Monroe Doctrine
A pamphlet just published by the Law Society on capital gains tax and corporation tax is inilia- ally intended for the guidance of its members : but it really deserves a wider public. Mr. H. H. Monroe, QC, has a gay hand with intimidatingly dull material. He also, in a light-hearted way. throws a revealing light on the remarkable (be- cause immensely complicated and inadequately prepared) Finance Act of 1965. 'To hope to pro- vide a comprehensive guide,' he advises his readers, 'would be to sigh for the moon': and this is an expert writing for experts! And he says :
No doubt the Commissioners of Inland Revenue will soon produce their own pamphlets dealing with the effects of the Act. Such pam- phlets will be very much more authoritative than
this one. . . If the terms of the Act were
clearer, it would also be possible to assert with confidence that they will be more reliable; but for the time being at least there are parts of the Act where one man's guess will be as good as another's.
Two other specimens of Mr. Monroe's doctrine : The section, somewhat astonishingly—if ;n- deed, having wrestled with the Finance Act, 1965. one retains any capacity for astonishment— makes me express reference to a retiring partner . . .
Death, according to Peter Pan, is a great adventure. According to s. 24 of the Finance Act. 1965, it is a disposal by the deceased of all the assets of which he was competent to dispose . . •
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