Vol. 503 No. 3
313 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Finance the procedures, if any, in place to deal with cases of tax evasion either reported to or discovered by the appropriate inspectors in the Revenue Commissioners in view of the two tax amnesties of recent years, particularly tax evasion exercises undertaken before these amnesties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10258/99]
Pursuit of tax evasion is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. I understand from the Commissioners that arrangements are in place to ensure that where an inspector of taxes discovers or becomes aware of a case of tax evasion, he or she will undertake an investigation to determine the extent of the evasion and to quantify the tax, interest and penalties which require to be paid by the taxpayer. Prosecution will also be considered in the case of serious tax evasion under the more active prosecution policy now in place in Revenue.
If the taxpayer concerned had settled his or her affairs in accordance with the 1988 or 1993 tax amnesty schemes, then there will be no further payments to be made. On the other hand, if the 1993 amnesty scheme was not availed of to settle any outstanding liabilities for pre-April 1991 years the taxpayer will be required to pay arrears of tax, interest and penalties.
If the taxpayer availed of the 1993 tax amnesty scheme but the confidential declaration made to the chief special collector who operated the scheme did not contain a full and true statement of income and gains underlying outstanding tax, the benefits of the amnesty would not apply and the taxpayer would be liable to pay the full arrears of tax, together with appropriate interest and penalties.
314 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Finance if he has satisfied himself with the manner in which the Revenue Commissioners deal with concerned citizens' reports on cases of tax evasion in view of recent revelations in regard to taxation matters at tribunals of inquiry established by the Oireachtas and the apparent failure of the Revenue Commissioners to uncover or deal with certain high profile cases; if he has further satisfied himself with the procedures undertaken by the office of the chief inspector of taxes in dealing with cases in relation to the time scale involved in bringing the reported cases of tax evasion to completion with all due taxes, interest and penalties recovered and the reward system in place to reward citizens for doing their duty in difficult circumstances; and if he will update the law in regard to these matters. [10259/99]
I have been informed by the Revenue Commissioners that it is their policy to inquire into all information received concerning alleged tax evasion, including anonymous information. Such information is initially evaluated for relevance and quality and, where possible, steps are taken to validate it before follow up action is taken. Follow up action would include the initiation of an audit or investigation if the information about alleged tax evasion appeared to be valid.
The Deputy's question seems to link the follow-up by Revenue in relation to information supplied by citizens with revelations about taxation matters at tribunals of inquiry. The Revenue Commissioners advise me that, if this is so, it is not clear what reports or information the Deputy may have in mind and that there has been no failure to act on information received in regard to high profile cases or indeed any cases involved in tribunals. If the Deputy is aware of specific information in this regard he should of course bring it to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners.
The investigation of cases in the office of the chief inspector of taxes, whether initiated on the basis of information received or otherwise, can take, in some cases, a considerable period of time. This can be due to a variety of factors such as the size and complexity of a case, the level of co-operation received from the taxpayer or his advisers, whether application has to be made to the courts for information disclosure orders, whether prosecution has to be considered, the length of time taken up by the appeal process and the time required to enforce collection. The Revenue Commissioners assure me that audits and investigations are completed in the shortest possible time.
