Full coverage: Revenue Commissioners

When Covid-19 hit Ireland, Arderin Distillers swapped gin production for hand gel. The Tipperary business alleges it relied on Revenue assurances, subsequently withdrawn, that it would not be liable for alcohol duty on a health product.

Judges in Luxembourg have found that the European Commission failed to prove Irish tax deals with Apple were illegal. The main reason? Investigators didn’t go far enough in their probing of the Revenue’s “incomplete and occasionally inconsistent” rulings.

Thousands of tip-offs, covert surveillance and “streetscape” sweeps feed into the fight against the “shadow economy”. Exclusive figures reveal that hundreds of professionals feature alongside builders, landlords and retailers among the taxman’s targets.

Since the crisis began, the Revenue Commissioners have halted audit work, allowed firms to warehouse debt and rolled out the state’s wage subsidy scheme. In an exclusive interview, its chairman Niall Cody talks about Covid-19, multinational tax structures and the Revenue’s battle against tax avoidance.

A major accountancy firm paid older partners to leave and clear the way for new talent. However, in a dispute that has implications for hundreds of other partnerships, Revenue is challenging the tax status of the payments. A High Court case looms.

The Revenue Commissioners are examining a number of cases where partners in law firms have lowered their income tax bills by sheltering profits in service companies. How does it work? And what happens next?

From offshore schemes to unregulated funds, financial advisers are always looking for a new scheme to peddle. Given some of the products on offer, it is hard not to see this as a race between the Central Bank and a series of blowouts in the marketplace.