More than three quarters of the outstanding €1.5bn of debt currently being warehoused by Revenue has now either been paid back in full or has had a phased payment arrangement agreed in relation to it.
Tomorrow is the deadline for firms which owe the parked debt to Revenue to have either paid it or agreed a plan to pay it.
In an update, Revenue said that as of late this afternoon, 8,600 payment arrangements had been agreed with the tax authority.
A further 1,700 applications are currently being progressed, it added.
By last weekend around 53,000 firms had still to pay off their debt or agree a payment plan.
However, Revenue said this afternoon that 98% of the debt in the warehouse is owed by just over 15,000 businesses.
"We expect that businesses will continue to finalise payments and submit payment proposals this evening and tomorrow," it said.
Revenue added that phone lines at the Collector General's Division would remain open from 9:30am to 1630pm until Friday.
It said while there is no expectation on businesses to have paid the debt they owe in full by tomorrow, they must have engaged with Revenue in a meaningful way by then in order to keep the benefit of the 0% interest rate applicable to the warehoused debt.
"Where a business fails to meaningfully engage with us, the balance outstanding will immediately be subject to standard debt collection proceedings and the standard interest rate of 8%/10% will apply," Revenue said.
"The crucial message, therefore, for any business that has not yet engaged with us in respect of their warehoused debt, is to act now and engage with us immediately to formulate a payment plan."
The debt warehousing scheme was introduced near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to give some breathing space to firms struggling with cash flow as a result of the lockdown.
At its peak, 250,000 businesses availed of it, warehousing €3.2 billion in debt.
