# Solicitor insists on letter of "No Audit" to release funds



## Silver Turfer (23 Jan 2018)

I sold a property in Ireland in September last year, 
the auctioneers have been paid 
the solicitor has taken his cut
the Capital Gains Tax has been paid
I've had my accounts submitted and I'm all up to date for 2017.

But the solicitor I'm using is not prepared to release the funds to me until 
he receives a letter of "No Audit" for CGT purposes as I am a non resident, living in England.

Is this normal?
If it is where can I find any information on this "Letter of No Audit" and who provides it?


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## T McGibney (23 Jan 2018)

There's no such thing as a letter of "No Audit". Who does he suggest provides this letter?


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## Silver Turfer (23 Jan 2018)

Hi Mr McG, 
So you have not heard of it either?
He suggests that the "revenue" provide it and although they provided me a letter on Friday saying that they were prepared to accept my return and the payment to cover.

But he written to them say he requires 
*"the standard letter of No audit for CGT purposes"*

I'll carry on watching this post in case anyone else can shine light on it


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## T McGibney (23 Jan 2018)

He's talking through his behind. There's no way Revenue are going to issue a letter confirming that such and such a return is or isn't going to be audited. It just doesn't work like that.  Demand your money now!


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## DB74 (23 Jan 2018)

Seems that there is something in it, have to admit I've never heard of it before either

It looks like something that the solicitor has to get from Revenue themselves

https://www.lawsociety.ie/Solicitor...ains-tax-clearance-certificates/#.WmdQbqhl-Uk (see section 11)


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## dublin67 (23 Jan 2018)

I agree with DB74.  This is something agreed between the Law Society and the Revenue.  The solicitor has some type of secondary liability on the sale of a property for a non-resident.  It kicks in particularly when the consideration in less than €500K as no CG50 is necessary.


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## Silver Turfer (23 Jan 2018)

Well guys this has been quite a useful forum for me, I can see why the solicitor has been hanging onto my money.
I feel that the procedure is quite opaque and it would have been good if he had spellt out the procedure.
If I understand it correctly he (the solicitor) has to ask the revenue to provide him with this letter/cert/note, I think he has finally written to the revenue to ask for it.
I've had an "all clear note" from the revenue but that was not good enough for him.

Here in the UK, we don't have to use a solicitor .. its still best to use one ... but the prices they charge are much more reasonable.


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## Silver Turfer (23 Jan 2018)

I cant believe it .. the solicitor will not accept my bank details by email...

*Under Law Society regulations we are not allowed to accept Bank details by email, therefore please post the top of your Bank Statement with the account details on it to us.
*

**


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## PaddyBloggit (23 Jan 2018)

Silver Turfer said:


> Under Law Society regulations we are not allowed to accept Bank details by email, therefore please post the top of your Bank Statement with the account details on it to us.



Seems reasonable to me ... what with online fraud etc. possible. Solicitor is only covering his back.


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## Silver Turfer (24 Jan 2018)

I honestly think that they are just being to pedantic ...
They know my bank details they can check against the deposit I paid to them by bank transfer back in September.
Also if they check there records they made a sizable transfer to me a few years ago.

I think its just a ruse to hang onto the proceeds a bit longer.


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## TLO (24 Jan 2018)

I know it's a pain but your solicitor is doing things "by the book" and this is in your long term best interest.  Asking for a copy of your Bank Statement is a security procedure formalised by the issuing of a Practice Note by the Law Society.  The Practice Note can be found at:

https://www.lawsociety.ie/Solicitor...ar-Phishing--the-latest-threat1/#.WmheFqhl_IU

Complying with this procedure puts all the responsibility onto your solicitor should something go wrong, for example, funds end up in the wrong place due to a typo during an online banking transaction.


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## T McGibney (24 Jan 2018)

It's such a bizarre na


TLO said:


> for example, funds end up in the wrong place due to a typo during an online banking transaction.



Is that a genuine possibility? Do banks not use checksum algorithms (as eg Revenue do) to prevent simple typos causing such havoc?


