Revenue refuses to ease pension tax fears

REVENUE chiefs have refused to rule out pursuing arrears from pensioners whose tax liabilities were under-calculated, leaving thousands in fear of accumulated demands going back years.

Attempts at reassuring the 115,000 affected by the calculations blunder failed yesterday, with more confusion being heaped on the controversy and Revenue staff battling to deal with concerned callers, whose numbers had topped 20,000 by morning.

Junior minister Jan O’Sullivan said she was confident most of the pensioners would not face a hefty bill for back tax.

“By and large, I believe that the Revenue won’t go after people for back tax so people need to be reassured on that score,” she said.

However, Revenue only said it would not pursue cases where the cost would be greater than the money recouped.

“We need to continue to analyse the information that we have received and as our analysis advances, we will focus our resources on the cases with the greatest likely return,” a spokesperson said.

“Our expectation is that a large percentage will have a very small liability.”

No figure was put on what constituted a small liability or how little would be uneconomical to pursue.

Senior officials from the Revenue and Department of Social Protection, whose failure to share data earlier led to the miscalculations, have been summoned before the Oireachtas Finance Committee tomorrow to explain their mishandling of the issue which, Taoiseach Enda Kenny admitted, had caused upset.

Mr Kenny said: “I accept that there has been confusion and therefore anxiety and concern for numbers of people who are pensioners as a result of the letters sent out by the Revenue Commissioners.

“The Revenue Commissioners themselves are in before the Oireachtas committee this week and obviously what’s important now is that there be clarity brought to this matter as quickly as possible so that everybody knows where they stand.”

Revenue said its helplines continued to receive a “high volume” of calls from concerned pensioners yesterday. Age Action said its phonelines were also busy with many callers “very distressed” by the notices.

The data exchange between Revenue and the department that led to this campaign is part of an effort by Revenue to cross-check with the records of all relevant government departments and agencies, in a bid to bring in €45 million in outstanding taxes.

It is analysing data received over the past year from the Taxi Regulator, Private Residential Tenancies Board and non-principal private residence payments scheme to see if extra tax liabilities arise.

Figures released yesterday show that various clampdowns, audits, enforcements and prosecutions by the Revenue brought in a total of €750m last year, €30m less than in 2010.

The data also suggests that fewer judges made voluntary contributions in lieu of paying the public service pension levy. In 2011, 88 judges made a combined contribution of €927,000 compared with 125 who made contributions of over €1.2m in 2010.