As a former accountant (not tax though) I would advise you to never deal directly with the Revenue. Instead get a professional tax advisor to advise you and if necessary enter into correspondence on your behalf. The IR is much less likely to pursue a case if they have to deal with a professional advisor than if they get hold of someone who shoots themselves in the foot with every word they utter. They really don't want to enter into a lengthy exchange of correspondence and discussion of legalise when they can go after an easy target. Remember that a lot of them are on performance targets and some even get bonuses for money recouped.