Man (36) faces €1.55m VAT charges

A 36-YEAR old east Clare man has appeared in court in connection with alleged VAT-related offences concerning amounts totalling…

A 36-YEAR old east Clare man has appeared in court in connection with alleged VAT-related offences concerning amounts totalling €1.55 million.

At Killaloe District Court, Derek Floyd of Lower Main Street, Tulla, faced a total of 41 charges relating to alleged VAT offences concerning amounts totalling €1.55 million from a period between March 2001 and January 2004.

Mr Floyd is facing 12 charges of knowingly claiming repayments of VAT totalling €678,857, which to his knowledge he was not entitled to contrary to Section 1078 of the Taxes Consolidation Act on a period from April 1st 2001 to January 7th 2004.

Two of these 12 charges relate to individual repayments in VAT claimed by Mr Floyd of €156,136 on September 9th, 2002 and a second payment of €133,506 on June 27th 2003.

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Mr Floyd is also facing 14 charges concerning his alleged failure to remit VAT payments to the Collector General totalling €880,913 between May 2001 and November 2003.

Mr Floyd is also facing 15 charges between April 2001 and January 2004 of knowingly and wilfully delivering incorrect VAT returns contrary to Section 1078 of the Taxes Consolidation Act. Mr Floyd first appeared in court in relation to the charges at Tulla District Court last September and the case has been adjourned a few times since.

At Killaloe District Court State solicitor Martin Linnane said the book of evidence had been served. Mr Linnane said there were 4,500 exhibits in the case totalling 24 volumes.

Judge Joseph Mangan granted legal aid to Mr Floyd after the court was told his circumstances had not changed since last December when he was originally granted legal aid.

The judge adjourned the case to June 2nd at Killaloe District Court.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times