Goods within EU

VALUE-ADDED TAX CONSOLIDATION ACT

Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 (No. 31)

Part 1 Preliminary and General (ss. 1-3)
1. Short title.
This Act may be cited as the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010.

2.

Interpretation – general.

(1)In this Act –

“accountable person” has the same meaning as it has in Part 2;

“accounting year” means a period of 12 months ending on 31 December, but if a taxable person customarily makes up accounts for periods of 12 months ending on another fixed date, then, for such a person, a period of 12 months ending on that fixed date;

“agricultural produce” has the meaning assigned to it by section 4(1);

“agricultural service” has the meaning assigned to it by section 4(1);

“ancillary supply” means a supply, forming part of a composite supply, which is not physically and economically dissociable from a principal supply and is capable of being supplied only in the context of the better enjoyment of that principal supply;

“antiques” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87(1);

“Appeal Commissioner” has the meaning given to it by section 2 of the Finance (Tax Appeals) Act 2015;

“assignment”, in relation to an interest in immovable goods, means the assignment by a person of that interest in those goods or any part of those goods to another person, except that, if that other person at the time of the assignment retains the reversion on that interest in those goods, that assignment shall be a surrender;

“auction scheme” has the meaning assigned to it by section 89(1);

“body of persons” means any body politic, corporate or collegiate, and any company, partnership, fraternity, fellowship and society of persons, whether corporate or not corporate;

“building”, in the definition of “development”, includes, in relation to a transaction, any prefabricated or like structure in respect of which the following conditions are satisfied
(a)the structure –
(i)has a rigid roof and one or more rigid walls and (other than in the case of a structure used for the cultivation of plants) a floor
(ii)is designed so as to provide for human access to, and free movement in, its interior
(iii)is for a purpose that does not require that it be mobile or portable, and
(iv)does not have or contain any aids to mobility or portability; and
(b)
(i)neither the agreement in respect of the transaction nor any other agreement between the parties to that agreement contains a provision relating to the rendering of the structure mobile or portable or the movement or re-location of the structure after its erection, and
(ii)the person (in this subparagraph referred to as the “relevant person”) for whom the structure is constructed, extended, altered or reconstructed signs and delivers, at the time of the transaction, to the person who constructed, extended, altered or reconstructed the structure, a declaration of the relevant person’s intention to retain it on the site on which it is at that time located;

“business” means an economic activity, whatever the purpose or results of that activity, and includes any activity of producers, traders or persons supplying services, including mining and agricultural activities and activities of the professions, and the exploitation of tangible or intangible property for the purposes of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis;

“calendar quarter” means a period of 3 months beginning on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October;

“call-off stock arrangements” means the dispatch or transport of goods from one Member State to another Member State where, at the time of the dispatch or transport of the goods to such other Member State, the identity of the person to whom those goods will be supplied at a later stage and after the goods have arrived in the Member State of destination is known to the supplier;

“capital goods” means developed immovable goods and includes refurbishment within the meaning of section 63(1), and a reference to a capital good includes a reference to any part thereof and the term “capital good” shall be construed accordingly;

“clothing” does not include footwear;

“Collector-General” means the Collector-General appointed under section 851 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997;

“collectors’ items” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87(1);

“Community”, subject to subsection (4A), has the same meaning as it has in Articles 5 to 8 of the VAT Directive, and cognate references shall be construed accordingly;

“completed”, in respect of immovable goods, has the meaning assigned to it by section 94(1);

“composite supply” means a supply made by a taxable person to a customer comprising 2 or more supplies of goods or services or any combination of those, supplied in conjunction with each other, one of which is a principal supply;

“contractor”, in relation to contract work, means a person who makes or assembles movable goods;

“contract work” means the service of handing over by a contractor to another person of movable goods made or assembled by the contractor from goods entrusted to the contractor by that other person, whether or not the contractor has provided any part of the goods used;

“Customs Acts” has the meaning given to it by section 2(3) of the Customs Act 2015;

“customs-free airport” means the land which, under the Customs-free Airport Act 1947, for the time being constitutes the Customs-free airport;

“development”, in relation to any land, means –
(a)the construction, demolition, extension, alteration or reconstruction of any building on the land, or
(b)the carrying out of any engineering or other operation in, on, over or under the land to adapt it for materially altered use;

“distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries”, means supplies of goods dispatched or transported by or on behalf of the supplier, including where the supplier intervenes indirectly in the transport or dispatch of the goods, from outside the Community, to a customer in a Member State, where –
(a)the supply of goods is carried out for a taxable person, or a non-taxable legal person, whose intra-Community acquisitions of goods are not subject to value-added tax pursuant to Article 3(1), or for any other non-taxable person, and
(b)the goods supplied are neither new means of transport nor goods supplied after assembly or installation, with or without a trial run, by or on behalf of the supplier;

“electronically supplied services” includes –
(a)website supply, web-hosting, distance maintenance of programmes and equipment
(b)supply of software and updating of it
(c)supply of images, text and information, and making databases available
(d)supply of music, films and games (including games of chance and gambling games) and of political, cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific and entertainment broadcasts and events, and
(e)supply of distance teaching,

and “electronic service” shall be construed accordingly, but where the supplier of a service and his or her customer communicate by means of electronic mail, this shall not of itself mean that the service performed is an electronic service;

“enactment” means an Act or statutory instrument or any part of an Act or statutory instrument;

“excisable products” means the products referred to in section 97 of the Finance Act 2001;

“exempted activity” means –
(a)a supply of immovable goods in respect of which, pursuant to sections 93(2)(a)(i), 94(2) and 95(3) and (7)(b), tax is not chargeable, and
(b)a supply of any goods or services of a kind specified in Schedule 1;

“exportation of goods” means the exportation of goods to a destination outside the Community, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“farmer” has the meaning assigned to it by section 4(1);

“flat-rate addition” has the meaning assigned to it by section 86(1);

“flat-rate farmer” means –
(a)a farmer who is not an accountable person
(b)a farmer who is an accountable person referred to in section 9(4) or 12(3), or
(c)a person who, in accordance with section 17(2), is deemed not to be an accountable person with respect to supplies of a kind specified in the definition of “farmer” in section 4(1)
in so far as that farmer engages in the supply of agricultural produce or agricultural services within the State;

“footwear” includes shoes, boots, slippers and the like but does not include stockings, under-stockings, socks, ankle-socks or similar articles or footwear without soles or footwear which is or incorporates skating or swimming equipment;

“free port” means the land declared to be a free port for the purposes of the Free Ports Act 1986 by an order made under section 2 of that Act;

“freehold equivalent interest” means an interest in immovable goods (other than a freehold interest) the transfer of which constitutes a supply of goods in accordance with Chapter 1 of Part 3;

“fur skin” means any skin with the fur, hair or wool attached except the skin of woolled sheep or lamb;

“goods” means all movable and immovable objects (other than things in action or money), and references to goods include references to both new and used goods;

“goods threshold” means €80,000;

“hire”, in relation to movable goods, includes a letting on any terms including a leasing;

“immovable goods” has the same meaning as ‘immovable property’ has in Article 13b (inserted by Council Implementing Regulation 1042/2013 of 7 October 2013 [OJ No. L284, 26.10.2013, p.1]) of Council Implementing Regulation 282/2011/EU of 15 March 2011 [OJ No. L77, 23.3.2011, p.1];

“importation of goods” means the importation of goods from outside the Community into the State –
(a)directly, or
(b)through one or more than one other Member State where value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive has not been chargeable on the goods in such other Member State or Member States in respect of the transaction concerned, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“independently”, in relation to a taxable person, excludes a person who is employed or who is bound to an employer by a contract of employment or by any other legal ties creating the relationship of employer and employee as regards working conditions, remuneration and the employer’s liability;

“individual supply” means a supply of goods or services which is a constituent part of a multiple supply and which is physically and economically dissociable from the other goods or services forming part of that multiple supply, and is capable of being supplied as a good or service in its own right;

“inspector of taxes” means an inspector of taxes appointed under section 852 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997;

“intra-Community acquisition”, in relation to goods, has the meaning assigned to it by section 24;

“intra-Community distance sales of goods”, means supplies of goods dispatched or transported by or on behalf of the supplier, including where the supplier intervenes indirectly in the transport or dispatch of the goods, from a Member State other than that in which the dispatch or transport of the goods to the customer ends, where –
(a)the supply of goods is carried out for a taxable person, or for a non-taxable legal person, whose intra-Community acquisitions of goods are not subject to value-added tax pursuant to Article 3(1) of the VAT Directive, or for any other non-taxable person, and
(b)the goods supplied are neither new means of transport nor goods supplied after assembly or installation, with or without a trial run, by or on behalf of the supplier;

“joint option for taxation” has the meaning assigned to it by section 94;

“landlord’s option to tax” has the meaning assigned to it by section 97;

“livestock” means live –
(a)cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and deer, and
(b)horses normally intended for use in the preparation of foodstuffs or in agricultural production;

“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Local Government Act 2001;

“margin scheme” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87(1);

“Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

“movable goods” means goods other than immovable goods;

“multiple supply” means 2 or more individual supplies made by a taxable person to a customer where those supplies are made in conjunction with each other for a total consideration covering all of those individual supplies, and where those individual supplies do not constitute a composite supply;

“new means of transport” means motorised land vehicles with an engine cylinder capacity exceeding 48 cubic centimetres or a power exceeding 7.2 kilowatts, vessels exceeding 7.5 metres in length and aircraft with a take-off weight exceeding 1,550 kilogrammes –
(a)which are intended for the transport of persons or goods, and
(b)
(i)which in the case of vessels and aircraft were supplied 3 months or less after the date of first entry into service and in the case of land vehicles were supplied 6 months or less after the date of first entry into service, or
(ii)which have travelled 6,000 kilometres or less in the case of land vehicles, sailed for 100 hours or less in the case of vessels or flown for 40 hours or less in the case of aircraft
other than vessels and aircraft of the kind referred to in paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 2;

“person registered for value-added tax”
(a)in relation to another Member State, means a person currently issued with an identification number in that State for the purposes of accounting for value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive
(b)in relation to the State, means a registered person;

“principal supply” means the supply of goods or services which constitutes the predominant element of a composite supply and to which any other supply forming part of that composite supply is ancillary;

“public body” means –
(a)a Department of State
(b)a local authority, or
(c)a body established by any enactment;

“registered person” means a person who is registered in the register maintained under section 65;

“regulations” means regulations under section 120;

“repealed enactment” has the meaning assigned to it by section 121;

“second-hand goods” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87(1);

“secretary” includes such persons as are referred to in section 1044(2) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and section 55(1) of the Finance Act 1920;

“services threshold” means €40,000;

“stock-in-trade”, in relation to a person, means goods that are –
(a)movable goods of a kind that the person has supplied in the ordinary course of the person’s business and that –
(i)are held for supply (otherwise than because of section 19(1)(f)), or
(ii)would be so held if they were mature or if their manufacture, preparation or construction had been completed
(b)materials incorporated into immovable goods of a kind that –
(i)are supplied by the person in the ordinary course of the person’s business, and
(ii)have not been supplied by the person since the goods were developed, but are held for supply, or would be so held if their development had been completed
and such materials shall be taken to have been supplied to the same extent as the immovable goods into which they have been incorporated are taken to have been supplied
(c)consumable materials that the person has incorporated into immovable goods in the course of a business that consists of the supply of a service involving constructing, repairing, painting or decorating immovable goods where that service has yet to be completed, and such materials shall be taken to have been supplied to the extent that the service in relation to which they have been used has been supplied, or
(d)materials that have not been incorporated in goods and –
(i)are used by the person in the manufacture or construction of goods of a kind that the person supplies in the ordinary course of the person’s business, or
(ii)if the person’s ordinary business consists of repairing, painting or decorating immovable goods, are used by the person as consumable materials in the course of that business;

“supply”
(a)in relation to goods, has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (3) and Chapter 1 of Part 3
(b)in relation to services, has the meaning assigned to it by Chapter 3 of Part 3
and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“surrender”, in relation to an interest in immovable goods –
(a)means the surrender by a person (in this definition referred to as the “lessee”) of an interest in those goods or any part of those goods to the person (in this definition referred to as the “lessor”) who, at the time of the surrender, retains the reversion on that interest in those goods, and
(b)includes –
(i)the abandonment of that interest in those goods by the lessee
(ii)the failure of the lessee to exercise any option of the kind referred to in section 93(1)(a) in relation to that interest in those goods (but excluding any such failure if such interest were created on or after 1 July 2008), and
(iii)the recovery by the lessor of that interest in those goods by ejectment or forfeiture prior to the date that the interest would, but for its surrender, have expired;

“tax” means value-added tax chargeable by virtue of this Act;

“taxable dealer”
(a)in relation to supplies of gas through the natural gas distribution system, or of heat or cooling energy through heating or cooling networks, or of electricity, has the meaning assigned to it by section 31(1)(a), and
(b)in relation to supplies of movable goods (including a means of transport and agricultural machinery) has the meaning assigned to it by section 87(1);

“taxable goods”, in relation to any supply, intra-Community acquisition or importation, means goods the supply of which is not an exempted activity;

“taxable period” means a period of 2 months beginning on 1 January, 1 March, 1 May, 1 July, 1 September or 1 November;

“taxable person” means a person who independently carries on a business in the Community or elsewhere;

“taxable services” means services the supply of which is not an exempted activity;

“telecommunications services” means services relating to the transmission, emission or reception of signals, writing, images and sounds or information of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems, and includes –
(a)the related transfer or assignment of the right to use capacity for such transmission, emission or reception, and
(b)the provision of access to global information networks;

“telephone card” means a card, or a means other than money –
(a)that confers a right to access a telecommunications service and, in cases where the supplier of the telecommunications service so agrees with another supplier (in this definition referred to as a “contracted third party supplier”), a right to receive other services or goods from that contracted third party supplier, and
(b)that, when the card or other means is supplied to a person other than for the purpose of resale, entitles the supplier to a consideration for the supply under circumstances that preclude the user of the card or means from being liable for any further charge for access to the telecommunications service or for the receipt of services or goods from a contracted third party supplier;

“VAT Directive” means Council Directive No. 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 [OJ No. L347, 11.12.2006, p.1] on the common system of value-added tax;

“vessel”, in relation to transport, means a waterborne craft of any type, whether self-propelled or not, and includes a hovercraft;

“works of art” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87(1).

(2)In this Act references to moneys received by a person include references to –

(a)money lodged or credited to the account of the person in any bank, savings bank, building society, hire purchase finance concern or similar financial concern,

(b)money (other than money referred to in paragraph (a)) which under an agreement (other than an agreement providing for discount or a price adjustment made in the ordinary course of business or an arrangement with creditors) has ceased to be due to the person,

(c)money due to the person which, in accordance with section 1002 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, is paid to the Revenue Commissioners by another person and has thereby ceased to be due to the person by that other person, and

(d)money, which, in relation to money received by a person from another person, has been deducted in accordance with –

(i)Chapter 1 of Part 18 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, or

(ii)Chapter 2 of Part 18 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997,

and has thereby ceased to be due to the first-mentioned person by the other person,

and money so lodged or credited to the account of a person shall be deemed to have been received by the person on the date of the making of the lodgement or credit and money which has so ceased to be due to a person shall be deemed to have been received by the person on the date of the cesser.

(3)For the purposes of this Act, the provision of electricity, gas and any form of power, heat, refrigeration or ventilation shall be deemed to be a supply of goods and not a supply of services.

(4)In this Act, a reference to the territory of a Member State has the same meaning as it has in Articles 5 to 8 of the VAT Directive, and , subject to subsection (4A), references to Member States and cognate references shall be construed accordingly.

(4A)In this Act, each reference to –

(a)Community, and

(b)Member State,

shall apply as if the reference included a reference to Northern Ireland,save –

(i)where the reference occurs in a provision specified in Part 1 of Schedule 9, and

(ii)in the case of a provision specified in Part 2 of Schedule 9, in so faras the provision applies to services.

(5)References in any other enactment to the “Value-Added Tax Acts” mean this Act and every enactment which is to be read together with this Act.

3.

Charge of value-added tax.

Except as expressly otherwise provided by this Act, a tax called value-added tax is, subject to and in accordance with this Act and regulations, chargeable, leviable and payable on the following transactions:

(a)the supply for consideration of goods by a taxable person acting in that capacity when the place of supply is the State;

(b)the importation of goods into the State;

(c)the supply for consideration of services by a taxable person acting in that capacity when the place of supply is the State;

(d)the intra-Community acquisition for consideration by an accountable person of goods (other than new means of transport) when the acquisition is made within the State;

(e)the intra-Community acquisition for consideration of new means of transport when the acquisition is made within the State.

