asked the Minister for Finance the average length of delays in refunds of tax due from the Revenue Commissioners to businesses and individuals, and the longest such delay; the length of time involved in both cases; and whether interest on such refunds should be payable in view of the fact that interest is chargeable in many cases on tax due to the Revenue Commissioners.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers (Resumed). - Tax Refunds.
6.
It is not possible to give the specific information sought by the Deputy in relation to delays in making refunds of tax. An average length of delay in making repayments could not be estimated in relation to about half a million refunds made each year since refund cases may vary from straighforward non-contentious ones, which could be concluded within a short period, to complex cases involving assessments to corporation tax and Schedule D income tax which would require lengthy examination and, possibly, resort to the appeal commissioners or to the courts where a conclusion might not be reached for a very long time.
On the question of payment of interest on refunds, the Deputy is no doubt aware that interest is payable in cases where specified amounts of income tax or corporation tax have been paid pending determination of appeals and the tax ultimately found to be due is less than the amounts so paid.
I do not propose to extend the payment of interest to all cases where a repayment of tax may, for one reason or another, arise.
Does the Minister consider it a satisfactory position that there is not available any index about the length of delays relating to refunds while on the other hand there is a policy that there is no possibility of getting interest on refunds which would be legitimately due but in the present position in regard to the lack of clarity of information could take months or years to obtain? Is the Minister satisfied with the position whereby we can have internal delays and no possibility of what one might call reasonable redress for somebody who is legitimately owed money perhaps due to an error or otherwise?
I understand the Deputy's concern but I do not think it would serve any useful purpose to use resources to make an index of the kind he suggests. I should like to point out that 65 per cent of VAT repayments to registered traders are made within a period of 12 days from the date of the receipt of the returns giving rise to the repayment. There can be a variety of reasons for delays in other cases when dealing with the remainder of the 35 per cent. For example, a return may not be in order and other returns from the claimant may be outstanding and not settled. There can be other cases in relation to the other forms of tax mentioned by the Deputy where an appeal can arise. They are all factors that can give rise to delays and are all specific to each particular case. I have said all I have to say about the interest payable on the amount found to have been overpaid.
Will the Minister agree that in cases where the reason for the delay arises from difficulties being experienced by the Revenue Commissioners or inefficiencies which can arise in any organisation that it is demonstrably wrong for people to have to expect lengthy delays to be paid for out of their own pockets if they are entitled to a genuine refund? I am not asking the Minister to consider introducing a complex index containing chapter, verse and dates but something that will allow him, and his Department, to make judgments about efficiency which would be based on how long it has taken to make adjudications. That does not seem to be unreasonable. Will the Minister accept that under the present position it is possible that the Revenue Commissioners could be extremely inefficient — I am not suggesting they are for the moment — and that the public would have to pay for it?
The system is grinding to a halt. It is being dragged down with the weight of all the taxes.,
That is not what I am saying.
Deputy O'Kennedy should keep quiet. If Deputy Keating has a point to pursue he is quite capable of doing it without the Deputy's assistance.
I appreciate that and there is no better person to pursue a point.
I made the point that 65 per cent of VAT repayments to registered traders are made within 12 days. I am quite sure that there are cases where the delay arises from inefficiency and we keep a careful check on the efficiency of the system. It does not lead us to draw up an index of the kind that the Deputy has mentioned. I can assure him that I am just as concerned as he is to make sure that both collection and repayment, if that is the case, are made as quickly as possible.
I call Deputy De Rossa and then I am moving on to the next question.
It is the Minister's responsibility to do something about it.
My question relates to a PAYE taxpayer who is due a refund but is not getting it because of the failure of the employer concerned to co-operate with the Revenue Commissioners. What powers, if any, have the Revenue Commissioners to issue a refund to a taxpayer in that circumstance? Is there a policy of not prosecuting employers in those circumstances? I have a particular case in mind where a young person has been waiting more than eight months for a refund because of non-co-operation between the employer and the Revenue Commissioners.
In cases of that kind ultimately prosecution becomes the only instrument which the Revenue Commissioners have. Unfortunately, as the Deputy may know from previous correspondence which we have had on the issue, some of the cases of delays of the kind to which he has referred arise when an employer just disappears off the map, closes down operations in one location and goes elsewhere. The case to which the Deputy has referred may arise from those circumstances. The difficulty is that in such a case the Revenue Commissioners have no information on which to base their calculation of the refund. The only solution that can be found to that is to ensure, first, that employees make their claims for refund as quickly as possible after the event arises, so that if there is a difficulty in getting information from the employer we will at least know where the employer is before he has upped stakes and moved somewhere else.