907 Application to Appeal Commissioners: information from financial institutions

Summary

This section enables an authorised officer of the Revenue Commissioners to apply to the Appeal Commissioners for consent to serve a notice on a financial institution seeking information relevant to a taxpayer’s liability. The taxpayer concerned can include a person, or a group or class of persons, whose identity or identities is or are, not known to the authorised officer. The section can also apply where the taxpayer has made a declaration of non-residence for DIRT purposes. The authorised officer must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the taxpayer in question is or was engaged in serious tax evasion and that the financial institution holds information relevant to the proper assessment of the taxpayer. The written consent of a Revenue Commissioner is necessary before making an application. If the application is successful, the financial institution has 30 days to comply with the notice before facing a penalty. The authorised officer can require the financial institution to give assistance in retrieving electronically stored documents.

Details

Definitions

(1) & (6) For the purposes of the section “taxpayer” means any person, including a person whose identity is not known to the authorised officer, or a group or class of such persons and also a person who has made a non-resident DIRT declaration. The persons who may be treated as a taxpayer for the purposes of this section can also include a company which has been dissolved and an individual who has died.

Application to the Appeal Commissioners

(2), (5) & (8) An authorised officer may make an application to the Appeal Commissioners seeking consent to serve a notice on a financial institution for the purpose of obtaining information relevant to the liability of a taxpayer. Where the Appeal Commissioners are satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for the application, they may give their consent to the service of a notice. The application to the Appeal Commissioners is procedurally similar to the hearing of an appeal against a tax assessment. However the determination of the Appeal Commissioners is final and conclusive.

(3) Before making an application to the Appeal Commissioners the authorised officer must obtain the written consent of a Revenue Commissioner, and must have reasonable grounds to believe that the taxpayer concerned may have failed, or may fail, to comply with the Acts, and that such failure is likely to have led or to lead to serious prejudice to the proper assessment or collection of tax. The officer must also be satisfied that the information in the possession of the financial institution is likely to be relevant to the proper assessment or collection of tax in relation to the taxpayer.

(4) The application to the Appeal Commissioners can relate to information in respect of a person connected with the taxpayer whose tax affairs are under enquiry.

Result of a successful application

(7) & (9) Where the Appeal Commissioners give their consent to the service of a notice and its contents, the notice must be served within 14 days. The financial institution is required to comply with the notice within 30 days of its service. Failure to comply with the notice can render the financial institution liable to a penalty, with further daily penalties applicable should the failure to comply continue after the 30 day period.

(7A) & (7B) The financial institution, in complying with a notice served on it, is required to give the authorised officer reasonable assistance in accessing information which may be stored electronically or by other automatic means. The authorised officer is entitled to make copies of or extracts from the documentation made available for inspection by the financial institution.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2019