Taxpayers' cheques sent to the Revenue Commissioners are not recorded before being sent for processing, according to the report. It says that between 6,000 and 16,000 cheques received daily and dispatched from the office of the collector general in Limerick "were not recorded and reconciled to totals of cheques processed through the accounting records". The Revenue's accounting officer has agreed to consider the matter depending an internal review.
The Comptroller also points to the "lack of reconciliations" carried out between the totals of tax remittance receipts recorded in the Accountant General's Office and the Collector General's Office. "Such reconciliations would strengthen the assurance that all receipts had been processed correctly in both offices."
According to the report, the accounting officer had identified the "suggested additional reconciliations" as an issue to be considered in the procedural review. He also pointed out that the practice of sending post to individual tax officials, even though it may contain cheques, had ceased and post was now opened in the post room.
The report criticises the control of post-dated cheques, describing it as "weak".
The accounting officer's reply was that a new computer system would address the deficiencies and that, in the meantime, "supervisory controls in the area were generally adequate".