Tipperary firm pays €7.65m tax bill

The Revenue Commissioners yielded more than €116 million from its audit and investigation programmes in the final three months of 2010.

The Government publication Iris Oifigiúil today published the names of 62 tax defaulters, who made settlements with the Revenue totalling almost €21 million.

Among the published cases for the fourth quarter of the year, there were two cases where the settlements were for more than €1 million.

The highest single case was made by the Tipperary manufacturing firm Gleeson Concrete, which made a settlement of €7.65 million in relation to the underdeclaration of corporation tax, VAT and PAYE/PRSI.

The case was uncovered by the Revenue’s investigations into the use of trusts and offshore structures to evade tax, with the final settlement including €4.8 million in interest and penalties.

Gleeson Concrete is a family business and was first established in 1958. Although its registered office is in Limerick, it is based primarily in Tipperary, with its main production facility in Donohill.

According to documents filed at the Companies Office, the directors of Gleeson Concrete are Michael Gleeson, Maureen Gleeson, Micheál Gleeson, Denis Peter Gleeson and William Gleeson.

Quarry operator John Gallagher, based in Duleek, Co Meath, made a settlement of €3 million after underdeclaring tax, with the sum including €1.84 million in interest and penalties. This case emerged from the Revenue’s investigations into the reporting of deposit interest.

A further five settlements exceeded €500,000, while half of the 62 published settlements were for amounts above €100,000.

James Harmon of Charleville, Co Cork, whose income derives from property letting, made a settlement of €865,000 for underdeclaration of income tax and capital gains tax. This was a Revenue audit case.

Thomas Gray, a court messenger with an address at Kilmoorland Stud in Rathmoylan, Co Meath, made a settlement of more than €795,000 in another deposit interest case.

Humphrey Lynch, a landlord with an address at Coachford, Co Cork, made a settlement of more than €740,000 for underdeclaration of income tax and capital gains tax.

James Connellan, a retired dentist based in Carlow, made a settlement exceeding €544,000 following a Revenue investigation into the misuse of single premium insurance products.

Aideen Mulhall, of Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, made a settlement of €568,687 after underdeclaring tax on rental income and capital gains.

Some 10 settlements totalling €8.28 million have been made as a result of Revenue investigations into offshore funds, while a further €1.63 million was paid in eight cases relating to its probe into single premium insurance products.

There were also two settlements, totalling €590,000, that related to the Revenue’s crackdown on bogus non-resident account holders.