Hundreds of Irish residents caught hiding assets offshore

Hundreds of Irish residents caught hiding assets offshore

Since the Irish Revenue closed its amnesty window in November 2017, 190 Irish residents have been caught failing to disclose offshore assets.

It is the first group of taxpayers to be investigated by Ireland’s tax authorities for hiding property, money and other assets overseas.

According to a spokeswoman for the Revenue, the seizure of offshore assets from 190 residents has yielded another seven-figure return for the Revenue’s coffers.

“Revenue has concluded approximately 190 interventions into cases involving previously undisclosed offshore assets, yielding in the region of €1.2 million in tax, interest and penalties,” the spokeswoman said.

The Revenue announced plans to seek out offshore tax evaders last autumn, six months after a deadline for people to voluntarily disclose undeclared offshore income had passed.

The window for voluntary disclosures encouraged almost 3,000 taxpayers to come forward and reveal details of assets owned overseas on which tax should have been paid to the Revenue.

The Revenue recouped €87.5 million from the 2,828 taxpayers that availed themselves of the offshore asset amnesty; almost three times the initial €30 million

The types of assets held offshore on which tax should have been paid include overseas earnings, income from overseas holiday lettings, funds stored in offshore bank accounts, as well as overseas pension schemes – both private and state-funded.

The Revenue’s data indicates that Irish taxpayers own assets in a plethora of jurisdictions. The most popular location is the UK, accounting for 42% of previously undeclared disclosures, with one-fifth of these relating to pensions.

The United States accounted for 14% of previously undeclared disclosures, with 40% of these relating to listed company shares.

Switzerland and the Isle of Man were attributed to over 25% of the value of all previously undeclared disclosures. Meanwhile the British Virgin Islands, Australia, Spain, Portugal and France were all attributed to undeclared disclosures primarily linked to property.

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Date published 29 Nov 2018 | Last updated 29 Nov 2018