The Revenue Commissioners wrote off more than €270 million in unpaid taxes last year, a sharp climb on 2024 figures. The surge in write-offs was driven mainly by businesses going bust and fallout from tax “warehousing” during Covid-19, Revenue said.
The 70 per cent rise in write-offs last year was, Revenue said, primarily down to timing, rather than any change in policy on how such debts are handled.
Data released under Freedom of Information shows that €271.5 million in tax was subject to what Revenue termed a “write-out” process last year.
It said that when taxes were not “currently collectible”, processes were in place to suspend collection where recovery was not feasible. However, some money is ultimately written off when it is clear that collection cannot be revisited, particularly in insolvency situations.
READ MORE
Revenue declined to provide detail on how many individual cases there were for either year.
For 2024, the amount of tax debt written off was €158.9 million.
Asked why the figure had risen so much in 2025, the Revenue Commissioners said there had been an increase both in the number of taxpayers involved and the amount of money owed.
The majority related to companies in the tax debt warehouse – especially those described as “non-engagers” and connected companies.
Revenue facilitated companies during the Covid pandemic by allowing them to “warehouse” certain tax debt with a view to repaying it when circumstances improved.
There were also a “number of larger and more complex liquidations” that concluded last year following assessments.
“Overall, the increase is mostly a function of case mix and timing, not a systemic shift in uncollectible debt or a change of policy,” an information note said.
Revenue said it could not provide details that would identify specific taxpayers but that the €271.5 million written off in 2025 predominantly related to insolvent businesses.
“In such circumstances, write outs most commonly arise in respect of business taxes such as VAT and employer payroll remittances (eg PAYE/USC) and, in some cases, corporation tax,” it said.
Revenue said other tax debts arose in restructuring processes, such as examinership, personal insolvency, bankruptcy, and receivership.
It said the €430 million in write-offs over the past two years arose in cases where “no further recovery is possible in law”.
The information note said tax authorities expected the sharp increase in 2025 to “moderate over time as recoveries from insolvency processes are realised and written back”.
During 2025, Revenue collected €106 billion in taxes and duties overall. on top of €34 billion that was collected on behalf of other departments, agencies and EU member states.
The €106 billion in taxes was up almost 9 per cent, or €8.6 billion, on 2024. That included €36.6 billion in income tax and universal social charge, €34.7 billion in corporation tax and €22.9 billion in VAT.
The tax authorities said they completed more than 291,600 audit and compliance interventions, yielding €734 million, settled 189 tax avoidance cases yielding €41.7 million, and secured 204 criminal convictions for tax evasion offences.
