Tax probe raises €54.6m

A TOTAL of €54.6 million was raised last year via the Revenue Commissioners’ latest round of special investigations into tax evasion.

Revenue’s headline results for 2008, published yesterday, detailed that €29m was taken in tax from offshore assets, €18.7m came from life assurance products, €4.1m came from bogus non-resident accounts and a further €2.47m from Ansbacher accounts. The remainder came from tribunals and NIB accounts.

A total of 20 convictions were made, while another 11 cases were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. In addition, a further 13 tax evasion cases are presently before the courts and 85 are the subject of ongoing investigations by Revenue.