Records
VALUE-ADDED TAX CONSOLIDATION ACT
Chapter 7
Record keeping (ss. 84-85)
84.
Duty to keep records.
(1)Every accountable person shall, in accordance with regulations, keep full and true records of all transactions which affect or may affect his or her liability to tax and entitlement to deductibility.
(2)Every person (other than an accountable person) who supplies goods or services in the course or furtherance of business shall keep all invoices issued to him or her in connection with the supply of goods or services to him or her for the purpose of such business.
(3)The following:
(a)records kept by a person pursuant to this Chapter or section 124(7) and that are in the power, possession or procurement of the person;
(b)any books, invoices, copies of customs entries, credit notes, debit notes, receipts, accounts, vouchers, bank statements or other documents whatsoever which relate to the supply of goods or services, the intra-Community acquisition of goods, or the importation of goods by the person and that are in the power, possession or procurement of the person;
(c)in the case of any such book, invoice, credit note, debit note, receipt, account, voucher, or other document, which has been issued by the person to another person, any copy thereof which is in the power, possession or procurement of the person; and
(d)any linking documents that are in the power, possession or procurement of the person,
shall, subject to subsection (4) and sections 91C(7) and 91E(7) and notwithstanding any other law, be retained in that person’s power, possession or procurement for a period of 6 years from the date of the latest transaction to which the records, linking documents, invoices, or any of the other documents relate.
(4)Notwithstanding the retention period specified in subsection (3), the following retention periods shall apply:
(a)where a person acquired or developed immovable goods to which section 4 of the repealed enactment applied, the period for which the person shall retain records and linking documents pursuant to this Chapter in relation to that person’s acquisition or development of those immovable goods shall be the duration that such person holds a taxable interest in such goods plus a further period of 6 years;
(b)where a person exercised a waiver of exemption from tax in accordance with section 7 of the repealed enactment, the period for which the person shall retain records and linking documents pursuant to this Chapter shall be the duration of the waiver plus a further period of 6 years;
(c)in the case of records and linking documents (required to be kept by a person pursuant to this Chapter) that relate to a transaction and to any return (required to be furnished in accordance with section 76 or 77) for a period in which the transaction affects or may affect the person’s liability to tax or entitlement to deductibility, where that transaction is the subject of –
(i)an inquiry or investigation started by the Revenue Commissioners or by a Revenue officer into any matter to which this Act relates,
(ii)a claim made under a provision of this Act,
(iii)an appeal to the Appeal Commissioners under a provision of this Act, or
(iv)proceedings relating to any matter to which this Act relates,
those records and linking documents shall be retained in that person’s power, possession or procurement for the longer of –
(I)a period of 6 years from the date of the transaction, and
(II)until such time as –
(A)the inquiry or investigation has been completed, or the claim has been determined, and
(B)any appeal to the Appeal Commissioners in relation to the outcome of that inquiry or investigation or the determination of that claim, or to any other matter to which the Act relates, has become final and conclusive, and
(C)any proceedings in relation to the outcome of that inquiry or investigation or the determination of that claim or that appeal, or to any other matter to which the Act relates, has been finally determined, and
(D)the time limit for instituting any appeal or proceedings or any further appeal or proceedings has expired.
(5)This Chapter shall not require the retention of records, linking documents or invoices or any of the other documents in respect of which the Revenue Commissioners notify the person concerned that retention is not required.
(6)In this section ‘linking documents’ means documents drawn up in the making up of accounts and returns and showing details of the calculations linking the records required to be kept by a person pursuant to this Chapter to the accounts and returns.
85.
Supplementary provisions on records.
(1)The requirement to keep records in accordance with this Chapter applies to –
(a)a record relating to exercising and terminating a landlord’s option to tax,
(b)a capital good record referred to in Chapter 2 of Part 8,
(c)a record relating to a joint option for taxation, and
(d)the document relating to an assignment or surrender referred to in section 95(9)(a).