Part 2 Accountable persons (ss. 4-18)

Chapter 1 Interpretation (s. 4)

4. Definitions – Part 2.

(1)In this Act –

“agricultural produce”, in relation to a farmer, means goods (other than live greyhounds) produced by the farmer in the course of an Annex VII activity;

“agricultural service”, in relation to a farmer, means any Annex VIII service supplied by the farmer using his or her own labour or that of his or her employees or effected by means of machinery, plant or other equipment normally used for the purposes of an Annex VII activity carried on by the farmer;

“Annex VII activity” means any activity of a description specified in Annex VII of the VAT Directive (the text of which Annex is contained in Part 1 of Schedule 4) and Article 295(2);

“Annex VIII service” means any service of a description specified in Annex VIII of the VAT Directive (the text of which Annex is contained in Part 2 of Schedule 4);

“farmer” means a person who engages in at least one Annex VII activity, and –
(a)whose supplies consist exclusively of either or both of the following:
(i)supplies of agricultural produce
(ii)supplies of agricultural services
or
(b)whose supplies consist exclusively of either or both of the supplies specified in paragraph (a) and of one or more of the following:
(i)supplies of machinery, plant or equipment which has been used by such person for the purposes of an Annex VII activity
(ii)supplies of services consisting of the training of horses for racing the total consideration for which has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed the services threshold in any continuous period of 12 months
(iii)supplies of goods and services (other than those referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) or paragraph (a)) the total consideration for which is such that such person would not, because of section 6(1)(c) or (d), be an accountable person if such supplies were the only supplies made by him or her.

(2)In this Part “control”
(a)in relation to a body corporate, means the power of a person to secure, by means of the holding of shares or the possession of voting power in or in relation to that or any other body corporate, or by virtue of any powers conferred by the articles of association or other document regulating that or any other body corporate, that the affairs of the first-mentioned body corporate are conducted in accordance with the wishes of that person
(b)in relation to a partnership, means the right to a share of more than one-half of the assets, or of more than one-half of the income, of the partnership.

Chapter 2

General rules (ss. 5-8)

5. Persons who are, or who may become, accountable persons.
(1)

(a)Subject to paragraph (c), a taxable person who engages in the supply, within the State, of taxable goods or services shall be –

(i)an accountable person, and

(ii)accountable for and liable to pay the tax charged in respect of such supply.

(b)Subject to paragraph (c), in addition, the persons referred to in sections 9, 10, 12, 15, 17(1), 94(3), 108C, 109A and 91J(10) shall be accountable persons.

(c)A person not established in the State who supplies goods in the State only in the circumstances set out in section 10, or supplies a service in the State only in the circumstances set out in section 16(3), shall not be an accountable person.

(2)Where, by virtue of section 6(1) or 7, a person has not been an accountable person and a change of circumstances occurs from which it becomes clear that the person is likely to become an accountable person, he or she shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be an accountable person from the beginning of the taxable period commencing next after such change.

6.

Persons not accountable persons unless they so elect.

(1)Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and sections 9, 10, 12, 14(1) and 17(1), and notwithstanding section 5(1), the following persons shall not, unless they otherwise elect and then only during the period for which such election has effect, be accountable persons:

(a)a farmer, for whose supply in any continuous period of 12 months of –

(i)agricultural services (other than insemination services, stock-minding or stock-rearing), the total consideration has not exceeded, and is not likely to exceed, the services threshold,

(ii)goods being bovine semen, the total consideration has not exceeded, and is not likely to exceed, the goods threshold,

(iii)goods, being horticultural type products of the kind specified in paragraph 22(1) of Schedule 3, to persons who are not engaged in supplying those goods in the course or furtherance of business, the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed the goods threshold,

(iv)services specified in subparagraph (i) and either or both of goods of the kind specified in subparagraph (ii) and goods of the kind specified in subparagraph (iii) supplied in the circumstances set out in that subparagraph, the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed the services threshold, or

(v)goods of the kind specified in subparagraph (ii) and goods of the kind specified in subparagraph (iii) supplied in the circumstances set out in that subparagraph, the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed the goods threshold;

(b)a person whose supplies of taxable goods or services consist exclusively of –

(i)supplies, to accountable persons and persons to whom section 102 applies, of fish (not being at a stage of processing further than that of being gutted, salted and frozen) which he or she has caught in the course of a sea-fishing business, or

(ii)supplies of the kind specified in subparagraph (i) and of either or both of the following:

(I)supplies of machinery, plant or equipment which have been used by him or her in the course of a sea-fishing business;

(II)supplies of other goods and services the total consideration for which is such that such person would not, because of paragraph (c) or (d), be an accountable person if such supplies were the only supplies made by him or her;

(c)

(i)subject to subparagraph (ii), a person for whose supply of taxable goods (other than supplies of the kind specified in section 30(a) and (b) and services, the total consideration has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed the goods threshold in any continuous period of 12 months,

(ii)subparagraph (i) shall apply only if at least 90 per cent of the total consideration referred to therein is derived from the supply of taxable goods (other than goods chargeable at any of the rates specified in section 46(1)(a) and (c) which were produced or manufactured by the person referred to in subparagraph (i) wholly or mainly from materials chargeable at the rate specified in section 46(1)(b));

(d)a person (other than a person to whom paragraph (a), (b) or (c) applies) for whose supply of taxable goods and services the total consideration has not exceeded, and is not likely to exceed, the services threshold in any continuous period of 12 months.

(2)

(a)Supplies of bovine semen –

(i)by a farmer to any other farmer licensed as an artificial insemination centre in accordance with the Live Stock (Artificial Insemination) Act 1947, or

(ii)by a farmer to an accountable person over whom that farmer exercises control,

shall be disregarded in calculating the total consideration referred to in subsection (1)(a)(ii).

(b)Where in the case of 2 or more persons one of whom exercises control over one or more of the other persons, supplies of goods of the same class or of services of the same nature are made by 2 or more of those persons, the total of the consideration relating to such supplies shall, for the purposes of the application of paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) in relation to each of those persons who made such supplies, be treated as if all of the supplies in question had been made by each of the last-mentioned persons.

(c)Where a farmer supplies services or goods of the kind specified in subsection (1)(a)(i), (ii) or (iii), then paragraph (b) shall be deemed to apply to such supplies, notwithstanding that that paragraph does not otherwise apply to supplies by a farmer.

(d)Subsection (1) shall not apply to a supply of the kind referred to in section 12(3) or (5) or 17(1).

(3)Subsection (1)(b) to (d) shall not apply to a person who is not established in the State.

7.

Treatment of persons as not accountable.

An accountable person (other than a person to whom section 8 applies) may, in accordance with regulations, be treated for the purposes of this Act as a person who is not an accountable person if the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that, in the absence of an election under section 6(1), the person would not be an accountable person.

8.

Cancellation of election.

(1)

(a)Provision may be made by regulations for the cancellation, at the request of a person, of an election made by the person under this Part and for the payment by him or her to the Revenue Commissioners, as a condition of such cancellation, of such a sum as is calculated in accordance with paragraph (b).

(b)The sum referred to in paragraph (a) is calculated by the formula –

(A + B) – C

where –

Ais the amount of tax repaid to the person referred to in paragraph (a) for the period for which the election has effect in respect of tax borne or paid in relation to the supply of goods or services, other than services of the kind referred to in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3,

Bis the tax deductible in accordance with Chapter 1 of Part 8 in respect of intra-Community acquisitions made by that person during that period, and

Cis the net total amount of tax (if any) paid by such person in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9 in relation to the supply of goods or services (other than services of the kind referred to in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3) by that person in that same period.

(2)

(a)Notwithstanding subsection (1), provision may be made by regulations for the cancellation, at the request of a person who supplies services of a kind referred to in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3, of an election made by the person under this Part and for the payment by him or her to the Revenue Commissioners, in addition to any amount payable in accordance with subsection (1), of such an amount (in this subsection referred to as the “cancellation amount”), as shall be determined in accordance with paragraph (b), as a condition of cancellation and the cancellation amount shall be payable as if it were tax due in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9 for the taxable period in which the cancellation comes into effect.

(b)

(i)Where the person referred to in paragraph (a) –

(I)was entitled to deduct tax in accordance with Chapter 1 of Part 8 in respect of the acquisition, purchase or development of immovable goods used by that person in the course of a supply of services of a kind referred to in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3, or

(II)would be entitled to deduct tax in accordance with Chapter 1 of Part 8 in respect of the acquisition, as a result of a transfer to that person, of immovable goods used by him or her in the course of a supply of services of a kind referred to in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3, if that tax had been chargeable but for the application of section 20(2)(c) on that transfer,

then, in respect of each such acquisition, purchase or development, an amount (referred to in this subsection as the “adjustment amount”) shall be calculated in accordance with subparagraph (ii) and the cancellation amount shall be the sum of the adjustment amounts so calculated or, if there is only one such adjustment amount, that amount: but if there is no adjustment amount, the cancellation amount is nil.

(ii)The adjustment amount shall be determined by the formula –

D * (10 – E)

_________

10

where –

Dis –

(I)the amount of tax deductible in respect of such acquisition, purchase or development of such immovable goods, or

(II)the amount of tax that would be deductible in respect of such acquisition of such immovable goods if section 20(2)(c) had not applied to the transfer of such immovable goods,

and

Eis the number of full years for which such immovable goods were used by the person in the course of the supply of services of a kind referred to in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3: but if such number of full years is in excess of 10, such adjustment amount shall be deemed to be nil.

(c)For the purposes of paragraph (b), a full year shall be any continuous period of 12 months.

(d)This subsection does not apply to immovable goods acquired or developed on or after 1 July 2008.

Chapter 3 Rules for intra-Community acquisitions (ss. 9-11)

Intra-Community acquisitions and accountable persons.

(1)Where a person engages in the intra-Community acquisition of goods in the State in the course or furtherance of business, he or she shall be –

(a)an accountable person, and

(b)accountable for and liable to pay the tax chargeable.

(2)Subject to subsection (3) and sections 12(3) and (5), and 17(1), and notwithstanding subsection (1), a person for whose intra-Community acquisitions of goods (being goods other than new means of transport or goods subject to a duty of excise) the total consideration for which has not exceeded and is not likely to exceed €41,000 in any continuous period of 12 months shall not, unless the person otherwise elects and then only during the period for which such election has effect, be an accountable person.

(3)Where section 5(1) applies to a person referred to in subsection (2), then subsection (2) shall not apply to the person unless section 6(1) also applies to him or her.

(4)Subject to subsection (5), a person who is an accountable person by virtue of this section or section 10 and who is a person referred to in section 6(1)(a) or (b) shall be deemed to be an accountable person only in respect of –

(a)intra-Community acquisitions of goods which are made by him or her, and

(b)any services of the kind referred to in section 12 or 17(1) which are received by him or her.

(5)A person may elect that subsection (4) shall not apply to him or her.

(6)Subject to subsection (7), a person who is an accountable person by virtue of this section or section 10 and who is a person referred to in section 17(2) shall be deemed to be an accountable person only in respect of –

(a)intra-Community acquisitions of goods which are made by him or her,

(b)racehorse training services which are supplied by him or her, and

(c)any services of the kind referred to in section 12 or 17(1) which are received by him or her.

(7)A person may elect that subsection (6) shall not apply to him or her.

10.

Certain supplies of goods – supplier not established in the State.

(1)Where a person not established in the State supplies gas through the natural gas distribution system, or heat or cooling energy through heating or cooling networks, or electricity, to a recipient in the State, and where the recipient is –

(a)a taxable person who carries on a business in the State, or

(b)a public body,

then that recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if the recipient supplied those goods in the course or furtherance of business.

(2)Where a person not established in the State supplies goods in the State which are installed or assembled, with or without a trial run, by or on behalf of the person, and where the recipient of the supply of those goods is –

(a)a taxable person who carries on a business in the State, or

(b)a public body,

then that recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if the recipient supplied those goods in the course or furtherance of business.

11.

Other provisions in relation to goods.

(1)Where a person is an accountable person only because of an intra-Community acquisition of a new means of transport, then the person shall not, unless he or she so elects, be an accountable person for the purposes of this Act except for section 79(2) or (3).

(2)Where –

(a)a person is an accountable person only because of an intra-Community acquisition of excisable products, and

(b)by virtue of the acquisition, and in accordance with Chapters 2A and 2B of Part 2 of Finance Act 2001, and any other enactment which is to be construed together with that Chapter, the duty of excise on those products is payable in the State,

then the person shall not, unless he or she so elects, be an accountable person for any purposes of this Act except for section 79(4).

(3)A person who is not established in the State shall, unless the person opts to register in accordance with section 65, be deemed not to have made an intra-Community acquisition or a supply of goods in the State where the only supplies by him or her in the State are in the circumstances set out in section 23.

(4)A person who is not established in the State, and who does not have a fixed establishment in the State, shall be deemed not to have made an intra-Community acquisition or a supply of goods in the State where such person transfers goods to an accountable person in the State under call-off stock arrangements to which section 23A applies.

Chapter 4

Services supplied in the State by persons established outside the State (ss. 12-13)

12.

Services received from abroad and accountable persons.

(1)Where –

(a)a taxable person who carries on a business in the State, or a person to whom a registration number has been assigned in accordance with section 65(2), receives a service from a supplier established outside the State, and

(b)the place of supply of the service (as determined in accordance with section 34(a)) is the State,

then the person is accountable for, and liable to pay, the tax chargeable in the State as if he or she had supplied that service for consideration in the course or furtherance of business.

(2)Where –

(a)a taxable person who carries on a business in the State, or

(b)a public body,

receives a service (other than a service of a kind referred to in section 33(2)(b), (ba) or (c)) from a supplier not established in the State, and the place of supply of the service (as determined in accordance with section 34(c)) is the State, then the recipient of the service is accountable for, and liable to pay, the tax chargeable in the State as if that recipient had supplied the service for consideration in the course or furtherance of business.

(3)Subject to subsection (4), a person who is an accountable person by virtue of this section or section 17(1) and who is a person referred to in section 6(1)(a) or (b) shall be deemed to be an accountable person only in respect of –

(a)any intra-Community acquisitions of goods which are made by him or her, and

(b)services of the kind referred to in this section or section 17(1) which are received by him or her.

(4)A person may elect that subsection (3) shall not apply to him or her.

(5)Subject to subsection (6), a person who is an accountable person by virtue of this section or section 7(1) and who is a person referred to in section 17(2) shall be deemed to be an accountable person only in respect of –

(a)any intra-Community acquisitions of goods which are made by him or her,

(b)racehorse training services which are supplied by him or her, and

(c)services of the kind referred to in this section or section 17(1) which are received by him or her.

(6)A person may elect that subsection (5) shall not apply to him or her.

13.

Certain supplies of services – supplier not established in the State.
Deleted from 1 January 2011
Where a person not established in the State supplies a cultural, artistic, entertainment or similar service in the State, then any person (other than a person acting in a private capacity) who receives that service shall –

(a)in relation to it, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person, and

(b)be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that accountable person had in fact supplied the service for consideration in the course or furtherance of business,

but, where that service is commissioned or procured by a promoter, agent or other person not being a person acting in a private capacity, then that promoter, agent or person shall be deemed to be the person who receives the service.

 

Chapter 5 Supplementary provisions (ss. 14-18)
14.

The State and public bodies.

(1)For the purposes of sections 9 and 10, where an intra-Community acquisition is effected in the State by a public body, the acquisition shall be deemed to have been effected in the course or furtherance of business.

(2)Notwithstanding section 3 but subject to subsection (3), the State or any public body shall not be treated as a taxable person acting in that capacity in respect of any activity or transaction that is carried out by it in, or is closely linked to, the exercise by the State or that public body of particular rights or powers conferred on it by any enactment, except where –

(a)that activity is listed in Annex I of the VAT Directive (the text of which Annex is contained in Schedule 6) and is carried out by the State or the public body on a more than negligible scale, or

(b)not treating the State or that public body as a taxable person in respect of that activity or transaction creates or would likely create a significant distortion of competition.

(3)

(a)For the purposes of this subsection “community facilities” means –

(i)facilities for taking part in sporting or physical education activities and services closely related to the provision of such facilities (other than facilities for taking part in golf and for this purpose facilities for taking part in golf do not include facilities for taking part in pitch and putt), and

(ii)the hiring of halls, meeting rooms, grounds and other facilities of a similar nature to non-profit making sporting, cultural, social and community organisations.

(b)Subsection (2), in so far as it applies to the supply of community facilities, comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order appoint and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different community facilities.

(c)Neither the State nor any local authority shall be an accountable person with respect to the supply by it of a community facility until the coming into operation of an order under paragraph (b) in respect of that community facility.

15.

VAT groups.

