Tax audits of 12 high net worth individuals this year have yielded €12.6 million in taxes interest and penalties, the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners said yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of the Revenue's annual report for 2005, Frank Daly said that the affairs of 100 high net worth individuals would be audited this year, and that 15-20 of these would be property developers.

The Revenue's Large Cases Division monitors the affairs of corporate groups with a turnover of more than €130 million, and individuals with assets worth more than €50 million, or an income of more than €1.3 million.

There are 350 groups being monitored by the division and 300 individuals and related trusts. The individuals include approximately 20 non residents who have significant economic interests in the State. Last year, nine of these individuals had their affairs investigated and were found to be compliant with the non-residency parameters. "They manage their affairs very carefully," Mr Daly said.

Audits and other inquiries by the division yielded €97 million in 2005, Mr Daly said.

Total Revenue receipts in 2005 were €39.49 billion, up from €35.77 billion in 2004. Receipts were approximately €1.7 billion ahead of budget. The breakdown of the figures shows that stamp duty has shot up, to €2.67 billion from €2 billion in 2004, as a result of the buoyant housing market causing more houses to move to the higher stamp duty rates.

Corporation tax was €5.5 billion, up from €5.3 billion in 2004, but down on the budget figure of €5.7 billion. Mr Daly said that there were a number of unexpected repayments to a number of companies.

Paddy Malloy, Revenue head of forecasting and statistics, said that with multinational companies, tax could be paid in Ireland but subsequent developments in the company's parent country, and the raising of taxes there, could lead to a repayment of tax in Ireland.

He said that in some years, this works well for Ireland and some years it does not. He said that 2006 was looking very positive.

Special investigations yielded €536.8 million in 2005, Mr Daly said, and the current total now stands at €2.2 billion. He said there were "some prosecutions in the pipeline" arising from the special inquiries and/or the tribunals, but he would not elaborate.

A new online service for the PAYE sector is to be rolled out. Taxpayers will be given a PIN and security clearance and will be able to access information about their affairs and make certain applications online. Mr Daly acknowledged that the Revenue's quality customer care service aspirations came under severe pressure in 2005.

He said the significant increase in the tax base was amongst the contributory factors, with 46,837 more self-assessed taxpayers and 134,881 more PAYE employees, coming on stream in 2005.

The Revenue's staff levels have remained static. Mr Daly said the issue was being addressed through increased productivity and technology.