Revenue has acknowledged that confusion around approval requirements has led to delays in finalising repayments of the Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax to some taxpayers.
The tax was introduced in May 2018 as one of a number of measures aimed at tackling obesity by reducing the consumption of sugar in the form of sweetened drinks.
The collection of the sugar tax is administered by Revenue and net receipts for the sugar tax totalled €172m between 2018 and 2023.
Relief from the tax is available to exporters of sugar-sweetened drinks by way of a repayment.
A report by the State's spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), has found delays in making some repayment, found that two claims that had been paid despite being invalid and also found errors on the part of caseworkers in processing some claims.
"The examination team's review highlighted that Revenue guidance did not accurately reflect the actual system and work processes in place for repayments of the sugar tax," the C&AG said.
"Revenue has acknowledged that confusion around approval requirements has led to delays in finalising repayments to some taxpayers," the report states.
The C&AG recommended that Revenue should review the approval process for sugar tax repayment claims and update its guidance as needed to ensure that the process is clear for all caseworkers processing and approving sugar tax cases.
In response, Revenue said that in June 2024, it undertook a review of the process for approving repayment claims for the sugar tax following which the tax and duty manual for the tax was updated and published at the end of July 2024.
