Latest news with #TaxAppealsCommission
Irish Examiner
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Car importer loses appeal against €1.2m Revenue tax bill 'due to box ticking error'
A large importer of second-hand motor vehicles from Britain has lost its appeal against a customs bill of over €1.2m from Revenue which it claimed was due to a 'box-ticking' error. The Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) dismissed an appeal by the unidentified company against the demand for payment of €1,235,279 from Revenue. The amount owed will total almost €1.3m when interest of over €62,600 is added to the customs debt. The company had argued that it had no liability for the customs debt as it was only a customs representative rather than an importer of used cars. It claimed Revenue refused its request to change declarations made on an online system. The company claimed its failure to tick a box to indicate whether it was acting as a direct or indirect representative of the motor dealerships was an error. The appellant maintained that it had acted as 'a direct representative' of motor dealers based on verbal agreements and thus was not liable to pay customs owed on the vehicles. The TAC heard the company had lodged customs declarations on a Revenue portal in 2021 in relation to 687 vehicles. It unsuccessfully claimed the customs duty rate for 452 vehicles should have been reduced from 10% to 0% under 'Great Britain Preferential Origin' rules. Revenue subsequently notified the company that it had a customs debt of over €1.2m, plus interest, as the documentation it had supplied was not sufficient to support its claims for any reliefs. The company's managing director told the TAC that he was not disputing the customs debt but stressed that Revenue should be pursuing the motor dealerships on whose behalf his firm had acted. The TAC heard that the company had unsuccessfully tried to collect the debt itself from the garages. The managing director stated that the company was not an importer but a transport company. He also noted that all the vehicles had been 'green routed' by Revenue through customs on importation into Ireland. The witness said each vehicle had been processed, reviewed, and cleared once customs was satisfied that all required documentation had been submitted and the cars qualified for relief. He said the company was told to go away when it went to the garages to seek information sought by Revenue. The director said garages had cut ties with his company and business was lost as a result. A revenue official told the TAC that it would have been unfeasible to conduct complete documentary checks on all goods imported into the Republic, especially in the early, post-Brexit days. He gave evidence that Revenue took any declaration at face value but added that the tax authorities were entitled to carry out a post-customs release check up to three years after importation to verify that declarations were accurate and supported by documentation. The witness said the company had confirmed on its portal that it had the required documentation to support the claim for relief on customs but it had not been provided to date. Revenue also pointed out that the company was unable to provide any evidence of any agreements it had with motor dealerships regarding representation. Revenue's legal representatives argued that the TAC has no jurisdiction to direct the tax authorities to amend any declarations. In her ruling, TAC commissioner Claire Millrine agreed that she had no supervisory jurisdiction over how Revenue exercises its discretion in dealings with taxpayers but only in whether assessments are correctly charged. Ms Millrine said she was satisfied that the issue was not 'an appealable matter' and ruled that she had to refuse to accept the appeal. However, the commissioner noted that even if she was wrong in her decision, the company had been given numerous opportunities to furnish documents to show it was acting for motor dealerships but none had been provided to date. Under regulations, Ms Millrine observed that persons who failed to state they are acting as a customs representative shall be deemed by Revenue to be acting in their own name or on their own behalf.