(1)Subject to subsection (2), where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that 2 or more persons established in the State, at least one of whom is a accountable person, are closely bound by financial, economic and organisational links and it seems necessary or appropriate to them for the purpose of efficient and effective administration (including collection) of the tax to do so, then, for the purpose of this Act, the Commissioners may, whether following an application on behalf of those persons or otherwise –

(a)by notice in writing (in this section referred to as a “group notification”) to each of those persons deem them to be a single accountable person (in this section referred to as a “group”), and the persons so notified shall then be regarded as being in the group for as long as this subsection applies to them, but section 65 shall apply in respect of each of the members of the group, and –

(i)one of those persons, who shall be notified accordingly by the Commissioners, shall be responsible for complying with this Act in respect of the group, and

(ii)all rights and obligations arising under this Act in respect of the transactions of the group shall be determined accordingly,

and

(b)make each person in the group jointly and severally liable to comply with this Act and regulations (including the provisions requiring the payment of tax) that apply to each of those persons and subject to the penalties under this Act to which they would be subject if each such person were liable to pay to the Commissioners the whole of the tax chargeable, apart from regulations under this section, in respect of each such person.

(2)This section shall not apply in the case of –

(a)the supply of immovable goods by any person in the group to any other person in the group,

(b)the requirement to issue an invoice or other document, in accordance with Chapter 2 of Part 9, in respect of supplies to persons other than supplies between persons who are jointly and severally liable to comply with this Act in accordance with subsection (1)(b),

(c)the requirement to furnish a statement in accordance with section 82 or 83, or

(d)the transfer of ownership of goods specified in section 20(2)(c) from any person in the group to any other person in the group, except where, apart from this section, each of the persons whose activities are deemed to be carried on by the group is an accountable person.

(3)The Revenue Commissioners may, by notice in writing to each person in the group, as on and from the date specified in the notice cancel the group notification of the group.

(4)As on and from the date on which the group notification of the group is cancelled under subsection (3), this Act and regulations shall apply to all the persons who were members of the group as if that group notification had not been issued, but without prejudice to the liability of any of those persons for tax or penalties in respect of anything done or not done during the period for which the group notification was in force.

(4A)Where there has been a significant change in the financial, economic and organisational links between the persons in a group, the person in the group notified in accordance with subsection (1)(a)(i) shall, not later than 30 days after the end of the taxable period during which the significant change concerned occurs, notify the Revenue Commissioners in writing that there has been such a significant change.

(4B)Where –

(a)a person in a group ceases to be established in the State, or

(b)the requirement that at least one of the persons in the group concerned is an accountable person is no longer met,

the person in the group notified in accordance with subsection (1)(a)(i) shall, not later than 30 days after the end of the taxable period during which the circumstance described in paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, has occurred, notify the Revenue Commissioners in writing of the occurrence of that circumstance.

(5)Where –

(a)a person in the group (in this section referred to as the “landlord”) having acquired an interest in, or developed, immovable goods to which section 4 of the repealed enactment applied, whether such acquisition or development occurred before or after the landlord became a person in the group, subsequently surrenders possession of those immovable goods, or any part of them, to another person in the group (in this section referred to as the “occupant”) where the surrender of possession, if it were to a person not in the group, would not constitute a supply of immovable goods in accordance with section 4 of the repealed enactment, and

(b)either the landlord or the occupant subsequently ceases to be a person in the group (in this section referred to as a “cessation”),

then, subject to subsection (6), if the landlord has not exercised the landlord’s option to tax in accordance with section 97 in respect of the letting of those immovable goods at the time of the cessation or does not have a waiver of his or her right to exemption from tax in accordance with section 96(2) to (5) still in effect at the time of the cessation –

(i)the surrender of possession, or

(ii)if that landlord surrendered possession of those immovable goods more than once to another person in the group, the first such surrender of possession,

shall be deemed to occur when that first such cessation (in this section referred to as the “relevant cessation”) takes place.

(6)For the purposes of subsection (5), where the landlord’s waiver of his or her right to exemption from tax in accordance with section 96(2) to (5) has been cancelled before a surrender of possession of immovable goods to another person in the group ends, that surrender of possession shall be deemed to take place on the date of the relevant cessation.

(7)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations as seem to them to be necessary for the purposes of this section.

16.

Reverse charge for certain supplies.

(1)

(a)In this subsection –

“NAMA” has the meaning assigned to it by the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009;

“NAMA entity” means a person or body of persons to which NAMA is connected within the meaning of section 97(3);

“recipient”, in relation to a relevant supply, means NAMA and any NAMA entity;

“relevant supply” means a supply of goods being a transfer of ownership of goods effected by a vesting order made in accordance with section 153 of the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009;

“supplier”, in relation to a relevant supply, means the chargor referred to in section 153 of the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009.

(b)Where a relevant supply occurs –

(i)the recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that recipient made that supply in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the supplier shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in relation to that supply.

(2)

(a)In this subsection –

“allowance” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3 of the Directive;

“Directive” means Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 [OJ No. L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32] (as amended) establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC;

“greenhouse gases” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3 of the Directive;

“greenhouse gas emission allowances” means allowances to emit greenhouse gases transferable in accordance with the Directive and other units that may be used by operators for compliance with the Directive;

“operator” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3 of the Directive.

(b)Where a taxable person who carries on a business in the State (in this subsection referred to as a “recipient”) receives greenhouse gas emission allowances from another taxable person who carries on a business in the State, then –

(i)the recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that recipient made that supply in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the person who supplied those greenhouse gas emission allowances shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in respect of that supply.

(3)

(a)Paragraph (b) and sections 59(2)(i) and 66 (4) shall be construed together with Chapter 2 of Part 18 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

(b)Where a principal to whom section 530A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies (other than a principal to whom subparagraphs (ii) or (iii) of section 530A(1) (b) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies) receives services consisting of construction operations (as defined in paragraphs (a) to (f) of section 530(1) of that Act) from a subcontractor, then –

(i)that principal shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that principal supplied those services in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the subcontractor shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in respect of that supply.

(4)

(a)In this subsection –

‘dealing in scrap metal’ means the purchase, sale, resale or recovery of scrap metal;

‘recovery’, in relation to scrap metal, means any activity carried on for the purposes of reclaiming, recycling or re-using, in whole or in part, scrap metal and any activities related to such reclamation, recycling or re-use;

‘scrap metal’ includes scrapped metal and metal waste originating from, or extracted from, the processing of metals, metal derived from vehicles, metal derived from construction and demolition waste, machine parts and metal items no longer useable in their original form due to their breaking, obsolescence, shearing, wearing or the like, and also includes goods listed in paragraphs (1) to (3) of Annex VI of the VAT Directive.

(b)Notwithstanding section 56, where a taxable person carries on a business in the State, which consists of or includes dealing in scrap metal (in this subsection referred to as a ‘recipient’) and he or she receives a supply of scrap metal from another taxable person who carries on a business in the State, then –

(i)the recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that recipient made that supply in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the person who supplied the scrap metal shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in respect of that supply.

(5)

(a)In this subsection ‘construction work’, in relation to immovable goods, includes –

(i)construction, extension, alteration and demolition services, and

(ii)engineering work or other operations which adapt those immovable goods for materially altered use.

(b)Where an accountable person supplies construction work in the State to a taxable person (in this subsection referred to as a ‘recipient’) to whom the accountable person is connected (within the meaning of section 97(3)), then –

(i)the recipient shall, in relation to such supplies, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that recipient made that supply in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the person who supplied the construction work shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in respect of those supplies.

(6)

(a)In this subsection –

‘gas’ means gas supplied through the natural gas distribution system.

(b)Where a taxable person who carries on a business in the State makes a supply of gas or of electricity to a taxable dealer who carries on a business in the State (in this subsection referred to as a ‘recipient’), then –

(i)the recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that recipient made that supply in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the person who supplied that gas or electricity shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in respect of that supply.

(7)

(a)In this subsection –

‘a gas or an electricity certificate’ means an electronic document which conveys information about the source and production of energy.

(b)Where a taxable person who carries on a business in the State makes a supply of a gas or an electricity certificate to another taxable person who carries on a business in the State (in this subsection referred to as a ‘recipient’), then –

(i)the recipient shall, in relation to that supply, be an accountable person or be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax chargeable as if that recipient made that supply in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)the person who supplied that gas or electricity certificate shall not be accountable for or liable to pay such tax in respect of that supply.

17.

Other provisions in relation to services.

(1)

(a)In this subsection –

“premises provider” means a person who owns, occupies or controls land, and references to the premises provider’s land mean the land that is so owned, occupied or controlled;

“relevant office” means the office of the Revenue Commissioners which would normally deal with the examination of the records kept by the premises provider in accordance with Chapter 7 of Part 9.

(b)Where a premises provider allows, in the course or furtherance of business, a person not established in the State to supply goods for consideration in the course or furtherance of business (in this subsection referred to as a “mobile trader”) on the premises provider’s land for a period of less than 28 consecutive days, then that premises provider shall, not later than 14 days before the day when the mobile trader is allowed to supply goods on that land, furnish to the Revenue Commissioners, at the relevant office, the following particulars:

(i)services consisting of the admission to, and the provision of any ancillary services related to, a cultural, artistic, entertainment or similar event, and

(ii)the dates on which the mobile trader intends to supply goods on that land;

(iii)the address of that land; and

(iv)any other information as may be specified in regulations.

(c)Where a premises provider allows, in the course or furtherance of business, a promoter not established in the State to supply on the premises provider’s land –

(i)services consisting of the admission (including the provision of ancillary services related to admission) to a cultural, artistic, entertainment or similar event, and

(ii)where, in accordance with paragraph (g) or (ga) of section 34, the place of supply of those services is where the event concerned actually takes place,

then that premises provider shall, not later than 14 days before such services are scheduled to begin, furnish to the Revenue Commissioners, at the relevant office, the following particulars:

(I)the name and address of the promoter;

(II)details (including the dates, duration and venue) of the event or performance commissioned or procured by the promoter in the provision of that service; and

(III)any other information related to the promoter or the event or performance, as may be specified in regulations.

(d)Where a premises provider fails to provide to the Revenue Commissioners true and correct particulars as required in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c), then the Commissioners may, where it appears necessary to them to do so for the protection of the revenue, make the premises provider jointly and severally liable with a mobile trader or promoter, as the case may be, for the tax chargeable in respect of supplies made by that mobile trader or promoter on the premises provider’s land, and in those circumstances the Commissioners shall notify the premises provider in writing accordingly.

(e)A premises provider who has been notified in accordance with paragraph (d) shall be deemed to be an accountable person and shall be liable to pay the tax referred to in that paragraph as if it were tax due in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9 by the premises provider for the taxable period within which the supplies are made by the mobile trader or promoter, but the premises provider shall not be liable to pay tax referred to in paragraph (d) which the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied was accounted for by a mobile trader or promoter.

(2)

(a)Where a person who supplies services consisting of the training of horses for racing, the consideration for which has exceeded the services threshold in any continuous period of 12 months, would, but for the supply of such services, be a farmer, the person shall be deemed to be an accountable person only in respect of –

(i)the supply of those services,

(ii)any intra-Community acquisitions of goods made by him or her, and

(iii)any services of the kind referred to in subsection (1) or section 12 received by him or her.

(b)In the absence of an election referred to in section 6 (1), the person referred to in paragraph (a) shall be deemed not to be an accountable person in relation to the supply of any of the goods or services specified in –

(i)paragraph (a) of the definition of “farmer” in section 4 (1), and

(ii)paragraph (b) (i) and (iii) of that definition.

18.

Distortion of competition, deemed taxable supplies, etc.

(1)

(a)Notwithstanding sections 5(1) and 52(1) but subject to section 6(1), where a person (in this subsection referred to as the “relevant person”) supplies services which are exempt in accordance with section 52 and, paragraph 3(4) or 4(3) of Schedule 1, then an authorised officer (being an officer of the Revenue Commissioners authorised by them in writing for the purposes of this subsection) shall –

(i)if the officer is satisfied that that supply of those services has created or is likely to create a distortion of competition such as to place at a disadvantage a commercial enterprise which is an accountable person supplying similar-type services, or

(ii)if the officer is satisfied that that supply of those services is managed or administered by or on behalf of another person who has a direct or indirect beneficial interest (either directly or through an intermediary) in the supply of those services,

make a determination in relation to some or all of such supplies as specified in that determination deeming –

(I)the relevant person to be supplying such supplies as specified in that determination in the course or furtherance of business,

(II)the relevant person to be an accountable person in relation to the provision of such supplies as specified in that determination, and

(III)such supplies as specified in that determination to be taxable supplies to which the rate specified in paragraph (a), (c) or (ca), as appropriate, of section 46(1) refers.

(b)Subject to paragraph (c), where a determination is made under paragraph (a), the Revenue Commissioners shall, as soon as may be after the making of the determination, issue a notice in writing of that determination to the relevant person, and such determination shall have effect from such date as may be specified in the notice of that determination.

(c)A determination referred to in paragraph (b) shall have effect no sooner than the start of the next taxable period following that in which the notice referred to in that paragraph was issued in respect of that determination.

(d)Where an authorised officer is satisfied that the conditions that gave rise to the making of a determination under paragraph (a) no longer apply, the officer shall cancel that determination by notice in writing to the relevant person, and that cancellation shall have effect from the start of the next taxable period following that in which the notice issued.

(2)Where any goods or services are provided by a club or other similar organisation in respect of a payment of money by any of its members, then, for the purposes of this Act –

(a)the provision of the goods or services shall be deemed to be a supply by the club or other organisation of the goods or services, as the case may be, in the course or furtherance of business carried on by it, and

(b)the money shall be deemed to be consideration for the supply.

(3)

(a)In paragraph (b) “licensee” means –

(i)where the licence is held by the nominee of a body corporate, the body corporate

(ii)in any other case, the holder of the licence.

(b)The licensee of any premises (being premises in respect of which a licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor on or off those premises was granted) –

(i)shall be deemed to be the promoter of any dance held, during the subsistence of that licence, on those premises, and

(ii)shall be deemed to have received the total money (excluding tax) paid by those admitted to that dance together with any other consideration received or receivable in connection with the dance.

 

Part 3 Taxable Transactions (ss. 19-28)

Chapter 1 Supply of goods (ss. 19-23A)

19.

Meaning of supply of goods.

(1)In this Act “supply”, in relation to goods, means –
(a)the transfer of ownership of the goods by agreement (including the transfer of ownership of the goods to a person supplying financial services of the kind specified in paragraph 6(1)(e) of Schedule 1 where those services are supplied as part of an agreement of the kind referred to in paragraph (c) in respect of the goods)
(b)the sale of movable goods pursuant to a contract under which commission is payable on purchase or sale by an agent or auctioneer who concludes agreements in the agent’s or auctioneer’s own name but on the instructions of, and for the account of, another person
(c)the handing over of the goods to a person pursuant to an agreement which provides for the renting of the goods for a certain period subject to a condition that ownership of the goods shall be transferred to the person on a date not later than the date of payment of the final sum under the agreement
(e)the transfer of ownership of the goods pursuant to –
(i)their acquisition (otherwise than by agreement) by or on behalf of the State or a local authority, or
(ii)their seizure by any person acting under statutory authority
(f)the application (otherwise than by way of disposal to another person) by a person for the purposes of any business carried on by him or her of the goods, being movable goods which were developed, constructed, assembled, manufactured, produced, extracted, purchased, imported or otherwise acquired by him or her or by another person on his or her behalf, except where tax chargeable in relation to the application would, if it were charged, be wholly deductible under Chapter 1 of Part 8
(g)subject to subsection (1A), the appropriation of the goods by an accountable person for any purpose other than the purpose of his or her business or the disposal of the goods free of charge by an accountable person where –
(i)tax chargeable in relation to those goods –
(I)upon their purchase, intra-Community acquisition or importation by the accountable person, or
(II)upon their development, construction, assembly, manufacture, production, extraction or application under paragraph (f)
as the case may be, was wholly or partly deductible under Chapter 1 of Part 8, or
(ii)the ownership of those goods was transferred to the accountable person in the course of a transfer of a business or part thereof and that transfer of ownership was deemed not to be a supply of goods in accordance with section 20(2)
and
(h)the transfer by a person of the goods from his or her business in the State to the territory of another Member State for the purposes of the person’s business, or a transfer of a new means of transport by a person in the State to the territory of another Member State, other than for the purposes of any of the following:
(i)the transfer of the goods in question under the circumstances specified in section 29(1)(b) or (d) or 30
(ii)the transfer of the goods to another person under the circumstances specified in paragraphs 1(1) to (3), 3(1) and (3) and 7(1) to (4) of Schedule 2 and the transfer of the goods referred to in paragraphs 4(2), (4) and (5) and 5(2) of Schedule 2
(iii)the transfer of the goods for the purpose of having a service carried out on them where the goods which were so transferred by the person are, after being assigned a valuation or after being worked on, returned to that person in the State
(iv)the temporary use of the goods in question in the supply of a service by the person in that other Member State
(v)the temporary use of the goods in question, for a period not exceeding 24 months, in that other Member State, where the importation into that other Member State of the same goods with a view to their temporary use would be eligible for full exemption from import duties.

