Proposed VAT B2B & B2G e-invoicing & real-time reporting
Public consultation extended by Revenue Commissioners
The Irish Minister for Finance has announced on 10 October 2023 the opening of a public consultation on Ireland’s digitalisation of VAT Invoicing and Reporting System. This was part of the 2024 Irish Budget.
The consultation will last between 13 October 2023 and 31 January 2024 (extended from 12 January 2024). Afterwards, the Irish Revenue will publish a Report synopsising all the responses to the consultation questions.
In Ireland, since April 2019, all public bodies are required to accept an eInvoice from a supplier if that supplier chooses to issue one.
This will be brought forward by the Revenue Commissioners. The review will cover VAT invoice digital reporting requirements and how to modernise reporting. This includes continuous transaction controls (live invoice reporting or e-invoicing). This would supplement the existing VAT return requirements with transaction-level reporting.
Ireland will be reviewing the implications of the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age reforms package which includes a pillar looking to harmonise this area across the EU 27 state under Digital Reporting Requirements. This is seeking to move towards mandatory e-invoicing and reporting on intra-community transactions, including standardisation of domestic digital reporting regimes.
Digitisation of transaction reporting would offer the chance to simplify tax reporting, and help close VAT Gap, lost revenues from errors and fraud. The European Commission put Ireland’s VAT Gap at €1.7 billion, or 10.1% of expected VAT revenues, in its latest estimate.
Ireland to evaluation real-time reporting options
The Revenue has indicated it will review a range of formats used in other countries. This could include periodic reporting to complement the VAT return and/or continuous reporting of invoices in real-time.
