REVENUE HAS CONFIRMED that there are no plans for a UK-style website which names and shames alleged tax fugitives by publishing their photographs and profile details.
Currently Revenue publishes a list of tax defaulters every three months but it is not allowed to publish photographs of the named individuals. Revenue confirmed to TheJournal.ie that there are no plans to seek a change to this.
The revenue service in the UK launched a Flickr page on Thursday showing names, photographs and profile details of 20 people who are alleged to have dodged large amounts of tax before fleeing the country.
The move is part of a number of actions by UK authorities to crack down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.
Authorities hope that members of the public will be able to provide information that will help track down the exiles, described as the 20 most-wanted alleged tax dodgers.
Between them the 20 people are believed to have cost the taxpayer over £765 million (€974 million).
A spokesperson for Revenue in Ireland said that it often reviews ways to encourage people to comply with tax laws and to recoup taxes owed.
“If new measures are deemed necessary to counter any particular practices in this jurisdiction, they will be considered in detail before any legislative changes are sought,” said the spokesperson.
She added that Revenue “welcomes the support of the general public in tackling tax and duty evasion”.
The next Revenue list of tax defaulters is due to be published in September 2012. A total of 459 people were included in the most recent list of defaulters, all of whom had had either a fine or another penalty imposed upon them by a court for a variety of tax offences.
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