Agriculture & Fishing
VALUE-ADDED TAXÂ CONSOLIDATION ACT
Part 10 Special Schemes (ss. 86-92)
Chapter 1 Special Schemes – Miscellaneous (ss. 86-91)
86.
Special provisions for tax invoiced by flat-rate farmers.
(1)Subject to section 68(1) and (6) and subsection (1A), where a flat-rate farmer supplies agricultural produce or an agricultural service to a person, the farmer shall issue to the person an invoice indicating the consideration (exclusive of the flat-rate addition) in respect of the supply and an amount (in this Act referred to as a “flat-rate addition”) equal to 4.8 per cent of that consideration (exclusive of the flat-rate addition).
(1A)Where section 68(6) applies, the issue of an invoice by a flat-rate farmer shall only apply in respect of agricultural produce or an agricultural service of a kind not specified in an order made by the Minister under section 86A.
(2)Where, in relation to a supply of agricultural produce or an agricultural service by a flat-rate farmer, the farmer issues an invoice in which the flat-rate addition is stated separately, that addition is recoverable by the farmer as part of the consideration for the transaction other than where an order has been made by the Minister under section 86A relating to such supply of produce or service.
86A. Restriction of flat-rate addition.
(1)Where, following a review carried out by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to a particular agricultural sector and having regard, in particular, to the business structures or models employed and the nature of the relationships and contractual arrangements in place between parties in the sector, the Minister is satisfied that the application of the flat-rate addition in accordance with section 86 in respect of supplies of agricultural produce or agricultural services within that sector has resulted in, and if that application were retained would continue to contribute to, a systematic excess of the amount of flat-rate addition payments over the amount of non-recoverable tax on input costs borne by flat-rate farmers within that sector, the Minister may by order provide that the flat-rate addition shall not apply to supplies of a kind to be specified in the order.
(2)In subsection (1), “non-recoverable tax on input costs” means tax which would be deductible in accordance with section 59 if the flat-rate farmers in the particular agricultural sector were registered for value-added tax, less tax which is recoverable by flat-rate farmers in that sector in accordance with a refund order made under section 103.
(3)An order made under this section shall be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
87.
Margin scheme – taxable dealers.
(1)In this section –
“agricultural machinery” means machinery or equipment (other than a motor vehicle within the meaning of section 60(1)) which has been used by a flat-rate farmer for the purpose of that farmer’s Annex VII activity in circumstances where any tax charged on the supply of that machinery or equipment to the farmer would have been deductible by him or her if he or she had elected to be an accountable person at the time of that supply of the machinery or equipment to the farmer;
“antiques” means any of the goods specified in paragraph 24 of Schedule 3 or in paragraph 3 of Schedule 5;
“collectors’ items” means any of the goods specified in paragraph 2 of Schedule 5;
“margin scheme” means the special arrangements for the taxation of supplies of margin scheme goods;
“margin scheme goods” means any works of art, collectors’ items, antiques or second-hand goods supplied within the Community to a taxable dealer –
(a)by a person (other than a person referred to in paragraph (c)) who was not entitled to deduct, under Chapter 1 of Part 8, any tax in respect of the person’s purchase, intra-Community acquisition or importation of those goods where that person is neither –
(i)an accountable person who acquired those goods from a taxable dealer who applied the margin scheme to the supply of those goods to that accountable person, nor
(ii)an accountable person who acquired those goods from an auctioneer (within the meaning of section 89) who applied the auction scheme (within the meaning of section 89) to the supply of those goods to that accountable person
(aa)by an accountable person who was entitled to deduct tax in accordance with section 59(2)(d) in respect of a second-hand good, being a qualifying vehicle, as defined in section 59(1)
(b)by a person in another Member State who was not entitled to deduct, under the provisions implementing Articles 167, 173, 176 and 177 of the VAT Directive, in that Member State, any value-added tax referred to in that Directive in respect of that person’s purchase, intra-Community acquisition or importation of those goods, or