(1A)Subsection (1)(g) does not apply in any case where the goods appropriated by an accountable person for any purpose other than the purposes of his or her business are immovable goods that are acquired or developed by an accountable person on or after 1 January 2011.

(2)For the purposes of this Act “supply”, in relation to immovable goods, shall be regarded as including the transfer in substance of –
(a)the right to dispose of the immovable goods as owner, or
(b)the right to dispose of the immovable goods.

(3)Where 3 or more persons enter into agreements concerning the same goods and fulfil those agreements by a direct supply of the goods by the first person in the chain of sellers and buyers to the last buyer, then the supply to that last buyer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute a simultaneous supply by each seller in the chain.

20.

Transfers, etc. deemed not to be supplies.

(1)For the purposes of this Act, the transfer of ownership of goods pursuant to a contract of the kind referred to in section 19(1)(c) by the person supplying financial services of the kind specified in paragraph 6(1)(e) of Schedule 1 as part of that contract shall be deemed not to be a supply of the goods.

(2)The transfer of ownership of goods –

(a)as security for a loan or debt,

(b)where the goods are held as security for a loan or debt, upon repayment of the loan or debt, or

(c)being the transfer to an accountable person of a totality of assets, or part thereof, of a business (even if that business or part thereof had ceased trading) where those transferred assets constitute an undertaking or part of an undertaking capable of being operated on an independent basis,

shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be a supply of the goods.

(3)The disposal of goods by an insurer who has taken possession of them from the owner of the goods (in this subsection referred to as the “insured”), in connection with the settlement of a claim under a policy of insurance, being goods –

(a)in relation to the acquisition of which the insured had borne tax, and

(b)which are of such a kind or were used in such circumstances that no part of the tax borne was deductible by the insured,

shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be a supply of the goods.

21.

Supplies made free of charge.

Anything which is a supply of goods by virtue of section 19(1)(f), (g) or (h) shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been effected for consideration in the course or furtherance of the business concerned except –

(a)a gift of goods made in the course or furtherance of the business (otherwise than as one forming part of a series or succession of gifts made to the same person) the cost of which to the donor does not exceed a sum specified for that purpose in regulations, or

(b)the gift, in reasonable quantity, to the actual or potential customer, of industrial samples in a form not ordinarily available for sale to the public.

22.

Special rules in relation to supplies of goods.

(1)Where an agent or auctioneer makes a sale of goods in accordance with section 19(1)(b), the transfer of those goods to that agent or auctioneer shall be deemed to be a supply of the goods to the agent or auctioneer at the time that the agent or auctioneer makes that sale.

(2)Where a person (in this subsection referred to as the “owner”) –

(a)supplies financial services of the kind specified in paragraph 6(1)(e) of Schedule 1 in respect of a supply of goods within the meaning of section 19(1)(c), and

(b)enforces the owner’s right to recover possession of the goods,

then the disposal of the goods by the owner shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be a supply of goods to which paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 does not apply.

(3)

(a)Where, in the case of a business carried on, or that has ceased to be carried on, by an accountable person, goods forming part of the assets of the business are, under any power exercisable by another person (including a liquidator and a receiver), disposed of by the other person in or towards the satisfaction of a debt owed by the accountable person, or in the course of the winding up of a company, then those goods shall be deemed to be supplied by the accountable person in the course or furtherance of his or her business.

(b)A disposal of goods under this subsection shall include any assignment or surrender that is deemed to be a supply of immovable goods as provided by section 95(5).

23.

Supply following intra-Community acquisition.

(1)Subject to subsections (2) and (3), where a person who is not established in the State makes an intra-Community acquisition of goods in the State and makes a subsequent supply of the goods to an accountable person in the State, then the person to whom the supply is made shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have made that supply and the intra-Community acquisition shall be disregarded.

(2)Subsection (1) shall apply only where –

(a)the person who is not established in the State has not exercised his or her option to register in accordance with section 65 by virtue of section 11(3), and

(b)the person to whom the supply is made is registered in accordance with section 65.

(3)Subsection (1) shall not apply to call-off stock arrangements.

23A.

Call-off stock arrangements.

(1)This section applies to call-off stock arrangements which meet all of the following conditions:

(a)goods are dispatched or transported by a taxable person, or by a third party acting on his or her behalf, to the State from another Member State, with a view to the goods being supplied in the State, at a later stage and after arrival, to an accountable person;

(b)the accountable person is entitled to take ownership of the goods in accordance with an existing agreement with the taxable person;

(c)the taxable person is not established in the State and does not have a fixed establishment in the State;

(d)the accountable person is registered in accordance with section 65;

(e)the identity and registration number of the accountable person are known to the taxable person at the time when the dispatch or transport of the goods begins;

(f)the taxable person fulfils the requirements of Article 17a(2)(d) of the VAT Directive in the other Member State.

(2)Subject to subsections (3) to (7), where a taxable person transfers goods forming part of his or her business assets to an accountable person in the State under call-off stock arrangements to which this section applies, the transfer of such goods shall not be treated as a supply of goods for consideration.

(3)Where all of the conditions set out in subsection (1) are met, and provided that the transfer to the accountable person referred to in subsection (1)(a) of the right to dispose of the goods as owner occurs within the period of 12 months after the arrival of the goods in the State, then, at the time of the transfer of that right –

(a)a supply of goods in accordance with Article 138(1) of the VAT Directive shall be deemed to be made by the taxable person referred to in subsection (1)(a) in the other Member State, and

(b)an intra-Community acquisition of the goods shall be deemed to be made by the accountable person to whom the goods are supplied in the State.

(4)Where –

(a)within the period referred to in subsection (3), the goods have not been supplied to the accountable person referred to in subsection (1)(a) or a person substituted for that accountable person in accordance with subsection (6), and

(b)none of the circumstances referred to in subsection (7) have occurred,

a supply of goods shall be deemed to take place on the day following the expiry of the period referred to in subsection (3).

(5)No supply of goods shall be deemed to take place where –

(a)within the period referred to in subsection (3), the right to dispose of the goods has not been transferred and the goods are returned to the Member State from which they were dispatched or transported, and

(b)the taxable person records the return of the goods in the register provided for in Article 243(3) of the VAT Directive.

(6)Where, within the period referred to in subsection (3), the accountable person referred to in subsection (1)(a) is substituted by another accountable person, no supply of goods shall be deemed to take place at the time of the substitution, provided that –

(a)all other applicable conditions set out in subsection (1) are met, and

(b)the taxable person records the substitution in the register provided for in Article 243(3) of the VAT Directive.

(7)

(a)Subject to paragraphs (b) to (d), where, within the period referred to in subsection (3), any of the conditions set out in subsections (1) and (6) cease to be fulfilled, a supply of goods shall be deemed to take place at the time that the relevant condition is no longer fulfilled.

(b)If the goods are supplied to a person other than the accountable person referred to in subsection (1)(a) or a person substituted for that accountable person in accordance with subsection (6), it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in subsections (1) and (6) cease to be fulfilled immediately before such supply.

(c)If the goods are dispatched or transported to a country other than the Member State from which they were initially moved, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in subsections (1) and (6) cease to be fulfilled immediately before such dispatch or transport starts.

(d)In the event of the destruction, loss or theft of the goods, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in subsections (1) and (6) cease to be fulfilled on the date that the goods were actually removed or destroyed, or if it is impossible to determine that date, the date on which the goods were found to be destroyed or missing.

Chapter 2 Intra-Community acquisitions (s. 24)

24.

Intra-Community acquisitions of goods.

(1)In this Act “intra-Community acquisition”, in relation to goods, means the acquisition of –
(a)movable goods (other than new means of transport) –
(i)supplied by –
(I)a person registered for value-added tax in a Member State
(II)a person obliged to be registered for value-added tax in a Member State
(III)a person who carries on an exempted activity in a Member State, or
(IV)a flat-rate farmer in a Member State
(ii)supplied to a person in another Member State (other than an individual who is not a taxable person or who is not entitled to elect to be a taxable person, unless the individual carries on an exempted activity), and
(iii)which have been dispatched or transported from the territory of a Member State to the territory of another Member State as a result of such supply
or
(b)new means of transport supplied by a person in a Member State to a person in another Member State and which has been dispatched or transported from the territory of a Member State to the territory of another Member State as a result of being so supplied.

(2)An intra-Community acquisition of goods shall be deemed not to occur where the supply of those goods is subject to value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive in the Member State of dispatch under the provisions implementing Articles 4 and 35, first subparagraph of Article 139(3) and Articles 311 to 341 of that Directive in that Member State.

(2A)The application by the armed forces of a Member State taking part in a defence effort carried out for the implementation of a European Union activity under the European Union common security and defence policy, for the use of those armed forces or for the use of the civilian staff accompanying those armed forces, of goods which those armed forces have not purchased subject to the general rules governing taxation on the domestic market of a Member State shall be treated as an intra-Community acquisition of goods for consideration, where the importation of those goods would not be eligible for the exemption provided for in the provisions implementing Article 143(1)(ga) of the VAT Directive in the Member State on whose domestic market the goods were purchased.

(3)For the purposes of this section and section 32 –

(a)a supply in the territory of another Member State shall be deemed to have arisen where, under similar circumstances, a supply would have arisen in the State under Chapter 1 or Chapter 1 of Part 4 (including either of those Chapters as read with section 2(3)),

(b)an activity in another Member State shall be deemed to be an exempted activity where the same activity, if carried out in the State, would be an exempted activity,

(c)a person shall be deemed to be a flat-rate farmer in another Member State where, under similar circumstances, the person would be a flat-rate farmer in the State, and

(d)a person shall be deemed to be a taxable person or a person who is entitled to elect to be a taxable person in another Member State where, under similar circumstances, the person would be an accountable person or entitled to elect to be an accountable person in the State in accordance with Part 2.

(4)Where –

(a)goods are dispatched or transported from outside the Community to a person in the State who is not registered for tax and who is not an individual, and

(b)value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive is chargeable on the importation of those goods into another Member State,

then, for the purposes of subsection (1), the person shall be deemed to be registered for value-added tax in that other Member State and the goods shall be deemed to have been dispatched or transported from that other Member State.

 

 

Chapter 3 Supply of services (ss. 25-28)
25.

Meaning of supply of services.

(1)In this Act “supply”, in relation to a service, means the performance or omission of any act or the toleration of any situation other than –
(a)the supply of goods, and
(b)a transaction specified in section 20 or 22(2).

(2)[deleted]

26.

Transfer of intangible business assets deemed not to be supply of services.

(1)For the purposes of this section “accountable person” shall not include a person who is an accountable person solely by virtue of section 9, 10, 12, 14(1) or 17(1).

(2)The transfer of goodwill or other intangible assets of a business, in connection with the transfer of the business or part thereof (even if that business or that part thereof had ceased trading), or in connection with a transfer of ownership of goods in accordance with section 20(2)(c), by –

(a)an accountable person to a taxable person who carries on a business in the State, or

(b)a person who is not an accountable person to another person,

shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, not to be a supply of services.

27.

Self-supply of services.

(1)For the purposes of this Act, any of the following, if so provided by regulations, and in accordance with those regulations, shall be deemed to be a supply of services by a person for consideration in the course or furtherance of that person’s business:

(a)the use of goods (other than immovable goods) forming part of the assets of a business –

(i)for the private use of an accountable person or of such person’s staff, or

(ii)for any purposes other than those of an accountable person’s business,

where the tax on those goods is wholly or partly deductible;

(b)the supply of services carried out free of charge by an accountable person for such person’s own private use or that of such person’s staff or for any purposes other than those of such person’s business;

(c)the supply of services by an accountable person for the purposes of such person’s business where the tax on such services, were they supplied by another accountable person, would not be wholly deductible.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), the use of immovable goods forming part of the assets of a business –

(a)for the private use of an accountable person or of such person’s staff, or

(b)for any purpose other than those of the accountable person’s business,

is a taxable supply of services if –

(i)that use occurs during a period of 20 years following the acquisition or development of those goods by the accountable person, and

(ii)those goods are treated for tax purposes as forming part of the assets of the business at the time of their acquisition or development.

(3)Subsection (2) does not apply in the case of immovable goods that are acquired or developed by an accountable person on or after 1 January 2011.

28.

Special rules in relation to supplies of services.

(1)The supply of services through a person (in this subsection referred to as the “agent”) who, while purporting to act on his or her own behalf, concludes agreements in his or her own name but on the instructions of, and for the account of, another person, shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute a supply of the services to and simultaneously by the agent.

(2)Where services are supplied by a person and the person is not legally entitled to recover consideration in respect of or in relation to that supply but moneys are received in respect of or in relation to such supply, then, for the purposes of this Act –

(a)the services in question shall be deemed to have been supplied for consideration, and

(b)the moneys received shall be deemed to be consideration that the person who supplied the services in question became entitled to receive in respect of or in relation to the supply of those services.

(3)Where a person is indemnified under a policy of insurance in respect of any amount payable in respect of services of a barrister or solicitor, those services shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be supplied to, and received by, such person.

(4)Where, in the case of a business carried on, or that has ceased to be carried on, by an accountable person, services (being services that are supplied using the assets or part of the assets of an accountable person) are, under any power exercisable by another person (including a receiver or liquidator), supplied by that other person in or towards the satisfaction of a debt owed by the accountable person, or in the course of winding up of a company, then those services shall be deemed to be supplied by the accountable person in the course or furtherance of his or her business.

(5)Where another person (including a receiver or liquidator), under any power exercisable by that other person, in or towards the satisfaction of a debt owed by a taxable person, or in the course of winding up of a company –

(a)makes a supply consisting of a letting of immovable goods, being the assets or part of the assets of the taxable person, and

(b)that other person exercises an option to tax that letting in accordance with section 97(1)(a)(i),

then that taxable person shall be deemed to have supplied that letting and to have exercised the option to tax.

Part 4 Place of Taxable Transactions (ss. 29-35A)
Chapter 1

Place of supply of goods (ss. 29-31)

29.

General rules.

(1)For the purposes of this Act, the place where goods are supplied shall be deemed to be –

(a)in the case of goods dispatched or transported and to which section 30 does not apply, subject to subsection (2), the place where the dispatch or transportation to the person to whom the goods are supplied begins,

(b)in the case of goods which are installed or assembled, with or without a trial run, by or on behalf of the supplier, the place where the goods are installed or assembled,

(c)in the case of goods not dispatched or transported, the place where the goods are located at the time of supply,

(d)in the case of goods supplied on board vessels, aircraft or trains during transport, the places of departure and destination of which are within the Community, the place where the transport begins.

(2)Where goods referred to in subsection (1)(a) are dispatched or transported from a place outside the Community, then, for the purposes of this Act, the place of supply by the person who imports those goods and the place of any subsequent supplies shall be deemed to be where the goods are imported.

30.

Goods supplied to non-registered persons.

Notwithstanding section 29(1)(a) or (2), for the purposes of this Act, the place where goods are supplied shall be deemed to be –

((a)subject to section 35A, in the case of an intra-Community distance sale of goods, the place where the goods are located when the dispatch or transport of the goods to the customer ends,

(b)in the case of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries into a Member State other than that in which the dispatch or transport of the goods to the customer ends, the place where the goods are located when the dispatch or transport of the goods to the customer ends;

(c)in the case of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries into the Member State in which the dispatch or transport of the goods to the customer ends, that Member State, provided that the value-added tax on those goods is declared under the provisions implementing Section 4 of Chapter 6 of Title XII of the VAT Directive in that Member State.

31.

Gas and electricity supplies.

(1)

(a)In this subsection “taxable dealer” means an accountable person whose principal business in respect of supplies of gas through the natural gas distribution system, of heat or cooling energy through heating or cooling networks, or of electricity, received by that person, is the supply of those goods for consideration in the course or furtherance of business and whose own consumption of those goods is negligible.

(b)For the purposes of this Act, the place where goods are supplied shall be deemed to be –

(i)in the case of the supply of gas through the natural gas distribution system, of heat or cooling energy through heating or cooling networks, or of electricity, to a taxable dealer, whether in the State, in another Member State of the Community or outside the Community –

(I)the place where that taxable dealer has established the business concerned or has a fixed establishment for which the goods are supplied,

(II)in the absence of such a place of business or fixed establishment, the place where that taxable dealer has a permanent address or usually resides,

(ii)in the case of the supply of gas through the natural gas distribution system situated within the territory of the Community or any network connected to such a system, of heat or cooling energy through heating or cooling networks, or of electricity, to a customer other than a taxable dealer, the place where that customer has effective use and consumption of those goods.

