The Revenue Commissioners have now contacted well over 40,000 employers to instruct them to withhold the sums owed by their employees in respect of the Local Property Tax (LPT).
Experts at www.taxback.com say that this is pretty much the nuclear option for the few remaining non-compliers.
Christine Keily, Senior Tax Consultant explained, "Revenue is essentially bypassing any principled objections to paying the tax and is going directly to the source of their funds. For PAYE workers, there is really very little they can do to counter this. It is important for these people to understand that once an instruction has issued from Revenue to their employer, it must be complied with. The employer has absolutely no discretion to refuse to impose this."
In fact, there are potentially serious consequences for the employer if they don't. Non-operation of the instruction may result in interest charges, penalties, refusal of a tax clearance cert and increases the chances of a tax audit, she said.
Taxback.com say that some individuals have commented that by contacting the employer in this manner, there is a potential breach of their privacy. However, the tax experts contend it is more than likely their fears are misplaced.
"Employers will not even be aware of whether the deduction has been imposed by Revenue in respect of arrears or was simply the method requested by a compliant individual. They will simply receive instructions to deduct via the employee's Tax Credit certificate or via ROS (for ROS registered employers). There will be no difference in the instruction; the employer won't know the difference," added Ms Keily.
She says that, in the event that an individual suffers such a reduction in their salary but has already paid the LPT or are not liable to LPT (i.e. the instruction to the employer was an error possibly due to the fact that Revenue were not adequately informed of the position), they should make contact with Revenue to rectify the position.
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