Former taoiseach Charles Haughey told the Revenue in 2003 that he had not received any gifts of money since 1997 and was living on borrowings from the Irish Nationwide Building Society, it emerged at the Moriarty tribunal yesterday.
It also emerged that in 2002 Mr Haughey's accountant, Des Peelo, told the Revenue that Mr Haughey was "dying" and wanted to settle his tax affairs.
The tribunal yesterday resumed hearings into the Revenue's performance in raising tax from Mr Haughey.
A document shown at the tribunal revealed that in 2003 Mr Haughey had to pay income tax of €10,788 arising out of "severance payments" from 1992/1993 and 1993/1994, paid in relation to his retirement from office.
Jacqueline O'Brien SC, for the tribunal, read out details of Mr Haughey's agreement with the Revenue in 2003. He agreed to pay €5 million (£3.94 million) to settle his tax debts arising from payments discovered up to that date by the Moriarty tribunal.
Mr Haughey and his wife agreed to sell land at Kinsealy, Co Dublin, in order to settle the tax bill.
The land, which had been transferred to the Haughey children in 1990, had to be transferred back to Mr Haughey.
In August 2003, the house and lands at Kinsealy were sold to Manor Park Homes for €45 million but Mr Haughey and his wife were given the right to continue living in the house.
One document filed to the Revenue by Mr Haughey said he had bought Abbeville, Kinsealy, for £120,000 in October 1969. Some of the Kinsealy lands had been sold to building materials group CRH in 1970.
The bulk of the lands were transferred to Mr Haughey's four children in 1990, with Mr Haughey and his wife retaining the house and 30 acres.
The reasons why Mr Haughey owed the Revenue €10,788 in respect of "severance payments" in 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 were unclear last night. According to the Department of Finance such payments are taxed at source.
Their records show that Mr Haughey receives a pension but did not get any severance payments. According to the Department of Finance, on leaving public office Mr Haughey opted for a former office-holders' pension arrangement that gave him a pension but no severance payment.
Retiring office-holders have two options. The first provides initial monthly payments of 75 per cent of the salary paid to holders of their former office, with that proportion reducing gradually over a two-year period, following which they receive a relatively modest pension.
The second option involves no severance payments, but a pension based on years of service.
Those with long service - such as Mr Haughey - generally opt for this scheme rather than the first.
Mr Haughey received a pension as former taoiseach and minister of €85,898 in 2004, the last year for which figures have been published.
In the same year he received a further €46,498 as his pension as a former member of the Oireachtas. Under the Oireachtas pension scheme in operation at the time of Mr Haughey's retirement, there was no lump-sum payment.
Severance and pension payments to former office holders are made by the Paymaster General, having been processed and taxed at source through the normal ministerial payroll operation, according to a Department of Finance spokesman.