€783m paid in unpublished tax settlements last year
A massive €783m was paid last year in unpublished tax settlements involving close to 55,000 separate companies and members of the public.
A total of €665m was paid out by companies in 35,684 separate settlements, an average of around €19,000 each.
A further €103m had to be given to Revenue by individual taxpayers and members of the public, according to records released under Freedom of Information.
Those deals averaged around €6,000 each and made up 31% of the total number of cases involving unpublished tax settlements in 2022.
Another €6.1m was paid out by partnerships in just over 1,200 separate cases, roughly €5,000 for each settlement.
There was also €1.09m worth of settlements involving trusts estates, dealing with 195 cases each case worth around €5,600.
Another €7.5m was paid by unincorporated bodies in 771 separate settlements, with an average value of just over €10,500.
According to the figures, the value of the top 20 unpublished settlements from last year was €418m, an average of almost €21m each.
The Revenue Commissioners said they would not provide details of the top 20 largest settlements from last year saying this could potentially lead to the identification of individual taxpayers.
Revenue did, however, provide a breakdown of unpublished settlements by sector with IT and other information services dominating at €307m.
Next highest was the €77m paid out by firms involved in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
There was €57m in unpublished settlements involving firms in finance and insurance and €61m from firms engage in the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products.
Other sectors with sizable settlements included construction at €31m, €32m from accommodation and food providers, and €36m from companies involved in public administration and defence, and compulsory social security.
Also paid up was €22m from real estate firms, €5.4m from residential and social care providers and €4.3m from the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector.
A Revenue spokeswoman said they aimed to collect taxes in a fair and efficient manner and supported voluntary compliance from taxpayers.
“The nature of any intervention conducted is based on taxpayer behaviour and the particular risks identified. These responses range from easily accessible opportunities to voluntarily correct errors and make a qualifying disclosure, up to criminal investigation for serious cases of fraud or evasion,” she said.
“Taxpayers who avail of opportunities to review their tax compliance position and voluntarily address or disclose any issues identified may benefit by experiencing the minimum level of penalty and generally not risk either publication or prosecution,” she added.
Article Source: €783m paid in unpublished tax settlements last year – RTE