(2)
(a)An accountable person who claims a deduction of tax pursuant to Chapter 1 of Part 8 in respect of qualifying accommodation within the meaning of section 60(1) shall retain full and true records in relation to the attendance by the delegate at the relevant qualifying conference (including the details referred to in section 60(1) issued to the accountable person by the person responsible for organising the conference).
(b)A person responsible for organising a qualifying conference within the meaning of section 60(1) and to which section 60(2)(a)(i) relates shall keep full and true records of each such conference organised by the person.
(3)Every person who trades in investment gold (within the meaning of section 90) shall, in accordance with regulations, keep full and true records of that person’s transactions in investment gold.
(4)An accountable person who transfers goods under call-off stock arrangements referred to in Article 17a of the VAT Directive shall keep full and true records for the purposes of verification by the Revenue Commissioners of the correct application of the said Article 17a.
Part 9A
Reporting obligations of certain payment service providers (ss. 85A-85H)
85A.
Interpretation.
(1)In this Part –
“BIC” has the same meaning as it has in point (16) of Article 2 of the SEPA Regulation;
“cross-border payment” shall be construed in accordance with section 85B;
“home Member State” has the same meaning as it has in point (1) of Article 4 of the Payment Services Directive;
“host Member State” has the same meaning as it has in point (2) of Article 4 of the Payment Services Directive;
“IBAN” has the same meaning as it has in point (15) of Article 2 of the SEPA Regulation;
“payee” has the same meaning as it has in point (9) of Article 4 of the Payment Services Directive;
“payer” has the same meaning as it has in point (8) of Article 4 of the Payment Services Directive;
“payment account” has the same meaning as it has in point (12) of Article 4 of the Payment Services Directive;
“Payment Services Directive” means Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 [OJ No. L. 337, 23.12.2015, p.35.] on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC;
“payment service provider” means any of the categories of payment service providers listed in points (a) to (d) of Article 1(1) of the Payment Services Directive or a natural or legal person benefiting from an exemption in accordance with Article 32 of that Directive;
“payment service” means any of the business activities set out in points (3) to (6) of Annex I to the Payment Services Directive;
“payment” means, subject to the exclusions provided for in Article 3 of the Payment Services Directive, a ‘payment transaction’ as defined in point (5) of Article 4 of that Directive or a ‘money remittance’ as defined in point (22) of Article 4 of that Directive;
“SEPA Regulation” means Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 [OJ No. L94, 30.3.12, p. 22.] establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 248/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 [OJ No. L84, 20.3.2014, p. 1.].
(2)Other than a word or expression defined in subsection (1), a word or expression which is used in this Part and is also used in Section 2a of Chapter 4 of Title XI of the VAT Directive, has unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Part as it has in that Section of the VAT Directive.
85B.
Meaning of ‘cross-border payment’.
(1)For the purposes of this Part, a cross-border payment is a payment in respect of which –
(a)the payer is located in a Member State, and
(b)the payee is located in another Member State, in a third territory or in a third country.
(2)For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), the location of a payer shall be considered to be in the Member State corresponding to –
(a)the IBAN of the payer’s payment account or any other identifier which unambiguously identifies, and gives the location of, the payer, or
(b)in the absence of an identifier referred to in paragraph (a), the BIC or any other business identifier code that unambiguously identifies, and gives the location of, the payment service provider acting on behalf of the payer.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), the location of a payee shall be considered to be in the Member State corresponding to –
(a)the IBAN of the payee’s payment account or any other identifier which unambiguously identifies, and gives the location of, the payee, or
(b)in the absence of an identifier referred to in paragraph (a), the BIC or any other business identifier code that unambiguously identifies, and gives the location of, the payment service provider acting on behalf of the payee.
85C.
Requirement to keep records.
(1)Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (5), payment service providers shall keep detailed records, in accordance with section 85D, of the payees and payments relating to the payment services they provide for each calendar quarter.
(2)Subsection (1) shall apply only to payment services that are provided in respect of cross-border payments.
(3)Subsection (1) shall apply to a payment service provider where, in the course of a calendar quarter, that payment service provider provides payment services corresponding to more than 25 cross-border payments in respect of the same payee.
