Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount paid to date to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of settlements made in connection with its investigation into the use of life assurance policies for tax evasion; the progress made to date in regard to the second phase of its investigation which commenced on 23 May 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12400/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that payments totalling €391 million have been made to date. As the Deputy is aware, the Revenue Commissioners are conducting their investigation into the use by taxpayers of life assurance investment products for the purposes of tax evasion in two stages. In the first stage of these inquiries taxpayers who invested undisclosed and undeclared funds in life assurance products were given until 23 May 2005 to advise Revenue of that. That part of the disclosure stage has now been successfully completed and about 10,000 notices of intention to make a disclosure were received from taxpayers or their agents. Some of these notices were protective. Correspondence was received from others indicating that no liabilities arose.

Revenue formally commenced the second stage of its investigation into the use of life assurance products for tax evasion on 23 May 2005. New powers were provided in the Finance Act 2005 to authorise Revenue officers to examine the records that relate to a class or classes of life assurance policies and policyholders in the course of conducting sampling exercises. Revenue has completed the preliminary work in regard to the use of these new powers and authorised officers are actively engaged in the sampling process. The information gathered in this process and from the voluntary disclosures will be used to ground applications to the High Court for orders directing insurance companies to furnish details on policyholders and policies to Revenue.

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 91: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount repaid by the Revenue Commissioners to individual taxpayers in respect of overpayments of tax in respect of each of the years 2002 to 2005; his plans for information campaigns to ensure that taxpayers are made fully aware of all their entitlements and are claiming all credits and allowances provided for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12399/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the amount of tax either repaid or credited against other tax liabilities of the taxpayer, in respect of the main taxes, for each of the years 2002 to 2005 is as follows:

The repayments of corporation tax refer to individual claims made by companies from year to year. VAT repayments are part and parcel of the way the VAT system works with traders charging VAT on their output but re-claiming the VAT paid on their inputs. The figures do not include repayments to non-resident claimants of Irish tax deducted from income arising in Ireland. Neither do they include relevant contracts tax where the normal operation of the system involves the routine claiming of repayments or offset against normal tax liabilities.

In the case of PAYE, repayments arise as a general rule in response to claims made by taxpayers containing specific information not previously known to Revenue and the level of repayments shows that many taxpayers are aware of the tax credits and reliefs to which they are entitled and of the necessity to make the claim.

The Revenue Commissioners are conscious of their responsibility as contained in their customer service charter to provide taxpayers with the necessary information and all reasonable assistance to enable them to clearly understand and meet their tax and customs obligations and to claim their entitlements and credits. Revenue has always been proactive in ensuring that PAYE taxpayers in particular are made fully aware of their rights and are facilitated in claiming repayments due. For example, the tax credit certificate sent to each PAYE taxpayer at the start of the tax year is accompanied by a detailed leaflet setting out a wide range of information in regard to: main personal tax credits available for the year in question with comparative figures for the preceding year; tax rates and tax bands for the year in question; exemption limits for single, widowed and married persons and; how to claim an adjustment to the tax credit certificate.

Revenue's website also provides easy to access customer service information on the full range of reliefs available to taxpayers, together with a range of claim forms in downloadable format. The Revenue homepage on the website also contains a "What's New" section where customers are alerted to timely items of interest.

In regard to PAYE, as the Deputy will be aware, Revenue have procedures in place so that many reliefs need not be claimed at all as they are given at source, for example mortgage interest, pension contributions, permanent health insurance and medical insurance. Others need only be claimed once and are automatically carried forward from year to year, for example, basic tax credits, PAYE credit, age credit for the over 65s and trade union subscriptions. The only reliefs that need to be claimed on an ongoing basis are those that are expenditure related, such as for medical expenses, certain dental expenses, third level tuition fees and rent relief.

While a wide range of information channels have been used to put details regarding taxpayer entitlements into the public domain, I would emphasise that the primary responsibility for ensuring that Revenue has the most up to date information on a taxpayer lies with the taxpayer him or herself.

Revenue is planning additional on-line services for PAYE customers later in 2006. These new services will also be accompanied by a campaign to publicise the services and notify taxpayers on the options available to claim their entitlements. With these new interactive on-line self-service channels, and the existing comprehensive range of information already available, I am satisfied that taxpayers are being made as fully aware as possible of their entitlements to claim credits and allowances.