(c)by another taxable dealer who has applied the margin scheme to the supply of those goods or applied the provisions implementing Articles 4 and 35, first subparagraph of Article 139(3) and Articles 311 to 325 and 333 to 340 of the VAT Directive, in another Member State to the supply of those goods,
and also includes goods acquired by a taxable dealer as a result of a disposal of goods by a person to the taxable dealer where that disposal was deemed not to be a supply of goods in accordance with section 20(3);
“means of transport” means –
(a)motorised land vehicles with an engine cylinder capacity exceeding 48 cubic centimetres or a power exceeding 7.2 kilowatts, other than agricultural machinery, and
(b)vessels exceeding 7.5 metres in length and aircraft with a take-off weight exceeding 1,550 kilogrammes, other than vessels and aircraft of the kind referred to in paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 2,
which are intended for the transport of persons or goods, other than new means of transport supplied where section 24(1)(b) applies in relation to that supply;
“precious metals” means silver (including silver plated with gold or platinum), gold (including gold plated with platinum), and platinum, and all items which contain any of those metals when the consideration for the supply does not exceed the open market price (within the meaning of section 36) of the metal concerned;
“precious stones” means diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, whether cut or uncut, when they are not mounted, set or strung;
“profit margin” means the profit margin in respect of a supply by a taxable dealer of margin scheme goods and –
(a)subject to paragraph (b) –
(i)shall be deemed to be inclusive of tax, and
(ii)shall be an amount which is equal to the difference between the taxable dealer’s selling price for those goods and the taxable dealer’s purchase price for those goods
(b)shall be deemed to be nil in any case where the purchase price is greater than the selling price;
“purchase price”, in relation to an acquisition of margin scheme goods, means the total consideration, including all taxes, commissions, costs and charges whatsoever, payable by a taxable dealer to the person from whom that taxable dealer acquired those goods;
“second-hand goods” means any tangible movable goods which are suitable for further use either as they are or after repair, including means of transport and agricultural machinery (purchased or acquired on or after 1 January 2010), but not including scrap metal within the meaning of section 16(4)(a), works of art, collectors’ items, antiques, precious metals and precious stones;
“selling price” means the total consideration which a taxable dealer becomes entitled to receive in respect of or in relation to a supply of margin scheme goods, including all taxes, commissions, costs and charges whatsoever and value-added tax (if any) payable in respect of the supply;
“taxable dealer”
(a)means an accountable person who in the course or furtherance of business, whether acting on the person’s own behalf, or on behalf of another person pursuant to a contract under which commission is payable on purchase or sale, purchases or acquires or applies for the purpose of his or her business margin scheme goods or the goods referred to in subsection (4)(a)(ii) and (iii), with a view to resale, or imports the goods referred to in subsection (4)(a)(i), with a view to resale, and
(b)includes a person supplying financial services of the kind specified in paragraph 6(1)(e) of Schedule 1 who acquires or purchases margin scheme goods for the purpose of the supply thereof as part of an agreement of the kind referred to in section 19(1)(c)
and, for the purposes of this interpretation, a person in another Member State shall be deemed to be a taxable dealer where, in similar circumstances, that person would be a taxable dealer in the State under this section;
“works of art” means any of the goods specified in paragraph 18(2) or 23 of Schedule 3 or in paragraph 1 of Schedule 5.
(2)Subject to and in accordance with this section, a taxable dealer may apply the margin scheme to a supply of margin scheme goods.
(2A)A taxable dealer shall not apply the margin scheme to a supply of a new means of transport where section 24(1)(b) applies in relation to that supply.
(3)Where the margin scheme is applied to a supply of goods, the amount on which tax is chargeable on the supply in accordance with section 3(a) or (c) is, notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 5, the profit margin less the amount of tax included in the profit margin.
