Revenue set to pay back over €50m to taxpayers

OVER €50 million is lying in Government coffers waiting to be handed back to taxpayers.

And over the next few months the Revenue plans to build a database of people owed hundreds and thousands of euro in a bid to give them what they are due.

This is on top of the €380m repaid to workers in the first 11 months of the year following the successful publicity campaign run in the autumn to get PAYE workers to begin claiming tax reliefs.

In the whole of 2005 €294m was paid back by the Revenue.

The scheme aims to simplify the tax relief system targeting older people, the sick and union members by removing tax at the source rather than requiring people to pay and claim back later.

Pat Molan, principal officer in the Collector General’s office, said: “We are just starting down this road and it is something we hope to build on over the years. As far as we are aware we are the only Revenue authority in the world to have done so.”

The Revenue estimates that between €50m and €100m is waiting to be claimed back.

The scheme was outlined in the Budget and will come into full effect when the Finance Bill is published in the coming months.

Provisions will also be made for the Revenue to be given access to personal details held by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Health Service Executive and other state agencies.

But Mr Molan stressed that personal information could only be used for the purpose of reimbursing people.

“It will allow Revenue to request certain data from third parties for the purpose of processing tax reliefs. That data will be ring-fenced for tax relief purposes only. It could be seen that the Revenue is acting as Big Brother but that is not the intention and the rules will be copper-fastened in the Finance Bill,” Mr Molan explained.

Among the areas it will focus on are DIRT free bank accounts for the over-65s, age-related tax reliefs including rent allowances, trade unions subs, and reliefs for employee medical insurance paid by employers.

It is hoped that all schemes, except the medical insurance plan, will be up and running in the first half of the year.

Mr Molan warned that money owed from tax reliefs had a shelf life of four years — anyone trying to claim cash back from before that is fighting a losing battle.

The New Year campaign which is expected to feature some imaginative advertising for specific groups is being headed by Mr Molan and Declan Rigney, also a principal officer in the Collector General’s office in the Revenue.