Big Brother at the Revenue

It had to happen. The plethora of tribunals, past and present, have yet to result in any individual being forced to pay a price for any previous wrong-doings but image is everything and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, has been quick to recommend what even he admits are among the toughest Revenue investigative powers in the world.

He then trotted out the standard assurance of those introducing authoritarian provisions the world over - if "people have their tax affairs in order, they have nothing to fear".

The chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Mr Dermot Quigley, was quick to assure the ordinary taxpayer that they would not find themselves on the wrong end of a Revenue trawl in search of illicit or secret bank accounts. While the Revenue may no longer have to apply to the High Court for permission to search private bank accounts on the basis of prima facie evidence should the Finance Bill provisions be passed, Mr Quigley stressed Revenue staff would still have to satisfy one of the three commissioners to sign a warrant on the basis of "reasonable grounds for suspicion" before taking such action. He also inferred strongly that the provisions were aimed at and would only be used in cases of serious suspected tax evasion, not routine or minor instances.

That is unlikely to make everyone sleep more easily, despite the consensus among political parties that more draconian powers are required to tackle evasion, especially when the Institute of Taxation raises fears about the lack of sufficient checks and balances in such a new regime.