Hair and beauty among sectors targeted by Revenue for black market operations

Revenue has launched a crackdown on the black market in Ireland, as it has pursued a number of businesses, including hair and beauty ones, for more than €10.5m in the last 18 months, according to a recent report in the Sunday Independent.

This amount is almost as much as Revenue has recouped from the black market in the previous four years combined. 

The hike in money recouped has been attributed in part to the increase in protected disclosures to Revenue by members of the public, and increased investment in training and resources used to combat rogue operators. Revenue staff are also examining social media to gather intelligence on those who are operating cash-in-hand businesses and potentially avoiding paying taxes.

Out of a list of top seven sectors where Revenue stepped in to recoup tax owed in 2026, the hair and beauty industry came in fifth. The Sunday Independent said it has been of significant interest amid concern about an anecdotal rise in people leaving jobs as beauticians or hairdressers to do private cash-in-hand work from their homes or a client’s home, while also claiming social welfare. 

Businesses in the sector complained that this became especially prevalent during and after the pandemic, putting legitimate businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

“Revenue’s activity in the sector includes activity in Botox and other cosmetic treatments and applications,” a spokesperson said. “This sector is expected to remain a feature of Revenue’s shadow economy programmes in the years ahead.”

The report quoted co-founder of the Irish Spa & Beauty Association (ISA) Anita Murray as saying that “legitimate businesses can’t find staff, but then there’s a booming shadow economy”.

“It’s a huge problem, and there’s very little deterrent, and we find that with the way social welfare is structured, it nearly encourages it,” she told the Sunday Independent.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in people looking to work two or three days a week because they’re claiming welfare outside of that, and there’s no one doing the checks and the balances in the background to prevent that. We’d also find a lot of salon spot operators reporting employees requesting to be paid cash and then leaving legitimate employment to work for employers who are just paying cash.

“The shadow economy is hugely damaging to the wider economy and to legitimate businesses because the cost of business has become so expensive.”