Trinity College paid €77,000 to Revenue over staff accommodation
Gordon Deegan
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has paid €77,000 to the Revenue Commissioners arising from an unprompted voluntary disclosure in relation to benefits in kind (BIK) associated with staff accommodation provided by TCD.
The payment of €77,000, including interest of €6,000, is disclosed in the 2025 annual report of TCD and also draws the attention of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy.
In a report signed off by TCD Provost, Dr Linda Doyle and TCD board chairman, Paul Farrell, in the annual report, they state that following a review of staff accommodation provided by Trinity for the years 2021 to 2025, “the University made an unprompted voluntary disclosure to the Revenue Commissioners in November 2025 in respect of an underpayment of payroll taxes”.
Doyle and Farrell state that the University has paid €77,000, including interest €6,000 and the disclosure is currently awaiting finalisation.
The note states that “repayment plans are currently under review. Corrective measures have been implemented to ensure ongoing tax compliance”.
In his report on the issue, McCarthy said that the University has recouped some of the tax underpaid from the individuals who availed of the accommodation.
A spokeswoman for TCD confirmed today the unprompted disclosure concerns six members of staff.
The spokeswoman said that the TCD unprompted voluntary disclosure is not applicable to TCD, Provost, Dr Linda Doyle who is not one of the individuals included in the disclosure.
Doyle’s on-campus accommodation is provided in the Provost’s House built in 1759 with an address of 1 Grafton Street.
A note attached to the accounts states that Dr Doyle was paid a salary of €244,031 and, arising from University Statutes, Dr Doyle, as Provost, is required by the terms of her contract of employment to live in the Provost’s House.
The note states that Dr Doyle resides at the Provost’s House for her 10-year tenure and receives an additional taxable benefit for utilities that are incurred for personal use.
The TCD spokeswoman said that around 50 staff live on campus or in Trinity Halls - a building in Dartry which is mostly for first-year students.
The spokeswoman said that most staff pay rent though those required to live on campus for their roles do not.
She said: “For context, there are around 2,000 rooms in total between the main campus and Trinity Halls.”
Separately, Doyle and Farrell confirm that following a review of VAT compliance in a subsidiary of the University, an unprompted voluntary disclosure was made to the Revenue Commissioners in June 2024, €922,000 was paid to Revenue, including €178,000 interest and penalties of €21,000.
The tax liability arose from an over-recovery by the firm of input VAT on activities exempt from VAT.
The TCD spokeswoman today confirmed that the subsidiary is Trinity College Brand Commercial Services Limited (TBCSL), a unit devoted wholly to developing commercial activity at Trinity.
The spokeswoman said that no public funds were involved in the unprompted voluntary disclosure.
Doyle and Farrell state: “The disclosure was accepted and closed with the Revenue Commissioners in July 2025. Corrective measures have been put in place to ensure tax compliance going forward.”
The report shows that one member of staff earned between €400,000 and €410,000 last year. The staff member was one of 34 staff members to earn over €230,000 last year, and a note states that “medical consultants whose contracts and pay are determined by the HSE are included within salary bands greater than €230,000”.
The figures show that there were 876 staff earning between €100,000 and €230,000 last year, compared to 646 in that earning bracket in 2024.
TCD in the 12 months to the end of September last recorded a pre-tax surplus of €33.7m as revenues increased by five per cent to €698.48 million.
Visitor income increased from €25.1 million to €27.96 million.
