Revenue ‘cannot legally waive tax liability’

REVENUE does not legally have the power to waive the millions of euro in back taxes owed to it by 115,000 pensioners, a leading accountancy expert has claimed.

According to Aidan Clifford of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants, without special legislation passed by the Dáil, Revenue does not have the power to forgive any taxes, whether it is PAYE, VAT, corporation tax or household charge taxes.

“Revenue has some discretion over interest and penalties being imposed on underpayment, but not on the absolute amount of tax due.