Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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162. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of voluntary disclosures made and received to date since the Finance Act that are related to offshore tax evasion; the estimated total in penalties that would have been collected had those disclosures not happened during the window in which no penalties were imposed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8474/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In my Financial Statement to the House on 11 October 2016 I indicated that I would act to restrict the opportunity for offshore defaulters to use the voluntary disclosure regime with effect from May 2017.  In line with this undertaking, section 56 of the Finance Act 2016 provides that, as and from 1 May 2017, the making of a qualifying disclosure will not be permitted where the tax liabilities involved relate to offshore matters. Those matters include accounts held, property situated, or income or gains arising or accruing in, a country or territory other than the State. Anybody who has tax liabilities relating to matters of that kind and who does not act to address them before 1 May will face the prospect of substantially higher penalties, publication in the Quarterly List of Tax Defaulters and possible prosecution.

I am advised by Revenue that 13 voluntary disclosures relating to offshore matters have been received since 11 October 2016, resulting in settlements amounting to €188,650 in tax, interest and penalties. The intention to make a voluntary disclosure has been indicated to Revenue in two other cases, and a payment of €47,000 has been made on account in one of them.

Where a disclosure is made which is not a qualifying disclosure, the level of penalty that applies is determined by reference to considerations such as the category of default and the degree of cooperation given by the taxpayer. It is not possible, therefore, to say precisely what levels of penalties would have applied in the case of the 13 voluntary disclosures mentioned above, had they not been voluntary disclosures. It is estimated, however, that, had those cases not been voluntary disclosures, and if the category of default had been deliberate behaviour and cooperation had been forthcoming, the penalties to be imposed would have been some €75,000 higher.

We are in an era of increased global financial and tax transparency, and Revenue is at the forefront of international developments for Automatic Exchange of Information. Key developments in this field are the OECD's Common Reporting Standard, the EU's Directives on Administrative Cooperation and the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) initiative. Revenue has advised me that they are considering carefully how to make the best possible use of all data sources of this kind to identify any cases of tax evasion by Irish residents using offshore accounts, structures or assets, and that any cases discovered will be rigorously pursued.