(4)
(a)Subject to paragraph (b) and to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in regulations, a taxable dealer may, notwithstanding subsection (2), opt to apply the margin scheme to all that dealer’s supplies of any of the following as if they were margin scheme goods:
(i)a work of art, collector’s item or antique which the taxable dealer imported;
(ii)a work of art which has been supplied to the taxable dealer by its creator or the creator’s successors in title; or
(iii)a work of art which has been supplied to the taxable dealer by an accountable person other than a taxable dealer, where the supply to that dealer is of the kind referred to in section 48(1)(c).
(b)Where a taxable dealer opts to apply the margin scheme in accordance with paragraph (a), the option shall be for a period of not less than 2 years from the date when that option was exercised.
(5)Where a taxable dealer exercises the option in accordance with subsection (4), in respect of the goods specified in subsection (4)(a)(i), then, notwithstanding the definition of “purchase price” in subsection (1), the purchase price for the purposes of determining the profit margin in relation to a supply of those goods shall be an amount equal to the value of those goods for the purposes of importation determined in accordance with section 53 increased by the amount of any tax payable in respect of the importation of those goods.
(6)Subject to subsection (7) and notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 8, a taxable dealer who exercises the option in respect of the supply of the goods specified in subsection (4)(a) shall not be entitled to deduct any tax in respect of the purchase or importation of those goods.
(7)Where a taxable dealer exercises the option in accordance with subsection (4), the dealer may, notwithstanding subsection (4)(b), in respect of any individual supply of the goods specified in subsection (4)(a), opt not to apply the margin scheme to that supply, and in such case the right to deduction of the tax charged on the purchase, intra-Community acquisition or importation of those goods shall, notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 8, arise only in the taxable period in which the dealer supplies those goods.
(8)
(a)In this subsection –
“aggregate margin”, in respect of a taxable period –
(i)subject to paragraph (ii), means an amount which is equal to the difference between the taxable dealer’s total turnover in that taxable period from supplies of low value margin scheme goods, to which the same rate of tax applies, less the sum of that taxable dealer’s purchase prices of low value margin scheme goods to which that rate of tax applies to the supply thereof, in that taxable period
(ii)in any case where the sum of such purchase prices of that dealer is in excess of such total turnover, means an amount which shall be deemed to be nil (and, in any such case, subject to and in accordance with regulations (if any), the amount of the excess shall be carried forward and added to the sum of that dealer’s purchase prices for low value margin scheme goods for the purposes of calculating that dealer’s aggregate margin for the immediately following taxable period);
“low value margin scheme goods” means margin scheme goods where the purchase price payable by the dealer for each individual item is less than €635.
(b)Notwithstanding subsection (3) but subject to and in accordance with regulations (if any) –
(i)where a taxable dealer acquires low value margin scheme goods in job lots or otherwise, the amount of tax due and payable in respect of the dealer’s supplies of low value margin scheme goods shall, in respect of a taxable period, be the amount of tax included in that dealer’s aggregate margin, or margins, for that period and the amount of tax in each aggregate margin shall be determined by the formula –
B
A × B + 100
where –
Ais the aggregate margin for the taxable period in question, and
Bis the percentage rate of tax chargeable in relation to the supply of those goods,
and
(ii)where the taxable dealer referred to in subparagraph (i) makes supplies in any taxable period which are subject to different rates of tax, that taxable dealer shall calculate separate aggregate margins for that taxable period in respect of the supplies at each of the relevant rates.
(c)Subject to and in accordance with regulations (if any), where a taxable dealer supplies a low value margin scheme good for an amount in excess of €635, then –
(i)notwithstanding the definition of “low value margin scheme goods” in paragraph (a), the supply of that good shall be deemed not to be a supply of a low value margin scheme good,
(ii)in determining the aggregate margin for the taxable period in which the supply occurs, the dealer shall deduct the purchase price of that good from the sum of the dealer’s purchase prices of low value margin scheme goods for that period, and
(iii)the purchase price of that good shall be used in determining the profit margin in relation to the supply of that good.
(9)Notwithstanding Chapter 2 of Part 9, a taxable dealer shall not, in relation to any supply to which the margin scheme has been applied, indicate separately the amount of tax chargeable in respect of the supply on any invoice or other document in lieu thereof issued in accordance with that Chapter.
