A UNION REPRESENTING teachers has played down reports that the Revenue has launched a probe into undeclared fees for after-school grinds, describing it as not a “widespread issue”.

A spokesperson for the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland said there are only “very few” teachers who have other work outside school hours, adding she did not believe undeclared income was common in the sector.

“I don’t think it’s  a widespread issue,” ASTI spokesperson Gemma Tuffy said. “There are very few teachers engaged in other work.”

The Irish Daily Mail reported this morning that the Revenue Commissioners are investigating close to 200 teachers suspected of not declaring fee income from after-school grinds.

But Tuffy said 200 was a “very small number out of 60,000 teachers.” She said ASTI would not have direct involvement in the tax affairs of its members, but stressed:

We would always advise our members to ensure that their tax affairs are in order, to recognise whether they are underpaying or overpaying. We would have advised them that if they are engaging in any work outside teaching, there could be tax implications.

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