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LPT payment compliance stands at 91% – Revenue

Revenue’s preliminary results for 2021 show record tax receipts despite public-health disruptions.

Revenue collected €67.5 billion in taxes and duties for the Exchequer, as well as over €17 billion on behalf of other departments, agencies and EU member states.

Revenue chair Niall Cody said overall timely compliance rates for 2021 remained strong.

Convictions

There were six criminal convictions for serious tax evasion and fraud, and 80 tax settlements published in the list of tax defaulters while 125 tax avoidance cases were settled yielding €11.7 million. 

Over 60 million smuggled cigarettes valued at approximately €43.5 million were seized along with over 5,700 kilos of drugs with an estimated value of almost €115 million, Cody added.

Commenting on updated Local Property Tax (LPT) measures last July, he said that an updated online property valuation guide and a comprehensive communication campaign, began in advance of the new valuation period on 1 November.

The return compliance rate for LPT for 2022 currently stands at 81%, while the payment compliance rate is 91%. 

Payment of 2022 LPT is due by next Wednesday, 12 January. 

In 2021, over €4.6 billion was paid under the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme to 47,600 eligible employers in respect of 628,000 employees.

In 2021, 21,300 businesses received subsidy payments totalling over €470 million in respect of 24,500 premises under the scheme. 

Tax debt

The Debt Warehousing Scheme permits Revenue to park VAT and payroll tax debt arising on foot of COVID-19 related restrictions as well as self-assessed income tax debt and Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme overpayments. 

During 2021, the scheme was extended to cover Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme overpayments and tax liabilities of certain self-assessed income taxpayers with employment income.  

At present, more than 100,000 businesses and individuals are availing of the scheme in respect of just over €2.9 billion of tax debt.

Revenue Commissioner and Director-General of Customs, Gerry Harrahill, said that following the Brexit deal on 24 December 2020, trade volumes with Britain gradually increased over the course of 2021.

In the first quarter of the year, long-standing supply chains were permanently disrupted in a changed trading environment.  

Revenue data shows that 86% of all freight vehicle movements from Great Britain into Ireland were green-routed on arrival meaning they passed freely through the relevant port without the need for any additional interaction with Revenue or any other State agency. 

And 11% were orange routed meaning the goods needed a documentary check or similar control and 3% were red-routed meaning there was a requirement for a physical examination or inspection of the goods. 

E-commerce growth

The pandemic also accelerated the growth in e-commerce which, along with new EU VAT rules that came into effect in July, has seen an exponential growth in the number of customs declarations processed. 

2021 saw a fourteen-fold increase in all types of customs declarations processed, with 1.8 million processed in 2020 increasing to 25.4 million processed in 2021. 

On 30 November last, Revenue processed a record-breaking 300,000 import declarations alone.