The Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals by Annino Forte and Corrado Forte against High Court summary judgments for unpaid tax totalling more than €5.2 million, affirming the decision to grant judgment without sending the cases to a plenary hearing.
The appeals concerned judgments of €2,723,238.17 against Annino Forte and €2,513,383.17 against Corrado Forte, made by the High Court on 28 July 2017. The Court of Appeal heard the appeals together. Its judgment was delivered on 31 July 2019.
The tax demands followed a Revenue audit and estimated assessments. The court said the Fortes did not participate in the audit assessment and did not appeal the assessments to the Appeal Commissioners, although they had been advised of that right. Under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, the court said, an assessment becomes final and conclusive if no appeal is lodged within the statutory period.
The Fortes raised multiple grounds, including challenges to the assessments, the Collector General’s standing to bring recovery proceedings, the appeal mechanism, the ongoing Revenue investigation and the handling of their correspondence. The Court of Appeal rejected the standing argument, finding that section 960I of the Act allowed the Collector General to sue for tax due and payable. It also agreed there was no gap in the law preventing appeals against the assessments. The Revenue investigation remaining open did not invalidate the assessments, and the court found no obligation on Revenue to engage in correspondence. A document sent after the appeal period had expired did not constitute an appeal.
The High Court had declined to send the dispute to a plenary hearing, concluding that the Fortes had not raised even an arguable case against the sums sought. It had also referred to evidence of “some level of tax evasion”. The Fortes challenged that remark, saying it was damaging and had been made without an opportunity to contest it. The Court of Appeal said any criticism of the High Court’s approach did not invalidate the underlying decision.
The Court of Appeal concluded that there were no arguable grounds of appeal. It dismissed both appeals and affirmed the High Court judgments.