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## Silver Turfer (24 Jan 2018)

I know that there are indeed scammers who target solicitors by identity theft etc.
And one has to be extremely careful with this stuff ... but I think you should take a pragmatic view.
i.e. if you know the party involved and you have had dealing with them in the past, then its a bit daft to insist on it being sent by post, which I believe is just as open to fraud.

Anyway the good news is they have excepted a downloaded bank statement forwarded to them by email, and I can see no further holdups.

Thank you guys and/or gals for the informative discussion and the chance to "vent my spleen"
Cheers
Silver


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## RETIRED2017 (24 Jan 2018)

Silver Turfer said:


> I know that there are indeed scammers who target solicitors by identity theft etc.
> And one has to be extremely careful with this stuff ... but I think you should take a pragmatic view.
> i.e. if you know the party involved and you have had dealing with them in the past, then its a bit daft to insist on it being sent by post, which I believe is just as open to fraud.
> 
> ...


I would not use email to send bank details looking at the amount of money we are talking about posting details is a very short time to wait, Leaving scamming to one side if it went into the wrong account and someone spent some of it,
When you think about it the solicitor by having the top of the actual  bank statement with the account no on it is taking all of the responsibilty if a mistake is made .he may need it for insurance  jf the need arises,


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## T McGibney (24 Jan 2018)

RETIRED2017 said:


> I would not use email to send bank details



Countless businesses send invoices by email, with bank details thereon to facilitate payment. Many have their bank details on their websites, for the same reason.


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## RETIRED2017 (24 Jan 2018)

T McGibney said:


> Countless businesses send invoices by email, with bank details thereon to facilitate payment. Many have their bank details on their websites, for the same reason.


They may. but in a once off cases it is easy to make a mistake ,solicitors firms dealing with large amount of money anything going wrong could ruin then not to mention fraud,


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## T McGibney (24 Jan 2018)

RETIRED2017 said:


> They may. but *in a once off cases it is easy to make a mistake *,solicitors firms dealing with large amount of money anything going wrong could ruin then not to mention fraud,


No it's not, unless the bank is totally negligent in terms of not bothering with checksum algorithms and other safeguards against typing and other innocent error/fraud.


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## RETIRED2017 (24 Jan 2018)

T McGibney said:


> No it's not, unless the bank is totally negligent in terms of not bothering with checksum algorithms and other safeguards against typing and other innocent error/fraud.


I would be impressed with my solicitor for double checking in the case mentioned above for lots of reasons including internal controls in the company and being able to follow up if a bank made a mistake reading from posters on this forum it is the norm not the exception and protecting me if it happened ,


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## T McGibney (24 Jan 2018)

Double checking isn't the issue here. Copying and pasting bank details received by email is, if anything, a hell of a lot safer than transcribing these from a photocopied bank statement, as the OP's solicitor requested.


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## Brendan Burgess (24 Jan 2018)

Solicitors in the UK have been targeted as follows. 

Scammers hacked email accounts. 
They emailed solicitors sending them false bank account details.
The solicitor transferred life changing sums to the false bank account. 

The solicitors got caught badly. 

Solicitors should probably tell their clients this and ask them well in advance to provide the bank account details in writing. 

Brendan


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## USAdave (22 May 2018)

Hi silver turner, I'm curious to find out if you ever received your "no audit letter"
I find myself in a very similar situation, my siblings in Ireland received their money in January from the sale of our mothers home after it went through probate and all CGT where paid. Because I'm a non resident both my solicitor and my accountant have requested a no audit letter for me, I still haven't received it to date may 22nd. 
I've call revenue commissioners myself and have been advised they not issue "no audit letters" and that my solicitor should request a form 4810. 

Hopefully you've had better luck than me. 
Thanks, Dave


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## Silver Turfer (23 May 2018)

Hi Dave, thank you, and sorry to hear you have a similar problem.
Its a few months ago so I had to just remind myself how it all got sorted out.

