Vol. 571 No. 1
147 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Finance the progress which has been made to date with regard to the commitment given in An Agreed Programme for Government that everyone would be made tax compliant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20770/03]
I provide every support which I consider appropriate to the Revenue Commissioners in carrying out their task of ensuring that everyone is tax compliant.
The Revenue Commissioners have at their disposal a significant body of enhanced audit and investigative powers, much of which was provided during my term of office as Minister for Finance. I also provided them with over 400 additional staff in the last two years most of whom have been deployed in the audit and compliance areas.
The commissioners' Statement of Strategy 2003-2005 contains a very strong emphasis on maximising compliance and they inform me that they have recently advanced a number of key developments which will have a significant impact on tax compliance. They include the establishment of an investigations and prosecutions division, the establishment of a large cases division with specific focus on large companies and wealthy individuals, a computerised risk based selection system, a new code of practice for revenue auditors and increased resources for audit programmes.
Revenue is undergoing a fundamental restructuring with a view to increased efficiencies in managing the tax system and it has informed me that this restructuring and integration will facilitate the delivery of a sharp, uncompromising response to evasion and default while providing high quality services to the compliant. There will be a more integrated approach to case monitoring and more flexibility in focusing resources on non-compliance in all its formats.
The commissioners consider that the implementation of these efforts and initiatives will result, over time, in continued improvement in compliance.
