Record passenger numbers sees Revenue boost checks
Nearly 28 million people passed through airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon last year, three million more than in 2005. More than 80% of Revenue seizures were at Dublin Airport.
Adults bringing in goods valued at over €175 must declare them for tax. Only tax, duty and penalties amounting to €38,202 however, was collected from passengers arriving in Dublin from countries outside the EU, who declared goods or who were stopped and searched.
In contrast, more than €15 million was seized in tobacco, drugs, alcohol and cash among other items. The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) questioned if the Revenue resources targeted at drugs and tobacco smuggling meant the monitoring of the personal goods limits was being neglected.
However, the Revenue says the priority is in line with EU policy. “The tax at risk due to organised cigarette smuggling dwarfed any slippage on small scale personal smuggling,” it said.
It did conduct blitz inspections of flights, including ones returning from the USA in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Crucially, the CAG noted that targeted blitzes on certain routes were not recorded. Only penalties were noted.
Cases included four passengers disembarking a transatlantic flight who were stopped with 2,400 cigarettes and goods totalling €3,484, including clothes and a musical instrument.
Since the CAG audit, the Revenue has begun keeping details of passenger challenges, even where no penalties occur, to boost control methods in airports.
The CAG also says estimates at Dublin Airport of losses from tax evasion —already carried out in Britain — could help the Revenue tackle the smuggling of personal goods.
The Revenue established the Intelligence, Risk Analysis and Profiling Unit at Dublin Airport in March to help maximise information on fraud, smuggling and non-compliance.
It helped identify a huge cigarette smuggling attempt from a Baltic state.
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