In a recent High Court case it was held that the usual statutory time limit for raising assessments applied to Section 811 of Taxes Consolidation Act (general anti-avoidance section). In that case Revenue had originally allowed tax relief to the taxpayer but nine years later decided that the transaction was a tax-avoidance measure and sought a repayment of taxes.

The above case related to a period when tax law did not explicitly include a time limit for Revenue to raise an assessment under Section 811. It is important to note that the Finance Act 2008 introduced legislation to allow Revenue to raise assessments under Section 811 without a time limit from 14 February 2008 where no protective notification was made by the taxpayer in their tax return.

Contributed by Conor Bradbury, Sonya Manzor.

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