No need for 'revenue court' - report

The Government should not establish a separate "revenue court" or a new "fiscal prosecutor's office" to investigate tax evasion…

The Government should not establish a separate "revenue court" or a new "fiscal prosecutor's office" to investigate tax evasion, but it should increase the threshold at which tax defaulters are named publicly by the Revenue Commissioners for tax evasion, according to a new report.

Report On A Fiscal Prosecutor and A Revenue Court, which will be published today by the Law Reform Commission, recommends tax defaulters should only be named publicly if they pay a fine or make a settlement worth €25,000 or more with the Revenue Commissioners, almost double the current amount.

The report also recommends that the threshold level - currently set at €12,500 - should be index linked to ensure that the Revenue's quarterly tax defaulters list only highlights serious tax evasion.

The report's two main recommendations against setting up special "revenue courts" or a "fiscal prosecutor's office" mirror those contained in the Law Reform Commission's draft report published in 2003. The final report, which will be launched later today by the Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen, notes "the change of policy by the Revenue Commissioners concerning criminal prosecutions" for tax evasion.

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The report says a recent and more stringent approach to exposing and prosecuting tax evasion by the Revenue meant that setting up a specialist fiscal prosecutor was inadvisable.

The current prosecution arrangements, involving the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Revenue, should be monitored and reviewed after five years, it says.

The Law Reform Commission began working on the report in 2002 when the then Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell SC, asked it to look at the issues following the Public Accounts Committee's damning report into the DIRT enquiry, which found that hundreds of thousands of people held bogus non-resident accounts to avoid paying tax.

This report highlighted major shortcomings in the State's pursuit and prosecution of people who evaded tax. But the Law Reform Commission said it did not recommend setting up a separate "revenue court" for tax evasion because it wanted to ensure that white collar crimes were seen as ordinary criminal offences and did not have a lower stigma value than other crimes.

The report also recommends the retention of trial by jury in the cases of trials on indictment for revenue offences. But it urges the prosecution in cases to draw attention to the court the seriousness of even minor offences, such as non filing tax returns. This may cover up tax evasion, it says.

The report also recommends changes to the Appeals Commissions, the independent body that deals with revenue appeals by the public.

It states that a new experts appointments committee should provide a list of names to be considered by the Minister for Finance for appointment.