Property development firm 'embarrassed' at tax bill

A property development company hit with a €3.48m bill for tax evasion tonight said it was embarrassed by the incident.

Heritage Properties, which was behind the redevelopment of Smithfield in Dublin city centre, made the settlement with the Revenue for the underpayment of Value Added Tax.

The company, of Malahide Road, Balgriffin, Co Dublin, is currently working on large scale plans for the Dun Laoghaire area.

“During the course of a Revenue audit, which commenced in 2004, it emerged that a former Heritage Properties employee had prepared and submitted VAT returns which showed amounts due to Revenue lower than those actually shown to be due by the company’s books and records,” said a firm spokesman.

“The amounts underpaid, including interest and penalties for late payment, totalled €3.48m.

“Heritage Properties is considerably embarrassed by this incident and co-operated fully with the Revenue Commissioners and immediately accepted in full its responsibilities.”

The payment included more than €2.1m in tax and over €1.3m in interest and penalties.

Nine tax-evaders made settlements totalling over one million euro each in the first quarter of the year.

The largest single payout by an individual was made by solicitor Patrick Macklin, North Road, Monaghan, who paid €2.19m for under-declaration of Income Tax Revenue and having a Bogus Non-Resident Account.

In all, tax dodgers paid back over €157m in fines, fees and unpaid levies in the three months to the end of March.

Some 150 settlements were published in the defaulters list – in the latest edition of Iris Oifigiuil – amounting to €34.3m.

Of those, 62 exceeded €100,000 with 16 totalling €500,000.

Huge payments were paid by Michael Harty, a clothing retailer from Ashbourne, Co Meath, €1.5m; Hugh McNally, company director, Clones Road, Monaghan, 1.3m; retired jeweller Gerard Connolly, from Tralee, Co Kerry, €1.3m; and dentist Michael McLoughlin, Leinster Road, Rathmines, €1.25m.

Retired solicitor Gerard Hickey – now deceased – of Merrion Road, Dublin 4, paid €1m for under-declaration of income tax as part of the long-running Ansbacher probe.

Companies hit with hefty pay-outs included Howley Civil Engineering Ltd, engineering contractors, Cork, which repaid €3.17m and Amber Oil Products, Acres, Fermoy, Co Cork, €1m.

The list also includes 32 cases involving builders or related trades, as well as 23 company directors, and 20 farmers.

The Revenue revealed investigations into Bogus Non-Resident account holders secured 29 settlements worth €10.5m, with studies into Offshore Funds resulting in 27 settlements totalling €5.89m.

Probes in to Revenue’s Single Premium Insurance Products Cases secured 35 settlements totalling €5.08m.