REVENUE PLANS TAX BLITZ

You might have thought that there wasn’t much room left for mass tax evasion in the Irish economy – but the Revenue Commissioners don’t agree. Revenue is planning a new “blitz” on businesses in towns and cities right across the country to crack down on suspect evasion, according to the Sunday Tribune. It is to carry out test purchases to ensure that cash is not pocketed, examine cash registers, electronic points of sale, company accounts and interview employees.
Revenue has even purchased cash registers and stripped them down to discover how they have been manipulated to evade tax. The Revenue says it will be checking for unregistered companies and targeting businesses that trade mainly in cash. Up to now the tax authorities have focused on specific sectors of the economy, such as construction, pubs and the legal profession – in the new campaign, they plan unannounced visits to every business on a particular town street or industrial estate.
The Revenue will begin to ensure that imported cars have been registered and it will hire more senior staff for the Large Cases Division which handles the tax affairs of major companies.
The Sunday Business Post also had a look at the story, focussing on bankers and lawyers. The Revenue is examining the tax affairs of three hundred senior bankers in an inquiry that has already resulted in a clawback of €1.1 million to the exchequer and it has launched an audit of members of the legal profession. There is concern that some solicitors are not declaring all their earnings and are avoiding tax through cash transactions.