Tax defaulters cough up €27.68m

PAYMENTS totalling €9.2 million have been made to the Revenue Commissioners by members of a well-known construction family and two associated companies.

The total paid by the 138 tax defaulters, named and shamed yesterday, was €27.68m.

The payments by brothers George, James and Raymond Stanley, who run Swanward Enterprise and Stanley Macadam, are mostly as a result of a failed Value Added Tax avoidance scheme on property transactions. The Revenue has successfully challenged the scheme in the courts and this could net close to €300m in unpaid tax, penalties and interest payments from up to 90 separate construction companies in the coming months.

The Dublin-based Stanley brothers, who are originally from Offaly, said in a brief statement that they were now fully tax compliant. Close to 500 jobs are dependant of the family’s operations in south Co Dublin and these are understood to be secure following the full settlement of all outstanding issues with the Revenue.

A second family, O’Flaherty Brothers of Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford paid a total of €1.9m in tax interest and penalties to the Revenue Commissioners.

The names of 22 company directors, 22 builders, 18 farmers and eight publicans were also listed in the latest edition of Iris Oifigiúil which contains details of published settlements completed by Revenue in the period July 1, 2005 to September 30, 2005.

Revenue yesterday disclosed that in the three-month period, the total yield from audits and investigations was €163.87m.

Of the 138 published settlements:

* 54 were for amounts exceeding €100,000.

* 12 exceeded €500,000.

* Three exceeded €1,000,000.

* 73 settlements totalling €8.99m relate to Bogus Non-Resident holders.

* One settlement totalling €0.12m relates to an Ansbacher account holder.

* 14 settlements totalling €2.24m relate to Revenue investigations into Offshore Funds.

* Three settlements totalling €1.35m relate to Revenue’s NIB Investigations.

* Four settlements totalling €1.03m relate to Revenue’s Single Premium Insurance Product Investigation.

An analysis of the figures shows the largest number of tax defaulters whose names were published came from Dublin 19, paying a total of €11.2m, an average of €591,980.

Kerry has the second highest number of defaulters with 15 paying a total of €1.38m, an average of €92,000.

Wexford was next with 12 who paid €2.7m, an average of €226,620, Donegal’s 11 paid €2.46m, an average of €224,385 and Cork’s 10 paid €0.5m, an average of €55,506.