Tax Appeals Commission

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 December 2019

Thursday, 5 December 2019

Ceisteanna (87, 88)

Michael McGrath

Ceist:

87. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of new appeals brought before the Tax Appeals Commission in each month since January 2016; the number of cases concluded in each month since January 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51044/19]

Michael McGrath

Ceist:

88. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of appeals before the Tax Appeals Commission that have been concluded since January 2016 that have been settled; the value of the settled appeal; the number withdrawn; the value these amounted to; the number of cases heard; the value these appeals amounted to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51045/19]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 88 together.

Following its establishment in 2016, I am informed that approximately 3,028 appeals transferred to the Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) from both the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Office of the Appeal Commissioners in March, 2016. The TAC has further advised me that, as of 30 November, 2019 it currently has approximately 3,330 active appeals under its remit.

The Deputy will be aware that significant work has been undertaken to implement the recommendations of an independent review of the TAC that I commissioned in 2018. Two additional Temporary Appeal Commissioners took up appointments in September, with a third to be appointed in the coming weeks. Legislation to create the role and responsibilities of Chair of the TAC has completed scrutiny in both Houses of the Oireachtas and, when enacted, will allow recruitment to commence for this position. I expect that these additional resources at Commissioner level, supported by additional administrative staff and case-managers, will allow significant progress to be made in addressing the existing backlogs.

The following table provides an overview of the number of appeals received and concluded in each month since the establishment of the Tax Appeals Commission on 21 March 2016:

Tax Appeals CommissionNumber of Appeals Received and Closed from 21 March 2016 to date
Month	Received 2016	Closed In 2016	Received 2017	Closed In 2017	Received 2018	Closed In 2018	Received 2019	Closed In 2019
Jan	n/a	n/a	560	52	264	64	162	91
Feb	n/a	n/a	75	39	134	319	114	59
Mar	1,646	4	177	74	159	148	116	107
Apr	64	7	91	53	104	141	101	92
May	62	15	106	131	195	121	116	120
Jun	81	15	82	52	72	76	97	148
Jul	97	29	105	51	114	115	128	153
Aug	66	13	90	45	127	55	130	110
Sep	78	16	107	19	108	90	109	174
Oct	73	23	95	49	108	156	112	216
Nov	90	40	107	42	115	72	136	176
Dec	96	44	152	83	189	81
Total	2,353	206	1,747	690	1,689	1,438	1,321	1,446

I am informed that since its establishment on 21 March 2016, the TAC has cleared appeals relating to €1.4bn in disputed taxes. The below table provides an outline of how appeals were closed from 21 March, 2016:

Tax Appeals CommissionSummary of Appeals Closed since 21 March, 2016 to date
Reason for Appeal Closures	No. of Appeals Closed	Quantum €000
Determination	165	167,679
Dismissed	282	40,194
Merged	38	11,219
Refused	569	30,266
Settled	1,888	877,238
Withdrawn by Appellant	838	314,360
Total	3,780	1,440,956

The following table provides an overview of the number of appeals that have been listed since 21 March, 2016:

Tax Appeals CommissionAppeals Listed for Hearing since 21 March, 2016 to date
	2019No.	2019Affecting	2019 Quantum€000	2018No.	2018 Affecting	2018 Quantum€000	2017 No.	2017 Affecting	2017 Affecting
Scheduled	215	604	780,855	167	248	57,715	65	106	153
Withdrawn / Settled in advance of hearing	24	38	303,191	17	23	12,250	2	2	21
Deferred in advance of hearing	122	316	336,999	90	148	35,468	11	11	33
Proceeded With	69	250	140,665	60	77	9,997	52	93	99

* A further 10 hearings in relation to 20 appeals with a quantum of approximately €50 million have currently been listed for the remainder of 2019.

** Quantum figures for 2017 and 2016 and the number of hearings held in 2016 are not available.