Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 October 2018
114. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance the moneys and savings made through the actions of the large cases division focusing on high wealth individuals at the Revenue Commissioners for each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date in 2018. [44033/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra115. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance the moneys and savings made through combatting tax fraud and-or evasion by the large cases division on high wealth individuals at the Revenue Commissioners for each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date in 2018 [44034/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra116. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance the cost of running the large cases division and the added capacity both in terms of cost and staffing required if its purview was extended to high wealth individuals holding assets of more than €10 million. [44035/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra117. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he will clarify answers given in Parliamentary Question Nos. 175 and 176 of 16 October 2018 (details supplied); and the difference between these two numbers and their roles. [44036/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra118. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance the mandate, tasks, operations and wealth and income thresholds dealt with by the medium enterprise division; and the difference between its management of high-wealth individuals compared to those of the large cases division. [44037/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 114 to 118, inclusive, together.
I am advised by Revenue that it currently has three units in its Large Cases Division (LCD) with responsibility for both the tax affairs of high wealth individuals (HWIs) and for challenging tax avoidance schemes. The staffing costs of these three units on a full year basis in 2017 was €2.4m.
Revenue’s overall approach to managing compliance is to make the appropriate intervention following appraisal of risk factors which can be an indicator of potential tax avoidance and/or tax evasion in a case. The yield from the compliance interventions completed by the relevant units in Revenue’s LCD are set out in the table.
|
Year |
Yield € |
|
2013 |
4.6m |
|
2014 |
17.4m |
|
2015 |
43.6m |
|
2016 |
17.3m |
|
2017 |
15.3m |
|
2018 year to date |
8m |
|
Total |
106.2m |
In addition to the yield from compliance interventions LCD, as part of its compliance work, makes recommendations for legislative amendments. Where such recommendations are subsequently enacted they may result in further savings for the Exchequer.
Tax administrations generally use assets and/or wealth as their main criteria for determining a HWI, while some administrations also include income. In general, I am advised that Revenue’s criteria for identifying HWIs is individuals with net assets of over €50m. There is no statutory obligation on individuals to return details of their net worth on returns of income. Accordingly, Revenue does not have the data required to estimate the number of individuals with assets of more than €10 million nor the related costs or staffing required for this extended case base.
The answers to Parliamentary Questions 175 and 176 set out that the staffing element of the original Large Cases Division which was focused on HWIs, avoidance, pensions and the related administration work. The total staffing was 64 whole time equivalents. This is the staffing that has moved to the new Large Cases High Wealth Individuals Division. Currently approximately 25 of the 64 staff have responsibility for the tax affairs of HWIs.
In relation to Question 44037/18, as also previously advised to the Deputy in my reply to Questions 175 and 176, Revenue has established a national Medium Enterprise Division as part of its structural realignment process.
The new Division which will have a staffing resource of approximately 380 by the end of 2018 has been mandated to manage the tax affairs of corporates and high wealth individuals that fall below the criteria for specific management in Large Cases Division.
The new Division will monitor the tax affairs of its case-base through various risk assessment programmes that are supported by data analytics, interrogation of both taxpayer and third-party information and examination of specific wealth indicators.
The nature and extent of all interventions carried out by the Medium Enterprise Division will be determined by the level of risk identified and the behaviour of the taxpayer involved but can typically range from more general aspect query type enquiries up to tax audit and investigation with a view to prosecution for the more egregious cases.
