Offshore Assets Group (OAG)
Extract from Chairman Frank Daly's Speech 15/06/2004 at the Launch of Revenue's Board Report 2003
You may recall that this time last year we announced our intention
to tackle the use of offshore accounts and structures by Irish taxpayers
for the purposes of tax evasion. We gave details at the time of a breakthrough
in relation to an investigation into trusts managed by an Irish Financial
Institution in Jersey. Subsequently we conducted separate investigations
during 2003 in relation to some Isle of Man activities.
The background to the current more wide-ranging "offshore" investigation
is that in December last I met the Chief Executives of 10 Irish financial
institutions with subsidiaries or branches outside the State. I informed
these Chief Executives that a wide-ranging investigation into holders
of offshore accounts and other financial investments would be started
early in 2004 - using all available Revenue powers. We sought the cooperation
of the financial institutions concerned and requested that they write
to their Irish resident customers with accounts in their offshore subsidiaries
and branches, advising them of the impending investigation and of the
benefits to be obtained by making a disclosure of unpaid liabilities before
it commenced.
I am pleased to say that all of the financial institutions concerned co-operated
in this exercise.
The original deadline for making a voluntary disclosure was 29 March
2004 with the submission of final computations and payments due to be
made by 28th May. In response to requests from tax practitioners, accountants
and other interested parties we agreed to extend the deadline to Thursday
last, 10th June.
As with most initiatives that have deadlines, the majority of people only
respond close to the end dates so we are still some way from a final figure
for this phase of our investigation. I can however confirm that by end
March we had received 15,000 notices of voluntary disclosure and as of
this morning payments amounting to just under €500 million have been
received from approximately 11,000 individuals. We confidently expect
this figure to increase further in the coming weeks. We also of course
expect that there will be further significant recoveries as we move into
the post voluntary disclosure phase of this offshore investigation.
Last year when I spoke about the beginnings of these offshore investigations
I said that the sum of €8 million had been paid on account. One year
later the aggregate figure collected so far from these offshore investigations
is almost €650 million. This represents a very satisfactory outcome
to this initial phase of our investigations. We are now following up with
determination those who did not come forward voluntarily. In the Bogus
Non Resident account investigation Revenue stuck to its promise to go
after those who did not avail of the Voluntary Disclosure opportunity
and these people have now paid more than twice as much as they would have
paid had they believed us in the first place. In addition, their settlements
with Revenue, including their identities, were published in the media.
Those who chose not to avail of the voluntary disclosure option in the
offshore investigation will face a similar determined approach on our
part. We will identify them and apply the full force of tax law to dealing
with them."