asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the measures being applied by the sheriff and his agents in the collection of tax and VAT arrears in the Border counties; if his attention has been further drawn to the economic difficulties being experienced by the surviving businesses in this area and the hardship and deprivation being felt by family businesses and the self-employed in the Border area as a result of policies pursued by successive Governments.
Written Answers. - Tax Arrears Collection.
48.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the sheriffs who have been appointed to take over from county registrars the function of executing certificates under section 485 of the Income Tax Act, 1967 in connection with the enforcement of payment of arrears of tax. These sheriffs are now operating on a countrywide basis.
The measures applied by the sheriffs in the collection of tax arrears are those prescribed in the normal civil debt collection code and are the same as would be applied by a sheriff or county registrar in the collection of a civil debt of any kind.
The measures introduced in the budget of 31 March 1987 whereby, with effect from 1 April 1987, travellers' duty-free and duty-paid allowances would be permitted only to persons who had been out of the jurisdiction for at least 48 hours, were designed to remedy the distortion of trade which had arisen in recent years on the Border. These measures have been successful, but the continued legal operation of the reduced "frontier zone" allowances, which were not encompassed by the 48-hour rule, has sustained a certain level of cross-Border shopping which does impinge adversely on southern traders in the vicinity of the Border. The Government are concerned at this and are keeping the situation under review. There is, however, evidence to suggest that the 48-hour rule has had a general beneficial effect on trade in the southern Border counties.