Vol. 471 No. 1
23 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Finance the steps, if any, he is taking to recover the estimated outstanding liabilities of more than £250 million in respect of PRSI referred to in the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. [18552/96]
83 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance if he intends to write off £1.5 billion in unpaid taxes on the books of the Revenue Commissioners in view of the fact that they have admitted that the £1.5 billion will never be collected. [18968/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 83 together.
The 1995 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General showed a total Revenue debt of £1,950 million, of which the Revenue Commissioners estimated that £553 million would be collected.
I would point out that the total debt, which includes arrears of PRSI, contains a high level of unreal debt due to the presence of estimated tax liabilities from the pre-self assessment era, which are now considered to be excessive, as well as debts for companies in liquidation and debts for businesses that have long since ceased to trade and cases where the taxpayer has died or emigrated.
Significant progress has been made in recent years in reducing the overall Revenue debt. For example, the overall debt has reduced from £2.9 billion in 1989 to £1.9 billion in 1995, a reduction of £1 billion. In 1990, the arrears represented 48 per cent of the total taxes collected, whereas in 1996 the arrears represented 20 per cent of total taxes collected. This reduction of £1 billion in the total debt has been achieved through improved current collection and the ongoing Revenue programmes aimed at addressing the entrenched arrear, which have resulted in the collection of some £330 million over this period as well as the write-off of substantial apparent arrears and uncollectable tax in the categories mentioned.
The programmes aimed at the entrenched arrears will continue and indeed will be accelerated over the coming three years, in order to eliminate, as far as possible, the unreal debt from the overall Revenue debt figure. As I have indicated these programmes involve a number of measures, including the collection of old arrears that are properly due and payable, using legal action where appropriate; the discharge or reduction of estimates that are now considered excessive; and the write-off of taxes where there are clearly no prospects of recovery. Full details of all taxes written off are published in the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Revenue must satisfy his requirements in that regard.
