Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT)

Notifications for principal contractors

Principal contractors can submit Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) notifications through the Revenue Online Services (ROS).

Contract notification

You should notify Revenue immediately after entering into a relevant contract with a subcontractor. Before submitting the contract notification, you must get, and keep, documentary evidence proving the identity of the subcontractor.

The information on the contract notification should include the following details:

• subcontractor Tax Reference Number
• subcontactor name
• sector
• nature of the work
• location of the work
• start and end dates of the work
• estimated value of the contract
• and
• a declaration that the contract is not a contract of employment.

On submitting a contract notification, you will receive a Site Identifier Number (SIN) for the site or project. The SIN is created when you enter the site or project name and address in ROS. We will notify all subcontractors of the SIN on their contract confirmation letter. You must use this SIN for all contracts that you submit to us relating to that site or project.

Payment notification

Before you make a payment to a subcontractor, you must notify Revenue of the gross amount of the payment and the date of the payment.

When you submit a payment notification, you will receive a notification in your ROS inbox. This notification includes the details of the amount of tax, if any, that you must deduct from the payment. This is known as the deduction authorisation. If you must deduct tax from the payment, you must give the details of the deduction authorisation to the subcontractor.

Post-payment notification

You may be unable to notify Revenue of a payment on time due to technical difficulties. If you notify us after making the payment, this is known as a post-payment notification. When you are completing a post-payment notification, you will have to choose options from a drop-down menu list.

Deduction summary or return

Revenue create a deduction summary based on your payment notifications. This summary lists payments submitted to us and the total RCT you are due to pay. We will make this available to you in ROS shortly after the end of the return period.

The deduction summary will cover either one month, if you file monthly, or three months, if you file quarterly.

You should check the deduction summary to ensure that you have included all payments and that the amounts are correct. If everything is correct, you do not need to do anything else. This will be your return for the period.

You may make amendments to the summary before the 23rd of the month.

Tax deductions made must be paid to us by the 23rd of the month which follows the return period.

How to access these services

You can access the contract and payment notification services through ROS, by following these steps:

1. click on the 'My Services' homepage
2. select the 'Manage Relevant Contracts Tax' tab from the 'Revenue Record' menu
3. select 'Input a new Contract or Payment Notification' from the RCT Service homepage
4. if you are making a post-payment notification, please indicate this by ticking the check box at the bottom of the screen. 

A deduction summary can be accessed through ROS, by following these steps:

1. click on the 'My Services' homepage
2. select the 'File a Return' option from 'Complete a Form Online'
3. select 'RCT' from the 'Tax Type' option list
4. select 'RCT Return' from the 'Select a return type' option list
5. click the 'File Return' button
6. enter relevant information for the RCT return. 

Next: RCT for subcontractors