Dramatic decrease in Irish Revenue audits
Taxman getting more selective
The number of corporate audits carried out by Irish Revenue commissioners
have more than halved in recent years, due to a more targeted campaign.
Revenue commissioners conducted 14,000 audits in 2005, far fewer than the
30,000 to 35,000 of a few years ago, the Mail on Sunday reported.
The more targeted system though resulted in much greater value-for-money for
the tax office with the returns of targeted companies have yielded an average of
about €30,000 (£20,000) compared with between €5,000 (£3,300 )and €10,000
(£6,600 )on random audits.
‘We are continuing to improve the targeting and selection of taxpayers to
increase the effectiveness of audit and compliance programmes by using a new
sophisticated risk analysis system,’ said the Revenue. ‘This selection system
allows for the screening of all tax returns against sectoral and business norms
and provides a selection basis for compliance checks and audits.’