Revenue to name and shame those who fail to pay agreed tax liability

Tax defaulters who fail to pay up following an agreed settlement with Revenue will be identified in a new-look defaulters list to be published on Tuesday.

Traditionally, the Revenue only publishes a list of individuals and the amount they owe following an investigation, typically for the underdeclaration of PAYE and/or PRSI.

However, under changes introduced in the latest Finance Bill, Revenue now has the power to name and shame those who have failed to discharge an outstanding liability within an agreed time limit.

The separate list of tax defaulters’ cases will be published alongside the standard quarterly list on Tuesday, which will cover the first quarter of 2017.

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The additional list will include details of amounts still outstanding plus relevant interest and penalties.

“Changes introduced by the Minister for Finance in Finance Act 2016 include a provision obliging Revenue to specify in the published list of tax defaulters cases in which a person has failed to pay an agreed settlement within the relevant period,” the Revenue said.

It said the provision, effective from January 1st this year, meant that such cases would be specified in the list of tax defaulters for the period covering January to March this year.

High-profile consultants

The list is expected to include some high-profile medical consultants. Revenue chairman Niall Cody recently told the Public Accounts Committee that Revenue had collected €61 million in taxes, penalties and interest as part of ongoing investigations into the financial affairs of more than 800 medical consultants.

The haul came from the cases of 276 consultants who had incorporated their private medical practices and in some cases set up more than one company.

To date, some 36 medical consultant cases have been published on the Revenue’s list of tax defaulters.

The latest list, covering the final quarter of 2016, showed Revenue sought €11.06 million from 76 taxpayers.

Of these, 29 cases were for amounts exceeding €100,000, of which four exceeded €500,000.

The latest Finance Bill also grants Revenue additional powers in relation to false claims for tax relief or tax credits made by or on behalf of taxpayers.

The measures impose a penalty on individuals who make false claims or assist others in making false claims.