(2)Where all or part of the goods referred to in subsection (1)(b)(ii) are not consumed by the customer referred to in that subsection, then, for the purposes of this Act, the goods not so consumed shall be deemed to have been supplied to that customer and used and consumed by that customer –

(a)at the place where the customer has established the business concerned or has a fixed establishment for which the goods are supplied,

(b)in the absence of such a place of business or fixed establishment, at the place where the customer has a permanent address or usually resides.

Chapter 2 Place of intra-Community transactions (ss. 32-32A)

32.

Intra-Community acquisitions of goods.

(1)The place where an intra-Community acquisition of goods occurs shall be deemed to be the place where the goods are when the dispatch or transportation ends.

(2)Without prejudice to subsection (1) but subject to subsection (3), when the person acquiring the goods quotes his or her value-added tax registration number for the purpose of the acquisition, the place where an intra-Community acquisition of goods occurs shall be deemed to be within the territory of the Member State which issued that registration number, unless the person acquiring the goods can establish that such acquisition has been subject to value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive in accordance with subsection (1).

(3)Subsection (2) shall not apply where –

(a)the person quotes the registration number assigned to him or her in accordance with section 65 for the purpose of making an intra-Community acquisition and the goods are dispatched or transported from the territory of a Member State directly to the territory of another Member State, neither of which is the State,

(b)the person makes a subsequent supply of the goods to a person registered for value-added tax in the Member State where the dispatch or transportation ends,

(c)the person issues an invoice in relation to that supply –

(i)in such form and containing such particulars as would be required in accordance with section 66(1) if he or she made the supply of the goods in the State to a person registered for value-added tax in another Member State,

(ii)containing an explicit reference to the EC simplified triangulation arrangements, and

(iii)indicating that the recipient of that supply is liable to account for the value-added tax due in that Member State,

and

(d)in accordance with regulations, the person includes a reference to the supply in the statement referred to in section 82 as if it were an intra-Community supply for the purposes of that section.

32A.

Chain transactions.

(1)In this section –

‘chain transaction’ means a series of successive supplies of the same goods where those goods are dispatched or transported from one Member State to another Member State, directly from the first supplier of the goods to the last customer in the chain;

‘intermediary operator’ means a supplier in a chain transaction, other than the first supplier, who dispatches or transports the goods or engages a third party to dispatch or transport the goods on his or her behalf.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), in a chain transaction, the dispatch or transport of the goods shall be ascribed only to the supply made to the intermediary operator.

(3)Where the intermediary operator provides to his or her supplier a value-added tax identification number, issued to that intermediary operator by the Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported, the dispatch or transport of the goods shall be ascribed only to the supply made by that intermediary operator.

(4)This section does not apply to transactions in which a taxable person facilitates (within the meaning of section 91G(1)), through the use of an electronic interface such as a marketplace, platform, portal or similar means, the supply of goods and is the deemed supplier of those goods under Article 14a of the VAT Directive.

Chapter 3

Place of supply of services (ss. 33-35)

33. Application and interpretation of section 34.
(1)For the purpose of applying section 34, every person registered for value-added tax is a taxable person.

(2)In section 34(c) a supply of services connected with immovable goods includes –

(a)a supply of services by experts or estate agents,

(b)a provision of accommodation in a hotel or guesthouse or in an establishment having a similar function, or in a holiday camp or a site developed for use as a camping site,

(ba)the supply of telecommunications services, radio or television broadcasting services or electronically supplied services, together with the provision of accommodation of the kind specified in paragraph (b), where the supply is by the provider of that accommodation acting in his or her own name, and

(c)a supply of services involving the preparation and co-ordination of construction work (including a supply of services of architects and of persons who provide on-site supervision).

(3)In section 34(e) “intra-Community transport of goods” means any transport of goods in respect of which the place of departure and the place of arrival are located within the territories of 2 different Member States.

(4)In section 34(k) “short-term” means the continuous possession or use of a means of transport throughout a period of not more than 30 days or, if the means of transport is a vessel, not more than 90 days.

(4A)In paragraphs (ka) and (kb) of section 34 ‘long-term’ means the continuous possession or use of a means of transport throughout a period of more than 30 days or, if the means of transport is a vessel, more than 90 days.

(4B)[deleted]

(5)The following services are specified for the purpose of section 34(m):

(a)services that consist of transferring or assigning copyrights, patents, licences, trade marks and similar rights;

(b)advertising services;

(c)the services of consultants, engineers, consultancy firms, lawyers, accountants and other similar services, as well as data processing and the provision of information;

(d)services that consist of obligations to refrain from pursuing or exercising, wholly or partly, a business activity or a right referred to in this subsection;

(e)services that consist of financial transactions (including banking transactions and financial fund management transactions but excluding the provision of safe deposit facilities) or insurance transactions (including reinsurance transactions);

(f)services that consist of supplying staff;

(g)services that consist of hiring out movable tangible property (other than a means of transport);

(h)services that consist of the provision of access to a natural gas distribution system situated within the territory of the Community or to any network connected to such a system, to the electricity system or to the heating or cooling networks, or the transmission or distribution through these systems or networks, and the provision of other services directly linked to those systems;

(i)telecommunications services;

(j)radio or television broadcasting services;

(k)electronically supplied services.

34.

General rules.

The following rules apply to determine the place where, for the purposes of this Act, services are supplied:

(a)except as provided by paragraphs (c), (d), (g), (i), (j) and (k), the place of supply of services to a taxable person acting as such is –

(i)subject to subparagraph (ii), the place where the person’s business is established,

(ii)if the services are supplied to a fixed establishment of the person located in a place other than the place where the business is established, the place where the fixed establishment is located,

(iii)if there is no such place of business or fixed establishment, the place where the permanent address or usual place of residence of the taxable person who receives the services is located;

(b)except as provided by paragraphs (c) to (n), the place of supply of services to a non-taxable person is –

(i)subject to subparagraph (ii), the place where the supplier’s business is established,

(ii)if the services are supplied from a fixed establishment of the supplier located at a place other than the place where the supplier’s business is established, the place where the fixed establishment is located,

(iii)if there is no such place of business or fixed establishment, the place where the permanent address or usual place of residence of the supplier is located;

(c)if the supply of services is connected with immovable goods, or is the grant of a right to use those goods, the place where those goods are located;

(d)if the supply of services is the provision of passenger transport, the place or the places where the transport takes place;

(e)if the supply of services is the provision of the transport of goods to a non-taxable person and is not an intra-Community transport of goods, the place or places where the transport takes place;

(f)if the supply of services is the provision of intra-Community transport of goods to a non-taxable person, the place of departure of those goods (being the place where the transport of the goods actually begins) irrespective of the distance covered by the means of transport in order to reach the place where the goods are located;

(g)if the supply of services, and of any ancillary services, is in respect of or related to admission to a cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, entertainment or similar event, such as a fair or exhibition (including the supply of tickets granting access to such an event), and the supply is to a taxable person, the place where that event actually takes place;

(ga)if the supply of services, and of any ancillary services, is in respect of or related to a cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, entertainment or similar activity, such as a fair or exhibition (including the supply of services of the organiser of such an activity or the supply of tickets granting access to such an activity), and the supply is to a non-taxable person, the place where that activity actually takes place;

(h)if the supply of services is to a non-taxable person and consists of –

(i)ancillary transport activities, such as loading, unloading and handling goods,

(ii)carrying out valuations of, or work on, movable goods, or

(iii)contract work,

the place where those services are physically carried out;

(i)if the supply of services is the provision of restaurant or catering services (other than those referred to in paragraph (j)), the place where those services are physically carried out;

(j)if the supply of services is the provision of restaurant or catering services that are physically carried out on board a ship, aircraft or train during a section of a passenger transport operation undertaken within the Community and the first scheduled point of departure within the Community of that transport operation is in the State, the State;

(k)if the supply of services consists of a short-term hiring out of a means of transport, the place where the means of transport is actually placed at the disposal of the customer;

(ka)subject to paragraph (kb), if the supply of services consists of a long-term hiring out of a means of transport to a non-taxable person, the place where that person is established or has a permanent address or usually resides;

(kb)if –

(i)the supply of services consists of a long-term hiring out of a pleasure boat to a non-taxable person, and

(ii)that service is actually provided by the supplier from his or her place of business or a fixed establishment situated in that place,

the place where the pleasure boat is actually put at the disposal of the customer;

(kc)subject to section 35A, if the supply of services consists of the provision of –

(i)telecommunications services,

(ii)radio or television broadcasting services, or

(iii)electronically supplied services,

(other than the provision of those services to which paragraph (c) relates) to a non-taxable person, the place where that person is established, has a permanent address or usually resides;

(kd)[deleted]

(l)[deleted]

(m)if the supply of services consists of a supply of services specified in section 33(5) and the supply is to a non-taxable person –

(i)who is established outside the Community,

(ii)whose permanent address is outside the Community, or

(iii)who usually resides outside the Community,

the place where the person is established, has a permanent address or usually resides;

(n)if the supply of services is the provision of services to a non-taxable person by an intermediary acting in the name and on behalf of another person, the place where the underlying transaction is supplied.

35.

Use and enjoyment provisions.

(1)Where, in the case of a supply of services that consists of hiring out movable goods, the place of supply of the services would, apart from this subsection, be a place outside the Community but the services are in effect used and enjoyed in the State, the place of supply of those services is nevertheless taken to be the State for the purposes of this Act.

(2)Where, in the case of a supply of services that consists of hiring out a means of transport, the place of supply of the services would, apart from this subsection, be the State but those services are in effect used and enjoyed outside the Community, the place of supply of those services is nevertheless taken to be outside the Community for the purposes of this Act.

(3)Where, in the case of a supply of services that consists of the provision to a non-taxable person of a telecommunications service, a radio or a television broadcasting service or a telephone card, the place of supply of the service or card would, apart from this subsection, be outside the Community but the service is in effect used and enjoyed in the State, the place of supply is nevertheless taken to be the State for the purposes of this Act.

(4)Where, in the case of a supply of services that consists of the provision by a taxable person established in the State of a telecommunications service or a telephone card to a non-taxable person, the place of supply of the service or card would, apart from this subsection, be outside the Community but the service is in effect used and enjoyed in the State, the place of supply is taken to be the State for the purposes of this Act.

(5)Where, in the case of a supply of services that consists of the provision to a non-taxable person of financial services (including banking services and financial fund management services but not including the provision of safe deposit facilities) or insurance services (including reinsurance), the place of supply of the services would, apart from this subsection, be a place outside the Community but the services are in effect used and enjoyed in the State, the place of supply is nevertheless taken to be the State for the purposes of this Act.

(6)Where money transfer services provided to a person in the State are in effect used and enjoyed in the State, the place of supply of intermediary services that are provided in respect of, or in relation to, those services to a principal established outside the Community, is taken to be the State for the purposes of this Act.

Chapter 4

Place of supply for certain taxable persons making supplies of intra-Community distance sales of goods and supplies of telecommunication services, radio or television broadcasting services or electronically supplied services (s. 35A)

35A.
(1)Subject to subsection (3), sections 30(a) and 34(kc) shall not apply to –

(a)intra-Community distance sales of goods, or

(b)supplies of telecommunications services, radio or television broadcasting services or electronically supplied services,

made by a taxable person where –

(i)the taxable person is established or, in the absence of an establishment, has his or her permanent address or usually resides in the State only,

(ii)the goods referred to in paragraph (a) are dispatched or transported to a Member State other than the State, or services referred to in paragraph (b) are supplied to a non- taxable person who is established, has his or her permanent address or usually resides in a Member State other than the State, and

(iii)the total value of the supplies, exclusive of value-added tax, of goods referred to in paragraph (a) and services referred to in paragraph (b) does not in the current calendar year, and did not in the previous calendar year, exceed €10,000.

(2)Subject to subsections (3) and (4), where subsection (1) applies –

(a)section 29(1)(a) shall apply to intra-Community distances sales of goods, and

(b)section 34(b) shall apply to the supply of telecommunications services, radio or television broadcasting services or electronically supplied services.

(3)Where, during a calendar year, the threshold referred to in subsection (1)(iii) is exceeded, sections 30(a) and 34(kc) shall apply from the date on which that threshold is exceeded.

(4)

(a)A taxable person in respect of whom subsection (1) applies may opt for the place of supply of the supplies of goods referred to in subsection (1)(a) and services referred to in subsection (1)(b) to be determined in accordance with sections 30(a) and 34(kc).

(b)Where a taxable person exercises the option provided for in paragraph (a), that option shall apply for a period of not less than 2 calendar years from the date on which the option is exercised.

91.

Electronic services scheme.

(1)In this section –

“electronic services scheme” means the special arrangements for the taxation of electronically supplied services provided for in Articles 358 to 369 of the VAT Directive

“EU value-added tax” means value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive and includes tax within the meaning of section 2;

“identified person” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (5);

“Member State of consumption” means the Member State in which the supply of the electronic services takes place according to Article 58 of the VAT Directive;

“Member State of identification” means the Member State which the non-established person chooses to contact to state when his or her activity within the Community commences in accordance with the provisions of the electronic services scheme;

“national tax number” means a number (whether consisting of either or both numbers and letters) assigned to a non-established person by his or her own national taxation authorities;

“non-established person” means a person who has his or her establishment outside the Community and has not also an establishment in the Community and who is not otherwise required to be a person registered for value-added tax within the meaning of section 2;

“scheme participant” means a non-established person who supplies electronic services into the Community and who opts to use the electronic services scheme in any Member State;

“VAT return” means the statement containing the information necessary to establish the amount of EU value-added tax that has become chargeable in each Member State under the electronic services scheme.

(2)Subject to and in accordance with this section, a non-established person may opt to apply the electronic services scheme to his or her supplies of electronic services to non-taxable persons within the Community.

(3)The Revenue Commissioners shall set up and maintain a register (referred to in this section as an “identification register”) of non-established persons who are identified in the State for the purposes of the electronic services scheme.

(4)A non-established person who opts to be identified in the State for the purposes of the electronic services scheme shall inform the Revenue Commissioners, by electronic means in a manner specified by them, when his or her taxable activity commences and shall, at the same time, furnish them electronically with the following information:

(a)the person’s name and postal address;

(b)his or her electronic addresses, including website addresses;

(c)his or her national tax number (if any); and

(d)a statement that the person is not a person registered, or otherwise identified, for value-added tax purposes within the Community.

(5)

(a)Where a person has furnished the particulars required under subsection (4), the Revenue Commissioners shall –

(i)register that person in accordance with subsection (3),

(ii)allocate to that person an identification number, and

(iii)notify that person electronically of that identification number.

(b)For the purposes of this section, a person to whom such an identification number has been allocated shall be referred to as an “identified person”.

(6)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), an identified person shall, within 20 days immediately following the end of each calendar quarter –

(i)furnish by electronic means to the Revenue Commissioners a VAT return, prepared in accordance with, and containing such particulars as are specified in, subsection (7), in respect of supplies made in the Community in that quarter, and

(ii)remit to the Revenue Commissioners, at the same time as so furnishing such return, into a bank account designated by them and denominated in euro, the amount of EU value-added tax (if any) payable by that person in respect of that quarter in relation to –

(I)supplies made in the State in accordance with section 34(l), and

(II)supplies made in other Member States in accordance with the provisions implementing Article 58 of the VAT Directive in such other Member States.

(b)Where an identified person has not made any such electronic supplies to non-taxable persons into the Community within a calendar quarter, he or she shall furnish a nil VAT return in respect of that quarter.

(7)The VAT return referred to in subsection (6) shall be made in euro and shall contain –

(a)the person’s identification number,

(b)for each Member State of consumption where EU value-added tax has become due –

(i)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of supplies of electronic services for the quarter,

(ii)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate, and

(iii)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate,

and

(c)the total EU value-added tax due (if any).

(8)Notwithstanding section 37(4), where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purposes of expressing the corresponding amount in euro on the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last date of the calendar quarter for which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next day of publication.

(9)Notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 8, a scheme participant who supplies services which are deemed in accordance with section 34(l) to be supplied in the State –

(a)shall not, in computing the amount of tax payable by him or her in respect of such supplies, be entitled to deduct any tax borne or paid in relation to those supplies, but

(b)shall be entitled to claim a refund of such tax in accordance with, and using the rules applicable to, Council Directive No. 86/560/EEC of 17 November 1986 , notwithstanding Articles 2(2), 2(3) and 4(2) of that Directive.

(10)A scheme participant who supplies services which are deemed in accordance with section 34(l) to be supplied in the State shall be deemed to have fulfilled his or her obligations under Chapters 1, 3 and 7 of Part 9 if such participant has accounted in full in respect of such supplies in any Member State under the provisions of the electronic services scheme.

