asked the Minister for Finance if, having regard to the very serious upset to shopkeepers caused at this time of the year by visits to shops by inspectors in connection with turnover tax, steps will be taken to suspend such inspections until after the Christmas shopping period.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Turnover Tax.
33.
Visits to inspect records for turnover tax purposes are not normally made during the Christmas shopping period but calls in connection with non-payment of tax will continue to be made.
34.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will state in respect of each of the last six months the number of persons or concerns registered to pay turnover tax who failed to pay the tax due by them on or before the appointed date; and the total of such arrears in each of the last six months.
I regret that it is not possible to give the figures asked for in the precise form requested by the Deputy.
While action is commenced against defaulters individually shortly after the due date in each month, statistics of the total number of defaulters for any month are not extracted until approximately three weeks after the due date. October is the latest month for which such statistics are available.
The numbers on the default lists for the months from May to October, 1965, inclusive, as at the date of preparation of each list, and the amounts subsequently collected in respect of those months were as follows:
|
May |
2,979 |
£119,513 |
|
June |
4,245 |
£146,971 |
|
July |
2,774 |
£124,973 |
|
August |
3,671 |
£158,952 |
|
September |
3,174 |
£116,164 |
|
October |
1,492 |
£71,418 |
Interest amounting to approximately £4,000 was also collected.
In 348 cases tax is still outstanding in respect of October or some previous month and enforcement action is proceeding. The total amount due in these cases is estimated not to exceed £25,000.