Time for sense in row on DIRT

The spat between the Revenue Commissioners and banks based in the International Financial Services Centre is one of those delicious situations where one feels little sympathy for either side.

In defence of the Revenue, it is rightly sensitive in the extreme about leaving itself open to allegations of not properly policing the DIRT regime after the roasting it received at the Dail Committee of Public Accounts' hearings into systematic DIRT evasion by Irish banks.

The IFSC banks themselves, for all their whingeing, can expect little leeway in the current climate when they fail to get the necessary documentation completed to avoid a potential liability to DIRT. After all, a sloppy or incomplete contract could leave them open to massive losses and anyone in business knows the importance of getting the paperwork right. Maybe, they got lazy, knowing they would not in the end have any liability and would get any tax deducted paid back.

On the other hand, it seems crazy for a State which has so assiduously courted international financial services groups to run the real risk of them pulling up sticks and moving elsewhere.

The Revenue previously exercised discretion in its policing of the DIRT regime. Maybe it's time for sense to prevail on both sides.