(4)
(a)For the purpose of subsection (3), the number of cross-border payments shall be calculated by reference to the payment services (including any payment services referred to in subsection (5)(a)) provided by the payment service provider per Member State and, subject to paragraph (b), per identifier referred to in subsection (3) of section 85B.
(b)Where a payment service provider has information that a payee has more than one identifier, as referred to in subsection (3) of section 85B, the number of cross-border payments shall be calculated per payee.
(5)
(a)Subsection (1) shall not apply to payment services provided by a payment service provider of a payer in respect of a payment where at least one of the payment service providers of the payee is located in a Member State.
(b)For the purpose of paragraph (a), the location of a payment service provider of the payee shall be determined by reference to the payment service provider’s BIC or any other business identifier code that unambiguously identifies the payment service provider and the location of the payment provider.
85D.
Record keeping requirements.
(1)The records referred to in section 85C(1) shall contain the following information:
(a)the BIC or any other business identifier code that unambiguously identifies the payment service provider;
(b)the name or business name of the payee, as it appears in the records of the payment services provider;
(c)any VAT identification number or other national tax number of the payee, if available;
(d)the IBAN or, if the IBAN is not available, any other identifier which unambiguously identifies, and gives the location of, the payee;
(e)the BIC or any other business identifier code that unambiguously identifies, and gives the location of, the payment service provider acting on behalf of the payee where the payee receives funds without having any payment account;
(f)the address of the payee as it appears in the records of the payment service provider, if available;
(g)details of any cross-border payment in accordance with subsection (2);
(h)details of any payment refunds identified in relation to the cross-border payment in accordance with subsection (2).
(2)The information required to be kept in relation to paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (1) shall contain the following details:
(a)the date and time of the payment or payment refund;
(b)the amount and the currency of the payment or payment refund;
(c)the Member State of origin of the payment received by or on behalf of the payee, as determined in accordance with section 85B;
(d)the Member State of destination of any payment refund, as determined in accordance with section 85B;
(e)the information used to determine the Member State of origin of the payment referred to in paragraph (c) or the Member State of destination of any payment refund referred to in paragraph (d);
(f)any reference which unambiguously identifies the payment;
(g)where applicable, information that the payment was initiated at the physical premises of the merchant.
85E.
Retention of records by payment service providers.
Any records retained by a payment service provider in accordance with section 85C shall be kept in electronic format for a period of 3 years from the end of the year of the date of payment.
85F.
Reporting requirements of payment service providers.
(1)This section shall apply to a payment service provider where the State is –
(a)the home Member State of the payment service provider, or
(b)a host Member State of the payment service provider, in a case in which the payment service provider provides payment services in Member States other than its home Member State.
(2)Where this section applies to a payment service provider, the records referred to in section 85D shall be made available to the Revenue Commissioners in the manner specified in section 85G (inserted by the European Union (Value-Added Tax) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No.651 of 2023)).
85G.
Manner of reporting.
The manner referred to in section 85F (inserted by the European Union (Value-Added Tax) Regulations 2023) (S.I. No. 650 of 2023)) is as follows:
(a)the information contained in the records referred to in that section shall be provided to the Revenue Commissioners by electronic means, in such form as may be specified by Commissioners for that purpose, and
(b)the information referred to in paragraph (a) shall be provided to the Revenue Commissioners no later than the end of the month following the calendar quarter to which the information relates.
85H.
Retention and transmission of information by Revenue Commissioners.
(1)The information provided in accordance with section 85G shall be retained by the Revenue Commissioners until the expiry of a period of 5 years from 31 December of the year during which the record concerned was transmitted to them.
(2)The Revenue Commissioners shall transmit the information referred to in subsection (1) to the central electronic system of payment information established under Section 2 of Chapter V of Council Regulation 904/2010 of 7 October 2010 (as amended by Council Regulation 2020/283 of 18 February 2020 ) no later than the tenth day of the second month following the calendar quarter to which the information relates.