Denis Naughten
Ceist:174 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Finance the tax status of payments made which have been deemed corrupt by the Flood commission. [5431/03]
Written Answers - Tribunals of Inquiry.
As I indicated in response to similar questions on Tuesday, 12 November 2002 and on Tuesday, 10 December 2002, the tax status of these payments depends on the circumstances of the payment. If the payment was in the nature of income, the payment would be subject to income tax. If the payment was a gift which falls within the definition of a taxable gift in capital tax law, tax under that heading would be payable. Whether or not a payment is considered to be corrupt, as such, is of little or no importance in tax law. Section 58 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for taxation of profits or gains which arise from an unlawful or unknown source of activity. All of the payments referred to in the Flood tribunal report are the subject of continuing tax inquiries in the investigation branch of the Revenue Commissioners.
The Revenue Commissioners have advised me that the public proceedings of the tribunal are carefully monitored by their investigation branch staff and, where it appears that taxation issues arise, these issues are noted for inquiry. Depending on the results of these inquiries, the cases are noted for full investigation. A total of 82 cases related to the Flood tribunal are already under investigation and a further 32 cases have been noted for investigation as soon as possible. A total of €17.3 million has been paid on account by a number of the cases under investigation.