Bank of Ireland has settled its DIRT tax liability with a payment of £30.5 million to The Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners has confirmed that Bank of Ireland has paid £30.5m to Revenue in DIRT tax. The money has been paid as a settlement arising from Revenue's look back audit of the Groups compliance with DIRT. The final figure agreed was that Bank of Ireland owed £12.75m, plus interest and penalties of £17.75m, giving a total liability of £30.5m.
The bank's original estimate was far less, during the DIRT inquiry last year, the Bank's Group chief executive Maurice Keane claimed that their own audits had estimated a potential liability of between £1m and £1.5m. The Governor of the Bank of Ireland group, Howard Kilroy told shareholders at the Bank's AGM today that this had been a regrettable episode by the otherwise compliant bank.
The Revenue commissioners have confirmed that they have received payment from Bank of Ireland, and that they are still in discussions with other financial institutions about their DIRT audits but if today's figures are anything to go by, then the estimates by other institutions could also rise considerably. AIB's Bank management had put £35 million pounds as a maximum figure for their DIRT tax liability although its former internal auditor Tony Spollen had estimated £100 million pounds in 1991. ACC put their figure at £17.5 million and National Irish Bank set aside £1 million to cover their arrears.
The Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, Jim Mitchell, has welcomed the settlement. Mr Mitchell told RTÉ News that he believed, because the banks had breached their special position of trust, there is still need for an act of reparation by them to the public at large.
