Government appoints new Taxing Master
The Government has appointed Declan O’Neill to the post of Taxing Master following an open competition conducted by the Public Appointments Service.
The vacancy arises following the retirement of one of the two Taxing Masters, Charles Moran, in December 2010. Under section 3 of the Court Officers Act 1926, the appointment of a Taxing Master is made by the Government.
For the first time in 85 years, a competitive recruitment process in relation to the post of Taxing Master was conducted by the independent Public Appointments Service which advertised the post on 1 September 2011. 21 applications were received and, following a short-listing process, six candidates attended for interview.
This appointment is on an interim basis pending the establishment of the Office of Legal Costs Adjudicator provided for in the recently published Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011.
Ireland falls in global financial ranking
Ireland has fallen four places to 22nd in a ranking of 60countries for financial development.
The World Economic Forum index on financial development ranks Ireland 8th for banking services and 11th for financial access.
It points out, however, that the score for financial access is uneven – 7th for retail access but 34th for commercial access to financial services.
The survey gives the country a ranking of 14th for business environment and 15th for its institutional environment.
But we score at a lowly 57th for financial stability. The report says Ireland’s ranking for this is being dragged down by a “very unstable” banking system and the risk of a sovereign debt crisis.
Revenue take €20million from defaulters
A HORSE trainer for JP McManus, a Dublin-based sports retailer and a Co Westmeath travel agency were all on the list of tax defaulters, which netted nearly €20m in the quarter, the Revenue Commissioners said this week.
Former Irish Derby winner Christy Roche, who retired from the saddle in August 1998 and now trains horses almost exclusively for JP McManus, received fines totalling €94,974 for failing to declare €70,494 in taxes and holding offshore accounts, according to the latest list which covers the period between June and September 2011.
A total of almost €18.95m was recovered through 84 settlements. Four of the Revenue settlements exceeded €1m, four exceeded €500,000, and 33 were for amounts in excess of €100,000. Those figures included interest and penalties.
The largest settlement was by Mullingar Travel, at just over €1.9m. Horse trainer Christy Roche made a settlement of €165,468 for under-declaration of income tax. Mr Roche was also part of the Revenue’s offshore assets investigation.
Apart from settlements, the Revenue took in over €819,000 in fines from 363 convictions for tax offences.
