Five €1m settlements in defaulter list

A plant hire contractor, a Co Kilkenny bookmaker and a butcher were among the largest settlements in Revenue's quarterly list…

Five settlements over E1m were among 135 totalling some E28m published today by Revenue for the October to December 2012 period. Photograph: David Sleator/The Irish Times
Five settlements over E1m were among 135 totalling some E28m published today by Revenue for the October to December 2012 period. Photograph: David Sleator/The Irish Times

A plant hire contractor, a Co Kilkenny bookmaker and a butcher were among the largest settlements in Revenue's quarterly list of tax defaulters published today.

Five settlements over €1m were among 135 totalling some €28m for the October to December 2012 period. Only settlements above a certain threshold are published by Revenue.

Topping the settlement list was a Co Wicklow plant hire contractor Michael Healy of Clone, Aughrim with a €2.02m settlement (including interest of €811,280 and penalties of €520,738) for  undeclared income tax/VAT of €694,000.

There are four entries for a Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny bookmaker in the list with settlements totalling over €4m.

Bookmaker Triona Harrington of The Square, Castlecomer is listed for a settlement of €1.37m while bookmaker Phelim O'Connell of Kilkenny Street in the town faces a bill of €1.08m for undeclared taxes. Smaller settlements listed are €217,000 for Harrington Bookmakers Ltd and €214,000 for Triona Harrington and Phelim O'Connell for under-declaration of betting duty

Another Co Kilkenny defaulter faced a bill of over €1m. Company director and property owner Kevin Moore of Stancliffe, Greenshill was billed €1.04m (including €688 in interest and penalties) for unpaid income tax of €355,000 in a Revenue single premium insurance product investigation case.   His was part of four settlements were made as part of a Revenue investigation into single premium insurance payments totalling some €1.7m.

Also in the top five was butcher and farmer Thomas Kearney of John St, Waterford with penalties of €1.18m due to under-declaration of capital gains tax.

There were a further five defaulters with settlements over half a million euro, three of whom were building contractors.

Co Wexford based artist Mark O'Neill of Kilcarrig Bridge, Clonegal was billed with €721,000 for under-declaration of income tax and VAT of €518,000. Newspaper delivery service provider Gordon McAra of Cromlech Fields, Ballybrack, Dublin was billed with €688,000 for under-claration of tax.

Coming close to a €1m bill was Dublin building contractor Hugh Farrelly of Brookwood Drive, Artane. He was billed €997,000ncluding €548,000) for under-declaration of relevant contracts tax of €448,000.

Gabriel Rooney of The Hawthorns, Ashbourne, Co Meath had a settlement of €565,000 while Garland Homes Ltd of Greenmount Office Park in Dublin was billed €500,000 for under-declaration of VAT.

Overall the construction trade contributed significantly to the list. There were 11 entries for people with occupations of builders or building contractors with total settlements of some €3.5m. There were five engineering consultants with a bill of €276m. Five electricians or electrical contractors and suppliers were billed a total of €346,000. There were four property developers with bills totalling over €1.8m.

Other defaulters of note included Fianna Fail fundraiser Des Richardson with a settlement of €108,906.

It was no funny business for the owner of an adult shop. Terry Power of Dame Street in Dublin faced a bill of €66,379, including fines and interest of over €22,000) for under-declaration of €43,984 in VAT and income tax.

Detected by Revenue was a Co Tipperary private investigator. An audit of Liam Brady of Luska Pier, Coolbawn, Neena uncovered under-declarations of over €40,000 of income tax and VAT. This resulted in a bill of €62,575.

Eight settlements were made as part of the Revenue offshore assets investigations case with totals of some €1.9m.

The list included six publicans with bills totalling over €72,000.

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery is Deputy Head of Audience at The Irish Times