Property tax will cast the Revenue's net wider

The new local property tax brings a whole new dimension to what Revenue can and cannot do in terms of enforcement, writes Brian Keegan.

Even those who argue that property taxes are better for a nation's economic health concede that reform of Vat could be just as effective.

In the past few weeks the Supreme Court confirmed the entitlement of the Revenue Commissioners to get information on taxpayers from banks and, separately, the High Court confirmed Revenue's entitlement to carry out investigations. In the past few months, Revenue has won significant legal challenges to its authority to overturn transactions which a tax inspector didn't like the look of. The well-known and well-publicised garlic importation case - where the sentence was reduced ...