The Taoiseach's account of his tax status has been challenged by the Labour Party finance spokeswoman Joan Burton.
She said Mr Ahern's assertion that he made "a voluntary disclosure" to the Revenue Commissioners raised yet further questions about his tax status and his claims to have been tax compliant at all times.
"Mr Ahern's claim that the letter from his tax adviser had been accepted by the Revenue Commissioners as 'voluntary disclosure' is in direct conflict with the letter of November 10th, 2006, from Caoimhín Mac Gearraidh of the Revenue.
"In that letter Mr Mac Gearraidh said: 'As these conditions (written admission of liabilities, including tax, interest, penalties, payment of outstanding monies) have not been met, I cannot accept that a voluntary disclosure has been made'."
Ms Burton said that in any case it would seem an unusual step for the Revenue to regard the letter from Mr Ahern's tax adviser as a voluntary disclosure as it was only submitted in response to a series of detailed questions, arising from concerns they had about claims made by Mr Ahern in interviews and statements to the Dáil in the autumn of 2006.
The fact that a request was made to Revenue to have this treated as a voluntary disclosure could only be read as an indication that Mr Ahern, or somebody asking on his behalf, had apprehensions that he was not in fact fully tax compliant, she said.
A fully compliant taxpayer "does not have to seek protection from being named as a defaulter; to seek mitigation of penalties liable to be imposed on him; to seek a monetary settlement in lieu of prosecution; or to seek an assurance that any statements made by him in connection with the disclosure would not be used in evidence against him in any subsequent criminal prosecution," she said.
Ms Burton said the Standards in Public Office Act (2001) required a TD to make a statutory declaration within one month of being deemed elected saying that he or she believed they had complied with their tax obligations.
"Mr Ahern says that he has supplied such a declaration. This is incompatible with his request that correspondence with Revenue be treated as 'voluntary disclosure', ie an admission of liability."
She said Mr Ahern had now made two public claims in regard to the Revenue. One was that they had accepted his request to have the letter from his tax adviser regarded as a "voluntary disclosure". The second was that no determination could be made on his tax status until after the Mahon tribunal had reported.
"The first claim is in conflict with the Revenue's letter of November 2006. The second would not be consistent with the procedure adopted by the Revenue in the case of Deputy Michael Lowry . . ." she said.
Meanwhile, Waterford Fine Gael backbench TD John Deasy said that while he believed the Taoiseach should clarify his tax position, he personally believed people were more concerned about the economy. Asked on WLR's Deise AM if Fine Gael was pursuing the correct strategy in targeting Mr Ahern's tax compliance, Mr Deasy said "time will tell" but his "gut feeling is that we should be talking about those policies that affect people's lives".
"I think we need to delve deeply into the economic policy area . . . I think it's important from the standpoint that the Taoiseach needs to clarify everything with regard to his tax affairs and his dealings over the last 10-15 years but personally speaking, no . . . if it was me I would focus very strongly on the economy," he said.
