Revenue Audits and Investigations - The Professional's Handbook
- Information Note for Readers on the Structure and Layout of this Book
- Irish Tax Institute’s Overview of the Code of Practice for Compliance Interventions
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Compliance Intervention Framework - Overview
- 1.2 Supporting Compliance
- 1.2.1 Level 1 Compliance Interventions
- 1.2.2 Types of Level 1 compliance interventions
- 1.2.2.1. Reminder Notification of Outstanding Tax Returns
- 1.2.2.2. Request to Self-Review
- 1.2.2.3. Profile Interviews
- 1.2.2.4. Engagement with businesses under the Cooperative Compliance Framework (CCF)
- 1.2.3 Possible escalation where a Level 1 Compliance Intervention was initiated
- 1.3 Confronting Non-Compliance
- 1.3.1 Selection of Taxpayers for Compliance Intervention
- 1.3.2 Level 2 Compliance Interventions
- 1.3.3 Types of Level 2 Compliance Interventions
- 1.3.3.1. Risk Review
- 1.3.3.2. Revenue Audit
- 1.3.4 Notification of a Level 2 Compliance Intervention
- 1.3.5 Example of the impact of escalation between a Level 1 and Level 2 compliance intervention
- 1.3.6 Example of escalation from a Level 1 to a Level 2 Compliance Intervention
- 1.3.7 Example of showing escalation and impact of non/full cooperation
- 1.4 Level 3 Compliance Interventions
- 1.4.1 Revenue Investigation
- 1.4.2 Level 3 Compliance Intervention activities
- 1.4.3 Notification of a ‘Level 3 Compliance Intervention - Revenue Investigation’
- 1.5 Responsibilities in relation to Compliance Interventions
- 2. Regularising Tax Defaults
- 2.1 Voluntarily reviewing tax compliance position
- 2.2 Self-Correction without penalty
- 2.2.1 Time limits for self-correction without penalty
- 2.2.2 Self-correction without penalty and interaction with other compliance activity
- 2.2.3 Self-correction and Expressions of Doubt
- 2.3 Correcting an Innocent Error
- 2.4 Technical Adjustments
- 2.5 No ‘Loss of Revenue’
- 2.6 Liability to a penalty for ‘No Loss of Revenue’
- 2.7 Tax Settlements
- 2.8 Qualifying Disclosure
- 2.8.1 Calculation of Penalties
- 2.8.2 Payment of liability
- 2.8.3 Liabilities not within initial scope of the Revenue Compliance Intervention
- 2.8.4 Non-publication
- 2.8.5 Prosecution
- 2.8.6 Group Companies
- 2.9 Unprompted Qualifying Disclosure
- 2.10 Prompted Qualifying Disclosure
- 2.11 First, Second, Third and Subsequent Disclosures
- 2.12 Qualifying Disclosures – 5-year rule
- 2.13 Qualifying Disclosures and Penalties
- 2.14 No Qualifying Disclosure – Penalties
- 2.15 Examination of a Qualifying Disclosure
- 2.16 Exclusions – Disclosure not regarded as Qualifying
- 2.17 Full Cooperation
- 2.18 Arrears of Declared Taxes and Duties
- 3. Risk Review and the Revenue Audit
- 3.1 Risk Review
- 3.1.1 Location of a Risk Review
- 3.1.2 Conduct of a Risk Review
- 3.1.3 Escalation to Audit following commencement of Risk Review
- 3.2 Audit
- 3.2.1 Location of an Audit
- 3.2.2 Conduct of an Audit
- 3.2.3 The Audit Process
- 3.2.3.1 Removal of Hard-Copy Books and Records
- 3.2.3.2 Downloads or Copies of Data in Electronic Format
- 3.2.3.3 Pre-Audit Meeting – Electronic Records
- 3.3 Materiality
- 3.4 Obstruction
- 3.5 Years, Periods and Issues for intervention
- 3.6 Earlier or Later Years/Periods or Issues
- 3.7 Indications of a Serious Tax Offence
- 3.8 Data Protection Act
- 4. Finalisation of a Revenue Compliance Intervention
- 4.1 Conclusion of Compliance Intervention
- 4.2 Determination of Additional Liabilities
- 4.3 Interest
- 4.4 Surcharge for Late Submission of Returns
- 4.5 Penalties
- 4.5.1 Calculating the ‘difference’ for tax and duty geared penalty purposes
- 4.5.2 Examples of Penalty Issues
- 4.5.3 Penalties Determined by a Court
- 4.5.4 Issue of a Notice of Opinion regarding a Penalty
- 4.5.5 Application to a Relevant Court for Penalty Determination
- 4.5.6 Determination of Penalty by a Relevant Court
- 4.5.7 Recovery of Penalty determined by a Relevant Court
- 4.5.7.1 Penalties in Respect of Deceased Taxpayers
- 4.6 Categories of Default
- 4.6.1 Deliberate Behaviour Penalties
- 4.6.2 Careless Behaviour Penalties
- 4.6.3 Examples of Careless Behaviour categories
- 4.7 Fixed Penalties
- 4.7.1 Failure to file a return
- 4.7.2 Incorrect Returns
- 4.7.3 Value Added Tax
- 4.7.4 PAYE Employers
- 4.7.5 LPT
- 4.7.6 Stamp Duty
- 4.7.7 Capital Gains Tax Valuations
- 4.7.8 Local Property Tax Valuations – Penalties
- 4.8 Timeframe for Concluding Revenue Interventions
- 4.9 Payment
- 4.10 Inability to Pay Claims
- 4.11 Complaint and Review Procedures – Appeal Procedures
- 5. Publication in List of Tax Defaulters
- 6. Prosecution
- 6.1 Introduction
- 6.2 Types of offences that are most likely to lead to prosecution
- 6.3 Other Prosecutable Offences
- 6.4 Sales Suppression Software
- 6.5 Incorrect Returns, Statements or Accounts
- 7. Tax Avoidance
- 7.1 What is Tax Avoidance?
- 7.2 General Anti-Avoidance Rule
- 7.3 Specific Anti-Avoidance Provisions
- 7.4 Tax Avoidance Surcharge
- 7.5 Statutory Interest
- 7.6 Protective Notification
- 7.7 A Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure
- 7.7.1 Definition of Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure
- 7.7.2 Categories of Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure
- 7.7.3 Benefits of making a Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure
- 7.8 Factors which determine level of tax avoidance surcharge
- 7.9 Mandatory Disclosure Regime
- 7.10 Taxpayer Initiated Disclosure
- 7.11 Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure and Self-Correction Without Penalty
- 7.12 Technical Adjustment
- 7.13 Qualifying Avoidance Disclosure - No Publication
- 7.14 Expression of Doubt
- 7.15 Tax Avoidance Surcharges and Interest
- 8. PAYE