In the first stage (the voluntary disclosure stage) taxpayers, who invested undisclosed and undeclared funds in life assurance products were given until the 23rd May 2005 to give notice to the Revenue of their intention to make a disclosure. Those who have such tax issues and who opted for the voluntary disclosure route had until 22 July 2005, to pay their outstanding liabilities.

The Revenue has said that it is expecting the amount paid to rise in the coming months as an extension to the deadline is sought in individual cases. It will also be following up around 3,500 cases where a notice of intention was given but no further communication was received.

In the second stage (the follow-up investigation stage) which effectively commenced immediately after the May deadline had passed, the Revenue continued the business of identifying all those who used such products for tax evasion but did not make voluntary disclosures.

Revenue investigators are currently engaging with the Insurance Companies in relation to the sampling exercise provided for in Section 140 Finance Act 2005. The information obtained from this work, together with that gleaned from the voluntary disclosures and other sources, will support applications to the High Court for orders seeking information from insurance companies.

The Revenue is unable to estimate the amount of tax that will be recovered in the second phase, but disclosed that a total exceeding EUR2 billion was recovered as a result of the recent Special Investigations.