohan had made a formal application to the Revenue Commissioners to reassess the penalties, but said that even such an application would not provide a credible defence.
At the hearing, Lohan’s counsel sought an adjournment, saying he had only recently been briefed. The judge refused to adjourn the case out of the list, but put it back for an hour to allow counsel to review the papers and consult with his client.
The judge’s view was that the Collector General should recover legal costs under the default position in the legislation. He gave Lohan seven days to file written submissions seeking a different costs order, with the plaintiff allowed a further seven days to reply. The judgment therefore set out a provisional view on costs and a submissions timetable; it did not record a final costs order.