Revenue take sees rise of 7% on 2010

The Revenue Commissioners have reported a total tax and duty take of €34.2bn for 2011.

Although receipts were still €831m below budget targets, the total was up by over 7% on 2010 figures and bucked a trend of three successive years of falling returns to the exchequer.

Furthermore, the level of outstanding tax debt stabilised last year — falling from €2.08bn to €1.99bn — and is beginning to decrease, with Revenue saying it intends to improve the debt position further this year.

At the publication of its 2011 annual report, Revenue said yesterday that the debt issue is “an extremely important performance indicator”.

In all, Revenue last year carried out 11,000 audits and 546,000 assurance checks, which yielded more than €520m in tax receipts. A significant proportion of this take came from the so-called shadow economy. The 1,833 audits in the construction sector yielded €58.8m; bars and restaurants yielding nearly €17m from over 600 audits; more than 900 audits from landlords and rental properties yielding €35.1m; and nearly €9m coming from professionals such as accountants, doctors and dentists.

Revenue added that this year it would also be paying close attention to cash businesses such as courier operations, nursing homes, solid fuel merchants, and the security sector.

“Our joint investigation units — which work closely with the Department of Social Protection and NERA [National Employment Rights Authority] — made nearly 9,000 checks, visits or inspections,” said the organisation.

“An important result of this work was the registration of 2,274 new businesses or taxpayers. The significance of this figure is that once an individual is registered in our system, we can put measures in place to ensure they are fulfilling their tax obligations.”

About €243m potential tax receipts were effectively lost last year through business closures; while Revenue was involved in the winding up of 1,365 firms.

Revenue’s chairwoman, Josephine Feehily, said that 2012 was likely to be as challenging as last year.

“We face into 2012 determined to maintain and, if possible, improve compliance levels. This is our top priority for the foreseeable future and we’re confident that it is achievable,” she said.

Ms Feehily also noted that last year saw an improvement in compliance standards, with 95% of large cases and 87% of medium-sized cases filing returns on time.