Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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61. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of high-net-worth persons who meet the domicile levy criteria with whom it has been in contact in 2013 in order to ascertain the reason they have failed to pay the levy for that year; the number of persons who are considered to be non-resident for tax purposes; the total tax take available to the State if all persons liable to pay the domicile levy paid in full; the number and type of actions the Revenue Commissioners has taken against those who have failed to pay the levy since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10119/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the Domicile levy returns and payments in respect of the domicile levy for the year 2013 are not due until 31 October 2014.

As the Domicile Levy is a self-assessment tax, with the onus on the taxpayer to declare their liability, it is not possible for Revenue to provide an estimate of the total Domicile Levy liability that is not paid. However, I am further informed by the Revenue Commissioners that Revenue has an on-going compliance programme in relation to some 59 individuals who appear to meet a number of the criteria in relation to the domicile levy for the years 2010 to 2012. The purpose of the compliance program is to determine whether these individuals meet all the criteria in relation to the levy and to quantify and collect any outstanding domicile levy liability that might be due for back years.

The tax yield to date per the Domicile Levy returns filed is below

2010    26 returns with a tax yield of €3,051,714

2011    21 returns with a tax yield of €2,487,365

2012    14 returns with a tax yield of €1,884,949

I am also informed by the Revenue Commissioners that for 2012, the most recent year for which figures are available, 14,552 individuals filed Income Tax returns indicating that they were non-resident for Income Tax purposes. It is important to note that the circumstances of individuals who are non-resident for tax purposes but who file tax returns can vary widely. They include, for example:

 - Irish nationals who have moved abroad for work reasons but who retain their home here,

- foreign nationals who never resided here but who have investments here,

- foreign nationals who worked here for a period and who may have acquired Irish tax residence for that period .

Individuals who leave the State are not required to declare the reasons for leaving, either on a tax return or any other document. However, a large proportion of non-residents who file Irish tax returns are or have become non-resident for reasons unrelated to taxation.