(11)For the purposes of this Act, a VAT return required to be furnished in accordance with the electronic services scheme shall, in so far as it relates to supplies made in accordance with section 34(l), be treated, with any necessary modifications, as if it were a return required to be furnished in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9.

(12)

(a)An identified person shall –

(i)keep full and true records of all transactions covered by the electronic services scheme which affect his or her liability to EU value-added tax,

(ii)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners,

(iii)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to all Member States of consumption, and

(iv)notwithstanding Chapter 7 of Part 9, retain such records for each transaction for a period of 10 years from the end of the year when that transaction occurred.

(b)A scheme participant who is deemed to supply services in the State in accordance with section 34(l) shall be bound by the requirements of subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iv) in relation to such supplies.

(13)An identified person shall notify the Revenue Commissioners electronically –

(a)of any changes in the information submitted under subsection (4), and

(b)if his or her taxable activity ceases or changes to the extent that he or she no longer qualifies for the electronic services scheme.

(14)The Revenue Commissioners shall exclude an identified person from the identification register if –

(a)they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person’s taxable activities have ended, or

(b)the identified person –

(i)notifies the Commissioners that he or she no longer supplies electronic services,

(ii)no longer fulfils the requirements necessary to be allowed to use the electronic services scheme, or

(iii)persistently fails to comply with the provisions of the electronic services scheme.

(15)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations as necessary for the purpose of giving effect to the electronic services scheme.

(16)This section shall not apply to electronic services supplied on or after 1 January 2015.

Chapter 2

Special schemes for taxable persons supplying services to non-taxable persons, making intra-Community distance sales of goods, making certain domestic supplies of goods or importing goods (ss. 91A-91K)

91A.

Definitions.

In this Chapter –

“broadcasting services” means either or both radio and television broadcasting services;

“EU value-added tax” means value-added tax referred to in the VAT Directive and includes tax within the meaning of section 2;

“identified person” has the meaning assigned to it by section 91B(4) or 91D(4), as the case may be;

“Implementing Regulation” means Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 282/2011 of 15 March 2011 [OJ No. L77, 23.3.2011, p.1] (as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 967/2012 of 9 October 2012 [OJ No. L290, 20.10.2012, p.1], Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2026 of 21 November 2019 [OJ No. L313, 4.12.2019, p. 14] and Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1112 of 20 July 2020 [OJ No. L244, 29.7.2020, p. 9] );

“import scheme” means the scheme for the payment of value-added tax provided for in sections 91I to 91K;

“intrinsic value” has the same meaning as it has in Article 1(48) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 [OJ No. L343, 29.12.2015, p. 1];

“Member State of consumption” means –
(a)in the case of the non-Union scheme, the Member State in which the supply of scheme services is deemed to take place according to Chapter 3 of Title V of the VAT Directive, and
(b)in the case of the Union scheme –
(i)in respect of the supply of scheme services, the Member State in which the supply is deemed to take place according to Chapter 3 of Title V of the VAT Directive,
(ii)in respect of the intra-Community distance sales of goods, the Member State where the dispatch or transport to the consumer ends, and
(iii)in respect of the supply of goods made by a taxable person facilitating those supplies in accordance with section 91G(1)(b), and where the dispatch or transport of the goods supplied begins and ends in the same Member State, that Member State;

“Member State of identification” means –
(a)in the case of the non-Union scheme, the Member State in which the taxable person applies to be identified for the purposes of that scheme, and
(b)in the case of the Union scheme –
(i)the Member State in which the taxable person has established his or her business,
(ii)where the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community, but has a fixed establishment in the Community, the Member State in which he or she has that fixed establishment,
(iii)where the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community and has no fixed establishment in the Community, the Member State in which the dispatch or transport of the goods begins,
(iv)where the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community, and has more than one fixed establishment in the Community, the Member State in which he or she has a fixed establishment and which he or she has chosen to be the Member State of identification for the purposes of the Union scheme, or
(v)where the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community and has no fixed establishment in the Community, and there is more than one Member State in which the dispatch or transport of the goods begins, the Member State in which the dispatch or transport of the goods begins which he or she has chosen to be the Member State of identification for the purposes of the Union scheme;

“national tax number” means a number (whether consisting of either or both numbers and letters) assigned to a taxable person who has not established his or her place of business in the Community by the person’s own national taxation authority;

“non-Union scheme” means the scheme for scheme services supplied by a taxable person whose business is not established in the Community, and who has no fixed establishment in the Community;

“qualifying domestic supplies of goods” means supplies of goods facilitated through the use of an electronic interface such as a marketplace, platform, portal or similar means in accordance with Article 14a(2) of the VAT Directive where the dispatch or transport of those goods begins and ends in the same Member State;

“scheme services” means services supplied to non-taxable persons within the Community;

“taxable person not established within the Community” means a taxable person who has not established his or her business in the Community and who has no fixed establishment there;

“taxable person not established in the Member State of consumption” means a taxable person who has established his or her business in the Community or who has a fixed establishment there but who has not established his or her business, and has no fixed establishment, within the territory of the Member State of consumption;

“Union scheme” means the scheme for –
(a)scheme services, supplied by a taxable person whose business is established in the Community or who has a fixed establishment in the Community but whose business is not established in, and who has no fixed establishment in, the Member State of consumption,
(b)intra-Community distance sales of goods, and
(c)qualifying domestic supplies of goods;

“VAT return” means the statement containing the information necessary to establish the amount of EU value-added tax that has become chargeable in each Member State in respect of the following supplies within the scope of the Union or non-Union scheme, as the case may be, made during a calendar quarter:
(a)supplies of scheme services;
(b)intra-Community distance sales of goods;
(c)qualifying domestic supplies of goods.

91B. Non-Union scheme (where the State is Member State of identification).
(1)

(a)A taxable person may opt to apply the non-Union scheme to his or her supplies of scheme services within the Community, provided that the taxable person –

(i)makes or intends to make supplies of scheme services in the course or furtherance of business, and

(ii)has not established his or her business in the Community and has no fixed establishment in the Community.

(b)A taxable person may not be registered in the State for the purposes of the non-Union scheme if he or she –

(i)is already identified in another Member State for the purposes of the non-Union scheme, or

(ii)is excluded from applying the non-Union scheme by Article 363 of the VAT Directive or Article 58 of the Implementing Regulation.

(2)The Revenue Commissioners shall establish and maintain a register (in this section referred to as the “identification register”) of persons who are identified in the State for the purposes of the non-Union scheme.

(3)A person who opts to be identified in the State for the purposes of the non-Union scheme shall notify the Revenue Commissioners by electronic means using such form as is made available by the Commissioners for that purpose, and shall, at the same time, provide them by electronic means with the following details:

(a)the person’s name and postal address;

(b)his or her electronic addresses, including website addresses;

(c)his or her national tax number (if any);

(d)the date when his or her supplies of scheme services shall commence or have commenced;

(e)any previous registrations in any other Member State under the provisions of the non-Union scheme in that Member State, and

(f)a statement that the person has not established his or her business in the Community and has no fixed establishment in the Community.

(4)

(a)Where a person has provided the details required under subsection (3) and the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the requirements for registration for the purposes of the non-Union scheme are met they shall –

(i)register that person in the identification register,

(ii)allocate to that person an identification number, and

(iii)notify that person by electronic means of the identification number and the date from which the registration takes effect.

(b)For the purposes of this section, a person to whom such an identification number has been allocated under paragraph (a)(ii) shall be referred to as an “identified person”.

(5)An identified person shall notify the Revenue Commissioners by electronic means of the following:

(a)any changes in the details provided under subsection (3);

(b)if his or her taxable activity ceases or changes to the extent that he or she no longer satisfies the conditions specified in subsection (1)(a);

(c)if he or she wishes to de-register from the non-Union scheme.

(6)The Revenue Commissioners shall remove an identified person from the identification register if –

(a)they have reasonable grounds to believe that the identified person’s taxable activities have ceased,

(b)the identified person has, in accordance with Article 58b of the Implementing Regulation, persistently failed to comply with the rules relating to the non-Union scheme, or

(c)the identified person notifies the Commissioners under subsection (5)(b) or (c).

(7)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), an identified person shall by the end of the month immediately following the end of each calendar quarter –

(i)furnish to the Revenue Commissioners a VAT return, by electronic means using such form as is made available by the Commissioners for the purposes of the non-Union scheme and prepared in accordance with, and containing such particulars as are specified in, subsection (8), in respect of supplies of scheme services made in the Community in that quarter, and

(ii)remit to the Revenue Commissioners, at the same time as furnishing such VAT return, into a bank account designated by them and denominated in euro, the amount of EU value-added tax, if any, payable by that person in respect of that quarter in relation to –

(I)supplies of scheme services made in the State in accordance with Chapters 3 and 4 of Part 4, and

(II)supplies of scheme services made in other Member States in accordance with the provisions implementing Article 58 of the VAT Directive.

(b)Where an identified person has not made any such supplies of scheme services during a calendar quarter, he or she shall furnish a nil VAT return in respect of that quarter.

(8)The VAT return referred to in subsection (7) shall be made in euro and shall contain –

(a)the person’s identification number,

(b)for each Member State where EU value-added tax has become due in respect of supplies of scheme services –

(i)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of supplies of scheme services made during the calendar quarter,

(ii)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate or rates, and

(iii)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate or rates,

and

(c)the total EU value-added tax due, if any.

(9)Where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purpose of expressing the corresponding amount in euro on the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last day of the calendar quarter to which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next date of publication.

(10)An identified person shall not make any deduction of tax in the VAT return, or make any adjustment to the amounts therein, in relation to any value-added tax incurred by him or her in the Community.

(10A)Notwithstanding subsection (10), where an identified person is required to be registered in the State under section 65 in respect of activities other than those undertaken under the non-Union scheme, any deduction made in accordance with section 59 shall include the tax charged in respect of all taxable activities covered by this scheme.

(11)

(a)Without prejudice to the provisions of section 99, where corrections to a VAT return (‘the initial return’) are required after it has been submitted, the corrections shall be included in a subsequent VAT return submitted by electronic means within 3 years from the date on which the initial return was required to be submitted in accordance with subsection (7).

(b)The correction to the VAT return referred to in paragraph (a) shall contain –

(i)the Member State of consumption to which the scheme services are supplied,

(ii)the calendar quarter to which the correction relates, and

(iii)the amount of value-added tax for which any corrections are required.

(12)Where, on the 10th day following the due date for submission of the VAT return in accordance with subsection (7)(a), the return has not been submitted, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue a reminder by electronic means to the identified person.

(13)Where a VAT return has been submitted but no payment or only partial payment has been made, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue a reminder by electronic means to the identified person on the 10th day following the due date for payment of the EU value-added tax in accordance with subsection (7)(a).

(14)An identified person shall –

(a)keep records of all transactions covered by the non-Union scheme and those records shall be sufficiently detailed, in accordance with Article 63c of the Implementing Regulation, to enable the Member State of consumption to verify that the VAT return is correct,

(b)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners,

(c)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the relevant Member State of consumption, and

(d)notwithstanding section 84, retain such records for each transaction until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

91C.

Non-Union scheme (where the State is Member State of consumption).

(1)A person who –

(a)is an identified person within the meaning of section 91B, or

(b)applies the non-Union scheme under the provisions implementing the scheme in another Member State, where that other Member State is the Member State of identification, shall be an accountable person for the purposes of this Act in relation to scheme services only insofar as those services are supplied in the State in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 4 and, in relation to those supplies, for the purposes of this section shall be referred to as a “scheme participant”.

(2)A scheme participant shall be regarded as having fulfilled his or her obligations as an accountable person under subsection (3)(a) of section 65 and shall not otherwise be obliged or entitled to be registered under that section.

(3)A scheme participant shall furnish the VAT return required for a calendar quarter under the provisions of the non-Union scheme to the tax authorities of the Member State of identification by the end of the month immediately following the end of the relevant calendar quarter and, for the purposes of this Act, to the extent that the VAT return relates to scheme services taxable in the State, the VAT return shall be –

(a)treated, with any necessary modifications, as if it were a return required to be furnished in accordance with section 76, and

(b)deemed to have been received by the Collector-General on the date it was received by the tax authorities of the Member State of identification, and this Act shall apply to the scheme participant and have effect as if in section 76(1) –

(i)‘by the end of the month’ were substituted for ‘within 9 days immediately after the 10th day of the month,

(ii)”a calendar quarter” were substituted for “a taxable period”, and

(iii)in paragraphs (a)(i) and (b) “that calendar quarter” were substituted for “that taxable period” in each place.

(4)A scheme participant shall remit the tax payable in relation to a calendar quarter under the provisions of the non-Union scheme to the tax authorities of the Member State of identification by the end of the month immediately following the end of the relevant calendar quarter and, for the purposes of this Act, to the extent that the tax payable relates to scheme services taxable in the State, the tax payable shall be –

(a)treated as if it were tax payable in accordance with section 76, and

(b)deemed to have been paid to the Collector-General on the date it was received by the tax authorities of the Member State of identification,

and this Act shall apply to the scheme participant and have effect as if in section 76(1) –

(i)‘by the end of the month’ were substituted for ‘within 9 days immediately after the 10th day of the month’,

(ii)”a calendar quarter” were substituted for “a taxable period”, and

(iii)in paragraphs (a)(i) and (b) “that calendar quarter” were substituted for “that taxable period” in each place.

(5)Where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purpose of expressing the corresponding amount in euro in the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last day of the calendar quarter to which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next date of publication.

(6)Notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 8, a scheme participant –

(a)shall not, in computing the amount of tax payable by him or her in respect of scheme supplies, be entitled to deduct any tax borne or paid in relation to those supplies, but

(b)shall –

(i)be entitled to claim a refund of such tax in accordance with, and using the rules applicable to, Council Directive No. 86/560/EEC of 17 November 1986 , notwithstanding Articles 2(2) and (3) and 4(2) of that Directive, or

(ii)where that scheme participant is an accountable person other than in relation to supplies of scheme services, subject to Chapter 1 of Part 8, be entitled to deduct the tax borne or paid in the return which he or she is obliged to submit in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9.

(7)Notwithstanding section 84, a scheme participant who supplies scheme services which, in accordance with section 34(kc), are supplied in the State shall be bound by the requirements of section 91B(14)(a), (b) and (d) in relation to such supplies and retain such records until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

91D.

Union scheme (where the State is Member State of identification).

(1)

(a)A taxable person may opt to apply the Union scheme to his or her qualifying supplies of scheme services, intra-Community distance sales of goods and qualifying domestic supplies of goods, provided that the taxable person –

(i)makes or intends to make qualifying supplies of scheme services, intra-Community distance sales of goods and qualifying domestic supplies of goods in the course or furtherance of business,

(ii)has established his or her business in the State or, if he or she has not established his or her business in the Community, the taxable person has a fixed establishment in the State, or if he or she has not established his or her business in the Community and does not have a fixed establishment in the State, the taxable person supplies goods from the State and has indicated that he or she wishes to identify in the State for the purposes of the Scheme, and (iii) has been assigned a registration number under section 65(2).

(b)For the purposes of this section, subject to paragraph (c), a supply of a scheme service is a qualifying supply of a scheme service where –

(i)the service is supplied to a non-taxable person in a Member State other than the State, and

(ii)the taxable person does not have a fixed establishment in that other Member State.

(c)A taxable person may not be registered in the State for the purposes of the Union scheme if he or she –

(i)is already identified in another Member State for the purposes of the Union scheme, or

(ii)is excluded from applying the Union scheme by any provision of the Implementing Regulation.

(2)The Revenue Commissioners shall establish and maintain a register (in this section referred to as the “identification register”) of persons who are identified in the State for the purposes of the Union scheme.

(3)A person who opts to be identified in the State for the purposes of the Union scheme shall notify the Revenue Commissioners by electronic means using such form as is made available by the Commissioners for that purpose, and shall, at the same time, provide them by electronic means with the following details (unless that information has already been provided):

(a)the person’s name and postal address;

(b)his or her electronic addresses, including website addresses;

(c)the registration number assigned to the person under section 65(2);

(d)the date of commencement of supplies made under the Union scheme;

(e)the date from which the person wishes to be identified in the State;

(f)any fixed establishments of that person in the Community (other than fixed establishments belonging to a group within the meaning of section 15);

(g)any previous registrations in any other Member State under the provisions of the Union scheme in that Member State, and

(h)such other information, necessary for the purpose of identification for the scheme, as may be specified in the form.

(4)

(a)Where a person has provided the details required under subsection (3) and the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the requirements for registration for the purposes of the Union scheme are met they shall –

(i)register that person in the identification register, and

(ii)notify that person by electronic means of the date from which the registration takes effect.

