Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

144. 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. [53758/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

145. 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. [53759/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

146. 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. [53760/18]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

147. 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concluded since January 2016 that have been settled appeals; the value of the settled cases; the number that have been withdrawn; the value these amounted to; the number of cases that have been heard; the value these appeals amounted to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53761/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 to 147, inclusive, together.

The Tax Appeals Commission ("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 fluctuates, 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-follower’ appeal. 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. An analysis on this basis is set out below.

Following its establishment in 2016, I am informed that approximately 3,331 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 10 December, 2018 it currently has approximately 3,415 active appeals under its remit.

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

The following tables outline the number of new appeals received and concluded in each month since March 2016.

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

The below table gives an outline of how appeals were closed from January, 2017.

* A breakdown ofhow appeals were closed in 2016 is provided from the Annual Report of 2016.

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

*** 38 appeals have been determined in 2018 to date but 11 appeals are classed as Case Stated so they will remain active until the appeals have been heard by the High Court.

With regard to the value of tax associated with these appeals, the following information has been provided by Revenue. 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 Tax Appeals Commission (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.

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.

The Deputy will be aware that I commissioned an independent review of the workload and operations of the Tax Appeals Commission earlier this year, and the resulting report was published on Budget day. The report makes a range of recommendations in relation to increased staffing, improvements to the structure of the TAC and improvements to IT equipment. I have confirmed my full support for the recommendations of the review and have approved a significant increase to the TAC's operating budget for 2019 to address the identified needs. Work is ongoing to implement the recommendations of the review.