Tax relief schemes - Cowen must clamp down on evaders

It seems utterly outrageous that “some of the richest 100 may be officially non-resident for tax purposes and yet in reality live here”, according to an Internal Revenue document.

Yet Finance Minister Brian Cowen admits that he and the Revenue Commissioners do not know how many people have been availing of the tax exile status to avoid playing millions of euro in taxes.

The current residency rules, which were introduced by Bertie Ahern as Minister for Finance in 1994, allow somebody to spend 183 days in this country and still claim tax exile status.