The Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Frank Daly, has advised consumers that they should claim their share of a €50 million VAT rebate, which is to be paid to opticians.
He said that VAT had been charged at 21% on the examination, prescription and supply of glasses and contact lenses.
This was challenged by opticians, and the Appeals Commissioner ruled that VAT was only payable on the sale of glasses or contacts, and that dispensing services were exempt.
Mr Daly said that while he had no power to compel opticians to return money to customers, he believed that they did have a legal right to a refund.
Stamp duty nets €2.6bn this year
Mr Daly has also told the Public Accounts Committee that €2.6 billion has been received in stamp duty so far this year.
Mr Daly told the committee that €2 billion came from property transactions, while €324 million came from taxes on the sale of shares.
Tax from the sale of residential property accounted for 35% of the stamp duty received up to the end of August.
He added that the yield from property transactions was 34% ahead of target.
Meanwhile, Labour TD Joan Burton has accused some developers of using a loophole to avoid paying stamp duty.
She told the Public Accounts Committee that, to avoid paying the tax on conveyance, some developers were buying shares in companies that owned development land.
As a result, they paid a 1% duty on the transfer of shares, rather than a 9% stamp duty on the value of the land.
The Labour TD pointed to the deal involving the Glass Bottle site in Dublin, which she said had saved €30 million in stamp duty using this mechanism.
