I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that any taxpayer has a right to seek a review of Revenue's handling of his or her tax or customs affairs, or of a decision made by a Revenue official. The right is specifically recognised in Revenue's customer service charter. In the majority of cases, a senior Revenue official in the taxpayer's local Revenue office carries out the review. The review is commenced as soon as a request is received.
The Revenue Commissioners state that normally the best and quickest way to resolve most customer service complaints is to contact the Revenue office dealing with the person's tax affairs by phone, letter, email or personal contact. A Revenue staff member will try to resolve the complaint without delay. However, if the staff member cannot resolve the complaint, or if the person is unhappy with the response, he or she may ask that the local manager reviews the matter. If the person is still unhappy, he or she can have their complaint referred to the customer service manager in the relevant region or division. Contact details are available on the revenue website, www.revenue.ie/aboutus.
If the matter still cannot be resolved the taxpayer may have their case reviewed either internally by a senior Revenue officer outside the region or by an external reviewer acting in conjunction with a senior Revenue officer. Over the years the procedures have operated successfully in a wide range of issues. Details of how to avail of Revenue's customer service complaints procedures are set out in Revenue leaflet CS4 which is available on www.revenue.ie.
A taxpayer aggrieved by an assessment to income tax or corporation tax or by a determination of the Revenue Commissioners regarding these taxes has a right of appeal against an assessment or determination. The appeal must be lodged, in writing, with the regional Revenue office dealing with the taxpayer's tax affairs, within 30 days of the assessment or determination issuing. If the matter is not subsequently settled by agreement between the local manager and the taxpayer, the appeal will eventually be heard and adjudicated upon by the appeal commissioner. If the taxpayer is not satisfied with the ruling of the appeal commissioner, the appeal may be reheard by a Circuit Court judge and be referred to the High Court and the Supreme Court, on a point of law.