A company owned by a high-profile developer has made a tax settlement of close to €3.5 million with the Revenue Commissioners for underpaying VAT. Barry O'Halloranreports.
Figures released yesterday show that Heritage Properties, one of a group of companies controlled by developer Terry Devey, paid the Revenue Commissioners €3.48 million in tax, interest and penalties for underdeclaring its VAT liabilities.
Mr Devey came to prominence with the distillery development in Smithfield on Dublin's northside. He bought the property in the late 1990s from Irish Distillers for £1.5 million, and converted it to a hotel, apartments and retail centre.
He sold the hotel, Chief O'Neill's, for €20 million last year to businessman Lar Byrne.
Mr Devey's company made the settlement with the Revenue earlier this year. The liabilities date back to 2004, when a tax audit uncovered the fact that Heritage had declared that it owed less VAT than it actually did. According to the Revenue's figures, the amount of tax owed was €2.15 million. On top of that, the company paid €1.33 million in interest and penalties.
Heritage Properties issued a statement yesterday saying that, during the audit, it emerged that a former worker had prepared and submitted VAT returns that "showed amounts due to Revenue lower than those actually shown to be due by the company's books and records".
It confirmed that the amount underpaid, along with interest and penalties, came to €3.48 million. "Heritage Properties is considerably embarrassed by this incident and co-operated fully with the Revenue Commissioners and immediately accepted its full responsibilities," the statement said.
It is understood that the worker in question left the company before the audit began three years ago.
Heritage Properties' ultimate parent company, Birchford Properties, made profits of €4.7 million in the 12 months to March 31st, 2006, the last financial year for which figures are available. Its turnover grew by about 15 per cent to €46 million. The profits were largely down to the sale of assets.
Mr Devey has recently branched out into nursing homes through Devey Healthcare, which operates a chain of facilities in Leinster.
He was also the original developer behind the Grand Canal Dock development, featuring a theatre designed by US architect Daniel Libeskind, who won the contract to produce a masterplan to rebuild the World Trade Center in New York.
The office block and hotel elements of the Grand Canal Dock complex have been completed, but the 2,000-seat theatre has yet to be built.
Birchford's commercial property interests are worth €23.2 million. Its nursing home chain is worth over €24 million.