(b)For the purposes of this section, a person who has been registered under paragraph (a) shall be referred to as an “identified person”.

(c)Where the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community and has more than one fixed establishment in the Community including a fixed establishment in the State, and has chosen the State as Member State of identification for the purposes of the Union scheme, he or she shall be bound by that decision for the remainder of the calendar year of registration plus an additional 2 calendar years.

(d)Where the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community and has no fixed establishment therein, and there is more than one Member State in which the dispatch or transport of the goods begins, including the State, and the taxable person has chosen the State as Member State of identification for the purposes of the Union scheme, he or she shall be bound by that decision for the remainder of the calendar year of registration plus an additional 2 calendar years.

(5)An identified person shall notify the Revenue Commissioners by electronic means of the following:

(a)any changes in the details provided under subsection (3);

(b)if his or her taxable activity ceases or changes to the extent that he or she no longer satisfies the conditions specified in subsection (1)(a);

(c)if he or she wishes to de-register from the Union scheme.

(6)The Revenue Commissioners shall remove an identified person from the identification register if –

(a)they have reasonable grounds to believe that the identified person’s taxable activities have ceased,

(b)the identified person has, in accordance with Article 58b of the Implementing Regulation, persistently failed to comply with the rules relating to the Union scheme, or

(c)the identified person notifies the Commissioners under subsection (5)(b) or(c).

(7)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), an identified person shall, by the end of the month immediately following the end of each calendar quarter –

(i)furnish to the Revenue Commissioners a VAT return, by electronic means using such form as is made available by the Commissioners for the purposes of the Union scheme and prepared in accordance with, and containing such particulars as are specified in, subsection (8), in respect of –

(I)qualifying supplies of scheme services,

(II)qualifying domestic supplies of goods, and

(III)intra-Community distance sales of goods, made in the Community in that quarter,

and

(ii)remit to the Revenue Commissioners, at the same time as furnishing such VAT return, into a bank account designated by them and denominated in euro, the amount of EU value-added tax, if any, payable by that person in respect of that quarter in relation to –

(I)qualifying supplies of scheme services,

(II)qualifying domestic supplies of goods, and

(III)intra-Community distance sales of goods.

(b)Where an identified person has not made any such –

(i)qualifying supplies of scheme services,

(ii)qualifying domestic supplies of goods, or

(iii)intra-Community distance sales of goods,

during a calendar quarter, he or she shall furnish a nil VAT return in respect of that quarter.

(8)

(a)The VAT return referred to in subsection (7) shall be made in euro and shall contain –

(i)the person’s identification number,

(ii)for each Member State where EU value-added tax has become due in respect of qualifying supplies of scheme services, qualifying domestic supplies of goods or intra-Community distance sales of goods –

(I)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of qualifying supplies of scheme services, qualifying domestic supplies of goods, or intra-Community distance sales of goods made during thecalendar quarte

(II)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate or rates, and

(III)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate or rates,

and

(iii)the total EU value-added tax due, if any.

(b)Where a taxable person makes intra-Community distance sales of goods, other than those to which section 91G(1)(b) applies, and those goods are dispatched or transported from a Member State other than the State, the VAT return referred to in subsection (7) shall also contain –

(i)the person’s identification number allocated by the Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported,

(ii)for each Member State where EU value-added tax has become due in respect of intra-Community distance sales of goods other than those to which section 91G(1)(b) applies, and those goods are dispatched or transported from a Member State other than the State, and for each Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported –

(I)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of supplies of intra-Community distance sales of goods other than those to which section 91G(1)(b) applies, and those goods are dispatched or transported from a Member State other than the State, made during the calendar quarter,

(II)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate or rates, and

(III)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate or rates,

and

(iii)the total EU value-added tax due in each Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported, if any.

(c)Where a taxable person makes intra-Community distance sales of goods to which section 91G(1)(b) applies and the goods are dispatched or transported from a Member State other than the State, or makes qualifying domestic supplies of goods to which section 91G(1)(b) applies and the dispatch or transport of those goods begins and ends in the same Member State, the VAT return referred to in subsection (7) shall also contain –

(i)the person’s identification number allocated by the Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported, if available,

(ii)for each Member State where EU value-added tax has become due in respect of intra-Community distance sales of goods and qualifying domestic supplies of goods –

(I)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of supplies of intra-Community distance sales of goods and qualifying domestic supplies of goods, made during the calendar quarter,

(II)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate or rates, and

(III)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate or rates,

and

(iii)the total EU value-added tax due in each Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported from, if any.

(d)Where a person supplying scheme services has one or more fixed establishments in the Community from which scheme services are provided, other than that in the Member State of identification, the VAT return referred to in subsection (7) shall also contain –

(i)the person’s identification number allocated by the Member State from which scheme services are provided, and,

(ii)for each Member State from which scheme services are provided, and for each Member State to which the scheme services are supplied –

(I)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of supplies of scheme services, made during the calendar quarter,

(II)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate or rates, and

(III)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate or rates,

and

(iii)the total EU value-added tax due, if any.

(9)Where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purpose of expressing the corresponding amount in euro on the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last day of the calendar quarter to which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next date of publication.

(10)An identified person shall not make any deduction of tax in the VAT return, or make any adjustment to the amounts therein, in relation to value-added tax deductible pursuant to Article 168 of the VAT Directive.

(11)

(a)Without prejudice to the provisions of section 99, where corrections to a VAT return (‘the initial return’) are required after it has been submitted, the corrections shall be included in a subsequent VAT return within 3 years from the date on which the initial return was required to be submitted in accordance with subsection (7).

(b)The correction to the VAT return referred to in paragraph (a) shall contain –

(i)the Member State of consumption of the goods or services,

(ii)the calendar quarter to which the correction is made, and

(iii)the amount of value-added tax for which a correction is required.

(12)Where, on the 10th day following the due date for submission of the VAT return in accordance with subsection (7)(a), the return has not been submitted, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue a reminder by electronic means to the identified person.

(13)Where the VAT return has been submitted but no payment or only partial payment has been made, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue a reminder by electronic means to the identified person on the 10th day following the due date for payment of the EU value-added tax in accordance with subsection (7)(a).

(14)An identified person shall –

(a)keep records of all transactions covered by the Union scheme and those records shall be sufficiently detailed, in accordance with Article 63c of the Implementing Regulation, to enable the Member State of consumption to verify that the VAT return is correct,

(b)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners,

(c)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the relevant Member State of consumption, and

(d)notwithstanding section 84, retain such records for each transaction until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

91E.

Union scheme (where the State is Member State of consumption).

(1)A person who applies the Union scheme under the provisions implementing the scheme in another Member State, where that other Member State is the Member State of identification, and who –

(a)supplies scheme services,

(b)makes intra-Community distance sales of goods, or

(c)makes qualifying domestic supplies of goods,

which are taxable in the State shall, in relation to those supplies or sales, be an accountable person for the purposes of this Act and, for the purposes of this section, shall be referred to as a ‘scheme participant’.

(2)Notwithstanding subsection (3)(a) of section 65, a scheme participant shall, in relation to –

(a)supplies of scheme services, Union scheme

(b)intra-Community distance sales of goods, or

(c)qualifying domestic supplies of goods,

be regarded as having fulfilled his or her obligations as an accountable person under that subsection and shall not be obliged or entitled to be registered under that section unless he or she is an accountable person other than in relation to those supplies or sales.

(3)A scheme participant shall furnish the VAT return required for a calendar quarter under the provisions of the Union scheme to the tax authorities of the Member State of identification by the end of the month immediately following the end of the relevant calendar quarter and, for the purposes of this Act, to the extent that the VAT return relates to scheme services, intra-Community distance sales of goods or qualifying domestic supplies of goods, taxable in the State, the VAT return shall be –

(a)treated, with any necessary modifications, as if it were a return required to be furnished in accordance with section 76, and

(b)deemed to have been received by the Collector-General on the date it was received by the tax authorities of the Member State of identification,

and this Act shall apply to a scheme participant and have effect as if in section 76(1) –

(i)”by the end of the month” were substituted for “within 9 days immediately after the 10th day of the month”,

(ii)”a calendar quarter” were substituted for “a taxable period”, and

(iii)in paragraphs (a)(i) and (b) “that calendar quarter” were substituted for “that taxable period” in each place.

(4)A scheme participant shall remit the tax payable in relation to a calendar quarter under the provisions of the Union scheme to the tax authorities of the Member State of identification by the end of the month immediately following the end of the relevant calendar quarter and, for the purposes of this Act, to the extent that that tax payable relates to –

(a)supplies of scheme services,

(b)intra-Community distance sales of goods, or

(c)qualifying domestic supplies of goods,

taxable in the State, the tax payable shall be –

(i)treated as if it were tax payable in accordance with section 76, and

(ii)deemed to have been paid to the Collector-General on the date it was received by the tax authorities of the Member State of identification ,

and this Act shall apply to a scheme participant and have effect as if in section 76(1) –

(I)’by the end of the month’ were substituted for ‘within 9 days immediately after the 10th day of the month’,

(II)’a calendar quarter’ were substituted for ‘a taxable period’, and

(III)in paragraphs (a)(i) and (b) ‘that calendar quarter’ were substituted for ‘that taxable period’ in each place.

(5)Where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purpose of expressing the corresponding amount in euro in the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last day of the calendar quarter to which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next date of publication.

(6)A scheme participant –

(a)shall not, in computing the amount of tax payable by him or her in respect of supplies of scheme services, intra-Community distance sales of goods or qualifying domestic supplies of goods, be entitled to deduct any tax borne or paid in relation to those supplies or sales in the VAT return, but

(b)shall –

(i)be entitled to claim a refund of such tax in accordance with, and using the rules applicable to, section 101, notwithstanding subsection (14) of that section, or

(ii)where that scheme participant is an accountable person other than in relation to supplies of scheme services, intra-Community distance sales of goods or qualifying domestic supplies of goods, subject to Chapter 1 of Part 8, be entitled to deduct the tax borne or paid in the return which he or she is obliged to submit in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9.

(7)Notwithstanding section 84, a scheme participant who supplies scheme services, makes intra-Community distance sales of goods or makes qualifying domestic supplies of goods, which are taxable in the State, shall be bound by the requirements of section 91D(14)(a), (b) and (d) in relation to such supplies or sales and shall retain such records until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

91F.

Regulations: special schemes for telecommunications services, broadcasting services and electronically supplied services.

(1)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations as necessary for the purposes of giving effect to the non-Union scheme or the Union scheme, as the case may be.

(2)The Revenue Commissioners may make regulations as necessary for the purposes of giving effect to the schemes contained in sections 91G to 91K.

 

91G.

Electronic interfaces facilitating distance sales of goods.

(1)

(a)Where a taxable person facilitates (within the meaning of Article 5b of the Implementing Regulation), through the use of an electronic interface such as a marketplace, platform, portal or similar means, the distance sale of goods imported from third territories or third countries in consignments of an intrinsic value which does not exceed €150, the taxable person shall be deemed to have received and supplied those goods himself or herself.

(b)Where a taxable person facilitates (within the meaning aforesaid), through the use of an electronic interface such as a marketplace, platform, portal or similar means, the supply of goods within the Community by a taxable person not established within the Community to a non-taxable person, the taxable person who facilitates the supply shall be deemed to have received and supplied those goods himself or herself.

(2)Where a taxable person is deemed, by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, of subsection (1), to have received and supplied goods, the dispatch or transport of the goods shall be ascribed to the supply made by that taxable person.

(3)Where a taxable person is the deemed supplier of the goods concerned by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, of subsection (1), such taxable person shall –

(a)keep records of all transactions which are facilitated (within the meaning of subsection (1) through the use of the electronic interface and those records shall be sufficiently detailed, in accordance with Article 54c(1) of the Implementing Regulation, to enable the Member State in which the transactions are taxable to verify that the VAT return is correct,

(b)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners, and

(c)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the relevant Member State in which the transactions are taxable.

(4)A taxable person who facilitates (within the meaning of Article 54b of the Implementing Regulation) the supply of goods and services through the use of an electronic interface such as a marketplace, platform, portal or similar means to a non-taxable person within the Community in accordance with Title V of the VAT Directive where the taxable person is neither –

(a)presumed to be acting in his or her own name for the supply of services under Article 9a of the Implementing Regulation, nor

(b)deemed to have supplied the goods by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, of subsection (1),shall –

(i)keep records of all transactions which are facilitated (within the meaning aforesaid) through the use of the electronic interface and those records shall be sufficiently detailed, in accordance with Article 54c(2) of the Implementing Regulation, to enable the Member State in which the transactions are taxable to verify that the VAT return is correct,

(ii)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners,

(iii)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the relevant Member State in which the transactions are taxable, and

(iv)notwithstanding section 84, retain such records for each transaction until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

91H.

Special arrangements for value-added tax on import.

(1)In this section “special arrangements for value-added tax on import” means the arrangements provided for in this section for the payment of value-added tax on import by the person presenting the goods to customs on behalf of the person to whom the goods are destined.

(2)Where –

(a)goods are imported into the State in a consignment with an intrinsic value which does not exceed €150,

(b)the goods referred to in paragraph (a) are not subject to duties of excise,

(c)the arrangements set out in section 91I have not been used to pay the value-added tax due on importation, and

(d)the dispatch or transport of the goods ends in the State,

the person presenting the goods to customs may pay the value-added tax on import due on behalf of the person to whom the goods are destined.

(3)A person who wishes to apply the special arrangements for value-added tax on import shall –

(a)be subject to the conditions applicable for the deferment of payment of customs duty in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and

(b)complete and submit to the Revenue Commissioners such application form as may be provided by the Revenue Commissioners for the purpose of the application of the special arrangements.

(4)Where the person presenting the goods to customs decides to use the special arrangements for value-added tax on import –

(a)the person for whom the goods are destined shall be liable for the payment of value-added tax, and

(b)the person presenting the goods to customs shall –

(i)collect the value-added tax due from the person for whom the goods are destined,

(ii)take appropriate measures to ensure that the correct amount of value-added tax is paid by the person for whom the goods are destined, and

(iii)pay the value-added tax collected to the Revenue Commissioners.

(5)Where the person presenting the goods to customs uses the special arrangements for value-added tax on import, the value-added tax rate applicable to those goods is the value-added tax rate specified in section 46(1)(a).

(6)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), the person presenting the goods to customs shall, not later than the 15th day of the month immediately following the month of importation of the goods concerned –

(i)furnish by electronic means to the Revenue Commissioners a declaration in the form made available by the Commissioners for that purpose and prepared by the person concerned in accordance with, and containing such particulars as are specified in, subsection (7), in respect of value-added tax collected through the use of the special arrangements for value-added tax on import in the month of importation of the goods, and

(ii)remit to the Revenue Commissioners, at the same time as so furnishing the declaration referred to in subparagraph (i) into a bank account designated by them and denominated in euro, the amount of value-added tax (if any) so collected.

(b)Where the person presenting the goods to customs has not collected any value-added tax due on import through the use of the special arrangements for value-added tax on import during a month, he or she shall furnish a nil declaration to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of that month.

(7)The declaration referred to in subsection (6) shall contain the following particulars for the relevant month:

(a)the total value added tax collected during that month;

(b)the master reference number (within the meaning of Article 1(22) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 ) of declarations, where special arrangements for value-added tax on import have been applied, submitted for customs purposes where the value-added tax amount declared for customs purposes has been collected during the month;

(c)the master reference number (within the meaning aforesaid) of declarations, where special arrangements for value-added tax on import have been applied, submitted for customs purposes where the value-added tax amount declared for customs purposes has not been collected during the month, and

(d)the master reference number (within the meaning aforesaid) of –

(i)relevant declarations submitted for customs purposes which have been invalidated, and

(ii)the original corresponding declaration submitted for customs purposes.

(8)A person using the special arrangements for value-added tax on import shall –

(a)keep records of all transactions covered by those arrangements and those records shall be sufficiently detailed to verify that the value-added tax paid is correct,

(b)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners,

(c)notwithstanding section 84, retain such records for each such transaction until the expiry of a period of 3 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction took place.

91I.

Import scheme – interpretation and general provisions.

(1)In this section and sections 91J and 91K –

“intermediary” means a person established in the Community appointed by the taxable person making distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries as the person liable for the payment of the value-added tax and to fulfil the obligations laid down in the import scheme in the name and on behalf of the taxable person;

“Member State of consumption” means the Member State where the dispatch or transport of the goods to the customer ends;

“Member State of identification” means –
(a)the Member State in which the taxable person has established his or her business,
(b)if the taxable person has not established his or her business in the Community but has one or more fixed establishments therein, the Member State in which he or she has a fixed establishment and in which he or she chooses to be identified for the purposes of the import scheme,
(c)the Member State in which the taxable person chooses to register for the purposes of the import scheme, where that taxable person is not established within the Community,
(d)the Member State in which the intermediary has established his or her business, or
(e)if the intermediary has not established his or her business in the Community but has one or more fixed establishments therein, the Member State in which he or she has a fixed establishment and in which he or she chooses to be identified for the purposes of the scheme;

“VAT return” means the statement containing the information necessary to establish the amount of EU value-added tax that has become chargeable in each Member State in respect of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries during a month.

