People receiving coronavirus payments from the Government could be in line for an unexpected tax bill, an expert has warned.
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Wage Subsidy Scheme are both subject to income tax.
Brian Keegan of Chartered Accountants Ireland said that the obligations for those receiving the payments may not have been "immediately apparent".
He told Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One: "I think in the rush to get money into people's pockets as the economy was shut down, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Wage Subsidy Scheme have tax consequences that might not be immediately apparent to recipients.
"Both the temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment are subject to income tax.
"Neither of those will have been taxed at source, in other words they weren't cut under the PAYE system.
"So at the end of the year Revenue will be looking to see what individuals have tax liabilities as a consequence of getting those payments, and will be looking for them to account for that tax in future years."
However Mr Keegan insisted that the tax hit is unlikely to be severe, but encouraged people to save some money in advance.
He added: "I don't think anyone should be overly concerned about being hit for a very large tax bill at the end of the year, but nevertheless it is there.
"Certainly for people who received the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, particularly the self-employed, it might be an idea to be setting aside 10-15 euro a week towards a tax bill that will arise inevitably by the end of the year, and that Revenue will collect.
"Generally speaking Revenue will issue some kind of notice to people that an amount is owed, and that will typically result in a reduction in people's tax credits.
"If the amount is large Revenue will ensure no hardship is encountered, so the amount payable might be spread over at least one year, or possibly over several years."
