Tax Bill Finance Ireland: Funding VAT, Corporation Tax and PAYE Bills (2026)

Ask any Irish accountant about 23 November and watch them wince. A December year-end company pays its preliminary corporation tax that day. September and October VAT is due through ROS that day too. So is October's PAYE.

Three tax bills, one date, right when you're buying in stock for Christmas.

Most of the owners who ring us about this aren't in trouble. They're profitable and the money is coming. It just isn't in the account on the 23rd. So the real question is how you bridge that gap without damaging the one document that quietly controls your access to almost every other kind of funding: your tax clearance certificate.

The Irish Tax Calendar Pinch Points That Catch You Out

Tax bills rarely hurt because they're big. They hurt because they arrive in clusters, and the clusters land at awkward points in your trading year.

If you file and pay through ROS, the 23rd of the month is the date that runs your life. Monthly PAYE and VAT returns are due by the 23rd of the month after the period ends. Here are the pinch points we see most often:

• 23 November. Preliminary corporation tax for a December year-end company, the September to October VAT return and October PAYE, all on one day.
• 23 January. The November to December VAT return, which captures your whole Christmas trade, plus December PAYE including any bonuses.
• Month 9 after your year-end. The CT1 and the balance of corporation tax are due by the 23rd of the ninth month after the period ends. That's 23 September for a December year-end.
• 31 October, with the ROS extension into November. Sole traders and partners pay last year's income tax balance and this year's preliminary tax together. It's often the biggest single payment of their year.

Preliminary tax trips up growing companies in particular. If last year's corporation tax was €200,000 or less, you're a "small company" and can pay the lower of 100% of last year's bill or 90% of this year's. Sounds fine, until a strong year lands you a big balance in September and then a preliminary payment two months later, sized on the new, higher profits.

So what do you do when the 23rd arrives and the cash hasn't?

How a Revenue Phased Payment Arrangement Works in 2026

A PPA is Revenue's formal instalment plan. You apply through ROS on the electronic form (ePPA1), and the conditions are simple:

• You owe more than €500, including interest and penalties.
• Every return that's due has been filed. Revenue won't agree a plan on liabilities it can't see.
• You don't already have a PPA. One at a time, though an existing one can be consolidated with new debt.
• You keep paying your current taxes on time for the whole arrangement.

You propose the term, the down-payment and the day of the month for the direct debit. Revenue may ask for bank statements, a six-month cash flow forecast or management accounts, and it aims to respond within ten days. The standard maximum is 36 months, stretching to 60 if you can make the case.

The down-payment is where people get caught. Revenue doesn't publish a fixed percentage any more, it assesses each case. Budget for a meaningful upfront payment, because "nothing down" isn't a realistic plan.

Interest keeps running at Revenue's statutory rates: 8% a year on corporation tax, income tax and CGT, and 10% on VAT, employer PAYE and RCT. Miss an instalment and Revenue re-presents the debit 21 days later. Keep missing them, or fall behind on current returns, and the arrangement can be cancelled. Then the full balance is due and enforcement is on the table.

Tax Clearance: Why Your Choice Matters More Than the Interest Rate

This is the bit most guides skip. It's also the bit that matters most if you'll need finance in the next couple of years.

Your tax clearance certificate is Revenue's confirmation that your affairs are in order. You need it for public sector contracts, for most Enterprise Ireland and LEO grants, for liquor licence renewals, and in practice for almost every serious loan application. Banks, SBCI-backed lenders and most alternative lenders check it as standard.

Here's the key line from Revenue's own guidance: it can issue tax clearance to a business with arrears where those arrears are covered by an instalment arrangement. So a PPA you're keeping to protects your clearance. Arrears with no arrangement get it refused or withdrawn.

That gives you three very different outcomes:

1. You miss the 23rd and do nothing. You lose your tax clearance, and with it the ability to borrow the money to pay the bill. That's the trap.
2. You agree a PPA quickly. You keep your clearance, but there's a Revenue arrangement on your file that every lender will ask about.
3. You borrow before the due date. Revenue's paid in full and there's nothing to explain.

When we take a case to lenders, a PPA in good standing is rarely a deal-breaker on its own. A PPA that's been restructured twice, or arrears sitting on a statement of account with no arrangement? That very often is. If you want to see how lenders weigh this alongside the rest of your record, our guide to your business credit score walks through it.

What Changed When Debt Warehousing Ended

During Covid, the Debt Warehousing Scheme let you park VAT, employer PAYE and some income tax interest-free. The final deadline was 1 May 2024. By then you had to pay the warehoused debt in full or agree an arrangement with Revenue.

