Tax Collection.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2006

Tuesday, 24 October 2006

Questions (226)

Phil Hogan

Question:

297 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Finance the cost of developing the health service system promotion of the self service system which is operational by the Revenue Commissioners Office; the number of people who have registered to use it since 1 June 2006; the number who have used it to arrange balancing statements for 2005; the number of phone requests made to the Revenue Commissioners since 10 February 2006 for balancing statements; the number of all requests made to the Revenue Commissioners since 10 February 2006 for balancing statements; the number of tax refunds made by the Revenue Commissioners since 10 February 2006; the latest estimates of the PAYE that remains overpaid for the years 2002 to 2005; the latest estimated of the PAYE that remains underpaid for each of the years 2002 to 2005; the estimates of the numbers of form 12 being, or have been, submitted for each of the years 2002 to 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33935/06]

Written answers

Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen)

It is presumed that the Deputy is referring to the general extension by the Revenue Commissioners of the Revenue On-line Service (ROS) to PAYE taxpayers which is currently under way. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that this on-line service will allow PAYE taxpayers to deal with all aspects of their tax affairs on-line and is not confined to tax issues related to health service or the claiming of reliefs associated with health expenses.

As the PAYE on-line service is part of the general development of ROS it is not possible in the time available to give an exact figure for the development costs associated with this subset. However Revenue inform me that with a view to maximising take-up of the service and encouraging people to claim their full entitlements they are actively promoting this new service and have allocated a budget for 2006 of approximately €1.4 million for this purpose most of which is for the purpose of posting a personalised mailshot to each PAYE taxpayer encouraging them to avail of the service and enclosing a unique Revenue pin number which is necessary for secure use of the service.

Up to 15 October 2006, 36,464 taxpayers have registered with this service and up to 18 October 2006 a total of 2,439 taxpayers have used the PAYE On-Line service to arrange for the issue of a balancing statement for 2005. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they do not record the number of requests for balancing statements via other contact channels many of which are made during contacts for other purposes. I can however inform the Deputy that the total number of balancing statements issued in the period 10 February 2006 to 19 October 2006 was 621,728.

The number of tax refunds made by the Revenue Commissioners in the period since 10 February 2006 was 442,881. The refunds arose from balancing statements and repayments made on foot of persons becoming unemployed. Below are set out the number of Forms No. 12 submitted in each of the years requested by the Deputy, plus a provisional figure for the number received up to the end of September 2006.

2002	144,314
2003	95,264
2004	64,290
2005	81,587
2006	65,146

Revenue records the number of Forms No. 12 submitted annually. Accordingly, the figure for each year would include Returns for years other than the current year. The variances in the numbers of Forms No. 12 submitted are due to changes from year to year in the number of taxpayers selected to submit Returns.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the information requested by the Deputy in relation to estimates of underpayments and overpayments of PAYE is not readily available. However Revenue will source as much information as possible and forward this to the Deputy within a matter of weeks.