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Private Wealth

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Expertise

Our Private Wealth Group provides focused legal and tax advisory services to domestic and international individuals and families, family offices, trustees, beneficiaries, private banks, and trust companies on a wide range of private wealth matters.

As a full-service law firm, we are uniquely placed in the Irish market to serve the needs of the most complex mandates.  We value enduring relationships built on trust and anchored in the quality of our service and commitment to our clients.  

Our Team

Our dedicated team comprises over ten professionals and is led by the Head of Private Wealth, John Gill

John Gill

Partner

Maeve Lochrie

Partner

Experience Highlights

Matheson’s Private Wealth lawyers provide tax, estate planning and wealth preservation / asset protection advice to Irish and International individuals, families and their investment advisors. Experienced members of our team are also qualified tax advisors. 

Highlights of our recent work include:

  • Advising Irish resident and domiciled clients on parent controlled gifting structures to take advantage of reduced asset values in large Irish businesses.
  • Advising high net worth Irish domiciled, UK and US resident individuals on their estate plans involving assets in multiple jurisdictions.
  • Advising individuals moving to Ireland on pre-entry planning to mitigate exposure to Irish capital tax, immigration issues and property advices as part of our dedicated relocation service.
  • Advising clients and offshore structures in negotiations with the Irish Revenue Commissioners and on making appeals to the Tax Appeals Commission.
  • Advising financial institutions on the practical implantation of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
  • Advising Irish and international families and family law offices on the full range of domestic and international estate planning concerns.
  • Advising family businesses on passing future value in the business to the next generation whilst maintaining business control.
  • Advising Irish trustees providing trust service to non-Irish families.
  • Advising on the Irish tax implications of offshore trust structures, including minimising Irish tax exposures through voluntary disclosure.
  • Advising on the legal and tax aspects of a trust dispute on behalf of a branch of a family concerning a valuable business.
  • Advising claimant child and spouse beneficiaries of large Irish and international estates.
  • Advising on multiple will challenges both for executors and plaintiff beneficiaries.
  • Advising on succession law issues involving estates with complex tax profiles and assets in multiple jurisdictions.
Accolades

John Gill and Paraic Madigan continue to be listed as tier one lawyers.
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2024

"The team at Matheson demonstrated an excellent understanding of inheritance laws in the Republic of Ireland, providing clear advice. They proved to be very knowledgeable and responsive through the whole process."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2024

"They are very responsive and knowledgeable on immigration questions for private wealth clients. They deal with this day to day and are familiar with the issues, and I have been impressed by that."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2024.

"They are my go-to Irish advisers: they will always give reliable advice."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2024.

John Gill is listed in Private Client Global Elite.
Private Client Global Elite 2019 - 2022

"They are so good. They have a very professional team and huge background knowledge and resources."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2021

"Apart from being a technically excellent lawyer, he has excellent communication skills and a winning personality.
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2019

Paraic provides "high-quality professional advice, perfect for the needs of the HNW individual."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2019

Paraic Madigan and John Gill are listed in the Citywealth Leaders List
Citywealth Leaders List 2017 - 2019

John "is my go to guy for Irish private client tax and legal advice, he is technically reliable and gives sound commercial advice."
Citywealth Leaders List 2019

Paraic "gives first rate and commercial advice in a calm and considered way."
Citywealth Leaders List 2019

Paraic Madigan is recognised for Trusts and Estates
Best Lawyers Ireland 2018 edition

John "has the technical skills but also the ability to articulate technical topics in a way that clients can easily understand and relate to."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2018

John Gill is “very well regarded” by his peers."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2018

"Sources particularly highlight Paraic Madigan’s trusts litigation and contentious probate work."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2018

"Paraic Madigan is a well-regarded private client practitioner."
Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2018

Paraic Madigan is recognised as a leading lawyer by Best Lawyers.

