Revenue Commission Names And Shames A Further 88 Defaulters

01 April 2003 The names of 88 tax defaulters have been published by the Irish Revenue Commissioners relating to settlements made in the final three months of 2002. The list includes an investor in National Irish Bank's CMI offshore fund who paid the single largest contribution to the list at EUR1.3 million.

It also contained the names of 31 taxpayers who held illegal non-resident bank accounts and who were ordered to pay a total of EUR4.3 million to the Commissioners.

In total, EUR10 million was collected from the 88 people on the list, which brings the total number of defaulters' names published by the Revenue Commissioners in 2002 to 272. Each had to have an outstanding debt of over EUR12,700 in order to earn the notoriety of being named and shamed by the authorities. A further 3,482 smaller cases brought in an additional EUR36 million for the tax collectors in unpaid returns.

The total number of returns from defaulters last year stands at 12,000, which has reportedly earned the Commission an additional EUR195 million.

The publication of the list shows the determination of the Irish authorities to crack down on bogus non-resident bank account holders in particular. The average outstanding tax liability of the 31 people named was EUR42,700. However, once the Revenue Commission had added its penalty fees and interest, the average settlement stood at EUR140,000.