Did Irish Revenue "Gild Their Lily" On LPT Penalties?

Over the past few weeks the Jackboot Spokespersons for The Irish Revenue Commissioners have been releasing press statements that they have new Super Powers under the LPT2012 Act and it's Amendments. The following is what was given to me in a query to revenue, who directed me to a web page where I got the following statement of what they claim they can instigate:-

● Mandatory deduction from 1 July 2013 from your employment income, occupational pension or

certain Government payments.

● Attachment of your bank account.

● Referral of the debt to a Sheriff or a Solicitor for collection.

● The withholding of any refund of other tax as payment against LPT due.

But in looking very carefully at the Act and the Amendments the legislation to invoke these draconian penalties is not evident.

So is it a case that I cannot read and comprehend English, even that drafted by Public Servants or is it that various pieces of “searching for text as specified” software is not finding the phrases and they are there hidden somewhere.

Or is it that Revenue taxed with quickly raising €250 Million in Property Tax to please their political master have decided to “Gild Their Lily” in hoping to achieve their goals?

What the Act is saying a person can:-

….elect(s) in a return to have the local property tax payable by the liable person deducted by his or her employer from his or her net emoluments,... agrees with the Revenue Commissioners that his or her employer deduct the local property tax contained in a Revenue assessment from his or her net emoluments.

The Act it seems also allows you to “opt out”... where a liable person notifies the Revenue Commissioners that he or she no longer wishes to have local property tax deducted from his or her net emoluments, the Revenue Commissioners shall direct the liable person’s employer not to make any further deductions from the liable person’s net emoluments.

So the Revenue Storm Troopers do not have the powers they claim to have and in addition are bound by the Act as follows:

….If you don’t send back the LPT Return form and your self assessment of your LPT liability, Revenue’s Estimate of your LPT liability will be collected using normal collection/enforcement options – deduction at source, sheriff, court action, attachment orders.

This is the usual, costly, time consuming, actions Revenue currently have to chase tax and VAT defaulters.

Have I told anyone else this? I did. I told RTE, TV3, Irish Times, Irish Independent (who replied and engaged with me), The Environment Ministers' Office, The Office of the Finance Minister.

Did any of them agreed with me ? 

No: all of them passed the buck! 

They said “Talk To Revenue”.