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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 5 Nov 2002

Vol. 556 No. 3

Written Answers. - Tax Liabilities.

Bernard Allen

Ceist:

276 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Finance the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork has been asked for payment for under-computation of their tax liabilities in view of the fact that the under-deduction was as a result of an error on the part of the Revenue Commissioners; his proposals to introduce guidelines or regulations similar to social welfare where, if an error is made by the Revenue Commissioners in estimating individuals' PAYE liabilities, that this error should not impact negatively on the taxpayer or penalise the taxpayer in any way for those errors. [19785/02]

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that regular checks are carried out to identify taxpayers who may have underpaid tax. The taxpayer in question was in receipt of pension income. The underpayment arose because he took up employment with the result that the combined income of the taxpayer and his wife left him open to liability at the higher rate of tax.

Certificates of tax-free allowances for the 1999-2000 tax year had issued to the taxpayer showing liability at the standard rate of 24%, Tax Table R. However, the increase in income due to the taxpayer's return to employment meant that part of the taxpayer's income became liable to tax at the higher rate of 46%.
A similar underpayment has arisen for the 2000-01 tax year. However the matter has been rectified for years following. The inspector proposes to collect the total extra liability on a phased basis over the next three tax years, that is, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
There is an onus on taxpayers to check that the information on their tax certificates is correct and, where it is not, to inform the tax office of any inaccuracies. When underpayments occur, inspectors of taxes are obliged to collect the amounts underpaid, as they are also obliged to repay amounts overpaid.
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