Kieran Coughlan: Avoid late filing or late payment of your tax
He was shunned by the people of Jericho as a sinner and a person with whom Jesus should not associate.
The story went that Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus.
Zacchaeus repented for his dishonesty, and Jesus stated that salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus.
Fast forward 2,000 years, and there is much the same public attitude among those charged with paying income tax.
Going back two millennia, the tax system was rather crude, and amounted to levies on trade, tolls and a wealth tax.
The tax collectors of the day literally went out and collected the tax and were summoned to remit the proceeds to the Roman Empire.
The Empire didn’t have the benefit of ROS (Revenue’s online system), nor of electronic fund transfers directly to the coffers of Rome.
The system worked by granting a person called a publican the right to collect the taxes of a particular region.
If the individual was able to collect more than was due from the community, this was his profit.
In the Bible, there are references to Zacchaeus being a wealthy man and a sinner, the implication being that he was exploiting his community and not remitting the taxes collected. It’s easy to see why he was hated.
Today, our electronic tax filing accounts for 5.3 million transactions worth a combined €47 billion of tax in 2015.
In fact, most tax payers are now obliged to file online, after a series of mandatory e-filing rollouts including Income Tax, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE, Capital Acquisitions Tax, Relevant Contracts Tax, and Stamp Duty.
The rollout to E-filing has been hugely successful for Revenue, with an increase of 6% in the number of returns filed electronically from 2014 to 2015. Phone contacts reducing by over 11% in the same period show how non-electronic interactions with Revenue personnel are shrinking.
Although the 650,000 or so self-employed persons within the Irish tax system may be grimacing at paying income tax next week, the grimacing is more directed at the tax system itself rather than tax collectors or even the online tax system.
And although you may not agree with the tax system, it’s important to remember that the system itself is and has been designed by successive Governments, and the Revenue’s role is simply to collect the tax.
Another element of our tax regime that we should appreciate is that the system is fair across equals.
For any two or more persons earning identical income, from the same sources, and living with the same circumstances, the tax system will deliver identical results.
Complaining about the system is about as effective as complaining about our politicians.
The system we have is the system we have, and paying tax is often quoted as the only other certainty in life.
In many respects, paying less tax involves either earning less income or perhaps arranging your affairs in a more tax efficient manner.
With the October 31 tax deadline looming, I hope you take some consolation from the fact that your tax will find its way directly to the coffers, with no tax collectors like Zacchaeus of old lining their pockets along the way.
And, the deadline extension to November 10 remains available for those who pay and file online — even if it is a few days shorter that has previously been available.
Avoid late filing or late payment of your tax due, to prevent unnecessary interest and late filing penalties.
