Revenue launches consultation on modernising Ireland’s administration of Value-Added Tax

Today (13/10/2023), in line with the Budget speech of the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, T.D., earlier this week, Revenue has launched a public consultation on modernising Ireland’s administration of Value-Added Tax (VAT).

Digital technology advances offer the possibility of redesigning how VAT is administered to align compliance obligations more closely with normal business processes. This will reduce compliance costs and yield efficiencies for tax-compliant businesses, while enabling Revenue to focus more effectively on combatting fraud. In that context, Revenue’s objective is to advance the introduction of real-time digital reporting for VAT, supported by electronic invoicing (eInvoicing).

Recent years have seen many developed economies undertake reforms in this direction, providing plenty of international experience from which Ireland can learn.  At European Union (EU) level, discussions are currently underway on the European Commission’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposals for similar developments in respect of cross-border transactions between Member States.

The focus of this initial public consultation is the modernisation of Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) VAT reporting, supported by eInvoicing.

Revenue is seeking the views of all VAT stakeholders, including businesses, accounting software providers, eInvoicing providers, tax practitioners, accounting firms, bookkeepers, business and industry experts and any other interested persons.

The public consultation process runs from today, 13 October 2023, to 12 January 2024.

The consultation paper is published on Revenue’s website and is available here.

[ENDS 13/10/2023]