Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 141: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the recently published Revenue Commissioners Annual Report for 2006. [17162/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I was pleased to note the strong performance on a number of fronts recorded in the eighty-fourth Annual Report of the Revenue Commissioners. The 2006 Report continues the practice of reporting on Revenue's Statement of Strategy, in accordance with the Public Service Management Act 1997. This is the second report on Revenue's Statement of Strategy 2005-2007 which highlights three main Goals:

To ensure everyone complies with their tax and Customs responsibilities;

To be a capable, flexible, results-oriented organisation, and,

To play its part nationally and internationally.

The three Goals and their associated strategies are reported on in detail in the annual Report, some of the highlights of which are as follows:

2006 was another year of very strong tax collection performance. Net receipts amounted to €45.5 billion, some €6 billion above the corresponding figure for 2005 and €3.7 billion above the Budget estimate.

Special investigations yielded a total of €119.6 million in 2006 of which €88.3 million arose from the Single Premium Insurance Policy and Offshore Assets investigations. The cumulative total from special investigations currently stands at €2.3 billion.

Seven convictions for serious tax and duty evasion were secured in 2006. A further 515 convictions were obtained for summary offences and there were 1,295 convictions for non-filing of tax returns.

Revenue continued the sectoral approach to audit. New projects initiated included the construction sector, publicans, computer consultants, coffee shops, restaurants and take-aways, hotels and rental income. The construction sector project alone yielded €125 million in tax, interest and penalties. Some 1,600 site visits identified over 1,000 cases not registered with Revenue and almost 500 sub-contractors who were reclassified as employees. This project is continuing in 2007.

Total audit and assurance check activity yielded €691.8 million and the names of 601 tax defaulters who concluded audit settlements amounting to €154 million were published.

A range of on-line and telephony self-service options were provided for PAYE taxpayers. It is now open to any of the 2.2 million PAYE customers to view their tax records, claim a wide range of tax credits, apply for repayments, request a tax review and change personal details — all on-line.

The Revenue On-Line Service (ROS) continued its strong growth in 2006. The number of payment transactions made via ROS increased by 40.48% to 408,575 while the value of the payments made via ROS increased by 37.19% to €16.6 billion.

To help ease the regulatory burden on business, less frequent filing of PAYE/PRSI returns was introduced in 2006 for employers whose annual PAYE/PRSI liability was €30,000 or less. A similar initiative has recently been extended to VAT.

Arrears as a percentage of total gross receipts now stand at an historic low of 1.8% — one of the lowest of any tax administration worldwide. Overall debt was €1,107 million in 2006.

Drugs with an estimated street value of €8.6 million were seized; tobacco with a value of almost €18.5 million and almost €725,000 of suspected criminal cash was detained by Revenue's Customs Service.

I announced in my Budget statement in December that Revenue would undertake a series of simplification measures to make the process of claiming reliefs as easy as possible in as many areas as possible. The first of these measures, the operation of DIRT — free accounts for people aged over 65 and the permanently incapacitated (subject to income limits in both cases) is now up and running and others are due to follow in 2007 and 2008.

While the volume of Revenue's business increased significantly during 2006, the cost of administration as a percentage of Gross Receipts fell to 0.77%, down from 0.81% in the previous year. This figure, which is now at a record low and which compares very favourably with other Tax and Customs Administrations worldwide, is a useful measure of administrative efficiency and clearly demonstrates Revenue's commitment to delivering value for money and maximising benefits from new technology .

I am satisfied that Revenue's Annual Report for 2006 reflects considerable success in all of its business areas, as borne out by the strong receipts and successful compliance activity, and displays Revenue's commitment to develop and enhance service provision across all of its activities.