I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that data are not maintained in a manner to enable all the details sought by the Deputy to be supplied. However, they have supplied me with the following information for the information of the Deputy. Tax Settlements made in accordance with Section 1086 of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA), 1997 are published in Iris Oifigiúil on a quarterly basis. That section provides for the publication of cases where a qualifying disclosure is not made, where the total settlement consists of tax, interest and penalties and is over €33,000 and where the penalty element exceeds 15% of the tax. Publication takes place in the quarter following the quarter in which the settlement is finalised. Until the passing of the Finance Act 2011 on 6 February 2011, settlements reached with Revenue could not be published unless the settlement was either paid in full or was the subject of an agreed phased payment arrangement. That Act brought in changes to the publication rules and extended the publication requirement to tax defaulters who either failed to agree a settlement or who failed to pay all or part of a settlement. The change was designed to ensure that the public is aware of the identity of all relevant Tax Defaulters whether on not they have agreed a settlement with the Commissioners or made the relevant payments.
Accordingly the Commissioners now publish Tax Settlement details where payment in full has not been made and this new requirement first applied to the List of Tax Defaulters published in respect of Quarter 2 of 2011. In a further change, interest and penalty amounts included in Tax Settlements which up to and including Quarter 3 of 2011 were published as a composite figure in the Lists of Tax Defaulters, are now, since Quarter 4 of 2011, shown separately.
The Table below sets out quarterly details of Tax Settlements published in accordance with Section 1086 TAC 1997 for the years 2009-2012 inclusive. Details of publishable cases settled in Quarter 4 of 2012 will be included in the next defaulters list which is due to be published in March 2013.
|
2009
|
No. of Cases
|
Tax
|
Interest & Penalties
|
Total
|
|
|
Quarter 1
|
105
|
€15,285,637
|
€17,315,583
|
€32,601,220
|
|
|
Quarter 2
|
87
|
€7,848,528
|
€9,709,283
|
€17,557,811
|
|
|
Quarter 3
|
76
|
€8,106,761
|
€9,550,390
|
€17,657,151
|
|
|
Quarter 4
|
88
|
€11,510,309
|
€17,442,427
|
€28,952,736
|
|
|
Total
|
356
|
€42,751,235
|
€54,017,603
|
€96,768,838
|
|
|
2010
|
No. of Cases
|
Tax
|
Interest & Penalties
|
Total
|
|
|
Quarter 1
|
88
|
€7,733,199
|
€8,695,830
|
€16,429,029
|
|
|
Quarter 2
|
83
|
€8,581,891
|
€8,589,044
|
€17,170,935
|
|
|
Quarter 3
|
72
|
€6,283,075
|
€6,980,450
|
€13,263,525
|
|
|
Quarter 4
|
62
|
€9,070,419
|
€11,785,513
|
€20,855,932
|
|
|
Total
|
305
|
€31,668,584
|
€36,050,837
|
€67,719,421
|
|
|
2011
|
No. of Cases
|
Tax
|
Interest & Penalties
|
Total
|
|
|
Quarter 1
|
78
|
€6,972,700
|
€8,585,120
|
€15,557,820
|
|
|
Quarter 2
|
114
|
€13,519,296
|
€12,732,398
|
€26,251,694
|
|
|
Quarter 3
|
84
|
€9,290,456
|
€9,654,552
|
€18,945,008
|
|
|
|
|
Tax
|
Interest
|
Penalties
|
Total
|
|
Quarter 4
|
90
|
€7,532,809
|
€3,642,052
|
€3,790,073
|
14,964,934
|
|
Total
|
366
|
|
|
|
€75,719,456
|
|
2012
|
No. of Cases
|
Tax
|
Interest
|
Penalties
|
Total
|
|
Quarter 1
|
129
|
€15,383,510
|
€7,320,923
|
€6,893,250
|
€29,597,683
|
|
Quarter 2
|
106
|
€9,284,194
|
€5,618,572
|
€4,896,928
|
€19,799,694
|
|
Quarter 3
|
113
|
€10,534,248
|
€5,261,727
|
€5,556,466
|
€21,352,441
|
|
Total
|
348
|
€35,201,952
|
€18,201,222
|
€17,346,644
|
€70,749,818
|
Regarding the amount of tax actually paid at the end of each of the four years, 2009 to 2012 in respect of these specific cases, I am advised that the information is not available without carrying out an extensive review of Revenue files. However, the Revenue Commissioners advise in relation to the years 2009 and 2010, since by law they were in a position to publish only amounts for those years where full payment was secured or an instalment arrangement was in place, they are satisfied that the vast bulk of the tax, interest and penalties that formed part of the published Tax Settlement was paid. The Commissioners further advise that due to the Finance Act 2011 changes, they are in a position to provide the Deputy with some details of amounts unpaid from Quarter 2 of 2011 to Quarter 3 of 2012 as follows:
For 2011 – For Quarters 2,3 and 4, the total amount publishable was €60.16m. Of this, the total amount paid or subject to agreed phased payment arrangements was €47.60m. A further €6.38m was referred for Collection Enforcement Proceedings. The balance of €6.18m was uncollected on the grounds of the taxpayer’s inability to pay.
For 2012 – For Quarters 1,2 and 3, the total amount publishable was €70.75m. Of this, the total amount paid or subject to agreed phased payment arrangements was €43.79m. A further €12.46m was referred for Collection Enforcement Proceedings. The balance of €14.50m was uncollected on the grounds of the taxpayer’s inability to pay. To put these figures in context, the Commissioners advise me that the total yield from Revenue’s Audit programme in the same period was €275.45m. of which €32.59m was referred for Collection Enforcement and €15.26m was uncollected on the grounds of the taxpayers inability to pay.
Before the Commissioners accept that there is a substantive inability to pay a tax settlement, the taxpayer is subject to rigorous procedures, including the submission and examination of a formal Statement of Affairs. I am further advised that in considering enforcement options or write off of liabilities, the Commissioners have a clear focus on ensuring that that the tax and associated liabilities arising from an audit will be enforced as vigorously as properly declared liabilities which remain unpaid.
Finally, I am satisfied that the publication procedures contained in Section 1086 represent a significant power for the Revenue Commissioners, but a balanced one which is important in the Commissioners' efforts to optimise the level of tax compliance in the State. In addition, the change introduced in the 2011 Finance Act now ensures that the public is aware of the identity of all significant Tax Defaulters audited by Revenue whether they have paid an agreed settlement with the Commissioners or not.
