Noonan and Revenue need to return pension top-up tax to the friends of CRC - Doherty
Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has called on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to direct the Revenue Commissioner to return any tax paid on former CEO Paul Kiely's bumper golden handshake.
Doherty said the money had come straight from the parents and supporters of the children who use the centre and the decent thing would be to return the money for the benefit of the children.
Deputy Doherty said:
"Paul Kiely received this golden handshake in June last year. If he was a PAYE worker he would have paid tax on €273,336 taxable part of the payout immediately. If he were self-employed, he would have had to have fulfilled his legal obligations and paid preliminary tax on that sum for 2014 in October of last year. The tax payable on that amount would be anywhere in the region of €130,000.
"This money travelled a circular route - from the Friends of the CRC, through Mr. Kiely's pockets and into the hands of Revenue. It was not Mr. Kiely's and it really doesn't belong to the Revenue either. It belongs to the children who benefit from the hardworking volunteers of the Friends of the CRC.
"If the Government is as shocked and appalled as they have made out they are, they should not only try to reclaim the bulk of the sum left with Mr. Kiely, but they should do the decent thing and make sure the Revenue give this money back to the children who need it. This money was raised in collection buckets and fundraisers for months - it was not meant to end up as tax on somebody's €700,000 pension pay-off."