Irish Independent
01-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Over 700 outstanding tax appeals totalling €750m are yet to be decided on by Revenue
Tax officials say complexity of legal issues shows the impact of EU rules and treaties The Tax Appeals Commission had more than 700 open appeals on its books at the end of last year, with a value of €750m in dispute. The commission's annual report reveals that in the first two weeks of January alone, it received 15 appeals with a total disputed value of €417m. The commission is the statutory body that hears and adjudicates on tax disputes. Appeals can be sought by both individuals and companies. Last year, the body closed 1,711 appeals with a disputed value of €355m. It noted that for the sixth year in a row, it closed more appeals than were received, reducing the number to 711 by the end of 2024 from 1,141 a year earlier. The number of open appeals at the end of 2024 was the lowest number since the body was established in 2016. Marie-Claire Maney, the commission chairperson, said the increasing complexity of the legal issues in appeals was a continuing trend in 2024, 'with the impact of European treaties and directives to the fore'. Appeals are typically launched against decisions by the Revenue Commissioners. The disputed amounts can range from less than €100 to more than €1bn. The names of the parties taking the appeals are not published. Revenue saw 'unprecedented' levels of activity through its online services during 2024 High-profile cases during 2024 included a transfer pricing case involving a US software development firm. The commission redacted the disputed amount of tax involved. It rejected transfer-pricing adjustments that had been sought by Revenue related to the supply of services by an Irish subsidiary to its American parent. It specifically concerned share-based awards granted by the parent firm to the Irish subsidiary. Meanwhile, Revenue has confirmed in its newly published annual report that total gross tax receipts for 2024 reached €152.9bn. That included €30.9bn of non-Exchequer receipts collected on behalf of other government departments and agencies, and other EU states. Net tax receipts for the year were €107.1bn. It noted that one of its key priorities in 2024 was helping businesses to exit the Covid debt warehousing scheme in a 'viable manner'. The scheme was established to help companies get through the pandemic by being able to park their tax debts. Revenue said that more than 93pc, or €3bn, of the debt included in the scheme at its peak in January 2022 has now either been settled in full or secured under phased payment arrangements. ADVERTISEMENT 'Just over 7,000 businesses that availed of the scheme failed to engage with us to formulate a plan to pay their warehoused debt,' Revenue said. 'The debt owed by these businesses, which amounted to just over €100m at that time, was subsequently removed from the warehouse,' it added. 'Normal collection and enforcement proceedings applied to this debt thereafter.' Revenue saw 'unprecedented' levels of activity through its online services during 2024. There were 25.4 million logins to its MyAccount service. It also processed 60.5 million customer declarations and received €136.4bn in electronic payments. In 2024, Revenue undertook more than 272,000 audit and compliance interventions, which yielded €591m for the Exchequer, and conducted another 46,000 appraisals. It also closed 256 tax avoidance cases, yielding a further €46m.
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Tax Appeals Commission receives appeals worth €417m in first two weeks of year
The Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) has received 15 tax appeals with an estimated value of €417 million in the first two weeks of 2025 – more than double the entire estimated value of €207 million in appeals received in 2024. Figures published in the 2024 TAC annual report show that the estimated €417 million in appeals is also €34 million more than the entire €383 million quantum in appeals that the TAC had on it books at the end of 2024. This includes appeals carried over from previous years. The surge in appeals during the first two weeks of the year has resulted in the commission revising its 2025 targets estimating now that there will be a €750 million quantum in appeals on hand at the end of this year. The figures show that the largest proportion of new appeals last year concerned disputed corporation tax with an estimated value of €94 million. READ MORE The €383 million quantum in appeals on hand at the end of 2024 is down sharply from the €1.7 billion on hand at the end of 2021. The figures show that last year, the TAC closed out appeals valued at €355 million. In a breakdown of the €355 million figure, cases valued at €193 million were settled; €122 million in appeals were withdrawn by appellants; the TAC issued 180 determinations with a value of €34 million while the remaining appeals with a value of €6 million were refused, dismissed or merged with other appeals. Appeals with a value of €193 million concerned corporation tax. During 2024, 280 hearings affecting 507 appeals with a total value of €390 million were scheduled over 456 days. The duration of the hearings ranged from a half day to three weeks. In her report, chairperson, Marie-Claire Maney said that 'for the sixth year running the commission closed more appeals than it received, reducing the number of appeals on hand from 1,141 to 711, notably a 38 per cent decrease'. She said: 'This marks the lowest number of appeals on hand since the establishment of the commission. The appeals determined and closed have released back to the exchequer or the economy €355 million in 2024.' 'The increasing complexity of the legal issues in appeals is a continued trend in 2024, with the impact of European Treaties and Directives to the fore,' she added. During 2024 the TAC signed 11 cases to be appealed to the High Court. Of those eight were requested by appellants and three by the Revenue Commissioners
