Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 22 February 2018
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised)
9:30 am
Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source
The final issue I wish to raise relates to Vote 10, relating to the Tax Appeals Commission. Currently, the Tax Appeals Commission is not fit for purpose. The Minister provided details to me in a reply to a parliamentary question. I have it before me on my telephone – I am on aeroplane mode, Chairman. More than €1.6 billion in outstanding tax is caught up in the appeals system. Over 3,600 appeals remain to be resolved. The issue is that the number is growing and the problem is getting worse. In 2017, over 1,700 new appeals came in and 252 were resolved or concluded. The net increase in 2017 alone of 1,500 appeals is staggering. If that trend continues through this year, we will be looking at over 5,000 appeals stuck in the Tax Appeals Commission.
There are two permanent commissioners, one temporary commissioner and approximately 12 staff members. There are over 1,000 appeals for each commissioner. Without significant intervention this problem is not going to be resolved. In fact, it will get far worse. The Irish Tax Institute has raised significant concerns over this issue with the Minister and the Department. The appeals system is an important part of our tax code and system, as the Minister is aware. It is now open to abuse. If a person wishes to kick an issue into the never-never, the best way to do it is to appeal to the Tax Appeals Commission.
The Minister is giving a 1% increase in the budget in Vote 10 for 2018. The Minister described this in his opening statement as a significant increase. It is 1%. That is not terribly significant, to say the least. What, specifically, will be done to beef up the resources of the commission in order that it can get a handle on what is coming in and start to make inroads into the level of cases?
I appreciate that it is a relatively new system. There may well be teething issues and so on. However, given the increase last year of over 1,500 cases, there is clearly a serious problem and it needs to be addressed.
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