Cork publican agrees €3m deal on tax

A north Cork businessman Billy O’Flynn has reached a near €3.1m tax settlement with Revenue in a case that comfortably tops the latest quarterly list of defaulters.

The payment by the Mallow publican was €1.8m more than the second highest case, that of restaurateur Sau Kuen Hung from Arklow, Co Wicklow, who made a settlement of €1.24m for the under-declaration of Vat and income tax.

Revenue’s latest tax defaulters’ list — covering the three months to the end of September — shows Mr O’Flynn, who owns The Lodge Bar in Ballyellis, was hit for under-declaration of income tax and capital gains tax in a Revenue audit case. He had owed €1.2m in tax, but his total settlement of just under €3.07m, also included almost €723,000 in interest payments and more than €1.14m in penalties.

Of the four settlements topping €1m, two were Cork-based, with the other relating to residential property developer, the CDRN Partnership, which settled for €1.05m for underdeclaration of Vat.

There was a further reduction in settlements; both quarterly and annually. Revenue secured just shy of €14m in overdue tax after interest and penalties — down from €18.52m in the second quarter and €19.64m for the third quarter of last year. The number of cases — 67 — dipped below 100 for the first time this year.

Eighteen cases were in Dublin, with six Cork-based individuals on the list.