Last day for bogus offshore account holders to come clean with Revenue

TODAY is the final deadline for holders of bogus offshore investments to come forward and make a voluntary settlement with the Revenue Commissioners.

The Revenue had given offshore account holders an additional two weeks to come forward after pleas from tax and legal advisers, but anyone who comes forward after today will face the full powers of the Revenue which includes massive fines and the possibility of prosecution.

It is not known exactly how much the Revenue has netted in this latest trawl of bogus accounts, but it is expected to involve hundreds of millions of euro, while tens of thousands of people have come forward.

In February, the 10 main banks sent letters to customers who held offshore trusts in the 1980s and early 1990s, advising them to make a settlement with the Revenue.

Anyone who came forward before today will not be prosecuted and their names and details of their tax settlements will not be published in the tax defaulters’ list. After that, the Revenue’s Offshore Assets Group (OAG) will use new powers to compel banks to open up their books and track down the remaining tax evaders. If caught by the OAG they face larger penalties and possible prison sentences. Over the past few years the Revenue has taken in more than €1bn from its various probes of tax evasion and bogus accounts. Last year, the Revenue investigated customers of the Bank of Ireland Jersey Trust company with 254 people making settlements averaging €400,000.

Offshore trusts are not illegal, but individuals must declare income earned from the trust to the Irish tax authorities. The accounts were normally set up by wealthy individuals but the scale of the new probe suggests they were much more common.

The Revenue is expected to disclose next week how much they have received in this latest probe and their next course of action to track down the remaining tax cheats.