(10)Where the margin scheme is applied to a supply of goods dispatched or transported from the State to a person registered for value-added tax in another Member State, then, notwithstanding paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 2, section 46(1)(b) shall not apply unless such goods are of a kind specified elsewhere in that Schedule.
(11)Notwithstanding section 30, where the margin scheme is applied to a supply of goods dispatched or transported, the place of supply of those goods shall be deemed to be the place where the dispatch or transportation begins.
(12)Where a taxable dealer applies the margin scheme to a supply of goods on behalf of another person pursuant to a contract under which commission is payable on purchase or sale, the goods shall be deemed to have been supplied by that other person to the taxable dealer when that taxable dealer supplies those goods.
(13)Notwithstanding paragraph 12 of Schedule 1, where an accountable person acquires goods to which the margin scheme has been applied and the person subsequently supplies those goods, that paragraph shall not apply to that supply unless the goods consist of –
(a)motor vehicles within the meaning of section 60(1) which that person acquired other than –
(i)as stock-in-trade,
(ii)for the purposes of a business which consists in whole or in part of the hiring of motor vehicles, or
(iii)for use, in a driving school business, for giving driving instruction,
or
(b)goods used by that person solely in the course of an exempted activity.
(14)
(a)Where an accountable person purchases or acquires motor vehicles, within the meaning of section 60(1), as stock-in-trade and declares any such vehicle for registration to the Revenue Commissioners (in accordance with section 131 of the Finance Act 1992) on that person’s own behalf and where deductibility in accordance with Chapter 1 of Part 8 has been claimed by that person in respect of that motor vehicle, then –
(i)that motor vehicle shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as if it were removed from stock-in-trade,
(ii)such removal is deemed to be a supply of that motor vehicle by that person for the purposes of section 19(1)(f), and
(iii)for the avoidance of doubt, the amount of tax chargeable in respect of that supply is the amount referred to in paragraph (b)(ii)(II) and accordingly is not included in any amount which that person is entitled to deduct in accordance with section 59(2)(k).
(b)At the time when the accountable person, as referred to in paragraph (a), supplies to another person a motor vehicle which is deemed to have been previously supplied in accordance with paragraph (a) or section 12B(11)(a) of the repealed enactment then –
(i)that motor vehicle is deemed to have been reacquired by the said accountable person as a margin scheme good immediately before the supply to the other person, and
(ii)for the purpose of the calculation of the profit margin in relation to that supply, the purchase price of the motor vehicle is deemed to be the sum of –
(I)the amount on which tax was chargeable on the supply of that motor vehicle to the said accountable person,
(II)the tax which was chargeable on the supply referred to at clause (I), and
(III)the vehicle registration tax accounted for by the said accountable person in respect of that motor vehicle.
88. Margin scheme – travel agents.
(1)In this section –
“bought-in services” means goods or services which a travel agent purchases for the direct benefit of a traveller –
(a)from another taxable person, or
(b)from a person engaged in business outside the State;
“margin scheme services” means bought-in services supplied by a travel agent to a traveller;
“travel agent” means a taxable person who acts as a principal in the supply to a traveller of margin scheme services, and for the purposes of this section travel agent includes tour operator;
“travel agent’s margin”, in relation to a supply of margin scheme services, means an amount which is calculated in accordance with the formula – A – B where –
Ais the total consideration which the travel agent becomes entitled to receive in respect of or in relation to that supply of margin scheme services, including all taxes, commissions, costs and charges whatsoever and value-added tax payable in respect of that supply, and
Bis the amount payable by the travel agent to a supplier in respect of bought-in services included in that supply of margin scheme services to the traveller, but any bought-in services purchased by the travel agent prior to 1 January 2010 in respect of which that travel agent claims deductibility in accordance with Chapter 1 of Part 8 shall be disregarded in calculating the margin
and if that B is greater than that A, then the travel agent’s margin in respect of that supply shall be deemed to be nil;
“travel agent’s margin scheme” means the special arrangements for the taxation of margin scheme services.
