Publican owed more than €1m to Revenue

HAVING Bertie Ahern sitting at the counter drinking Bass or having the Taoiseach’s constituency office across the road from his pub, didn’t deter Thomas Kennedy from keeping more than €1 million salted away from the taxman’s greedy grasp.

The late publican was revealed yesterday as one of the nation’s tax cheats. He paid more than €1.05 million for under-declaration of income tax and VAT. He also held a bogus non-resident account. Not bad for a man running Kennedy’s bar in the heart of Drumcondra across the road from St Luke’s, the Taoiseach’s constituency office. Mr Ahern is still a regular at the pub.

Mr Kennedy was revealed yesterday as one of a gallery of 182 tax cheats who, between them, paid over €78 million in fines and penalties to the Revenue. They were forced to pay the money between October and December last year. Also on the rogues’ list is Vivian O’Callaghan, the former Fianna Fáil senator and former chairman of Cork County Council. Mr O’Callaghan, who owns the Bantry Bay Hotel, paid out €19,499 in tax and €98.771 in penalties for under-declaring income, VAT and capital gains tax. He also held a bogus non-resident account.

The list includes payments from publicans, a politician, farmers, doctors, company directors and a taxi driver, who paid the penalty for not declaring their full income or for holding a bogus non-resident bank account. The later group accounted for 80% of defaulters. Five individual settlements netted the Revenue in excess of €1m.

Others who featured on the list included:

Company director from Galway Michael Kennedy, who paid over €1.2m to the Revenue for not declaring his full income and holding an offshore account. Mr Kennedy paid €456,058 in back tax and a fine of €830,314.

James McCarthy of Alexandra House in Clane, Co Kildare, made the biggest settlement. He paid over €1.8 million to the Revenue for not declaring his full income or capital acquisitions tax and for holding a bogus account. His company McCarthy Meats also paid over €1.28 million in back tax and €1.68m in fines for not paying the correct PAYE and PRSI. There was one settlement arising from the Ansbacher investigation. Dr Colm Killeen of Clontarf, Dublin, paid over €582,403 to the Revenue.

Among the other large fines were: Sean Dunne of Oliver’s Hill in Killoteran, Co Waterford, who paid out €447,728; Stephen Finn, a company director from Limerick, who paid out €687,046 for not paying full taxes and holding a bogus account. Brian Hurson, a medical consultant from Nutley Avenue in south Dublin, made a settlement of €184,826 for not paying enough tax.

The list comes as the Revenue prepares to go after holders of offshore trust and other overseas accounts. Anyone who holds these have until March 29 to come clean and make a settlement with the Revenue or face massive penalties.