Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
263. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he receives regular reports on the speed of processing tax claims by the Revenue Commissioners and on the number of phone calls to their network which fail to be answered; if his attention has been drawn to problems in these respects in recent times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16004/22]
View answerI am advised that the Deputy’s question relates to PAYE taxpayers. Revenue has advised me that most PAYE income tax returns are submitted online and any refunds due are generally paid to the taxpayer’s bank account within three to five working days. Exceptions may occur where an income tax return is selected for further checking or where Revenue needs to contact the taxpayer to request further information in support of a claim. Paper returns are processed manually and may take slightly longer.
Regarding the numbers of calls to the PAYE Helpline, Revenue has advised that the peak period for this service occurs during the early months of the year (January to April) when taxpayers submit their income tax returns for the previous year/s, claim any refunds or reliefs to which they are entitled, and check their tax credits for the current year. The service is currently answering between 3,500 and 4,500 calls per day while also responding to between 4,500 and 6,000 correspondence items per day. It is expected that the number of calls to the PAYE Helpline will reduce over the coming weeks as the peak period passes.
To date in 2022, Revenue has processed over 835,000 income tax returns for PAYE taxpayers, answered over 175,000 calls to the PAYE Helpline, and dealt with over 300,000 items of correspondence. These calls and correspondence items relate to a broad variety of topics, including requests for assistance in completing the income tax return, clarifying a person’s tax position for 2022 and requesting changes to personal details held on Revenue’s records.
Finally, if the Deputy is aware of a particular case that is experiencing delays, he should advise Revenue of the details via the Oireachtas Helpline so that the matter can be investigated and followed up as necessary with the taxpayer.
