Revenue Commissioners Launch New Wave Of DIRT Investigation

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

22 January 2003

In a statement released on Monday, Ireland's Revenue Commissioners announced that a further 21,500 non-resident accounts with Irish addresses have been identified from the latest information supplied by the financial institutions under High Court Orders.

However, in many instances, more than one name is associated with each account. Because of this, around 40,000 inquiry letters have been sent out, warning account holders that they have until March 27 to pay their tax liability, penalties, and interest in order to avoid prosecution.

According to the RoI's tax authority, more than 100 million euros in underpaid Deposit Income Retention Tax (DIRT) was collected as a result of last October's initiative, during which 30,000 inquiry letters were mailed.

However, speaking to the Irish media on Monday, a Revenue spokesman announced that: 'Lists of all the account holders who did not respond to the earlier letter are being examined by us for follow-up. A number have been selected for immediate investigation with a view to prosecution.'

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