income tax fraud

They go after everybody. An ex colleague was running a small cosmetics business from home, and was caught for tax. It wasn't a huge settlement.

They'd go after them. Nothing can be considered too small to enforce or else nobody would comply.

You are assuming they are still non compliant. Maybe they regularised their tax status.

They may not have been contacted yet (or at all). They do not act on every report. They could not act on every report.

You can't force them do, so no.

Sometimes revenue might go after a sector so 'bank' a pile of complaints on a particular trade then go after them all in one go. They did this with teachers and grinds a few years ago. These tend to hit the headlines a bit more so discourages that sector as a whole, in comparison to doing random hits.

Being an informer is not something to brag about.

In Ireland, there is a special part of hell set aside for informers.

Not the Ireland I live in. In my Ireland we don't support people stealing from the common purse just so they can get more and work less.

In my Ireland people who refer to informers going to hell are viewed as accessories after the fact.

It can be very annoying to see a business operating under the radar, undercutting legit businesses on price while topping up their own income on welfare or by just not being tax compliant.

Nobody likes a busy body who goes around reporting everyone but if someone is destroying your business by operating illegally, only a wally wouldnt report it.

Exactly, so at least a century out of date.

Grow up. Leave the morals of the playground behind you.

It happens a lot OP, cash in hand jobs are not unusual for small domestic jobs and nobody bats an eyelid. Years ago, someone doing a 'nixer' meant the householder got the job done a lot cheaper but Idk if that's still the case. The exchequer always loses out.

I know a hairdresser who operates from home and only takes cash and theres no difference in the price they charge to what a regular salon charges. Childminding in a minders home is nearly always cash in hand with little difference in price. Same for any domestic service like gardening, painting, plumbing, carpentry, any building work. I know someone who paid a bill in two parts, half with an invoice charging vat and the other half in cash notes to a solicitor. Its widespread.

Not sure how it can be changed, afaik there is no legal obligation to give a receipt so cash payments leave no records.

How Revenue ever find dodgy book-keeping is a mystery, unless someone reports it, and generally people don't.

It's not a mystery, they have a system called REAP, if you have done something irregular you will show up on this. Enquiries are made and if not satisfactory, an audit follows.

I know a company director that was audited, one way they proved he had undeclared income was the wife was paying for the shopping with cash, how did they know this? All the transactions were recorded on her dunnes and tesco clubcards.

You're getting your authorities all mixed up here. Revenue are mostly only concerned that someone is declaring their income and paying the relevant tax on it. If they are claiming social welfare entitlements that they're not supposed to, Revenue aren't looking for that. I don't want to say they don't care, but it's not their jurisdiction. In that case their main concern is the fact that they're paying less tax than they should. They will often co-operate and refer cases to the Dept of Social Protection, but it's not part of their main competency.

Licencing, they really don't care about at all unless Revenue are the ones who issue the licences. If someone is working on gas boilers without an RGI cert, Revenue couldn't care less so long as they're paying tax.

If you believe someone is committing social welfare fraud, report them to the DoSP.

If they're carrying out a licenced activity without a licence, report them to the relevant authority for that licence/activity.

Revenue have probably done their bit; that is, checked that this person is filing tax returns, and left it alone.

I think "taking food off my table" is a bit excessive.

People who are "legit" can claim all their expenses like diesel, phone, tools and many other costs and write against any profits. This stuff costs the cash guy a lot more.

Personally I see a lot of people operate a blended model, cash jobs and legit work.

The other thing about being cash only is you exclude yourself from a lot of juicy jobs, like if its a taxi he can't get work for the HSE, or an airport etc, places that pay top dollar.

Same with a window cleaner, you won't be working for, as an example, the HSE or Irish rail if you are a cash operator.

Reporting an all for cash operator won't get you far with revenue, there is nothing by way of accounts for them to pour over and investigate.

I have seen lots of tax returns filed by all kinds of characters, the simple answer is that cannot know and will never know if he has because it is entirely a matter between him the revenue and and perhaps his tax agent.

I bet you wouldn't have the same attitude if it was a politician doing the same...

What type of licence are you talking about?