With the 30-day deadline now elapsed since the Revenue Commissioners issued tax assessments to 400 Kerry Co-op suppliers on 31 December, many of them have referred the case to the Tax Appeals Commission.

Last November, the Revenue Commissioners argued that the estimated value of patronage shares distributed to co-op members constitutes taxable income during the year they were received, and is now claiming the corresponding tax for 2011. This was the result of a Revenue “project” revealed by an Irish Farmers Journal investigation to have targeted Kerry Co-op shareholders to raise additional tax.

Until then, farmers and their tax advisers had always paid capital gains or acquisitions tax after disposing of the shares, without questions from Revenue. “We understand that quite a lot of the suppliers concerned have appealed,” a spokesman for Kerry Co-op told the Irish Farmers Journal. Appeals are individual and an exact number was not available from the co-op nor the Tax Appeals Commission.

The Commission told the Irish Farmers Journal that it “will take into consideration the wishes of the parties in relation to the progression of any group of cases of a similar nature” – taking a sample of taxpayers to run a test case. The Revenue said last year it would facilitate this approach.

The Tax Appeals Commission’s rules and procedures include a number of steps spread over several months to accept an appeal, allow the parties to state their case and, in some cases, hold a public hearing before the commissioners make a determination. The Commission can also hold meetings with the Revenue and taxpayers, called “case management conferences” to “expedite this process”.

The Kerry Co-op spokesman said tax advisers would be working to prepare the case until such time as the Tax Appeals Commission is ready to take it on.