AN IRISH AUTHOR has made a settlement of more than €2.1m with the Revenue Commissioners for not paying enough income tax. 

Darren O’Shaughnessy, who writes under the pen name Darren Shan, is a bestselling author of a number of young adult horror and fantasy books.

He is best known for his Saga of Darren Shan series, which is also known as the Cirque Du Freak series. He lives in Limerick. 

According to Revenue, O’Shaughnessy owed over €1.44m in income tax. His bill to the taxman also incurred €271,090 in interest and a further €432,227 in penalties, bringing his total settlement to €2,144,080. 

In total, 36 cases involving underpayment of tax were settled with Revenue in the second quarter of the year. The total settlement amount was €9,462,740. 

Among the other cases was Edmond Moloney. The company director, landlord and property developer, who lives in Portugal, failed to pay €749,231 in income tax. 

His settlement for under-declared taxes of €1.25m included over €278,000 in interest and over €224,000 in penalties. 

Tony Chawke, another company director and landlord, made a settlement of over €526,000 with the commissioners after an audit found the Limerick resident did not pay over €344,000 in income tax. 

Thomas Burke, a Limerick landlord and orthopaedic surgeon, also under-declared his income tax.

Revenue states he failed to pay over €282,000 in income tax. Interest of over €30,000 and penalties of over €84,000 brought his total settlement to €397,945. 

AAA Healthcare Limited, a medical staff provider in Dublin, was subject to a Revenue audit for the under-declaration of corporation tax and PAYE/PRSI/USC. 

It paid a total of €111,517 to Revenue, which was made up of €62,972 in tax, €29,653 in interest and €18,892 in penalties. 

A nursing home care provider was also found not to have paid enough PAYE/PRSI/USC. 

Esker Properties Holdings Limited, which runs Hazel Hall Nursing Home in Co Kildare, made a settlement of €161,457 – including €76,797 in tax, €61,621 in interest and penalties of €23,039. 

Sligo construction firm Jackie McMahon Construction and Cost Consultancy was listed for under-declaration of VAT. Their total settlement was €102,810.

Another business who did not pay enough VAT was Joe Curran Commercials Limited.

The commercial vehicle testing and sales company, which is now in liquidation, owed €195,752 in VAT. It made a settlement of €439,818, which included a penalty equal to the amount of VAT the business owed.