(2)A supply of margin scheme services by a travel agent to a traveller in respect of a journey shall be treated as a single supply.
(3)The place of supply of margin scheme services is –
(a)unless paragraph (b) applies, the place where a travel agent has established the travel agent’s business,
(b)if those services are provided from a fixed establishment of that travel agent located in a place other than the place where the travel agent has established his or her business, the place where that fixed establishment is located.
(4)The travel agent’s margin scheme shall apply to the supply of margin scheme services in the State.
(5)Notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 5, the amount on which tax is chargeable by virtue of paragraph (a) or (c) of section 3 on a supply of margin scheme services shall be the travel agent’s margin less the amount of tax included in that margin.
(6)Notwithstanding sections 57, 58, 102 and 104(1), (4) and (5) and Chapter 1 of Part 8, a travel agent shall not be entitled to a deduction or a refund of tax borne or paid in respect of bought-in services supplied by the travel agent as margin scheme services.
(7)Where a travel agent supplies margin scheme services together with other goods or services to a traveller for a total consideration, then –
(a)that total consideration shall be apportioned by the travel agent so as to correctly reflect the ratio which the value of those margin scheme services bears to that total consideration, and
(b)the proportion of that total consideration relating to the value of the margin scheme services shall be subject to the travel agent’s margin scheme.
(8)Margin scheme services shall be treated as intermediary services when the bought-in services are performed outside the Community.
(9)Where a travel agent makes a supply of margin scheme services that includes some services that are treated as intermediary services in accordance with subsection (8), then the total travel agent’s margin in respect of that supply shall be apportioned by the travel agent so as to correctly reflect the ratio which the cost to that travel agent of the bought-in services used in the margin scheme services that are treated as intermediary services in that supply bears to the total cost to that travel agent of all bought-in services used in making that supply of margin scheme services.
(10)A travel agent, being an accountable person who supplies margin scheme services, shall include the tax due on the person’s supplies of margin scheme services for a taxable period in the return that that person is required to furnish in accordance with section 76 or 77.
(11)The Revenue Commissioners may make such regulations as they consider necessary for the purposes of the operation of this section, including provisions for simplified accounting arrangements.
Chapter 4
Deposit Return Scheme (s. 92A)
92A.
Deposit Return Scheme.
(1)In this Chapter –
“approved body” has the same meaning as in the Regulations of 2021;
“deposit” shall be construed in accordance with the Regulations of 2021;
“deposit return scheme” means a deposit return scheme established pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Regulations of 2021 and references to “scheme” shall be construed accordingly;
“in-scope bottle”, “in-scope container” and “in-scope product” have the same meaning, respectively, as in the Regulations of 2021;
“operator”, in relation to the deposit return scheme, means an approved body that is operating the scheme;
“Regulations of 2021” means the Separate Collection (Deposit Return Scheme) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No. 599 of 2021);
“tax due and payable”, means the amount of tax, calculated in accordance with regulations made under section 120(10)(l), that is due and payable in respect of a deposit;
(2)For the purposes of giving effect to Article 92 of the VAT Directive, where –
(a)a supply is made of an in-scope product, and
(b)a deposit is chargeable in accordance with the Regulations of 2021 in relation to the supply referred to in paragraph (a),
then, the taxable amount referable to the deposit shall be deemed to be reduced to nil.
(3)Notwithstanding subsection (2) and for the purposes of giving effect to Article 92 of the VAT Directive, where –
(a)a supply is made of an in-scope product,
(b)a deposit is chargeable in accordance with the Regulations of 2021 in relation to the supply referred to in paragraph (a), and
(c)the in-scope bottle or in-scope container concerned has not been returned in accordance with the Regulations of 2021,
then –
(i)the taxable amount referable to the deposit shall be the amount of that deposit, and
(ii)the operator shall be deemed to be the accountable person in respect of the tax due and payable and shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 3 of Part 9 in relation to that tax.