Solicitor says he is stuck in ‘catch 22’ due to inability to receive legal aid payments. Reports The Irish Times.
Revenue has applied to the High Court seeking €200,000 in unpaid taxes from a prominent solicitor and former Law Society president.
James MacGuill, who operates practices in Dundalk and Dublin and sits on the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, accepts he owes the unpaid tax but says it relates to income he has earned but has not yet received.
He said any judgment against him would be “fundamentally unfair” and could damage his practice. This would make it more difficult for Revenue to recover the money, according to an affidavit opened in court last week.
Mr MacGuill argued his typical client was unable to pay their legal fees. As a result they must rely on criminal legal aid schemes or, in civil cases, wait for their costs to be awarded at the end of a case.
The solicitor claimed this meant he was taxed on income often many years before he received the money, causing “immense cash flow difficulties”.
He said he was owed at least €240,000 from one case as well as €95,000 in various legal aid fees earned so far in 2019. When paid, this money will go towards his tax liabilities, he said.
