If you have evaded tax by hiding undeclared income in a bogus non-resident bank account for any length of time over the past two decades, the new arrangements put in place by the Revenue Commissioners are as good as it gets. If you voluntarily make a statement disclosing the name of the financial institution that held your account, the account number and the amount of tax you should have paid to the Revenue before November 15th, you can avail of a relatively sweet deal.
The maximum amount to be paid in penalty and interest will be roughly half that which would normally apply and represents a substantial saving. There is no need to lose sleep for fear of reading about yourself in the newspaper with the other tax defaulters and you can rest assured you will not face prosecution.
And while anyone who is already being investigated by the Revenue or who is associated with the Ansbacher investigations, the Flood or Moriarty tribunals will not benefit, there are many others who have consistently flouted the tax laws who will. The biggest irony is that, in some cases, individuals who benefit from these arrangements will not only have ignored the law for years but may also have ignored the tax amnesties and still not face prosecution. Revenue Commissioners chairman, Mr Dermot Quigley, strongly rejected suggestions this initiative to collect what could amount to millions of pounds in unpaid taxes for the Exchequer is in fact another amnesty.
In the 1988 tax amnesty, the State collected £500 million with a further £260 million gathered under the highly controversial second amnesty in 1993. Some 40,000 individuals used these amnesties to clear the slate with the Revenue, availing of special arrangements that made it very attractive to do so.
It is clear from the Revenue Commissioners' own estimates that between 25,000 and 50,000 individuals will avail of the new arrangements. It believes many bogus non-resident account-holders used the tax amnesties to regularise their affairs.
Research by the Comptroller and Auditor General for the Dail Committee of Public Accounts indicated about one in eight or around 300,000 of the non-resident accounts held at Irish banks between 1986 and 1999 were bogus. It is likely some individuals held a number of bogus non-resident accounts. The Revenue Commissioners has gathered a huge amount of information on these accounts during its audit of the State's financial institutions on foot of the DIRT inquiry.
During those audits, the banks noted that in some instances the Revenue officials were quite specific in terms of the accounts they wanted to examine.
In most cases though, the audits were based on samples of non-resident accounts and an overall figure was then extrapolated, so there is a chance many individuals may have escaped that round of scrutiny.
Mr Quigley is optimistic most of the bogus non-resident account-holders will come forward voluntarily and allow the Revenue Commissioners finally end the DIRT saga. It has issued a stern warning that anyone who continues to ignore their tax liabilities after November 15th will face the full rigours of the law.
With its new powers, the Revenue can apply to the High Court to seek a list of bogus non-resident account-holders from the banks and building societies. Mr Quigley has said it will take this option to identify any "hard core" of individuals who continue to ignore their tax liabilities.
Anyone who continues to evade their tax beyond the deadline could face prosecution as well as higher penalties and interest and will be named. Mr Quigley insists this is not a "bluff". The new arrangements have been welcomed by tax practitioners as the most efficient and effective way of collecting any outstanding taxes and the Revenue is satisfied it is the right option in terms of managing its resources.
For compliant tax-payers though, it does raise questions about the equity of the law when it comes to dealing with those who don't bother paying their taxes.
