I had always dreaded an audit as I have been self assessed for the last 4 years. I always had niggling doubts about compliance like most people I suppose.
Anyway, I applied for and received my Tax Clearance Cert last week. Does this mean I can't/won't be audited for the periods covered by the cert???
I had to apply for one a few years ago and the short answer is no it doesn't rule you out of being audited, I wasn't audited but I remember that there was a statement to that affect on the cert.
"this tax certificate is issued to the person named above to confirm the person's tax affairs are in order.
Apart from the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001, this certificate may be used in any circumstances where production of a tax clearance Certificate is required"
There's no mention of a caveat like what you described???
A tax clearance cert does not rule out an Revenue audit. Its just a statement to say your tax affairs are upto date - filed and paid. It does not verify the filings.