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Offshore Accounts.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2004

Tuesday, 23 March 2004

Questions (172)

Ned O'Keeffe

Question:

170 Mr. N. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the physical and mental anxiety and concern being placed on the elderly who are receiving documentation from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in relation to foreign deposit accounts. [8766/04]

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Written answers

I assume the Deputy is referring to letters which have recently issued from Irish financial institutions to customers who hold or held accounts or investments in their offshore branches or subsidiaries. As part of a Revenue initiative to deal with tax evasion involving the use of accounts or investments in such offshore subsidiaries, Revenue recently encouraged the financial institutions to advise such customers of an upcoming Revenue investigation. They were also encouraged to advise any such customers, who themselves considered they may have tax issues, of the opportunity prior to commencement of that investigation on 29 March 2004 to avail of the Revenue voluntary disclosure scheme. Revenue has also written to the holders of foreign accounts or investments in some cases where it has been contacted directly by the taxpayer.

The letters issued by the banks and financial institutions clearly state that, if the customer's tax affairs are entirely in order, the letters should not be a cause of any concern. Where an individual's tax affairs are not in order, it is in the individual's own interest to take action prior to 29 March 2004 to regularise the matter in the context of the opportunity for voluntary disclosure.

Revenue has made available a comprehensive booklet entitled Making a Qualifying Disclosure of an Offshore Related Tax Default to Revenue. This booklet contains a series of frequently asked questions and answers together with calculation worksheets to assist taxpayers to determine if they need to make a disclosure and, if so, to calculate the tax interest and penalty due. Assistance is also available from Revenue's offshore assets group and local Revenue districts by telephone. The booklet contents and interactive spreadsheets are also available on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie. I understand that Revenue is providing this material and assistance in the interests of ensuring that individuals can quickly determine if they have a tax problem so that they can deal with any such problems as effectively as possible and with the minimum of stress.

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