Revenue collected €39.5 billion last year

The Revenue Commissioners collected €39.5 billion last year, an increase of €3.7 billion on the amount collected the previous year, according to its annual report.

Chariman of the Revenue Commissioners Frank Daly

The Revenue Commissioners collected €39.5 billion last year, an increase of €3.7 billion on the amount collected the previous year, according to its annual report.

Revenue chairman Frank Daly said less than two per cent of gross receipts were in now arrears, an all-time low. The amount collected by the Revenue last year was €1.8 billion above the Budget forecast.

Mr Daly also outlined details of special investigations carried out by the Revenue. These have yielded more than €2.2 billion to date, with €536.8 million collected last year alone.

These investigations included Ansbacher, bogus non-resident accounts and tribunal-related inquiries. Some €382 million was secured by the Revenue last year from the investigation into single premium insurance policies. In the first five months of the year an additional €52 million was collected.

Mr Daly said he hoped to be in "a position shortly to seek the first of the High Court Orders which will mark the next stage in the investigation".

He said "99 per cent of cases have been finalised" in the investigation in to bogus non-resident accounts.

"It has been a matter of some professional pride to us that we, in turn, have demonstrated the will, the skill and the persistence to tackle large-scale complex investigations," he said.

He said arrears as a percentage of total gross receipts "now stand at an historic low of 2 per cent - one of the lowest of any tax administration worldwide".

Mr Daly said the time and resources devoted to prosecuting revenue offences had resulted in 24 convictions for serious tax and duty evasion last year, the highest number in one year to date.

The Revenue secured a further 1,683 convictions for summary offences such as cigarette smuggling.

Mr Daly added that Revenue offices had also seized drugs with an estimated value of €37 million were seized in 2005 and as was €500,000 cash believed to be the proceeds of criminal activity.

"At the end of our 83rd year I am pleased to report solid progress on so many levels, to note that the vital signs in Revenue are good and to record our professional satisfaction with a very successful year," he said.