"An excellent legal partner, they look at every assignment from the client's perspective."
International Law Office, Client Choice Award — Ireland

InDisputes: CAT Business Property Relief on Cash Assets

Sep 15, 2023, 16:31 PM
Title : InDisputes: CAT Business Property Relief on Cash Assets
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Engagement Time : 5
Insight Type : Article
Insight Date : Sep 15, 2023, 00:00 AM

In a recent Tax Appeals Commission ("TAC") determination, the Commissioner held that Business Property Relief ("BPR") (for Capital Acquisitions Tax purposes) was correctly claimed on the cash balances of a group of companies (the "Group"), as they were used "wholly or mainly for the purposes of the business" in the relevant period.

The Substantive Point at Issue

  • The Appellant received a gift of shares in the Group and claimed BPR on the gift.
  • Revenue argued that 75% of the Group's cash reserves were 'excepted assets' under section 100 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 (as amended) ("CATCA"), as they were excessive, and as such, could not qualify for BPR.
  • The Appellant had two main arguments:
    • (i) The definition of "excepted assets" in section 100 CATCA was clear and unambiguous, and it did not contain qualifications such as 'excess', 'necessary' or 'required'; and
    • (ii) The level of cash was required to run the Group's business.
  • The Appellant, who was also Group Finance Director, gave comprehensive evidence that the cash was used "wholly or mainly for business purposes". For example, significant cash assets were required to (i) hedge against foreign exchange risk; (ii) fund capital intensive projects with large initial outlays; (iii) provide comfort to certain of the Group's clients that would only deal with "asset-strong" entities after the economic crisis; and (iv) provide liquidity as the Group's fixed assets were not readily convertible into cash.

The Determination

The following are a few points of note from the Commissioner's determination:

  • Revenue sought to rely on Barclays Bank Trust Limited v Inland Revenue Commissioners (1998 Sp C 158) arguing that the Appellant needed to have a concrete use for the cash reserves. The Commissioner refused to attach any weight to these submissions noting that (i) the UK case is not binding on the Irish courts; and (ii) the wording of the UK legislation differed to the Irish equivalent legislation.  While both the UK and Irish legislation requires that the assets are "used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the business concerned", the UK legislation has an additional requirement that the assets should be "required at the time of the transfer for future use". Arguably, the present case could be distinguished in any event, given the list of uses for the cash provided by the Appellant in the case.
  • Both the Appellant and Revenue opened a previous determination of the TAC (132TACD2021) before the TAC (the "Prior Case"). The Appellant's Counsel submitted that based on the Prior Case, it must only be established that the assets of the Group did not contain any personal assets such as a yacht or a holiday home. Revenue disagreed stating that the TAC carried out a detailed review of the use of the assets in the Prior Case. The Commissioner noted that while a detailed analysis of the assets was undertaken in the Prior Case, he did "not consider such an analytical approach is necessary." While the facts of the Prior Case may be distinguished (ie, there was clearly some level of business assets mixed together with investment assets), the Commissioner appeared to rely on the Appellant's evidence.

Key Takeaways

  1. The Commissioner referred to the Appellant as an "honest and diligent witness", and placed significant weight on the evidence given by the Appellant. It was clear that a significant amount of supporting documentation was provided to the TAC in support of the various arguments made by the Appellant. This was vital in discharging the burden of proof on the taxpayer.
  2. To avail of BPR on cash assets it must be possible to highlight the general business use for the cash assets. However, the Irish legislation, unlike the UK legislation, does not require a person to pinpoint an exact future use for the cash in their business. 
  3. While the Commissioner did not require a concrete use for the cash reserves, Revenue, in their guidance notes, appear to adopt a narrower view of the legislation in the context of "surplus cash" noting:[1]

    "This does not preclude taking into account the need for sufficient liquidity to cover the payment of liabilities in determining what constitutes an excepted asset in the first place - particularly as regards the amount to be treated as surplus cash"
  4. A taxpayer must be satisfied that the assets are not excepted assets under section 100 CATCA generally, including under section 100(7) CATCA (ie, that the asset is not used wholly or mainly for the personal benefit of the disponer or a relative of theirs) and they must satisfy the more general "wholly or mainly for business purposes" test under section 100(2) CATCA.
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