I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that their Ansbacher review team has inquired into 289 cases to date and 92 of these cases have concluded settlements with the Revenue Commissioners. The 289 cases, taking account of spouses and connected companies, consist of 300 names. The 289 cases are made up of 179 cases listed on the High Court inspectors' report and 110 similar cases discovered by the Revenue Commissioners or listed on the authorised officer's report.
A total of 211 cases have been under active investigation. The remaining cases consist of 62 non-resident persons, including 17 former Irish residents, 12 individuals who claimed the 1993 amnesty provisions and four cases with insufficient identity information.
The investigation includes examining the tax position of disclosed entities and accumulating and assembling information on other connected entities. The number of connected entities in cases under investigation is now nearly 700.
The Revenue Commissioners continue to make extensive use of their legislative powers to seek books, records, documents and information in the cases being investigated. Where appropriate, prosecutions will be considered but these will depend on the level of evidence available.
The Revenue Commissioners have made five successful applications to the High Court for the production by financial institutions and third parties of books, records and other documentation, which are relevant to liabilities of Ansbacher account holders. Some 150,000 documents have been received under the terms of the High Court orders. Advanced investigative computer software is used in controlling and managing the documentation.
To date, a total of €43.94 million has been received, mostly by way of payments on account, in respect of 92 cases. A breakdown is asfollows:
|
Cases
|
€ million
|
|
Cases involving Ansbacher or Ansbacher type arrangements
|
76
|
35.24
|
|
Other cases involving offshore funds or deposits
|
16
|
8.70
|
|
Total
|
92
|
43.94
|
The 92 cases which have concluded settlements with the Revenue Commissioners consist of 54 cases which were settled on payments of €32.47 million, included in the amount above, 25 non-resident cases that are covered by the provisions of double taxation agreements, 11 had no additional liability and two were covered by the 1993 amnesty provisions.
The Revenue Commissioners made an application under section 11 of the Companies Act 1990 for a copy of the High Court inspectors' report and that was made available on 6 July 2002. Its information has been carefully considered as regards the tax liabilities of the persons concerned. In addition, the Revenue Commissioners made a further application to the High Court for access to the supporting papers to the High Court inspectors' report. Judgment was delivered by the president of the High Court in May 2004. It allows the Revenue Commissioners access to documents on clients of Ansbacher named in the High Court inspectors' report and those persons and companies, including members of the board, found by the High Court inspectors to have failed to co-operate with their inquiry. The judgment also allows for the Revenue Commissioners to make application and grounding affidavit for the obtaining of information and documents on any other individual or company. Access to documents is subject to the direction of the High Court. The High Court orders in the matter were granted in June 2004.
The Revenue Commissioners have informed me that the investigations are time consuming and complex and are likely to continue for some time to come.
