242 named tax defaulters hand over ¿37.3m

A total of €37.3 million was paid to the Revenue by 242 people and companies who appear on the latest tax defaulters list.

The period concerned was the three months to the end of June 2004.

A further 606 settlements made during the period but which did not qualify for publication resulted in a total of €78.13 million being paid.

Of the 242 published settlements, 78 were for amounts exceeding €100,000; nine exceeded €500,000; and three exceeded €1 million.

Mr Charles J. McCarthy, of Glencorrin, Cork Road, Fermoy, Co Cork, made a €6.4 million settlement.

Mr James Callery, a company director, of Cloonahee House, Elphin, Co Roscommon, made a settlement of €1.95 million in a bogus non-resident account case.

The tax due was €544,899, with the rest comprising interest and penalties.

Mr John Sullivan jnr, of St Annes, Ballyhugh, Gort, Co Galway, made a settlement of €1,099,000, of which the tax was €476,524.

The settlements published are those where there was no voluntary disclosure before the start of an audit, where the fine or penalty imposed exceeded 15 per cent of the tax, and where the settlement exceeded €12,700.

Most of the settlements, 180, related to bogus non-resident accounts. The total amount paid in those cases was €29.1 million.

There were five Ansbacher settlements, eight of them relating to the Revenue's offshore funds investigations, and two from the NIB inquiry.

A company director, Mr W.A. Barrett, of Dowdstown, Maynooth, Co Kildare, made a settlement of €897,028, arising out of a Revenue audit.

He paid €308,637 in underdeclared income tax, with the rest being interest and penalties.

W.A. Barrett & Sons Ltd, a hardware supplies company, of Dowdstown, Maynooth, Co Kildare, made a settlement of €22,791, arising out of an underdeclaration of corporation tax and VAT.

A company director, Mr David R.Addison, of Rockford Manor, Blackrock, Dublin, made an €871,681 settlement arising out of the underdeclaration of income tax.

Mr Patrick McCloskey, a company director of Fintra, Killybegs, Co Donegal, made a settlement of €700,864 arising from the underdeclaration of income tax.

The tax was €226,192, less than half the interest and penalties. The case related to a bogus non-resident account.

A company director, Mr Joseph Nally, of Teviot Grove, Blackhall, Dunboyne, Co Meath, made a €668,731 settlement, of which more that two-thirds was tax and penalties.

A showband figure, Mr Tom McBride, known as Big Tom, of Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, made a €100,000 settlement.

A takeaway foods supplier and dry-cleaning operator, Mr Sean Murphy, of The Square, Killorglin, Co Kerry, made a €600,000 settlement.

Again, more than two-thirds of this was in interest and penalties.

The late Mr Adolf Wojnar, a company director of Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow, made a €634,869 settlement arising out of the Revenue's Ansbacher inquiries.

Another list published yesterday, of persons who failed to lodge income-tax returns, included a farmer, Mr Daniel Doherty, of Terryone Upper, Moville, Co Donegal, who was imprisoned for one month.