In her opening statement before the Public Accounts Committee, Revenue Chairman Josephine Feehily gave a brief overview of the main issues facing Revenue in the current economic environment. Among the issues she discussed were: the significant tax challenges arising from the current economic and financial environment; Revenue's approach to such challenges and an update on Revenue Special Investigations.
The amount of taxes collected by Revenue has dropped by over €14 billion since 2007 and the outstanding tax debt has increased from €1.1 billion to €1.86 billion over two years, with a further increase expected in 2010. In response to the difficulties faced by taxpayers, Revenue developed a framework (Case Decision Escalation Framework) which will enable taxpayers to consult with Revenue in addressing their tax payment difficulties. Tax eNews covered this in March of last year -here.
Revenue's Investigation into Trusts and Offshore structures has, of 1 March 2010, yielded €18.73 million from 98 cases. The total now exceeds €2.6 billon since Revenue began these investigations. Revenue has now decided to broaden the scope of the Offshore Assets Enquiry. The new probe requires financial institutions to provide information on all transfers over a de minimis threshold of €5,000, irrespective of whether the financial institution had an Irish connection.