It seems not many tax officers are familiar with this.

If my memory serves me correctly it all fell into place when The Solicitor involved actually pressed the Tax Office for the required letter.
I think I would have still be waiting if it had not been for my accountant knowing the local tax office quite well and was on first name terms with the tax inspector who was responsible.

If I were you I would try and talk to all three parties .. The Solicitor, your accountant and someone in the tax office.

I hope you get it sorted Dave, and soon.

I did did the whole process to extremely frustrating.
I don't know who was really at fault here but in my opinion the solicitor should have been more proactive in dealing with the tax authorities rather than just hanging about.


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## Brady94 (29 May 2018)

Hi Silver Turner, I am another victim of Irish red tape, can you tell me who provided you with a letter of audit, was it the revenue? Our solicitor has said we need to appoint an accountant just to get the letter of audit.  It’s a nightmare


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## Silver Turfer (29 May 2018)

Hi Brady, I needed an accountant anyway. 
You'll probably need one to do the tax returns to show how much Capital gains Tax etc are due.
I was lucky enough to have one in Athlone who knew the lady in the revenue office.
It was really down to the solicitor in the end to ask the revenue for a letter to satisfy him.

The problem is that most revenue people have not come across it and most solicitors don't see it often enough to know what to do about it.

Good luck


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## T McGibney (30 May 2018)

Silver Turfer said:


> The problem is that most revenue people have not come across it and most solicitors don't see it often enough to know what to do about it.



Nail on head.


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## interprime (21 Feb 2019)

I know I'm coming in a fair few months late here, but, I'm currently in the same situation where I'm waiting for a letter of No Audit from the Revenue Commissioners after selling a house in Ireland. Everything has been submitted and my solicitor has requested the letter from them. Just wondering how long it took for yourself to get sorted out?


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## MeathCommute (22 Feb 2019)

T McGibney said:


> Do banks not use checksum algorithms (as eg Revenue do) to prevent simple typos causing such havoc?



Not as many as you would think. They can verify account numbers and sort codes to destinations within their own bank, but if the payment is to another bank, the account number could be garbage, and they won't be able to verify that it isn't. They can check the validity of the sort code though. If an invalid sort code is sent out, the money is usually returned to the source account within a few days.


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## zalaba (24 Aug 2021)

Silver Turfer said:


> I sold a property in Ireland in September last year,
> the auctioneers have been paid
> the solicitor has taken his cut
> the Capital Gains Tax has been paid
> ...


Hello, I'm in the same situation right now, Waiting for the letter of no audit from revenue, I was talking to 4 people from revenue and nobody knows anything about it! crazy..any idea what to do?


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## RedOnion (24 Aug 2021)

zalaba said:


> any idea what to do?


Are you non resident?
Have you filed a CGT return?
Who requested the letter from Revenue? Your solicitor or your accountant?


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## jpd (24 Aug 2021)

I think they mean a Tax Clearance certificate, No?


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## zalaba (7 Sep 2021)

RedOnion said:


> Are you non resident?
> Have you filed a CGT return?
> Who requested the letter from Revenue? Your solicitor or your accountant?


yes, I'm a nonresident now...and my solicitor filled our CGT form but now they ask for CGT computation. My solicitor requested the letter from the revenue.


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## zalaba (7 Sep 2021)

jpd said:


> I think they mean a Tax Clearance certificate, No?


11. Non-resident vendors​Solicitors are advised that the above clearances are separate to the procedures that apply when acting for non-resident vendors. A procedure has been agreed between the Law Society and the Revenue where, after a disposal has been notified to Revenue by a solicitor and he/she obtains a letter of ‘no audit’, then the Revenue will not subsequently pursue the solicitor for any unpaid taxes of the vendor. This procedure should still be followed, whether or not a CGT clearance certificate is required.


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## zalaba (16 Sep 2021)

I'm desperate now, pls anyone help me and send me a message or email to rachelbanik@gmail.com, I can't get my money from Ireland! Thanks.Rachel


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