Solicitors appointed to seek unpaid taxes

The Revenue Commissioners has today appointed a number of solicitor firms to help it pursue unpaid taxes through the courts.

The firms are charged with supporting the recovery of unpaid tax, interest and penalties through the courts. The work will involve debt collection proceedings in the District, Circuit and High Courts and will cover obtaining and registering judgements, applications for Court instalment orders and bankruptcy or liquidation of defaulters.

The solicitors will also represent the Revenue Commissioners in the putting in place of mortgages on property and, if necessary the forced sale of property.

The firms appointed include Holmes O’Malley Sexton, Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co, Lavelle Coleman, Mason Hayes & Curran, Matheson Ormsby Prentice and Pierse & Fitzgibbon. Each has been appointed for a period of six years starting on January 1st, 2010.

Revenue estimates that the solicitor firms' will be dealing with up to 7,000 cases a year. This is in addition to the approximately 44,000 cases referred annually for collection by Revenue Sheriffs.

In 2008 a total of 6,578 cases were referred to solicitors and payments of €65.1 million were received by the Revenue Commissioners.

“Revenue has made significant progress in recent years in improving tax compliance and we are determined, notwithstanding the difficult economic climate, to maintain those hard-won compliance rates," said Michael O’Grady, Revenue Commissioner.

"A delay in tax collection obviously has a negative impact on the level and timeliness of the financial resources available to Government. But collection delays can also facilitate those who, by withholding tax payments and using those monies to improve cash flow, attempt to gain an unfair advantage over those who are timely compliant," he added.