Amended tax assessments result in demands for extra €2.3bn in tax

Revenue recorded 915 such demands in 2018

The tax assessments were made by the Revenue’s ‘Large Corporate’ and ‘Large Cases-High Wealth Individuals’ divisions.
The tax assessments were made by the Revenue’s ‘Large Corporate’ and ‘Large Cases-High Wealth Individuals’ divisions.

Amended tax assessments by the Revenue last year resulted in demands for an additional €2.35 billion in tax. The assessments were made by the Revenue’s large corporate and large cases-high wealth individuals divisions.

Minster for Finance Paschal Donohoe said the money came from came from 915 amended tax assessments in 2018 – an average of about €2.5 million per case.

But in a written Dáil reply to Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath, the Minister said a significant portion of the liabilities arising from the amended assessments were under appeal to the Tax Appeals Commission.

The original amount of the assessment for the 915 cases totalled €4.99 billion. The €2.35 billion increase brings the tax yield from those cases to €7.34 billion.

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The additional tax demanded by the Revenue is a multiple of the figure in prior years.

In 2017, Revenue sought an additional €260 million on top of an original assessment of €2.49 billion. In 2016, the figure was €70 million on original tax assessments of €1.8 billion involving 458 cases.

Over the four years from 2015, Revenue has demanded an additional €2.91 billion in assessments made in 2,374 cases.

The €7.34 billion liability from the two divisions in 2018 represents more than half of the €13.69 billion liability for those divisions since 2015.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times