Revenue Commissioners defends ‘nonsense’ tax certificate system

THE Revenue Commissioners has defended tax clearance certificates as a way of vetting for tax compliance in the face of criticism that Fianna Fáil TD Michael Collins was able to get a cert while owing thousands in unpaid taxes.

Tax expert Des Peelo, accountant to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, yesterday dismissed the certificates as "a bit of bureaucratic nonsense", but a Revenue spokesman later insisted: "They are a very important tool."

Mr Collins was required by the Standards in Public Office Act to produce a tax clearance cert within a month of his re-election to the Dáil in May last year and had to complete an application form to get one.