RTÉ must give permission to Revenue to amend bogus self-employed worker's record

The employee has never received any recompense from RTÉ for benefits lost during the years they were incorrectly treated as a freelancer — particularly unpaid pension benefits. File picture: Denis Minihane.
The Revenue Commissioners have told a bogus self-employed worker in RTÉ that they are not in a position to amend the worker's employment record or request unpaid tax from the broadcaster without its permission.
The worker has been employed by RTÉ for more than 20 years, and for more than five of those years was incorrectly treated as a self-employed contractor.
Three years ago the worker received a determination from the employment status section of the Department of Social Protection — known as Scope — that they had been incorrectly treated as a freelancer in the 2000s.
RTÉ appealed that ruling to the social welfare appeals office, but the decision was upheld.
The employee has never received any recompense from RTÉ for benefits lost during the years they were incorrectly treated as a freelancer — particularly unpaid pension benefits.
“I have been back and forth with Revenue over this, as to why I have two decisions noting I had been bogus self-employed but yet nothing could be done for me in terms of amending my employment record,” the worker said.
“Then they wrote to me to say that as far as Revenue is concerned RTÉ and Scope have to give them approval in order to change my historic employment status, and to demand the unpaid tax that RTÉ owes Revenue itself,” they said.
The unpaid tax in question is the difference in terms of income tax due to Revenue between what is paid by a self-employed worker and one working on a full-time contract — amounting to thousands each year.
Bogus self-employment refers to incidents where freelance employees do the same work as colleagues but receive none of the attendant benefits, such as holiday pay, of a permanent worker.
In official correspondence, the Revenue official told the bogus self-employed worker in question “when there is an amendment to be made regarding an individual’s employment status, this has to be agreed between both the employer and the Department of Social Protection".
“When this agreement is reached Revenue are informed, as the employer (RTÉ) must then remit to us any outstanding employer-related tax due in relation to a PAYE employment and records can be amended accordingly,” the official added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said “the determination of whether the person’s status for income tax purposes should be amended is a separate matter for determination by the Revenue Commissioners”.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Revenue said that the Commissioners are “legally precluded from commenting on interactions with, or the tax affairs of, any individual, business or entity”.
Bogus self employment activist Martin McMahon said Revenue was “choosing not to pursue RTÉ for outstanding taxes”, a trend he claimed amounts to “a breach of the statutory obligations of the Revenue Commissioners”.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on public expenditure Mairead Farrell meanwhile said it is “simply not good enough that these workers have been vindicated but they are still awaiting justice”.
“If Revenue is waiting on the Department of Social Protection to act, then what is the department waiting on?” she asked.