Revenue recovers €20m in dying hours of amnesty

LARGE-SCALE savers with undeclared money stashed away in deposit accounts handed over an additional €20 million in unpaid taxes in the dying hours of the Revenue Commissioners’ voluntary disclosure scheme.

The scheme, which allowed people with €100,000 or more in untaxed income on deposit to declare it without fear of incurring hefty late payment penalties, had brought in a total of €53.7m from 932 individuals by close of business yesterday — with €20m in the last 24 hours.

It was still open to people to make payments up to midnight but a Revenue spokesman said it was believed the bulk of the money had now been received. Most of the money is believed to come from undeclared windfalls from inheritances and sales of assets on which gift tax or capital gains tax was due.

Revenue’s task in uncovering such individuals is made easier by a new legal obligation on banks, buildings societies and post offices to supply them with details of any customer with money on deposit that attracts interest over €635 or more in a year.

The Revenue spokesman said, however, voluntary disclosure and avoiding penalties was still an option for people with substantial sums under €100,000 on deposit.