A Co Roscommon doctor has made a tax settlement of almost €1.5 million with the Revenue. The payment from Dr Eugene Hardiman, of Roosky, included penalties and interest of €874,487 arising from an under-declaration of €594,742 in income tax and capital gains tax, writes Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent
Dr Hardiman's payment was disclosed by the Revenue in a list showing that South Dublin County Council made a tax settlement of €106,386.
Other defaulters include James Sheeran, the Co Kildare veterinary surgeon who treats horses for Olympic showjumper Cian O'Connor. Mr Sheeran paid €17,892 to settle an income tax liability on €7,813 that was uncovered by the Revenue's offshore assets investigation. Mr Sheeran did not return a call last evening.
A total of €100.72 million was received from 2,853 defaulters in the first three months of the year.
This money came in before the Revenue started a voluntary disclosure scheme for untaxed income held in single-premium life assurance accounts.
Revenue received €21.61 million from 173 defaulters whose names were published in Iris Oifigiúl yesterday because their settlements were greater than €12,700.
Seven of these exceeded €500,000, and 55 exceeded €100,000.
Navan-based retailer Beechmount Furniture paid €878,707, while a Dalkey-based landlord, Gerald P Doran, paid €871,527.
Other defaulters included Tralee-based solicitor Patrick Mann, who made a settlement of €94,280. Hotelier Cornelius Ryan, of the Kinnitty Castle hotel in Kinnitty, Co Offaly, paid €52,059.
The settlement from South Dublin County Council was the first from a local authority.
The payment comprised under-declared VAT of €75,993 and €30,393 in interest and penalties.
The county council's head of finance, Clodagh Henehan, said the under-payment arose from an "honest error" in its accounting system.
The error was uncovered in a Revenue audit which found that the VAT due on 200 invoices from abroad between January 2003 and June 2004 was overlooked.
"The under-payment relates to the period of time when South Dublin County Council was implementing an integrated financial management system to replace a suite of outdated financial systems," the council said.
"The implementation was complex, and an oversight in the process lead to the omission of a small number of non-Irish transactions from the bimonthly VAT calculation process."