€114m recovered from special Revenue probes

REVENUE raked in €114 million from special investigations into tax evasions last year, more than double the 2008 figure.

The figure was boosted by the €17.6m collected from investigation into trusts and offshore structures and €55.3m from the collection of tax on interest undeclared.

Revenue’s headline results for 2009, found that €18.3m was taken in tax from offshore assets, €12.05m came from life assurance products, €7.7m came from bogus non-resident accounts and a further €3.21m from Ansbacher accounts. The remainder came from tribunals and NIB accounts.

A total of 10 convictions were made, while another four cases are being considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions. In addition, a further 17 tax evasion cases are presently before the courts and 83 are the subject of ongoing investigations by Revenue.

Special investigations by Revenue have, to date, yielded just under €2.59 billion for the State.

Last year’s total tax take from a combination of the likes of capital gains tax, capital acquisitions tax, customs, excise, income tax, stamp duty, VAT and corporation tax amounted to just over €33bn. Income tax accounted for the largest share, €11.8bn.

Some €281.7m was yielded from 48,900 enforced collections – €46.7m after legal threats and a further €213m collected from the Revenue’s sheriff department.