Revenue Inspector gives evidence at Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy tax trial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A Revenue Inspector gave evidence at the tax evasion trial of Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on 12 November 2015. The proceedings were reported on 12 November 2015.

Murphy, 66, of Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty. The nine charges allege failure to furnish returns of his income, profits or gains, or their source, to the Collector General or Inspector of Taxes for 1996/97 to 2004. The prosecution follows a Criminal Assets Bureau investigation.

The prosecution alleges that Murphy conducted significant cattle and land dealings and received Department of Agriculture farming grants but made no returns to Revenue. The inspector disagreed with the defence claim that Murphy’s brother managed his cattle herd and farming activities.

Under cross-examination, the inspector, who cannot be named for legal reasons, estimated annual farming income of 15,000 Irish pounds from 1996 to 2001 and €15,000 from 2002 to 2004. He said the documentation was incomplete and he could not establish a definite scientific figure, but considered his estimate fair and equitable.

Questioned by John Kearney QC, defending, the inspector agreed that he took farming grant application forms at face value and did not know whether the signatures were Thomas Murphy’s.

The court heard that Patrick Murphy transferred his herd number to his wife, Rosemary Murphy, in 2001. The inspector said this did not seem odd or affect commercial reality. Mr Kearney suggested that documentation indicated a single farming unit. The inspector acknowledged common expenditure on logistics but rejected commonality beyond that.

Mr Kearney suggested that Patrick Murphy’s farming tax return could relate to another herd. The inspector said he could not make a supposition about that.

The court also heard that Thomas Murphy’s brothers, Patrick and Frank, reached a Revenue settlement in 2008. Mr Kearney said Patrick Murphy’s statement of affairs listed a herd number previously attributed in evidence to a man named Thomas Murphy. The inspector agreed that the State settled with Patrick Murphy on the basis of that statement.

The trial was continuing.