Almost €750 million was paid last year to Revenue in unpublished tax settlements, with more than €200 million of that linked to the finance and insurance industries.
The Revenue Commissioners said the 20 largest settlements – specific details of which are not made public – accounted for €383 million in tax payments, or an average of around €19.2 million each.
Altogether, there were 57,873 cases settled by Revenue in 2023 where companies or individuals reached agreement over underpaid tax without their identities or names being listed in defaulter lists.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that of the €749 million in unpublished settlements made last year, most cases related to companies with payments totalling €612 million.
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There were a further 18,804 cases involving individuals, which accounted for €121 million of the tax paid as part of agreements on arrears. Another €6.1 million was paid by 1,215 different partnerships while 213 “trusts estates” paid up just over €5 million, according to the figures. There were also 828 unincorporated bodies that made settlements totalling €4.1 million as well as a small number of other miscellaneous cases.
The Revenue Commissioners said they would not provide any further detail on the 20 largest settlements apart from the €383 million total that was paid. They said any further breakdown of the figures could serve to identify the companies or individuals who were involved in the tax agreements. A breakdown according to sector showed that finance and insurance accounted for more than a quarter of all the unpublished settlements that were made in 2023, with a total yield of €206 million.
The next highest total was in the pharmaceutical sector where payments totalling €74.9 million were made, followed by food manufacturing where there was €57 million in settlements last year. Other sectors where large tax payments were made included construction with €29 million, public administration and defence at €32 million, and real estate activities at €28 million.
There were also unpublished settlements of €7.2 million in the sector of “arts, entertainment and recreation” and €3.5 million in “publishing, audiovisual and broadcasting activities”.
Under the compliance information framework of the Revenue Commissioners, companies can avoid details of settlements being made public by making qualifying disclosures, which include the tax payment and any interest due.
Legislation also excludes from publication cases with a value of less than €50,000, and in other circumstances specified under tax legislation. An information note said that taxpayers who avail of opportunities to review their tax compliance and address or disclose any issues can benefit through minimum penalties and without the risk of publication or prosecution.
It said: “Information on the full range of opportunities available to taxpayers for regularising tax and duty defaults are outlined in Chapter 2 [of] the Code of Practice for Revenue Compliance Interventions.”
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