Companies

Businesses face new year shock as Revenue sends in the sheriffs

Revenue sheriffs will seek to collect as much as €500 million in outstanding tax debt in Q1 of 2023 – just as firms struggle to cope with high fuel costs and the cost of living crisis

Revenue, Dublin Castle: close to 80,000 businesses have debts with Revenue that for many will soon fall due for repayment. Picture: Feargal Ward

Earlier this year, Ireland’s revenue sheriffs complained to the government that they didn’t have enough work to keep them in business.

The sheriffs, independent contractors who collect stubbornly unpaid taxes for the state and take a percentage of what they collect, warned that the government’s decision to effectively park billions of euro in tax debts – a measure to ease the impact of the pandemic on small firms – could put them out of business.