The Finance (Tax Appeals) Act, 2015 introduced a new
architecture for the hearing and determination of tax appeals.
Amongst other changes, the Tax Appeals Commission (the
"TAC") replaced the Appeal Commissioners, with appeals
directly to the High Court only on question(s) of law arising from
the TAC's determination (a 'case stated'), rather than
to the Circuit Court on the basis of a full rehearing of the tax
appeal. A recent High Court judgment considered the question of
costs awards in these cases stated.
Arguments on Costs
In O'Sullivan v. Revenue Commissioners [2021] IEHC
118, the High Court judge, Mr Justice Sanfey, dismissed the
taxpayer's case stated and affirmed the TAC's determination
in the matter. The Court was subsequently asked to rule on the
Revenue Commissioners' application for its costs of the case
stated. The taxpayer resisted the costs application on three
grounds:
