Revenue appointed 586 staff last year to Brexit roles

Revenue appointed 586 staff to Brexit-related roles last year as the UK's deadline for leaving the European Union loomed, and there was a significant increase in the number of businesses engaging with the State agency.

Revenue chairman Niall Cody said the body wrote to more than 103,000 businesses with Brexit preparatory advice, and contacted a further 29,000 businesses by phone.

“As a result of these engagement programmes there was a significant increase in customs registrations, with over 24,100 businesses acquiring an Economic Operator and Identification (EORI) number in 2019.”

The organisation revealed the figures in its preliminary results for 2019.

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Revenue collected almost €74 billion in 2019, including €58.4 billion in taxes and duties for the Exchequer. The remaining €15.5 billion was collected on behalf of other Government departments, agencies and EU member states. Total income tax, USC and PRSI paid to the Exchequer for 2019 was €31.6 billion.

“Along with increased Exchequer receipts, there was continued very high levels of timely, voluntary compliance, reflecting the fact that the vast majority of taxpayers do the right thing and pay the right amount of tax on time,” Mr Cody said.

Revenue settled 127 tax avoidance cases during 2019, yielding €29 million, and and secured 15 criminal convictions for serious tax evasion and fraud, with 214 tax settlements published in the tax defaulters’ list.

Among the changes made in 2019 to tax systems was the introduction of real time reporting arrangements for PAYE on January 1st. More than 181,600 employers made 6.1 million payroll submissions, reporting gross pay and pensions of over €98 billion last year.

The new system allows taxpayers to view their pay, tax, USC and PRSI as reported to Revenue by their employer, with more than 191,000 such taxpayers availing of this service.