THE GOVERNMENT HAS begun to focus on the tax affairs of corporations and ‘High Wealth Individuals’ whose worth was previously below the criteria for being monitored.

A new division has been established by the Revenue Commissioners to deal with the affairs of people and companies who could not be managed by its Large Cases Division.

The Large Cases Division was established in 2003 to provide large taxpayers with advice on their tax planning and to manage their relationship with the taxman.

Earlier this year, it was split into two separate units: one managing large corporations and the other managing HWIs, or people with net assets above €50m.

As part of its work, the division also assesses whether these businesses or individuals are at risk of tax avoidance or tax evasion.

It yielded €15.3m from large taxpayers in 2017, €17.3m in 2016 and €43.6m in 2015.

Responding to a question from Sinn Féin’s Jonathan O’Brien last week, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe announced that a similar division to monitor medium-sized businesses and less wealthy HWIs has now been established.

The so-called Medium Enterprise Division guides these less wealthy taxpayers on their tax affairs, but Donohoe also said it would carry out tax audits and investigations with a view to prosecution for “more egregious cases”.

“The new division will monitor the tax affairs of its case-base through various risk assessment programmes that are supported by data analytics, interrogation of both taxpayer and third-party information and examination of specific wealth indicators,” he added.

Around 380 people are expected to be working in the division by the end of the year.