The Chairman, Frank Daly, has made an opening statement at the Public Accounts Committee in relation to para 3.7 to 3.10 of the 2006 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. These paragraphs deal with Control of Alcohol Tax Warehouses; Stamp duty on property transactions; Passenger Air Controls at airports and aspects of Rental Income Taxation, this last item attracting considerable debate.

The Committee focused considerable attention on the information available within other State Agencies about rental market activity (for example with the PRTB and the Department of Social and Family Affairs) which was not made directly available to Revenue.

The Revenue Chairman was unusually forthcoming in relation to PRTB – “I would like to get my hands on the PRTB register I said I would look at this matter and whether there was a valid case for doing this. Revenue never wants to overdo its intrusion to obtain information from other bodies unless there is a real value to it. If there is a real value to this, we will pursue it. Whether we will have time to do so in the context of the Finance Bill, I am not sure.”

However, an equally important dimension to the Revenue relationship with the PRTB was not fully explored. ICAI has, since the introduction of the measure, highlighted the dual sanction that applies where an individual landlord fails to register with the PRTB – a fine under PRTB and a denial of interest relief for tax purposes. It is one matter to provide Revenue with access to PRTB data on a blanket basis to assist in the enforcement of Case V – the PAC seems to think there might be merit in this, and the Revenue Chairman certainly thinks so.

It is another matter entirely for Revenue to patrol and impose sanctions on behalf of another State Agency where that Agency, in this case the PRTB, already has the power to do so. This is not Revenue's role, and the arrangement is an unwelcome precedent. If PRTB data is given to Revenue without the removal of the tax sanction for non registration, the arrangement becomes consolidated.

A copy of the Chairman's opening statement is available at http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/publications/pac-speech170108.htm.