Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 21 Nov 1995

Vol. 458 No. 5

Written Answers. - VIMA Organisation and Staff Redeployment.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

70 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance if the VIMA organisation has absorbed valuable personnel formerly employed as customs officers on the Border; and if he will consider redeploying all possible personnel to investigate ill-gotten gains of individuals in many communities, large and small, suspected of dealing in drugs. [17284/95]

Minister for Finance (Mr. Quinn)

I presume that the body referred to by the Deputy is the VIMA branch of the Revenue Commissioners, which is located in Dundalk. That branch is responsible for important new work which the State, in common with the other member states of the European Union, assumed responsibility for implementating on completion of the Single Market on 1 January, 1993.

The VIMA branch administers the VAT information exchange system, it collects the national statistics of foreign trade, including trade with other EU countries, and it is also responsible for operating EU mutual assistance arrangements in relation to VAT. The VIES system involves the collection and exchange between EU tax administrations of information about intra-Community trade for the purposes of ensuring that value-added tax is properly accounted for and to help prevent Exchequer losses through evasion of that tax.

The statistics of trade between the EU countries are gathered through the INTRASTAT system which in this country is managed by the VIMA branch on the basis of periodic returns by some 6,000 traders. The branch also collates the third country trade figures on the basis of data contained in import and export customs declarations. The mutual assistance arrangements administered by the branch are also governed by EU law and provide a framework for co-operation between member states to prevent and detect VAT fraud and evasion in intra-EU trade.

Many of the officials currently serving in the VIMA branch were formerly employed as Customs staff on the land frontier. Their traditional work disappeared following the removal of internal frontiers as a consequence of completion of the Single Market and they were redeployed by the Revenue Commissioners to carry out the vital work now performed by the VIMA branch.

The primary role of the Revenue Commissioners in combating drug trafficking is played by the Customs Service, which is responsible for deterring and preventing smuggling of illicit drugs. As I informed the House on a number of occasions, the Revenue Commissioners have allocated very substantial resources to this task and, in particular, they set up the Customs national drugs team (CNDT), comprising over 70 staff, specifically to tackle drug smuggling. The CNDT has been responsible for many major seizures of illegal drugs and has contributed significantly to curbing the flow of drug smuggling.

While the investigation of persons suspected of dealing in drugs is primarily a matter for the Gárda, the Inland Revenue side of the Revenue Commissioners has also an important role to play arising from its duty to recover tax from all persons who make taxable profits and gains. The tax code provides for the assessment of profits or gains from an unlawful or unknown source under the description "miscellaneous income" and where Revenue obtain hard information from their own investigations or from the Garda which indicates that individuals have accumulated assets and have a lifestyle which cannot be reconciled with declared income, the relevant provisions of the Tax Acts are used to establish tax liabilities. The Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that appropriate resources are committed to this work.