Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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176. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of tax appeals before the Tax Appeals Commission; the value of tax these disputes amount to; the appeals by ranges (details supplied), respectively, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29627/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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177. To ask the Minister for Finance the age and value of tax appeals before the Tax Appeals Commission by ranges (details supplied), respectively, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29628/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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178. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of new appeals brought before the Tax Appeals Commission in each month since January 2016; the number of cases concluded in each month since January 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29629/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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179. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of appeals before the Tax Appeals Commission that have been concluded since January 2016 that have been settled; the value of the settled appeals; the number that have been withdrawn; the value these amounted to; the number of cases that have been heard; the value these appeals amounted to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29630/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 to 179, inclusive, together.

The TAC was established on 21st March 2016 and new procedures for making, processing, adjudicating and determining appeals came into effect. Before this date taxpayers sent their appeals directly to Revenue who then transferred cases to the Appeal Commissioners when they were ready for a hearing. Since that date, taxpayers send their appeals directly to the TAC which then notifies Revenue of the appeals.  The TAC has full control over the processing and hearing of appeals.

I am advised by the TAC that the number of appeals before it can change frequently, depending on a number of factors, including the number of additional appeals received each day; the numbers closed each day; how many appeals are part-settled and how many that will settle based on the outcome of a “leader-case”. The Commission can also be informed, by an appellant(s) or the Revenue Commissioners, that an appeal has settled or been withdrawn which might indicate a reduction in the number of appeals on hand; however, until this is confirmed by both parties, the TAC cannot deem the matter closed.

I am further advised by the TAC that it is not possible, for the most part, to provide the age of tax appeals before it, as many of them were transmitted to the Commission, in large tranches during 2016 by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. In relation to those ‘legacy’ appeals, some were submitted by the appellant in 2016, to Revenue, but many had been with Revenue for some time before that. Therefore, it is only possible to advise of when the TAC received appeals in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Following its establishment in 2016, I am informed that approximately 3,322 appeals transferred to the TAC, at various stages during 2016, from both the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Office of the Appeal Commissioners. The TAC has further advised me that, as of 2 July, 2018 it currently has approximately 3,312 active appeals under its remit.

The TAC has informed me that this figure comprises of the following active appeals:

The TAC has provided the following tables outlining the number of new appeals received and concluded in each month since March 2016 and an outline of how appeals were closed from January, 2017.

Table 1 – New Appeals Per Month from 21 March 2016, when the TAC was established, to 31 December 2016 

Table 2 – New Appeals Per Month 2017

Table 3 – New Appeals Per Month 2018

Table 4 – How Appeals Were Closed

** 34 determinations were made in 2017 which affected 40 individual appeals.

*** 17 appeals have been determined in 2018 to date but 5 appeals are classed as Case Stated so they will remain active until the appeals have been heard by the High Court. Another determination made in 2018 related to a Case Stated in 2017 which has now been completed.

With regard to the value of tax that these disputes amount to, the following information has been provided by the Revenue Commissioners.  It should be noted however that, while Revenue also maintains statistics on appeals, for various reasons these will not necessarily correspond with those provided by the TAC. For example, there may be time lags in the notification of new appeals by the TAC to Revenue and time lags in the closure of appeals by the TAC following settlement of an appeal by agreement between Revenue and the appellant. As the TAC is now the competent body for the management of appeals, I consider that it is appropriate that it be the primary source for appeals statistics. However, there is one important piece of information that the TAC does not currently receive for those appeals made directly to it. This is the value figure for the amount of tax that is outstanding or in dispute.

I have been advised by Revenue of the following information in relation to the amount of tax in dispute with both corresponding value bands and age bands.

I have been informed by Revenue that the information requested by the Deputy relating to the value of settled, withdrawn and heard appeals is not collected centrally and cannot be provided. Revenue is currently looking at ways in which such information might be provided in the future.