Five €1m settlements in defaulter list

A plant hire contractor, a Co Kilkenny bookmaker and a butcher were among the largest settlements in Revenue's quarterly list of tax defaulters published today.

Five settlements over €1m were among 135 totalling some €28m for the October to December 2012 period. Only settlements above a certain threshold are published by Revenue.

Topping the settlement list was a Co Wicklow plant hire contractor Michael Healy of Clone, Aughrim with a €2.02m settlement (including interest of €811,280 and penalties of €520,738) for  undeclared income tax/VAT of €694,000.

There are four entries for a Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny bookmaker in the list with settlements totalling over €4m.

Bookmaker Triona Harrington of The Square, Castlecomer is listed for a settlement of €1.37m while bookmaker Phelim O'Connell of Kilkenny Street in the town faces a bill of €1.08m for undeclared taxes. Smaller settlements listed are €217,000 for Harrington Bookmakers Ltd and €214,000 for Triona Harrington and Phelim O'Connell for under-declaration of betting duty

Another Co Kilkenny defaulter faced a bill of over €1m. Company director and property owner Kevin Moore of Stancliffe, Greenshill was billed €1.04m (including €688 in interest and penalties) for unpaid income tax of €355,000 in a Revenue single premium insurance product investigation case.   His was part of four settlements were made as part of a Revenue investigation into single premium insurance payments totalling some €1.7m.

Also in the top five was butcher and farmer Thomas Kearney of John St, Waterford with penalties of €1.18m due to under-declaration of capital gains tax.

There were a further five defaulters with settlements over half a million euro, three of whom were building contractors.

Co Wexford based artist Mark O'Neill of Kilcarrig Bridge, Clonegal was billed with €721,000 for under-declaration of income tax and VAT of €518,000. Newspaper delivery service provider Gordon McAra of Cromlech Fields, Ballybrack, Dublin was billed with €688,000 for under-claration of tax.

Coming close to a €1m bill was Dublin building contractor Hugh Farrelly of Brookwood Drive, Artane. He was billed €997,000ncluding €548,000) for under-declaration of relevant contracts tax of €448,000.

Gabriel Rooney of The Hawthorns, Ashbourne, Co Meath had a settlement of €565,000 while Garland Homes Ltd of Greenmount Office Park in Dublin was billed €500,000 for under-declaration of VAT.

Overall the construction trade contributed significantly to the list. There were 11 entries for people with occupations of builders or building contractors with total settlements of some €3.5m. There were five engineering consultants with a bill of €276m. Five electricians or electrical contractors and suppliers were billed a total of €346,000. There were four property developers with bills totalling over €1.8m.

Other defaulters of note included Fianna Fail fundraiser Des Richardson with a settlement of €108,906.

It was no funny business for the owner of an adult shop. Terry Power of Dame Street in Dublin faced a bill of €66,379, including fines and interest of over €22,000) for under-declaration of €43,984 in VAT and income tax.

Detected by Revenue was a Co Tipperary private investigator. An audit of Liam Brady of Luska Pier, Coolbawn, Neena uncovered under-declarations of over €40,000 of income tax and VAT. This resulted in a bill of €62,575.

Eight settlements were made as part of the Revenue offshore assets investigations case with totals of some €1.9m.

The list included six publicans with bills totalling over €72,000.