The former Fianna Fail minister, Mr Ray Burke, told the Flood tribunal that when he availed of a tax amnesty in 1993 he gave the Revenue Commissioners his best estimate at the time.
Mr Burke declared extra income of £5,085 to avail of the tax amnesty.
Mr Pat Hanratty SC for the tribunal questioned Mr Burke as to the nature of this income.
The former minister said that to his ‘best recollection’ it was an estimate of salaries, bequests, share dividends and not any one specific income.
"I was trying to do the right thing at the time. That was my best estimate," he told the tribunal.
Earlier it was claimed that Mr Burke used political donations to pay off personal debts. But Mr Burke denied the allegation saying his public and private lives could not be separated.
Mr Hanratty SC made the claim saying Mr Burke had transferred a total of £174,342 from deposit accounts he had claimed were for political expenses into his current account to pay off an overdraft at various times.
Mr Burke denied this. He said it was unfair to take a snapshot of his income and spending without taking the whole of his political career into account.
Mr Burke had told the tribunal some of the outgoings from his current account were for the building of a tennis court, renovations to his North Co Dublin house and a car for his wife.
Mr Burke says in no way did he benefit from political contributions that were made to him.
He said his public and private life were intrinsically intermingled and incomes from both supplemented each other.