€783m paid to Revenue in unpublished tax settlements last year

Ken Foxe

A massive €783 million was paid last year in unpublished tax settlements involving close to 55,000 separate companies and members of the public.

A staggering €665 million was paid out by companies in 35,684 separate settlements, an average of around €19,000 each.

A further €103 million had to be given to Revenue by individual taxpayers and members of the public, according to records released under a Freedom of Information request.

Those deals averaged around €6,000 each and made up 31% of the total number of cases involving unpublished tax settlements in 2022.

Another €6.1 million was paid out by partnerships in just over 1,200 separate cases, roughly €5,000 for each settlement.

There was also €1.09 million worth of settlements involving trusts estates, dealing with 195 cases each case worth around €5,600.

Another €7.5 million was paid by unincorporated bodies in 771 separate settlements, with an average value of just over €10,500.

According to the figures, the value of the top 20 unpublished settlements from last year was €418 million, an average of almost €21 million each.

The Revenue Commissioners said they would not provide details of the top twenty largest settlements from last year saying this could potentially lead to the identification of individual taxpayers.

Revenue did, however, provide a breakdown of unpublished settlements by sector with IT and other information services dominating at €307 million.

Next highest was the €77 million paid out by firms involved in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

There was €57 million in unpublished settlements involving firms in finance and insurance and €61 million from firms engage in the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products.

Other sectors with sizeable settlements included construction at €31 million, €32 million from accommodation and food providers, and €36 million from companies involved in public administration and defence, and compulsory social security.

Also paid up was €22 million from real estate firms, €5.4 million from residential and social care providers, and €4.3 million from the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector.

A Revenue spokeswoman said they aimed to collect taxes in a fair and efficient manner and supported voluntary compliance from taxpayers.

She said: “The nature of any intervention conducted is based on taxpayer behaviour and the particular risks identified. These responses range from easily accessible opportunities to voluntarily correct errors and make a qualifying disclosure, up to criminal investigation for serious cases of fraud or evasion.

“Taxpayers who avail of opportunities to review their tax compliance position and voluntarily address or disclose any issues identified may benefit by experiencing the minimum level of penalty and generally not risk either publication or prosecution.”