The Revenue Commissioners are entitled to considerable public gratitude for the substantial sums of money they have taken in the during the past year, reported in their Headline Business Results for 2007.They had particular success with special investigations and the particular the concentration on the construction sector. However, the huge sums involved show that tax evasion continues to be a major phenomenon in Irish society.

The sums brought in during the past year bring to €2.4bn the total amount raised in special investigations. The is the equivalent of the combined annual budget for this year for both the Garda Siochana and the Defence Forces and gives some indication of the extent of the evasion that was going on and the benefit to the Exchequer in taking a more vigorous approach to dealing with tax evasion.

Many of these special investigations were initiated directly as a result of information uncovered by the various Tribunals of Inquiry. While there is understandable public concern at the length of some of the Tribunals and in particular the failure of the government to control legal costs, these have to be balanced against the huge sums recovered by these special investigations.

I am particularly gratified at the results of the special project on the construction sector, which brought in a total of €154m. This was initiated largely as a result of pressure exerted by Labour Party members of the Public Accounts Committee. As a member of the PAC I pointed to the potential for evasion in this area through abuse of the sub-contracting system and non-compliance RCT (Relevant Contract Tax).

There is a need to keep the pressure on the construction sector to ensure full compliance and to undertake similar special projects in regard to other sectors where evasion may be widespread. It is important to emphasise, once again, that tax evasion is not a victimless crime. Every euro evaded, is an additional euro on somebody else’s tax bill or a euro less for public services.

Another area that requires special attention from the Revenue over the coming year, is the whole question of contraband. There is increasing evidence of wholesale evasion of VAT and excise duties on drink and cigarettes, particularly though the smuggling of these goods. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of the smaller airports have only limited or even non-existent customs coverage. This is an area that would benefit from special targeting in the year ahead.