Revenue officers target local Christmas market

There's anger in Moate after it emerged Revenue officials targeted the recent Christmas market for “tax compliance checks” and to identify “shadow economy activity”.

The Revenue Joint Investigation Unit (JIU) officers visited Moate Christmas Market on December 2 last, much to the annoyance of some of the stallholders on the day.
Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council Cllr John Dolan described the action as “ridiculous” given the community spirit of the event and how important it is in attracting footfall into the town.
“The question I would ask is do they go to the regular markets? There are regular markets in this region and I've never heard of Revenue going there,” he complained, adding that the event is hugely important to the town attracting over 3,000 people into the area for the day.
“It's totally against the spirit of the market. Everyone has to pay tax, no one has a problem with that but there are bigger fish to fry.”
While all stallholders had to submit paperwork and tax certificates to the organisers, Cllr Dolan admitted that the arrival of Revenue officials did create “angst” for some and he fears it would deter people from coming to the event in the future especially the small scale Christmas or one-off hobby stalls.
Stressing that he has no issue paying tax, the Fine Gael councillor says people who earn extra income are obliged to declare in their tax return as he does on his farm and he wondered why tax authorities felt this action was necessary at a “totally community event.” He fears that these types of inspections could have detrimental effects for markets in the future.
However, in a statement to the Westmeath Independent, Revenue stressed that it plays “a vital role in the economy by securing the taxes and duties due to the State in a fair and efficient manner.” 
“The vast majority of taxpayers pay the right amount of tax at the right time. Revenue supports the high level of voluntary compliance by providing service to make it as easy as possible for taxpayers to comply with their tax and duty obligations, and by confronting and tackling non-compliance. Identifying, targeting and confronting non-compliance is a standard element of Revenue’s overall compliance framework.”
The statement points out that the Moate visit was to carry out “tax compliance checks” and “identify shadow economy activity.” It goes on to say that most income is liable for tax, and the amount you pay depends on the extent of your income and personal circumstances. This includes small scale craftspeople/stallholders.
The organisers of Moate Christmas market did not wish to comment.