Cork City Football Club and GAA manager Séamus McEnaney among tax defaulters

Cork City Football Club and Monaghan’s senior football manager Séamus McEnaney are included in the latest list of revenue tax defaulters.

Cork City Football Club, controlled by a trust known as Friends of the Rebel Army Society, owed a total of €88,817.02 following a revenue audit. The company under-declared VAT and had to pay €61,819 in tax, €8,451 in interest and €18,545 in penalties.

The football club said settlement “arose out of an incorrect interpretation of the rules relating to VAT being reclaimed ... for certain football related expenses”. The issue, which related to the period form January 2016 to August 2017, has been “fully settled” and won’t have any impact on the future dealings of the club, it said in a statement.

Well-known football manager Séamus “Banty” McEnaney, meanwhile, had to pay €171,365 after a revenue investigation which found an under-declaration of income tax, PAYE, PRSI and USC. His brother, Francis, also had to pay €43,494 following a revenue investigation which uncovered under-declaration of income tax.

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Mr McEnaney was last year involved in another settlement when he was a director of the Westenra Arms Hotel in Co Monaghan. The hotel was hit with a more than €2.5 million bill at that time.

Greyhounfd trainer

Also in sports, Co Tipperary-based greyhound trainer Graham Holland paid a €74,994 settlement in the period. In 2017, Mr Holland trained Clonbrien Hero, which won the Irish Larels before subsequently testing positive for a prohibited substance related to cocaine use

Elsewhere, property developer James Jordan, who last year pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly and wilfully submitting incorrect VAT returns, paid €1.4 million to Revenue as part of a settlement. That included €490,000 in interest and €391,000 in penalties. Mr Jordan's settlement was the single largest in this list which includes settlements made between the start of July and the end of September.

Also in the property sphere, Daniel Du Noyer, a co-founder and director of Duchamp Properties, made a €38,790 settlement for non-declaration of income tax and VAT.

And in Co Clare, the company behind the Bellbridge House Hotel in Miltown Malbay – Spanish Point Investments Limited – paid a total of €75,394.

Two companies in liquidation were found to have avoided paying a substantial amount of tax. Livestock trader SDM Emerald Green Exports, based in Castlerea Co Roscommon, had a total fine of €793,000 imposed – of which €498,349 remained unpaid at the end of September. And a second-hand car dealer which traded as Autoline in Co Tipperary had a fine of €915,800 imposed. The vast majority of this remained unpaid at the end of September.

Other large settlements were made by Swords-based safe retailer and secure storage provider Paul Ellard – who hadn't paid the €1.17 million owing by the end of September – and retired teacher with an address in Woodlands Drive, Stillorgan, John Fitzgerald who owed €968,000 following an under declaration of capital gains tax. Milk agent Patrick Donoghoe from Co Westmeath owed €131,064 for under-declaring VAT.

In total, Revenue made 36 settlements arising from a careless or deliberate default of almost €8 million in the period. There were nine cases for which the settlement was not fully paid as of September 30th.