Revenue’s preliminary results for last year show that it collected a record €82.2 billion of tax and duties for the State – an increase of more than 21% compared with a year earlier.

Chairman Niall Cody (pictured) also said that more than 427,000 audit and compliance interventions brought in €813 million during 2022.

He added that Revenue had resumed what he called “normal debt-enforcement activities” in 2022 after a general suspension of such activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tax body secured nine criminal convictions for serious tax evasion and fraud during the year, while it also settled 104 tax avoidance cases that yielded just over €16 million.

“The identification, targeting and disruption of shadow economy, and other illegal activity, continues to be a key focus for Revenue,” said Cody.

“In 2022, we seized over 51 million cigarettes, valued at €39.4 million, and over 3,600 kilos of drugs with an estimated value of €46.4 million,” he said.

Debt scheme extended

The year saw the end of a number of schemes operated by Revenue that were aimed at supporting businesses and workers affected by COVID-19 restrictions.

In October, however, the authority announced a significant extension to the debt-warehousing scheme, to 1 May 2024.

Cody said that almost 72,000 businesses were availing of the scheme, in respect of nearly €2.5 billion of tax debt.

The agency also took on a new scheme aimed at helping businesses with a surge in energy costs after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Registrations for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) opened for eligible businesses in November.

So far, more than 8,800 businesses have registered for the scheme. Almost 3,000 claims have been processed with a total value of around €6.6 million.

Firms adapt to Brexit

Revenue’s head of customs, Gerry Harrahill, highlighted a 58% increase in customs declarations to 40.2 million last year, reflecting the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU, and the growth in online purchases since the pandemic.

Of the €640 million of customs duty collected in 2022, €280 million was linked to imports from the UK.

Harrahill said that this indicated that businesses had, by and large, successfully adapted to the customs formalities that govern the trading relationship with the UK.