Ms Josephine Feehily:

We have decided to begin the process by identifying the non-engagers who are in the PAYE sector, but we will proceed very carefully and in stages. They will get a reminder letter, which we will begin to process in the next ten days or so, and then they will be given a very short time window to file online. After that, we will send a request to their employers to begin deductions. They will be spread over the rest of the year, in the same way as other PAYE payments. If we start the scheme quickly the deductions can be spread over six months but it is more likely to be spread over five months. The question of accessing bank accounts and so on arises way further down the road. The PAYE sector is the first group that will be examined and we will then move on to look at other non-engagers. We will also send them reminders.

Regarding the self-employed, the first barrier they will come up against is if they seek a tax clearance certificate any time after 1 July, which is the payment date. If they have not paid, they will not get a tax clearance certificate. The issue of enforcing debt recovery from the self-employed, which would tend to happen via the bank account route, will come after appropriate warnings and engagement, but that is further down the road. We have a backstop provision for the self-employed. If they have not paid their LPT by the time they file their income tax returns, we will impose a surcharge. That should provide an incentive at that point.

There are no penalties in any of that. I have simply outlined how we will collect the tax. We have not built in interest or penalties; we are simply collecting the tax.