Numbers paying €200,000 tax exile levy slump

Just nine wealthy tax exiles paid the €200,000 domicile levy in 2015, preliminary figures from the Revenue Commissioners show, a sharp decline on 2011 when the figure was more than three times as high, at 33.

The total yield collected was €1.5 million, or about €166,666 each, in 2015 down from a high of €3.9m in 2011. Last year, 12 people paid the tax at a combined yield of €1.99 million.

According to a spokeswoman for the Revenue however, the figures are likely to change over time.

“Ongoing compliance activity, outstanding enquiries, etc. mean that it could be a number of years before any one year is fully finalised,” she said.

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One of the wealthy who have paid the tax is Limerick billionaire JP McManus, who told a US court this year that he paid the domicile levy in 2012.

While the levy comes to €200,000 a year, not everyone pays the full amount, with figures for 2015 indicating a lower rate of payment. This can be for different reasons. A credit for example, is available on any Irish income tax paid, which means that not everyone will pay the full € 200,000. For example, if someone pays € 150,000 in Irish income tax in a year, their liability to the domicile levy for that year will be just € 50,000.

The levy was introduced in 2009 by former finance minister Brian Lenihan as a means of getting non-resident and wealthy Irish tax exiles who paid little or no income tax to "make a contribution to the State, especially during times of economic and fiscal difficulty". It applies to peope who are Irish domiciled (whether resident or non-resident); have Irish assets worth more than € 5 million; have worldwide income in excess of € 1 million; and paid less than € 200,000 in Irish income tax.

However, latest figures suggest that the levy has had limited success in getting this cohort to pay more in tax to the Irish exchequer. In 2012 the Department of Finance ran a public consultation on the domicile levy, but no changes to the levy were recommended, and no changes were made.