Contractors to meet Revenue in bid to stamp out tax-evading operators
Revenue contacted FCI yesterday following its protest outside Dáil Éireann on Wednesday. The tax authority wants to discuss in detail the FCI’s proposals to have the Finance Act 2013 revised to require invoices issued for farm contracting services to carry a Vat or PPS number to discourage undeclared payments.
The FCI estimates that black market agri contractors are endangering a sector which supports up to 40,000 jobs. The group’s protest outside the Dáil was well attended, and has reinforced the group’s determination to resolve the issues facing the sector.
However, FCI director Timmy O’Brien said that members were irked by comments made in their direction by a group of passing Dáil members, who he did not identify.
“While we were in the Dáil, there were two members of the Government who walked by, laughing at us,” said Mr O’Brien. “One of them said that we were up in Dublin protesting, but we’d be going back home to make money from the black economy ourselves immediately after the protest.
“We thought that was a bit rich of them, walking around the Dáil earning taxpayers’ money, while we were outside the doors trying to make a legitimate protest on our own time and at our own expense.”
Revenue is to contact FCI early next week to arrange a meeting. The tax authority showed a particular interest in the group’s claim that some farmers had written the names of legitimate contractors into the stubs of their chequebooks, but then issued the cheques to black market operators.
The FCI claims some farmers have wrongly assigned their chequebook stubs in order to claim back tax on black market work. Below certain tax thresholds, there is no obligation on individuals to produce invoices for work done, even when declaring these payments against income tax.
Mr O’Brien said the FCI has already raised this issue with Finance Minister Michael Noonan, who wrote to say that he did not view a change of legislation as a “proportionate” response in this instance.
Mr Noonan said: “There is no requirement under Vat legislation to include a PPS number on any invoice issued to a customer. I am conscious the need to tackle the black economy must be balanced against imposing additional administrative burden on business.”
Mr O’Brien said the minister informed the group that he had investigated the question, but that one farm organisation had told him that dealing with invoices for agricultural contractors would create too much extra paperwork.
