Sharp rise in Revenue unpaid tax write-offs

Some money is ultimately written off when it is clear collection cannot be revisited, particularly in insolvency situations.

The Revenue Commissioners wrote off more than €270m in unpaid taxes last year, a sharp climb of more than 70% 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 many of the debts related to companies that failed or went into liquidation during the pandemic.

It said the sharp rise in write-offs last year was primarily down to timing, rather than policy change in how such debts are handled.

Data released under freedom of information shows €271.5m in tax was subject to what Revenue termed a “write-out” process last year.

It said 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 collection cannot be revisited, particularly in insolvency situations.

For 2024, the amount of tax debt written off was €158.9m, though Revenue declined to provide detail on how many individual cases there were for either year.

Asked why the figure had risen so much in 2025, the Revenue Commissioners said there was an increase in both the number of taxpayers involved and the amount of money owed.

It said the majority related to firms in the tax debt warehouse scheme — especially those described as “non-engagers” and connected companies.

There were also a “number of larger and more complex liquidations” that concluded last year following assessments.

An information note said: “Overall, the increase is mostly a function of case mix and timing, not a systemic shift in uncollectible debt or a change of policy.” 

Revenue said it could not provide details that would identify specific taxpayers but the €271.5m written off in 2025 predominantly related to insolvent businesses.

It added: “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.” 

Revenue said other tax debts arose in restructuring processes such as examinership, personal insolvency, bankruptcy, and receivership.

It said the €430m in write-offs over the past two years was in cases where “no further recovery is possible in law”. 

The information note said it expected the sharp increase in 2025 to “moderate over time as recoveries from insolvency processes are realised and written back”.