Business Law 

A recent note from the Business Law Committee has been issued to update solicitors on the current use and adoption of electronic signatures.

• View the electronic signatures guidance

The Business Law Committee made a submission earlier this month on Section 150 of the Companies Act 2014 and the Companies Act 2014 (Section 150) (No. 2) Regulations 2015 affecting officers (directors and individual company secretaries) of entities registered under the Act who are seeking an exemption from disclosing their residential addresses to the Companies Registration Office. We are recommending that procedures be put in place to exclude personal addresses from historic as well as future filings, as otherwise the protection is meaningless and only benefits incoming or newly appointed Affected Officers.

The submission also requests that the Company Law Review Group progress the implementation of the recommendations for Issue 8 in the Company Law Review Group’s Report on certain company law issues under the Companies Act 2014 to address the issues we have raised.

• View the Section 150 submission

Conveyancing 

The Conveyancing Committee has been actively working on several issues and engaging directly with members at Law Society Skillnet cluster events around the country on matters of concern. Queries have mostly related to issues with banks and Tailte Eireann. See some updates below. 

• The Law Society made a submission in June on the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill at the invitation of the Joint Committee on Justice, further to an earlier submission last September. This Bill seeks to establish a statutory procedure so that when a seller of a property places the property on the market a set of legal documents is to be compiled. The purpose of the pack is to ensure the buyer has access to certain key information relating to the property to make the conveyancing process more efficient.  View the June 2024 submission

• There is continued positive and intensive engagement with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) in terms of standardising the request and reply letters from local authorities re roads and services and both parties are making good progress. 

• The committee met recently with the Decision Support Service on conveyancing matters facing the profession when Orders are made or Agreements registered and is working on a series of practice notes to assist

• The Temporary Development Contribution Waiver Scheme is posing difficulties for both residential property solicitors and solicitors for developers, subsequently delaying sales. Guidance and updates shall issue to the profession shortly. 

• The committee is in the process of admitting NUA Finance to the Certificate of Title system and will decide in July on the application of a further new applicant, increasing competition in the lending market. 

Discussion with DSS

Given the continuing issues for solicitors and clients with the Enduring Power of Attorney application process, the Law Society is hosting an online discussion on 3 July at 1pm. Áine Hynes SC, Chair of the Law Society’s Mental Health & Capacity Task Force, will be speaking to Áine Flynn and Orla Keane of the Decision Support Service (DSS).

• Register for the online information session

Taxation 

Over recent weeks the Law Society’s Taxation Committee has been engaging with Revenue and Tax Administration Liaison Committees (TALC) on several fronts:

• Revenue has released new guidance on Determining Employment Status for Tax Purposes, following the Supreme Court decision in the Karshan Case. The Taxation and Employment Law committees were happy to see many of the issues discussed with Revenue were taken into account in the final version of the published Guidelines.

• The issues of tax clearances for non-resident vendors (TDM 45-01-05) and requests for clearance in death cases (TDM  46-01-02) continue to be of concern for practitioners. The committee is engaging with Revenue on these issues (with the Probate, Administration and Trusts Committee) and written feedback was provided to Revenue in May 2024, with follow-up meetings now scheduled. Further updates will be provided as relevant progress is made.

• Taxation Committee members have engaged with the TALC subgroup working on the simplification and modernisation of business supports. The committee are also taking part in the Business Taxation Stakeholder Forum (BTSF) consultation led by the Department of Finance on participation exemption for foreign dividends.

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