A barrister and former IT worker with the Revenue Commissioners has been ordered by the High Court to pay a €250,000 tax assessment which he had claimed had no basis in reality.

Timothy Dixon was a PAYE worker for 15 years in Revenue and also spent four years in the Department of Social Welfare before taking a career break to work as a barrister.

He disputed the assessment and claimed the tax authorities had simply pulled a figure out of the air after he had failed to make returns between 2005 and 2010.

The court heard his last return was made in 2004 and, on the basis of figures from that return, Revenue in 2012 sent him a tax bill for €368,806 for the six years 2005 to 2010.

When Mr Dixon failed to pay, the Revenue Commissioners got a freezing and attachment order in December 2012 on three of his bank accounts and had a total of €154,681 taken from them to offset his tax bill.

It then initiated legal proceedings to recover the outstanding amount relating to the years 2008-10.

That stood at €250,251, inclusive of €36,000 interest.