Latest news with #SeánQuinn
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Daughter of one-time billionaire in tax dispute over payments from Russian companies
Aoife Quinn, daughter of one-time billionaire Seán Quinn, is embroiled in a dispute with the Revenue Commissioners over tax payable on money she received from Russian companies owned by her family's business empire. The Revenue Commissioners has appealed to the High Court a Tax Appeals Commission determination published last year in respect of Ms Quinn's income tax assessment for 2011 and 2012, when she received monies arising from 'bogus' employment contracts signed with three Quinn Group-owned Russian companies: Finansstroy, Red Sector, and Logistica. The High Court heard Wednesday that Ms Quinn contends these contracts were a cash extraction scheme, primarily used to fund the Quinn family's legal battle with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC). In the 2010s, Seán Quinn and his children, including Ms Quinn, were involved in proceedings against IRBC, home to the remnants of the Anglo Irish Bank, which collapsed during the economic crash of 2008. The proceedings centred on IBRC's attempts to recover billions in debts owed to Anglo Irish Bank by the Quinn family. Following various cases, the litigation was resolved in 2019. According to court documents, Ms Quinn received almost €540,000 in gross payments from the three Russian companies owned by Quinn Group between 2011 and 2012. The total tax bill issued by the Revenue for the two years came to €301,718. Last year, the Tax Appeals Commission determined the money received by Ms Quinn from Finansstroy (€351,465.20 gross) should be removed from Revenue's assessment of her income tax returns for 2011 and 2012, after finding the money was incorrectly assessed. The commissioner's determination was based on Ms Quinn's evidence, and the findings of Russian courts, that the 'employment' relationship between Ms Quinn and Finansstroy 'was wholly bogus and unlawful'.There is a specific provision in Irish law that allows for taxing of profits or gains obtained unlawfully, but the Revenue did not assess the Finansstoy money under this commissioner noted there was no finding of criminality in respect of the employment relationship. Ms Quinn had appealed to the Tax Appeals Commission following Revenue's assessment of her tax returns for 2011 and 2012. The Revenue appealed the commissioner's determination to the High Court last year, seeking the court's opinion on several points of law it says arises from the determination. Opening the case, counsel Aoife Goodman, appearing with Kieran Binchy, submitted to Ms Justice Siobhán Stack that the commissioner erred in finding the income received from Finansstroy could only be assessed under Section 58 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. This section allows for taxation of profits or gains where the source of which is unknown, or arises from an unlawful source or activity. The Revenue assessed the Finansstroy money under Section 18 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, which allows for taxing of income arising from an employment outside the State. Ms Goodman also submitted that the Commissioner was wrong to conclude that the Revenue was 'aware of the unlawfulness' of the source of the Finansstroy money when it made its income tax assessment. Bernard Dunleavy, appearing with Eoin O'Shea for Ms Quinn, will lay out his client's case on Thursday
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Aoife Quinn in tax dispute with Revenue over payments from Russian companies
Aoife Quinn, daughter of one-time billionaire Seán Quinn , is embroiled in a dispute with the Revenue Commissioners over tax payable on money she received from Russian companies owned by her family's business empire. The Revenue Commissioners has appealed to the High Court a Tax Appeals Commission determination published last year in respect of Ms Quinn's income tax assessment for 2011 and 2012, when she received monies arising from 'bogus' employment contracts signed with three Quinn Group-owned Russian companies – Finansstroy, Red Sector and Logistica. The High Court heard on Wednesday that Ms Quinn contends these contracts were a cash extraction scheme, primarily used to fund the Quinn family's legal battle with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC). In the 2010s, Seán Quinn and his children, including Ms Quinn, were involved in proceedings against IRBC, home to the remnants of the Anglo Irish Bank, which collapsed during the economic crash of 2008. READ MORE The proceedings centred on IBRC's attempts to recover billions of euro of debts owed to Anglo Irish Bank by the Quinn family. Following various cases, the litigation was resolved in 2019. According to court documents, Ms Quinn received almost €540,000 in gross payments from the three Russian companies owned by Quinn Group between 2011 and 2012. The total tax bill issued by the Revenue for the two years came to €301,718. Last year, the Tax Appeals Commission determined the money received by Ms Quinn from Finansstroy (€351,465.20 gross) should be removed from Revenue's assessment of her income tax returns for 2011 and 2012, after finding the money was incorrectly assessed. The commissioner's determination was based on Ms Quinn's evidence, and the findings of Russian courts, that the 'employment' relationship between Ms Quinn and Finansstroy 'was wholly bogus and unlawful'. There is a specific provision in Irish law that allows for taxing of profits or gains obtained unlawfully, but the Revenue did not assess the Finansstoy money under this provision. The commissioner noted there was no finding of criminality in respect of the employment relationship. Ms Quinn had appealed to the Tax Appeals Commission following Revenue's assessment of her income tax returns for 2011 and 2012. Revenue appealed the commissioner's determination to the High Court last year, seeking the court's opinion on several points of law it says arises from the determination. Opening the case on Wednesday, Aoife Goodman SC, appearing with Kieran Binchy BL appearing for Revenue, submitted to Ms Justice Siobhán Stack that the commissioner erred in finding the income received from Finansstroy could only be assessed under section 58 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. This section allows for taxation of profits or gains where the source of which is unknown, or arises from an unlawful source or activity. Revenue assessed the Finansstroy money under section 18 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, which allows for taxing of income arising from an employment outside the State. Ms Goodman also submitted that the commissioner was wrong to conclude that the Revenue was 'aware of the unlawfulness' of the source of the Finansstroy money when it made its income tax assessment. Bernard Dunleavy SC, appearing with Eoin O'Shea BL for Ms Quinn, will lay out his client's case on Thursday.
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Israeli businessman buys Ukrainian property formerly owned by Seán Quinn
A shopping centre and an office development in Kyiv formerly owned by businessman Seán Quinn have been sold by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) to an Israeli businessman with operations in Ukraine. The properties – the Leonardo business centre and the Ukraina shopping centre – were sold for a price between €40 million and €50 million, substantially below the €70 million to €80 million they were worth when the IBRC first got legal control over the assets, according to sources. The sale, to Ofer Kerzner's City Capital Group (CCG) group, comes 14 years after Mr Quinn's assets were seized by Anglo Irish Bank after a disastrous contracts for difference investment by him in the bank's shares. After Anglo was subsumed into the State-owned IBRC, the bank engaged in a hugely expensive multi-jurisdictional battle with Mr Quinn and his family to assert its control over an international property portfolio that included the Ukrainian assets. READ MORE The Quinns, using offshore companies and a series of court actions in jurisdictions around the world, sought to frustrate the bank, creating a situation that was estimated to have cost the State up to €170 million in legal fees, lost rental income, and other costs. During the battle, both Mr Quinn and Seán Quinn jnr were jailed for contempt of court. [ IBRC liquidators hand €360m over to State as wind-up nears end Opens in new window ] The IBRC's efforts to assert control over the assets at one stage involved a deal with a Russian financial conglomerate, the Alfa Group , owned by a number of Russian oligarchs. Eventually the battle between the Quinns and the IBRC was settled. However, by then the developing tensions with Russia had affected property prices in Ukraine . The deal with the Alfa Group was unwound and the properties continued to be managed on the IBRC's behalf after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Mr Kerzner is an Israeli citizen who has been doing business since 1998 in Ukraine, where his City Capital Group has an extensive property portfolio. One source said the price paid by City Capital is a very good one from its point of view, but involves a substantial risk given the ongoing war with Russia.
