Revenue gets €50m from bogus account holders

The Revenue Commissioners has collected €50 million from holders of bogus non-resident accounts who failed to avail of last year's amnesty. The Revenue has given the holders of 13,500 of these accounts until December 17th to settle their tax liabilities and will be contacting thousands of other account holders in January.

Some €227 million was collected from bogus non-resident account holders in unpaid Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) and other taxes under the voluntary disclosure scheme which ended in November 2001. These settlements included reduced penalties.

Since then, the Revenue Commissioners has been obtaining the names of bogus non-resident account holders from Irish financial institutions so they can collect tax plus interest and penalties due.

Settlements of more than €12,700 will be published in the State's official gazette, Iris Oifigiúil. Based on some of the settlements that have been made public, account holders could be facing interest and penalties of up to 170 per cent of the amount held in those accounts in addition to the tax liability.

Revenue Commissioners chairman Mr Frank Daly wrote to the holders of 13,500 of these accounts in October giving them 60 days to disclose fully their tax liabilities. The €50 million was collected from those who have already responded, with the Revenue expecting to collect substantially more money in the run-up to the deadline.

Those who fail to come forward voluntarily within the next 10 days would face prosecution, it said yesterday. A spokesman said the Revenue would be issuing more letters to individuals it believes still owe tax on these accounts in January. They are also likely to be given 60 days to settle their affairs.

The Revenue said this was the final warning to those individuals who had been given the December 17th deadline to contact them. "Those who sit around waiting for a letter could end up being investigated with a view to prosecution," it said.

Approximately 23 Irish financial institutions have been furnishing customer details to the Revenue on foot of 17 High Court orders. One further order is currently before the courts and this information will be disclosed to the Revenue on a phased basis.

Financial institutions have been alerting customers whose names and details have been passed on to the Revenue.

To date, the Revenue has collected almost €500 million from the DIRT tax investigation. This includes €220 million from banks and building societies following a look-back audit of their books ordered by the Committee of Public Accounts.

Hundreds of the individuals currently being pursued by the Revenue Commissioners are preparing to file a legal action against the Irish financial institutions claiming that they were advised to evade tax through these accounts by officials.

A reaction group which has been established by a group of former bank officials is awaiting legal opinion on whether a class action could succeed.

AIB has offered some assurances to its staff regarding any future legal actions that might arise, but has not elaborated on the extent of any indemnity they may have.