New Regulations on Tax Avoidance

Accountants, tax advisers and banks will be forced to whistle-blow on clients or potential clients involved in tax avoidance schemes under new plans being finalised by the Government. They will be automatically forced to inform the Revenue Commissioners of schemes that exploit tax loopholes and allow wealthy individuals to slash their tax bills.

The move, the Business Post reports, marks an escalation in the State’s efforts to crack down on aggressive tax planning and the use of controversial tax-avoidance schemes, which have cost the Exchequer billions of euro in lost revenue. The changes, needless to say, have already received a hostile reaction from tax-advisory firms.