Vol. 501 No. 2
267 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the measures, if any, he proposes to deal with the issue of offshore bank accounts other that those set up for legitimate purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5689/99]
Offshore accounts are a problem for Revenue authorities world-wide. An indication of the scale of the problem is a recent euromoney report which suggested that some $US2.1 trillion in assets were managed by offshore banks.
The liberalisation and globalisation of capital movements, the increase in the number of "tax havens", of which there are now more than 40, and the development of electronic banking means that funds can now be transferred to and from an offshore account at the stroke of a keyboard – with little enough risk of discovery by the home country's tax authorities.
From the visit that officials from my Department and the Revenue Commissioners undertook last year to other Revenue authorities to review their access to bank accounts the consensus was that unilateral action which any country might take to address offshore accounts would not significantly improve the ability of the authorities to deter evasion. All countries held the view that further advances in this area could only be made through international co-operation. The proposed EU directive on savings was viewed as a possible way forward.
Whereas no specific measures have been included in the Finance Bill, as published, to address offshore accounts, one of the terms of reference of the tribunal of inquiry, with Mr. Justice Michael Moriarty as sole member, is as follows for the protection of the State's tax base from fraud or evasion in the establishment and maintenance of offshore accounts, and to recommend whether any changes in tax laws should be made to achieve this end.".
