According to the Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report for 2000 published yesterday, more than I£32m has been collected to date as a result of the continuing Revenue inquiries into the Ansbacher deposits and the National Irish Bank (NIB) offshore schemes. Settlements had been reached by May 31st this year with 281 of the 429 individuals known to have invested in the NIB schemes; of these cases, 79 were settled without any liability, and 12 cases have been referred for criminal investigation with a view to prosecution through the courts.

The Ansbacher inquiry has led to payments on account of I£4.6 million from 24 people identified in the Ansbacher report compiled by the authorised officer, Mr Gerry Ryan. The report named 120 people and, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General, 'offshore activity by persons other than those named in the report has also come to light during this ongoing investigation.'

The Revenue has been issuing formal requests under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, seeking information from individuals, third parties and financial institutions. Four successful applications have been made to the High Court requiring third parties and financial institutions to provide information.

A further I£479,944 has been collected by the Revenue as a result of its inquiry into the so-called 'pick me up' schemes. These 'pick-me-ups' involved expenses for goods or services incurred by a political party being invoiced by the supplier to another trader, who paid the supplier as a means of supporting the party.

Such payments were not deductible for tax purposes, the VAT was not reclaimable, and the invoices issued were not in accordance with legal requirements, according to the report. 'The investigation has found that while some traders treated these payments correctly for tax purposes, quite a large number did not.'

On prosecutions for serious tax evasion the report says that of the 37 cases which were on hand at the end of last year, 19 are still under investigation, 13 are proceeding to prosecution, 3 have been closed and convictions have been secured in 2. All three cases decided in the courts last year led to convictions. A company director was sentenced to two years in prison, another company director was fined (pounds) 750, and a third individual was given a 12 month suspended sentence.

In the parallel DIRT (Deposit Interest Retention Tax) enquiry, the Revenue says it will investigate each identified holder of a bogus non-resident account who has not come forward by the November deadline for disclosure. People who disclose their liabilities to DIRT by November 15th will be protected from 'naming and shaming', while interest and penalties will be capped at 100 per cent of the tax liability.

After November 15th, the official policy of the Revenue will be to ensure that each identified bogus account holder who has not taken the opportunity to disclose and pay voluntarily by the November deadline will be individually investigated. 'Bogus account holders should be in no doubt about Revenue's commitment and determination to identify them after November 15th, and to investigate those who have not disclosed and paid.'

The Revenue estimates that there are between 25,000 and 50,000 bogus non-resident account holders in the State. A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said: 'We can and will seek information from foreign tax authorities.'