Revenue Commission Meets With IIF To Discuss Probe

by Jason Gorringe, for LawAndTax-News.com, London

14 February 2005

Ireland's Revenue Commissioners met with representatives from the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) last Wednesday to discuss the execution of the tax authority's probe into evasion committed by individuals investing in single premium insurance products.

The outstanding tax (which comes to around EUR1 billion, according to preliminary estimates), relates to some EUR30 billion worth of single premium insurance products sold between 1988 and 2001, the Public Accounts Committee was informed last year.

The investigation will reportedly take a similar form to the recent probe into offshore bank accounts, and tax officials will be given the right to access the accounts and telephone records of suspects, in addition to new powers to question individuals in police custody.

The Irish Independent revealed on Friday that the Revenue Commission asked the IIF for a statistical breakdown of the amounts invested in single premium products since the early 1980s.

IIF chief, Mike Kemp announced on Thursday that the meeting had aimed to assist the tax authority in determining "the scope of the investigation, to help them target areas which would get results but, at the same time, minimise the cost involved".

He reportedly acknowledged that concerns had been raised by the IIF over confidentiality issues and which party will bear the cost of the investigation, but stressed that this was not the key focus of the meeting.

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