Ivan Yates
Ceist:112 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Finance if he will give details of the number of revenue audits carried out to date; the cost involved; and the yield from such investigations in terms of additional tax revenue.
Written Answers. - Revenue Audits.
The number of self assessment audits completed together with the associated tax yield for the period January 1990 to end March 1993 is as follows:
|
Period |
Number Completed |
Yield (£m) |
|
1990 |
770 |
6.80 |
|
1991 |
1,496 |
10.50 |
|
1992 |
2,482 |
17.56 |
|
1993 Q1 |
682 |
6.26 |
|
Total |
5,430 |
41.12 |
Self assessment audits are only one element of the total revenue audit programme which also covers PAYE employers, VAT, construction industry tax and investigation branch audits. Taking account of these additional programmes the comparable figures for the total audit programme for 1991 and 1992 are as follows:
|
Period |
No. of Audits Compleded |
Yield (£m) |
|
1991 |
28,733 |
90.6 |
|
1992 |
27,916 |
105.0 |
I must emphasise that the success and effectiveness of the audit programme cannot be measured solely in terms of the yield generated. The main purpose of the audit programme is to underpin tax compliance particularly in the area of self assessment.
Until recently the audit programme was characterised by a number of different programmes divided on taxhead and functional lines. New arrangements have recently been put in place for a major integrated audit programme for all taxes with substantial increases in staff engaged in review and investigation work. Because of the way the various audit programmes were organised in the past, statistics were not kept which would enable a separate costing of the overall audit programme to be readily undertaken.