The final combined voluntary tax disclosure bill of county boards is expected to be in the millions.
Broken down across the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland, some boards have already confirmed six-figure sum liabilities while others are expected to face similarly hefty dues.
In February, it was revealed the boards would make self-assessed tax declarations for an agreed four-year period, 2021 to last year. That followed engagement between Revenue and the GAA at central level after Croke Park reached out when some counties were the subjects of audits.
One of them, Mayo, made a voluntary disclosure of almost €120,000 in 2023 relating to Cúl Camps in 2018 and ’19, which was not accepted by the commissioners, before issuing a second one last year.
At Congress in Donegal six months ago, the GAA’s national finance committee chairman Feargal McCormack told delegates they had reached a self-assessment agreement with Revenue. Counties would declare for the four-year period based on their calculations for 2024, i.e. multiplying that figure by four.
The liabilities were to be divided into six core payments – managers, backroom team members, players, full-time county staff, casual staff and volunteers and referees. There was not expected to be any tax liabilities relating to referees.
McCormack explained the self-assessment, which each county had 60 days to complete, would be “significantly less demanding than a full Revenue audit”. Four counties were to be selected for the initial process.
Each county’s report would be quality checked by central GAA authorities prior to its final submission to the Revenue Commissioners. The board and the board alone would be responsible for the payment of any liability with Croke Park providing resources to them in completing their reviews. PwC and other tax experts were advising the GAA in their engagements with Revenue relating to counties’s potential liabilities.
From the self-reviews, the GAA were expected to receive tax guidance for 2025 and a clear set of rules for units in the tax treatment of payments and stronger governing structures in county boards. The six counties in the north of Ireland were also advised to undertake self-reviews.
Some counties had concerns about team holidays and whether they were liable for tax. There was advice given that there was no charge, although the previous recommendation was that a trip that was part of a training camp or a promotional game was not subject to a liability.