Most businesses did. Revenue reported that almost 90% of the €1.65 billion still in the warehouse in early April 2024 was paid, in a PPA or in a proposed arrangement by May. It also issued demands to around 11,700 businesses that hadn't engaged. The Covid-era reduced-rate PPA is closed to new applications too.

What does that mean for you in 2026? Two things. There's no special deal any more, so new tax debt goes into a standard PPA at the full 8% or 10%. And if you're still paying off warehoused debt, a new bill may have to be folded into that existing PPA, making it bigger and longer. Lenders will see that history.

When a Short-Term Loan Beats a Phased Payment Arrangement

A PPA often looks cheapest on paper. It isn't always the best call. In the cases we see, a loan wins in five situations:

1. You'll need other finance soon. Leasing a van, fitting out a unit or refinancing in the next 12 months? A clean Revenue record is worth more than the interest you'd save.
2. You're tendering for public work. Tax clearance is non-negotiable on public contracts. Don't leave it hanging on a direct debit.
3. The shortfall is pure timing. A big receivable due in six weeks, or a seasonal business whose cash peaks in spring, can clear a short loan quickly with no Revenue footprint.
4. The bill is VAT or PAYE. Revenue charges 10% on these. A bank loan at 7 to 9% can be cheaper before you even count the tax clearance benefit.
5. You already have a PPA. Stacking new debt on an existing arrangement makes it larger and more fragile. Keep them separate.

The PPA wins when you've a genuine affordability problem, not a timing one, or when no lender will approve you. In that case, talk to Revenue early. It's far more flexible before enforcement starts than after.

Worked Comparison: Funding a €60,000 VAT Bill Three Ways

Say you run a retail business with a €60,000 VAT bill due on 23 January after a strong Christmas, but your cash is committed to spring stock. Here's how the options stack up over roughly 12 months. The figures are illustrative.

On interest alone, the bank loan and the PPA are neck and neck, and the alternative lender costs more. But look at the first column. The PPA needs €12,000 on day one in this example, which may be exactly the cash you don't have. And it puts Revenue into your next conversation with a lender.

Bank of Ireland, for one, markets a dedicated business tax loan over a maximum of 11 months, and other banks will structure a short working capital loan for the same job if you ask early enough.

Now look at the last row. That's the one to avoid. You pay about the same interest as a PPA, you lose your clearance, and Revenue can send the debt to the sheriff or a solicitor, or issue a notice of attachment against your bank account or your customers.

What Lenders Need When You Borrow to Pay Revenue

Here's the catch with borrowing to pay tax: most lenders want your tax affairs in order before they'll lend. That's why timing is everything. Apply four to six weeks before the due date, while your record's still clean.

Have this ready:

• Your current tax clearance certificate and a ROS statement of account.
• The return or assessment showing the bill you're funding.
• Six to twelve months of business bank statements and recent management accounts.
• Your latest filed accounts and up-to-date CRO filings.

The lender will pull your Central Credit Register file as well. Our business loan requirements guide has the full checklist.

Then match the term to the problem. A short-term business loan of 6 to 12 months suits a timing gap. Our fixed-term loans run from €30,000 to €300,000 over 12 to 48 months with fast decisions, which suits a larger bill you'd rather spread out. If most of your income comes through the card machine, revenue-based lending can work too, because repayments flex with sales. It costs more than bank money, though, so use it as a bridge, not a habit.

Is it the PAYE bill that keeps catching you? That's usually a wages timing problem, and payroll finance is worth a look.

Stop the 23rd Becoming a Crisis Every Quarter

If tax bills catch you every year, the fix isn't a loan. It's structure.

A business overdraft sized to your seasonal low point, or a working capital loan set up before the busy season, takes the panic out of the 23rd. And the cheapest fix of all costs nothing: open a separate tax account and move the VAT element of every sale into it weekly. When the bill lands, the money's already sitting there.

Pay Revenue on Your Terms and Keep Your Tax Clearance Clean

A tax bill you can't pay on the day is a cash flow problem, not a character flaw. You've two good tools. A PPA is cheap and flexible and, if you keep to it, protects your clearance. A short-term loan sometimes costs a bit more but pays Revenue in full and keeps your file clean for the next lender, tender or grant.

The bad option is drift. Miss the 23rd, say nothing, and you lose your tax clearance at exactly the moment you need it.

Decide early. Pick the tool that fits the shape of the problem. And talk to your accountant before the bill lands, not after.

Frequently Asked Questions