A BUILDING union leader says that he is being "inundated" with calls from members who are being asked to sign false declarations by their employers stating that they are subcontractors, when in fact they are employees.
The general secretary of the Plasterers Union, Mr Niall Irwin, has called for extra resources to be given to the Revenue Commissioners to tackle the problem.
New regulations were introduced on July 6th to clamp down on tax abuse in the building industry. Mr Irwin says employers he contacted had quickly dropped their attempts to make employees sign the forms, but he was concerned at what might be happening on other sites.
The old system of C45 forms was discredited because of wide spread abuse. The new system introduced last week was formulated by the building unions, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Revenue Commissioners. Now all personnel working in the construction industry are deemed to be employees and it is up to the contractors to prove otherwise.
The only way an employee can change his status is by signing a joint declaration with a contractor stating that he is working in a self employed capacity.
Heavy penalties can be levied for false declarations or for failing to store declarations.
A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said yesterday that it would take time for the situation to settle down, but that any employees with problems should contact their offices.