Question about Sheriff

First, it's not a so called Sheriff. It is a sheriff. Contact the sheriff's office and explain. It should be easily enough sorted. Government appointed sheriff's have considerable power but are easy to deal with. Just don't wait until it's a knock in the door to collect payment or seize goods.

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My advice would be to step back and reassess the situation. You sound like you want to have an argument but the Revenue and the sheriff are probably not the best people to pick a fight with regardless of whether you're in the right or not. You never know when you might come across them in the future.

Guess here would be the order went to the sheriff when you got your first letter since you've paid in the meantime revenue don't inform the sheriff of this as Irish bureaucracy doesn't have much sense on helpful matters print or produce your record of payment send or show this to the sheriff and send them back to revenue to seek their dues.

I forgot to pay VAT once, revenue sent me a demand letter with an estimate, which I overlooked. Call it €4000. I got a letter off the sheriff looking for the money and a % based on the €4k.

In the meantime I paid the bill (correct amount was say €1000) and the sheriff rang me with the updated %. It was small buttons call it €75 so I just paid him. My mistake anyway.

Your best bet is contact the sheriff, explain the errors made, with your evidence, and get it all sorted.

Also make a complaint to revenue.

But you don't want to sort this out with the sheriff, because revenue are wrong?

That doesn't make sense, and no you won't get compensation because the sheriff knocks on your door.

I did read it. You suggested ignoring the sheriff, allowing him to come to your place, because revenue are wrong. Doesn't make sense. You won't annoy or upset revenue by doing that. You may annoy the sheriff, but I'm not sure what you could get out of that?

And no, you won't get compensation.

Go right ahead. Let them come to your business. Sure what's the worst that can happen. I'm sure you won't mind being closed on the spot. Any customers and staff being told to vacate and the sheriff plundering all your assets.

If you fail to make contact with the sheriff In advance, you cannot reasonably claim that they acted inappropriately in carrying out their work.

Just make contact with the Sheriff.

You appear to be fond of childish tantrums. The sheriff is an interesting one to test your tantrum on whether you are in the right or the wrong.

Let us know how it goes anyway.

It's a generic template letter , every self employed person gets them when it appears they've missed a vat payment

Worst case scenario is the Viper and his new pal Jonathan Mr Big Downey smash your front door in

Until you ring the sherrif the law is on their side

Have you access to Revenue's online system - ROS? You can see there what you owe to Revenue, though it takes a couple of days for the system to update. Is there a chance that there may have been a cross over between when you sent the payment and when Revenue sent the debt to the sheriff? I've dealt with Revenue Sheriffs a number of times and they are usually straight forward to deal with. But because your debt has been referred to them, you will still be liable for the sheriff costs, Revenue will not reimburse you for them. If you sit on the sheriff letter and do nothing you will then be liable for the costs they incur when they visit your premises. When you ring the sheriff and engage with them, they are a lot better to deal with than if you just ignore them.

Lastly, don't bother writing to Revenue! Ring them in the morning time, you may be on hold for a while.

Every year my very elderly mother pays her couple of €100 tax as soon as she gets the letter from Revenue. As she’s 90 she doesn’t do online. So she sends a bank draft, literally goes to the bank the day she gets the demand, buys the bank draft, puts it in the post.

Within a few days she’ll get a “reminder” to pay. Then within another couple of days she’ll get a letter threatening her with potential legal action.

This, because she didn’t pay online.

This year I wrote a letter for her to sign, explaining that at 90, in a nursing home, she was living in fear of getting a summons to court over a debt she’d paid in full.

A few days later a rather snotty woman rang her, I think with the intent of half heartedly apologising, but chiding my mother mildly none the less for not simply ignoring the two letters. Apparently they are computer generated. Very poor customer service.

What “shop” are you referring to?

Nobody suggested that there should be an upper age limit on using MyAccount/ROS, so I don’t know what point you’re trying to make.

My mother simply doesn’t want to do revenue online. My complaint is that she got a demand, a reminder notice and a threat of legal action in a matter of 10 days or so and that’s not acceptable. Are you saying that it is?

Em, but you did owe money did you not?

Correct me if I am wrong, but you got two demands, ignoring the second one because you mistakenly assumed it was for the previously paid one, turns out it wasn't and you did indeed have an unfulfilled liability which you continued to ignore so it was correctly passed on to the Sheriff for collection, now there is interest applied as you had not paid?

It strikes me that you are not sufficiently competent at dealing with taxation and or paying / filing returns especially if you are finding PAYE modernisation to be a burden, in reality that should have made it easier, you may wish to consider engaging a sufficiently qualified person to assist you in this regard.