THE current legislation on tax settlements was brought in under the 1983 Finance Act. Under its terms, the Revenue Commissioners may publish the names, addresses and occupations of anyone who makes a settlement of more than £10,000. They may also publish the amount of tax underpaid, as well as the interest owed and the penalty charged.

Settlements are not published when the taxpayer makes a voluntary admission regarding underpayments in advance of an investigation by the Revenue Commissioners. This exception can be applied even after the Revenue Commissioners have informed a company that they intend to mount an investigation.

Ultimately, the decision on whether to publish the details of a settlement is at the discretion of the Revenue Commissioners, as they are interpreters of the legislation. This gives them extra leeway when it comes to negotiating a settlement.

In addition to the 1983 legislation, there have been two subsequent tax amnesties, in 1988 and 1993. The 1988 amnesty resulted in the collection of £500 million in unpaid taxes. Taxpayers were allowed settled unpaid liabilities and avoid the substantial penalties usually charged by the Revenue.

The second amnesty applied to undischarged tax liabilities incurred before April 5th, 1991. Under the amnesty, unpaid personal income tax and capital gains tax liabilities could be settled, subject to a 15 per cent levy on the taxable income in question.

Other unpaid personal taxes such as capital acquisition, stamp duty and residential property tax, as well as unpaid corporation tax and VAT, had to be settled in full. However, the normal penalties were waived.

Taxpayers who were being investigated by the Revenue when the amnesty was introduced could avail of the second part of the amnesty. This raised £261 million.

The investigation of the tax affairs of the directors of Murray Consultants started in late 1991 and was completed prior to the announcement of the second tax amnesty. Had the directors been able to avail of the amnesty they might have saved more than £750,000, depending on how much would have qualified for the 15 per cent amnesty.