The Moriarty Tribunal has heard that there are no records of Residential Property Tax ever being paid on Inishvikillane. It also emerged that for years, Charles Haughey undervalued Abbeville for the purpose of RPT assessment. When Charles Haughey looked around Abbeville and slapped a value on it for the purposes of residential property tax he was, the taxman has said, a little on the light side. He also simply ignored standard questions on the returns form. Questions such as those about when it was bought or whether it had any special features.
For 8 years his accountants estimated the value of Abbeville not including the grounds. In 1996, for example, they had said it was worth £295 thousand pounds. At that time the figures were reviewed by the valuations office but they saw no need to change them. However, in the wake of the mc Cracken tribunal, the figures were totted up again and this time the sums were very different. The 1996 valuation now stood at £1.3million - four times the original.
Regarding Inishvickillane, repeated attempts were made by the Commisisoners to establish the true ownership of the island for the purposes of property tax. These were ignored and there appears to be no record of RPT ever having been paid at all on this property.
Earlier, Chief Inspector of Taxes, Christopher Clayton, said that following the Greencore, Telecom Éireann and Beef Tribunal scandals in 1991, he began asking Mr Haughey to file tax returns. Yet having received these returns the Commissioners did not follow up on them. Mr Clayton said that Mr Haughey’s attention was drawn to the penalty position and he was aware of the consequences. The Revenue, he said, then waited for events to unfold.
Mr Clayton was also asked about a file of newspapers cuttings about Mr Haughey and his wealth and his lifestyle that was kept by Revenue during the 70s and 80s and was asked if that alerted them to Mr Haughey. The official said that it would be virtually impossible to monitor an individual’s expenditure, adding there was no way of knowing if a shirt was worth £100 or £1000.