(2)For the purposes of paragraphs (b) and (e) of the definition of ‘Member State of identification’ in subsection (1), where the taxable person or the intermediary has more than one fixed establishment in the Community, he or she shall be bound by the decision to indicate the Member State of establishment for the calendar year concerned and the following two calendar years.

(3)Sections 91J and 91K apply to distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries, except products subject to duties of excise, in consignments of an intrinsic value which does not exceed €150.

(4)The following taxable persons are permitted to use the import scheme where they are making distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries:

(a)any taxable person established in the Community;

(b)any taxable person whether or not established in the Community who is represented by an intermediary established in the Community;

(c)any taxable person established outside the Community in a state or territory with which the Union has concluded an agreement on mutual assistance similar in scope to Council Directive 2010/24/EU of 16 March 2010 and Regulation (EU) 904/2010 of 7 October 2010 and who is making distance sales of goods from that state or territory.

(5)Where a taxable person makes use of the import scheme, it shall apply to all of that taxable person’s distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries.

(6)Where a taxable person appoints an intermediary referred to in subsection (4)(b) for the purposes of the import scheme, the taxable person cannot appoint more than one intermediary at the same time.

(7)Where value-added tax is declared on distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries under the import scheme, the goods shall be regarded as having been supplied at the time when the payment has been accepted and the value-added tax shall become chargeable at the time of that supply.

91J.

Import scheme (where the State is Member State of identification).

(1)A taxable person, or intermediary acting on behalf of a taxable person, who is identified in the State for the purposes of the import scheme, shall notify the Revenue Commissioners by electronic means when he or she commences or ceases his or her activity under the import scheme, or changes that activity in such a way that he or she no longer meets the conditions necessary for use of the import scheme.

(2)A taxable person, or where applicable, his or her intermediary, may not be registered in the State for the purposes of the import scheme if he or she –

(a)is already identified in another Member State for the purposes of this scheme, or

(b)is excluded from applying this scheme by Article 369r of the VAT Directive or Article 58 of the Implementing Regulation.

(3)The Revenue Commissioners shall establish and maintain a register (in this section referred to as the ‘import scheme identification register’) of persons who are identified in the State for the purposes of the import scheme.

(4)A taxable person who does not make use of an intermediary, shall provide the following information to the Revenue Commissioners before the person commences use of the import scheme:

(a)his or her name and postal address;

(b)his or her electronic addresses, including website addresses;

(c)his or her value-added tax identification number or national tax number.

(5)An intermediary shall provide the following information to the Revenue Commissioners before the intermediary commences use of the import scheme on behalf of a taxable person:

(a)his or her name and postal address;

(b)his or her electronic addresses, including website addresses;

(c)his or her value-added tax identification number identification number.

(6)An intermediary shall also provide the following information to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of each taxable person that he or she represents before such taxable person commences use of the import scheme:

(a)the person’s name and postal address;

(b)the person’s electronic addresses, including website addresses;

(c)the person’s value-added tax identification number or national tax number;

(d)the person’s identification number allocated in accordance with subsection (8)(b)(iii).

(7)A taxable person or, where applicable, his or her intermediary, who registers for use of the import scheme in the State, shall notify the Revenue Commissioners of any changes in the information provided under subsection (4), (5) or (6), as the case may be.

(8)

(a)Where a taxable person has provided the information required under subsection (4) and the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the requirements for registration for the purposes of the import scheme are met, the Revenue Commissioners shall –

(i)register the person in the import scheme identification register,

(ii)allocate to that person an identification number for the purposes of the import scheme, and

(iii)notify that person by electronic means of the identification number so allocated and the date from which registration takes effect.

(b)Where an intermediary has provided the information required under subsections (5) and (6), and the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that the requirements for registration for the purposes of the import scheme are met, the Revenue Commissioners shall –

(i)register the intermediary in the import scheme identification register,

(ii)allocate to the intermediary an identification number identifying the intermediary as an intermediary for the purpose of the import scheme,

(iii)allocate to the intermediary an identification number in respect of each taxable person in respect of whom the intermediary is appointed, and

(iv)notify the intermediary by electronic means of the identification numbers so allocated and the date from which the registration takes effect.

(c)The identification number allocated under paragraph (a) or (b) shall be used only for the purpose of the import scheme.

(9)

(a)The Revenue Commissioners shall remove a taxable person not making use of an intermediary from the import scheme identification register where –

(i)the taxable person notifies the Revenue Commissioners that he or she no longer makes distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries,

(ii)the taxable person no longer meets the conditions necessary for use of the import scheme,

(iii)the taxable person has, in accordance with Article 58b of the Implementing Regulation, persistently failed to comply with the rules relating to the import scheme, or

(iv)it may otherwise be assumed by the Revenue Commissioners that the taxable person’s taxable activities of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries have ceased.

(b)The Revenue Commissioners shall remove an intermediary from the import scheme identification register where the intermediary –

(i)has not acted as an intermediary on behalf of a taxable person making use of the import scheme for a period of 2 consecutive calendar quarters,

(ii)no longer meets the conditions necessary for acting as an intermediary, or

(iii)has, in accordance with Article 58b of the Implementing Regulation, persistently failed to comply with the rules relating to the import scheme.

(c)The Revenue Commissioners shall remove a taxable person represented by an intermediary from the import scheme identification register where –

(i)the intermediary notifies the Revenue Commissioners that the taxable person no longer makes distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries,

(ii)the taxable person no longer meets the conditions necessary for use of the import scheme,

(iii)the intermediary notifies the Revenue Commissioners that he or she no longer represents the taxable person,

(iv)the taxable person has, in accordance with Article 58b of the Implementing Regulation, persistently failed to comply with the rules relating to the import scheme, or

(v)it may otherwise be assumed by the Revenue Commissioners that the taxable activities of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries of the taxable person have ceased.

(10)

(a)Where it appears requisite to them to do so for the protection of the revenue, the Revenue Commissioners may, in the case where the taxable person concerned is established outside the Community and no legal instrument relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to that provided for in Council Directive 2010/24/EU of 16 March 2010 and Council Regulation (EU) 904/2010 of 7 October 2010 exists with the country in which that taxable person is established, serve on an intermediary and the taxable person by whom the intermediary is appointed a notice in writing in accordance with paragraph (c).

(b)An intermediary shall be jointly and severally liable with the taxable person by whom the intermediary is appointed for the tax due and payable on the taxable supplies of that taxable person under the import scheme and shall be liable to pay that tax as if it were tax due and payable by the intermediary.

(c)A notice served under paragraph (a) shall –

(i)specify the date from which the notice shall have effect,

(ii)state that the intermediary shall, by virtue of this subsection, be jointly and severally liable with the taxable person specified in the notice for the payment of tax due and payable by that taxable person on the taxable supplies of that taxable person under the import scheme and shall be liable to pay that tax as if it were tax due and payable by the intermediary, and

(iii)specify the taxable person with whom the intermediary is so jointly and severally liable.

(11)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), a taxable person or his or her intermediary shall by the end of the month immediately following the end of the period covered by the VAT return –

(i)furnish to the Revenue Commissioners a VAT return, by electronic means using such form as is made available by the Commissioners for the purposes of the import scheme and prepared in accordance with, and containing such particulars as are specified in, subsection (12), in respect of supplies under the import scheme made in the Community in that month, and

(ii)remit to the Revenue Commissioners, at the same time as furnishing such VAT return, into a bank account designated by them and denominated in euro, the amount of EU value-added tax, if any, payable by that person in respect of that month in relation to –

(I)distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries where the place of supply is the State determined in accordance with section 30, and

(II)distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries where the place of supply is a Member State (other than the State) determined in accordance with the provisions implementing Article 33 of the VAT Directive.

(b)Where a taxable person has not made any distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries during a month, he or she or his or her intermediary shall furnish a nil VAT return in respect of that month.

(12)The VAT return referred to in subsection (11) shall be made in euro and shall contain –

(a)the person’s identification number allocated under subsection (8),

(b)for each Member State where EU value-added tax has become due in respect of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries –

(i)the total value, exclusive of EU value-added tax, of distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries made during the month,

(ii)the amount of such value liable to EU value-added tax at the applicable rate or rates, and

(iii)the amount of EU value-added tax corresponding to such value at the applicable rate or rates,

and

(c)the total EU value-added tax due, if any.

(13)Where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purpose of expressing the corresponding amount in euro in the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last day of the month to which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next date of publication.

(14)

(a)Without prejudice to the provisions of section 99, where corrections to a VAT return (‘the initial return’) are required after it has been submitted, the corrections shall be included in a subsequent VAT return within 3 years from the date on which the initial return was required to be submitted in accordance with subsection (11).

(b)Where a correction is included in a subsequent VAT return under paragraph (a), the subsequent VAT return shall identify –

(i)the Member State of consumption to which the correction relates,

(ii)the period for which the correction is made, and

(iii)the amount of value-added tax for which a correction is required.

(15)A taxable person shall not make any deduction of tax in the VAT return, or make any adjustment to the amounts therein, in relation to any value-added tax incurred by him or her in the Community.

(16)Where, on the 10th day following the due date for submission of the VAT return in accordance with subsection (11)(a), the return has not been submitted, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue a reminder by electronic means to the taxable person or his or her intermediary.

(17)Where a VAT return has been submitted but no payment or only partial payment has been made, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue a reminder by electronic means to the taxable person or his or her intermediary on the 10th day following the due date for payment of the EU value-added tax in accordance with subsection (11)(a).

(18)A taxable person and where applicable his or her intermediary shall –

(a)keep records of all transactions covered by the import scheme and those records shall be sufficiently detailed, in accordance with Article 63c(2) of the Implementing Regulation, to enable the Member State of consumption to verify that the VAT return is correct,

(b)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the Revenue Commissioners,

(c)make such records available, by electronic means and on request, to the relevant Member State of consumption, and

(d)notwithstanding section 84, retain such records for each transaction until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

91K.

Import scheme (where the State is Member State of consumption).

(1)A person who –

(a)is registered in the import scheme identification register (within the meaning of section 91J), or

(b)applies the special scheme for distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries under the provisions implementing that scheme in another Member State, where that other Member State is the Member State of identification,

shall, in relation to goods supplied in the State under the import scheme, be an accountable person for the purposes of this Act and, in relation to those supplies, shall, for the purposes of this section, be referred to as a ‘scheme participant’.

(2)Notwithstanding subsection (3)(a) of section 65, a scheme participant shall, in relation to supplies covered by the import scheme, be regarded as having fulfilled his or her obligations as an accountable person under the said subsection (3)(a) and shall not otherwise be obliged or entitled to be registered under that section for supplies covered by the import scheme.

(3)A scheme participant shall furnish the VAT return required for a month under the provisions of the import scheme to the relevant authorities of the Member State of identification by the end of the month immediately following the end of the period covered by the return and, for the purposes of this Act, to the extent that the VAT return relates to goods supplied under the import scheme taxable in the State, the VAT return shall be –

(a)treated, with any necessary modifications, as if it were a return required to be furnished in accordance with section 76, and

(b)deemed to have been received by the Collector-General on the date it was received by the relevant authorities of the Member State of identification,

and this Act shall apply to a scheme participant and have effect as if in section 76(1) –

(i)’by the end of the month immediately following the end of the period covered by the return’ were substituted for ‘within 9 days immediately after the 10th day of the month immediately following a taxable period’,

(ii)’a month’ were substituted for ‘a taxable period’, and

(iii)in paragraphs (a)(i) and (b) ‘that month’ were substituted for ‘that taxable period’ in each place.

(4)A scheme participant shall remit the tax payable in relation to a month under the provisions of the import scheme to the relevant authorities of the Member State of identification by the end of the month immediately following the end of the period covered by the return and, for the purposes of this Act, to the extent that the tax payable relates to goods supplied under the import scheme taxable in the State, the tax payable shall be –

(a)treated as if it were tax payable in accordance with section 76, and

(b)deemed to have been paid to the Collector-General on the date it was received by the relevant authorities of the Member State of identification,

and this Act shall apply to a scheme participant and have effect as if in section 76(1) –

(i)’by the end of the month immediately following the end of the period covered by the return’ were substituted for ‘within 9 days immediately after the 10th day of the month immediately following a taxable period’,

(ii)’a month’ were substituted for ‘a taxable period’, and

(iii)in paragraphs (a)(i) and (b) ‘that month’ were substituted for ‘that taxable period’ in each place.

(5)Where supplies have been made using a currency other than the euro, the exchange rate to be used for the purpose of expressing the corresponding amount in euro in the VAT return shall be that published by the European Central Bank for the last day of the month to which the VAT return relates or, if there is no publication on that date, on the next date of publication.

(6)Notwithstanding Chapter 1 of Part 8, a scheme participant –

(a)shall not, in computing the amount of tax payable by him or her in respect of goods supplied under the import scheme taxable in the State, be entitled to deduct any tax borne or paid in relation to those supplies in the VAT return, but

(b)shall –

(i)where that scheme participant is established or has a fixed establishment in the Community, be entitled to claim a refund of such tax in accordance with, and using the rules applicable to, section 101, notwithstanding subsection (14) of that section, or

(ii)where that scheme participant is not established and does not have a fixed establishment in the Community, be entitled to claim a refund of such tax in accordance with, and using the rules applicable to, Council Directive No. 86/560/EEC of 17 November 1986 , notwithstanding Articles 2(2) and (3) and 4(2) of that Directive, or

(iii)where that scheme participant is an accountable person other than in relation to distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries, subject to Chapter 1 of Part 8, be entitled to deduct the tax borne or paid in the return which he or she is obliged to submit in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9.

(7)Notwithstanding section 84, a scheme participant who makes distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries to the State which are taxable in the State shall be bound by the requirements of section 91J(18)(a), (b) and (d) in relation to such sales and retain such records until the expiry of a period of 10 years from 31 December of the year during which the transaction was carried out.

Chapter 3

Suspension arrangements for alcohol products (s. 92)

92.

Suspension arrangements for alcohol products.

(1)In this section –

“alcohol products” has the meaning assigned to it by section 73(1) of the Finance Act 2003;

“suspension arrangement” means an arrangement under which excisable products are produced, processed, held or moved, excise duty being suspended.

(2)Where alcohol products are supplied while being held under a suspension arrangement, then –

(a)any such supply effected while the products are held under that arrangement (other than the last such supply in the State) shall be deemed not to be a supply for the purposes of this Act other than for the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 8, and

(b)any previous –

(i)intra-Community acquisition, or

(ii)importation,

of such products shall be disregarded for the purposes of this Act.

(3)

(a)Subject to paragraph (b), where tax is chargeable on a supply referred to in subsection (2), then, notwithstanding section 74(1), the tax on that supply shall be due at the same time as the duty of excise on the products is due.

(b)Paragraph (a) shall not apply to a supply of the kind referred to in paragraph 1(1) or (3), 3(1) or 7(6) of Schedule 2.

(4)Where (other than in the circumstances set out in section 11(2)), an accountable person makes an intra-Community acquisition of alcohol products and by virtue of that acquisition, and in accordance with Chapters 1 and 2 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2001, and any other enactment which is to be construed together with those Chapters, the duty of excise on those products is payable in the State, then, notwithstanding section 75, the tax on that intra-Community acquisition shall be due at the same time as the duty of excise on the products is due.

(5)Where tax is chargeable on the importation of alcohol products, which are then placed under a suspension arrangement then, notwithstanding section 53(3), the tax on that importation shall be due at the same time as the duty of excise on the products is due.

(6)Notwithstanding sections 37(1) and (2) and 53(1), where subsection (3), (4) or (5) applies, the amount on which tax is chargeable shall include the amount of the duty of excise chargeable on the products on their release for consumption in the State.

(7)Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary in this Act, where subsection (3), (4) or (5) applies, then –

(a)the tax shall be payable at the same time as the duty of excise is payable on the products,

(b)the provisions of the statutes which relate to the duties of excise and the management thereof and of any instrument relating to duties of excise made under statute, shall, with any necessary modifications and exceptions as may be specified in regulations, apply to such tax as if it were a duty of excise, and

(c)the person by whom the tax is payable shall complete such form as is provided for the purposes of this subsection by the Revenue Commissioners.