Revenue seeks tens of thousands of euro over help to buy scheme

Revenue is demanding tens of thousands of euro in back-payment, interest, and fines from homeowners that were mistakenly included in a scheme to aid first-time buyers.

It has been claimed in the Dáil that the mistake was due to a software error, and that payments demanded from householders could amount to more than €100,000 each.

The Irish Examiner has seen correspondence from Revenue to one household who were told they qualified for the help-to-buy (HTB) scheme, and were paid a five-figure sum in taxback towards their new home — only for Revenue to later demand the money back, with interest and fines, within a month.