The business audit section of the Revenue Commissioners is so understaffed that it would take 121 years to audit all the traders registered for 1999, according to the IMPACT trade union. There are also just five staff monitoring liability for tax from landlords in the rapidly growing private rented sector in Dublin.
The president of the union's tax officers' branch, Ms Pearl Kelleher, told its a.g.m. in Waterford there had also been a 24 per cent increase in workload for Revenue staff in recent years. This is due to the individualisation of tax allowances, other innovations and economic growth.
She said morale among Revenue Commissioners staff had never been so low because of the increased workload.
"The labour force has increased 19 per cent in the last four years, PAYE employment records are up by 21 per cent and VAT registrations are up 24 per cent," she said. "Budget changes, including individualisation of tax allowances and the home carers' allowance, already have the phones hopping and inquiry offices filling up before the tax year has even begun."