Tax Compliance

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 February 2018

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Ceisteanna (154)

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

154. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons that paid tax in each of the past ten years as casual workers; if the Revenue Commissioners have specific practices and procedures to deal with the tax compliance responsibilities of casual workers and their employers; if so, the practices and procedures in this regard; if the normal PAYE rules including rules relating to cessation of employment apply to casual workers; if casual workers are self identified as such to the Revenue Commissioners; if not, if other information is also relied upon; if he and the Revenue Commissioners have satisfied themselves that the date provided to them accurately reflects the nature and extent of casual work in the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8636/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

The remuneration of employees, including casual workers, is chargeable to tax under ‘Schedule E’ and is subject to deduction at source under the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system, which employers are legally obliged to operate in accordance with Chapter 4 Part 42 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

I am advised by Revenue that because casual workers are subject to the PAYE tax deduction system on the same basis as all other employees, including in regard to cessation of employment, their details are not separately distinguished. As a consequence, it is not possible to extract specific data on the tax paid by casual workers or analyse their impact on the economy in the manner requested by the Deputy.

The tax compliance situation in respect of casual workers is examined as part of Revenue’s overall tax compliance programme for employers and employees. For example, during 2017 Revenue completed 27,753 employer level and 12,751 employee level compliance interventions that generated additional yield of €62.4m and €12.8m respectively.

The Deputy will be aware that Revenue is in the process of modernising the PAYE system, which will come into effect from 1 January 2019. The new arrangements will facilitate the flow of pay and tax information from employer payroll systems to Revenue in a seamless and real time environment. The data flows will include information in regard to employee start and cessation dates, which will in turn assist in further analysing casual worker trends.