Tax Cheats To Be Named And Shamed In Ireland

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

10 May 2002

The Irish Revenue Commissioners announced earlier this week that bogus-non-resident account holders who failed to take advantage of the six-month voluntary disclosure period which ended last November now face inclusion on a 'shame list' in the autumn.

According to reports, tax officials have been pursuing court orders to force banks to hand over account information. The last such order was obtained just after Easter, meaning that the Revenue Commissioners can now begin to actively pursue delinquent taxpayers.

A spokesman for the tax department told the Irish Independent that: 'We obtained information from the look back audit of banks during the Dirt inquiry, and together with the court orders we have a lot of information in relation to bogus account holders.'

He warned that tax cheats who have not yet come forward can expect demand letters from the Revenue Commissioners over the coming weeks for any unpaid tax, and face penalties of up to 400% in interest and charges. They will also be 'named and shamed' in a publicly available list, and could face criminal charges.

At the end of last year's voluntary disclosure period, 227 million euros had been collected, which added to the 219 million euros collected during the look back audit represents a fairly impressive haul. However, the tax authorities have admitted that they do not know exactly how many bogus non-resident account holders remain undiscovered, and how much unpaid tax is still due.

The Irish Independent report revealed that the Revenue Commissioners believe, however, that all the 'big fish' paid up by the November 15 deadline.

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