Written Answers. - Illegal Road Haulage.
John Bruton
Ceist:
151
Mr. J. Bruton
asked the
Minister for Finance
if his Department has calculated the level of lost revenue to the Exchequer resulting from the increasing level of illegal road haulage activity which does not comply with the rules governing income tax, PRSI, insurance and the payment of fuel duties.
[13281/98]
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, given the difficulty of determining the extent of illegal activity, it is not feasible to calculate the Exchequer loss in income tax, PRSI, insurance and rebated fuel duties as a result of black economy activity in the road haulage industry.
I have been further advised by the Revenue Commissioners, however, that they have adopted a multi-faceted approach, in co-operation with other Government Departments and State agencies, to combating black economy activity, including black economy activity in the road haulage industry. Following are some of the most prominent strategies being pursued in this area: programmes by special inquiry branch and local inquiry units — in tax districts nationwide — to identify non-registered taxable persons; programmes to identify non-compliance with the VAT Acts; cross-Revenue programmes involving both inspectors of taxes and customs and excise officers for specific projects; ongoing co-operation with the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs through joint investigation units to identify PAYE/PRSI abuses; liaison with the Garda on projects targeting specific trading sectors; and continued membership of the black economy monitoring group to identify and respond to black economy activity in the economy as a whole.
In addition to these general measures, the Revenue Commissioners have also targeted black economy activity specifically in the road haulage industry as follows: S.I. No. 67/1995 provides that applicants for road haulage licences must produce a current tax clearance certificate from the collector general before the licence can be granted. The tax clearance certificate will not be granted to licence applicants where Revenue records indicate that the applicant has not submitted returns of income by the due dates and-or has arrears of tax and, in that instance, the applicant is required to bring his tax affairs up-to-date before a certificate is granted. A special multi-agency operation involving Revenue, the Garda, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs and the Department of the Environment and Local Government was conducted some time ago in order to check compliance levels in the industry. The operation involved the stopping of trucks. The operations uncovered a number of irregularities which are being followed up by the appropriate agency.
It is Revenue policy to prosecute even for first offences where road hauliers and other commercial operators are detected using rebated fuel illegally. In November 1997, a memorandum of understanding, MOU, was drawn up between Revenue and the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, in order to strengthen co-operation between the parties in the gathering of information and the investigation of offences in relation to the smuggling of drugs and excise products. Under the MOU, guidelines are being formulated aimed at assisting IRHA member companies in detecting and preventing the carriage of illicit goods in or on their vehicles.
Finally, the Deputy will be aware that section 90 of the 1998 Finance Act contained a provision to combat a new source of duty evasions whereby rebated diesel carried in trailer tanks for purposes such as refrigeration is diverted to power the cab unit.
