Interest Returns by Financial Institutions

[WizardDr]

My understanding is that Revenue have decided that Banks etc will be forced to make disclosures of the amount of net interest paid to Irish Residents. Some of us would note that with the pretty paltry amount paid by way of interest from most Institutions, and that given that DIRT is already deducted, that the Revenue in fact will not raise Income Tax directly by this measure.

What the intend to do is to estimate the Balance on your account and as is their practice, several years after the event, start asking you questions about where this and that has come from.

Couple of questions:

- Given that Revenue created the debacle of Non Resident Accounts by failing to inspect a SINGLE declaration in 18 YEARS, isnt the case that their ability to avoid any responsibility for anything needs to be highlighted?
- Given that 1 million PAYE taxpayers dont regularly file a tax return, and who will have paid DIRT on the interest, will now come to the notice formally of the Revenue of not making a declaration. Will they then be FINED and JAILED for a failure to disclose or will this be disregarded as most CIVIL SERVANTS may be in this bracket?

- why if a customer supplies a PPS Number will the Revenue NOT 'collect' the information for the taxpayer, consolidate it, and put it automatically into the return.. would that not make sense?

- Would they not do the same with dividends?

And stop the nonsense of a runaway train of compliance which they are making more and more complicated by the hour.

 

[RainyDay]

- Given that Revenue created the debacle of Non Resident Accounts by failing to inspect a SINGLE declaration in 18 YEARS, isnt the case that their ability to avoid any responsibility for anything needs to be highlighted?

Didn't the individuals who opened such accounts and the financial institutions who knowingly facilitated and encouraged this tax evasion have some part in the 'creation' of the debacle?

 

[WizardDr]

Yes of course.

What you fail to appreciate is that all it would have taken to have stopped this nonsense was for the Revenue to validate the Declaration by the account holder and then use this for the Bank(s). Something like the 'tax clearance certificate' process.

The Revenue were advised of this in 1986 and flatly refused to be involved.

They now operate on 'lookbacks' and we know have a situation that sex offences are debarred earlier than tax offences.

The way Revenue operate is akin to making drug abusers decide their drug limits. Yes, rightly directed at 'those responsible' but a totally ineffective process.

Revenue continue to pedal the sham that they dont write the legislation. Yet I am aware of how easy they manage to change legislation when matters unflattering to them arise.

For example: it was pointed out to them that people with legitimate off shore accounts were being charged more tax than resident accounts, and that if this was notified to European Commission as it discriminated between domestic and non-domestic, it was the fastest change in the Finance Bill I did ever see.