asked the Minister for Finance if there has been any change in the work practices of the staff of the Revenue Commissioners in relation to (a) the collection of large amounts of unpaid taxes, (b) staffing levels and (c) the practice of the acceptance of the prima facie validity of accounts submitted by companies and private individuals.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Revenue Collection.
5.
Work practices in relation to the collection of unpaid taxes are kept under regular review and I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that there is now a greater degree of selectivity in pursuing cases of unpaid taxes as a result of which there is more concentration on cases involving large amounts of tax outstanding.
As regards staffing levels, 104 additional staff have been assigned to Revenue this year. It is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners to manage their resources, including the additional staff numbers made available, in the most effective way. As a consequence, the commissioners have, from time to time, made some changes in various areas within their office, including the collection area.
As to the "acceptance of the prima facie validity of accounts submitted by companies and private individuals”, I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they are having discussions with inspectors of taxes with a view to ensuring that the assessments of companies and individuals are dealt with in a more efficient and expeditious manner. This review of current practice is being undertaken as part of a programme of clearing up arrears.
Could the Minister confirm the number of staff he mentioned; I think it was 114.
One hundred and four.
Could he indicate what proportion of those additional staff numbers is being used to follow up the £1,000 million which the Revenue Commissioners claim is outstanding?
The total number of extra staff made available is 104. The use of those staff members is a matter for determination from time to time by the Revenue Commissioners in the carrying out of their duties and in their care and management of the tax system. I might advise the Deputy — as he knows very well — that his reference to £1,100 million outstanding is an inaccurate one, that is the amount assessed not yet collected, finally determined, or under appeal or for collection, which is a different subject.
The Minister was the first to cause that misunderstanding.
Deputy O'Kennedy blew that up last year.
The question is whether the additional staff allocated to the Revenue Commissioners are being put to work on collecting that £1,100 million, or sorting out precisely how much of it is owed. Could the Minister also indicate discussions he may have had with the Revenue Commissioners with a view to the introduction of some kind of a sampling system which would lead to a more efficient elimination of the type of general assessments that are made and which he claims cannot be collected, presumably because they are not correct? Could the Minister indicate in what way the Revenue Commissioners are being brought into the modern age of tax collection so that every year we are not faced with the same situation? Last year, for example, we were told there was £900 million uncollected; this year we are told there is £1,100 million uncollected.
One hundred and four additional staff were made available to the Revenue Commissioners because there was clear need for additional staff to carry out the existing duties and systems the Revenue Commissioners had in operation prior to the beginning of this year and also to deal with the extra burdens and requirements placed on them this year by a number of provisions of the Finance Act. We made the extra staff available in order to improve the response of the revenue machine to the situation as we found it. The specific use of those extra heads of staff is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners themselves to determine.
Will the Minister for Finance direct the Revenue Commissioners to collect all outstanding tax, placing a time limit on its collection and payment? Contrary to what the Minister believes, the average taxpayer feels no effort is being made to collect this outstanding tax, no effort whatsoever. Could the Minister inform this House what he will do with tax evaders? He said in his budget speech that he would jail them. Is he or is he not joing to jail them?
On that series of questions I would remind the Deputy that I have already said there is an on-going review in the Revenue Commissioners in relation to current practice. That is part of a wider programme for clearing up arrears. The second point I would make is that, in this year's Finance Act, we effected a number of changes in the appeals procedure which will have the effect in time of speeding up the clearance of arrears and the processing of outstanding cases. As to the operation of the penalties provided for in this and previous years Finance Acts, they are applied when the legal process produces a situation in which they can be.
A Cheann Comhairle——
I must appeal to Deputies to allow Question Time to continue in some sort of a reasonable way.
This is the first time I have got on my feet in the last half hour.
Deputies do not have to ask supplementaries; there is no penalty for not asking.
I have listened for half an hour to the cross-Border problem. While we are all in agreement that tax arrears must be collected, is the Minister aware that, because of the criticism of the Revenue Commissioners in recent months, there is now a new determination to collect and that this is——
That is another question. At Question Time Deputies are getting bright ideas that have nothing directly to do with the questions being answered. The whole procedure is ridiculous.
It seems that everytime I stand up to ask a question I am told to sit down.
The Deputy asks his questions at the end of many other supplementaries on the same question.
I am asking if there is any liaison between the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Industry and Energy in cases where demands are putting firms at risk.
That has nothing to do with the question. I am ruling it out of order.
I have waited 30 minutes to ask that question.
That is a separate question dealing with Industry and Energy.
It is not. It deals with the Revenue Commissioners.