DAFM pays €716,000 tax bill for staff
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has paid €715,745 to Revenue in tax and interest after payroll deductions for staff benefits were not made.
It has emerged that DAFM did not properly account for taxable employee benefits through payroll from 2021 to 2024.
This resulted in the substantial bill from Revenue for a PAYE liability - €563,290 - and related interest - €152,455.
Details of DAFM's tax bill associated with benefits provided to its own staff came to light after an internal account was prepared for the Comptroller and Auditor General.
This account detailed that DAFM has confirmed that it "will not beseeking to recover the tax from the relevant employees".
DAFM
This is because the department failed to have the "necessary measures" in place to make the benefit in kind deductions frompayroll between 2021 and 2024.
DAFM may yet face a further bill from Revenue in relation to this.
In the account prepared for the Comptroller and Auditor General the department detailed that it has "not yet been notified of related penalties, which will be determined by Revenue at alater stage".
"The department expects this review to conclude shortly," it added.
€3 million bill
In addition to the tax bill the account prepared for the Comptroller and Auditor General also reveals that DAFM paid more than €3 million to Revenue in VAT, interest and related penalties following a review.
Revenue Commissioners conducted a VAT review for 2022 and DAFM also made "unprompted disclosures for 2021, 2023 and2024".
The department stated: "The Department paid a total amount of €2.740 million in 2025 in respect of a VAT liability (€2.192 million) and related interest (€548,044).
"Related penalties totalling €281,446 were paid in March 2026 in a final settlement with Revenue."
DAFM also confirmed that it is training staff to reduce the risk of this happening again.
The department said that 200 staff have been trained and that further staff in its accounts division will also received "targeted" VAT training.
The figures do not detail what caused the VAT errors or whether the training has resulted in improved compliance.
