Revenue publishes list of tax defaulters

Today (13/06/2023), Revenue published the List of Tax Defaulters in respect of the period 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023. The list is published in Iris Oifigiúil, in two parts.

• Part 1: Persons in whose case the Court has determined a penalty relating to a settlement, or has imposed a fine, imprisonment or other penalty in respect of a tax or duty offence.

• Part 2: Persons in whose case Revenue has accepted a settlement offer instead of initiating court proceedings, or a settlement has been paid in full. This list reflects the amount of a settlement that remained unpaid at the end of the period 31 March 2023. Unpaid amounts are subject to Revenue’s normal debt collection and enforcement procedures.

Part 1: Court determinations

Court determination of penalty

Subject to certain criteria, in settlement cases wherethere is no agreement to a penalty, or a person fails to pay an agreed penalty, the Court determines the penalty. Details are published when the Court determined penalty exceeds 15% of the total tax (where the total amount of tax only exceeds €50,000) and a qualifying disclosure has not been made:

• There were 3 such cases in the 3-month period to 31 March 2023, with fines totalling €226,142.

Court imposed fine, imprisonment or other penalty

Details are published when a fine or other Court penalty is imposed in respect of tax or duty offences. Court penalties may include imprisonment, partly suspended or suspended sentences, community service in lieu of imprisonment, and closure orders:

• 85 such cases are published and €188,450 is the total of court fines imposed.

These include:

• 41 cases relating to failing to lodge returns, failure to remit VAT, delivery of incorrect returns and production of an incorrect invoice/document. Court fines totalling €72,500 were imposed: Eighteen sentences, in lieu of imprisonment, were imposed. Of these, sixteen are fully suspended, comprising terms of 18 months (3); 20 months (1); 30 months (1); 2 years (9) – one with 240 hours community service; and 3 years (2). Two partially suspended sentences, of 20 months duration (suspended for two years), were also imposed.
• 22 cases of misuse of marked mineral oil, in respect of which Court fines totalling €68,250 were imposed.
• 18 cases of excise offences for tobacco smuggling, illegal selling of tobacco and possession of untaxed tobacco for sale. Court fines totalling €38,700, and five sentences, partially suspended for differing durations, in lieu of imprisonment, were imposed. These comprise terms of 2 months (2); 6 months (1); 10 months (1); 1 year (1).
• 1 case of possession of untaxed alcohol for sale, in respect of which a Court fine of €2,500 was imposed.
• 3 cases of obstruction of a Revenue officer, in respect of which Court fines totalling €6,500 were imposed.

Part 2: Settlements

Settlements are published when the extensive voluntary disclosure options are not availed of and the default arises because of careless or deliberate behaviour:

• 19 cases are published today and €7.3 million is the total settlement amount in these cases. 
  • 18 cases exceeded €100,000.
  • Of which, 6 cases exceeded €500,000.
• 3 are cases in which the settlement was not fully paid as at 31 March 2023. 
• €993,537 was the amount unpaid as at 31 March 2023. Revenue vigorously pursues collection/enforcement of unpaid settlements. In some cases, collection/recovery of the full unpaid amount will not be possible (for example, company liquidation).

Revenue compliance yield 

These published settlements reflect only a portion of all Revenue Compliance Interventions. In the 3-month period to 31 March 2023, a total of 15,138 Revenue Compliance Interventions were settled resulting in a total yield of €214.19 million.

List of Tax Defaulters

[ENDS 13/06/2023]