Vol. 416 No. 6
35 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Finance if he will introduce any form of tax amnesty for the Irish holders of capital bank accounts, illegally on deposit outside this State, so as to attract some of that money back to this economy before the changes in capital movement after January 1993; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
75 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Finance if he has considered the possibility of some form of tax amnesty for the owners of off-shore deposits of Irish moneys which would normally have a tax liability here and which are invested abroad without the consent of the Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 75 together.
I have examined the question of an amnesty of this kind, having regard to the advantages that could ensue for interest rates and tax revenues should it succeed in attracting back funds diverted outside the State in the past, in order to evade taxation. That examination highlighted two major difficulties, such that the possibility of its being counterproductive in these terms has to be considered. First, an amnesty confined to funds abroad would entail a substantial inducement to persons with undeclared funds within the State to transfer these abroad, in order to avail of such an amnesty. Secondly, if the scope of the amnesty was wide enough to overcome the difficulty, it could prove a major impediment to the efforts of the Revenue Commissioners to tackle tax evasion and to collect outstanding arrears.
