Finance Act 2020

Amendment of Chapter 1 of Part 18 of Principal Act (payments in respect of professional services by certain persons)

13. (1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 520(1), by inserting the following definitions:

“‘electronic means’ has the same meaning as in section 917EA(1);

‘payment notification’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 524(4);

‘payment notification reference number’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 524(6);

‘PSWT service’ means such electronic system as is made available by the Revenue Commissioners to enable accountable persons to fulfil their obligations under section 524(4) and to facilitate electronic communication between the Revenue Commissioners, accountable persons, specified persons and others for the purpose of fulfilling those obligations and includes any enhancements or other changes made to that system and any replacement system;”,

(b) by substituting the following section for section 524:

“Identification of specified persons and submission of payment notifications

524. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the specified person shall furnish to the accountable person concerned—

(a) in the case of a specified person resident in the State or a person having a permanent establishment or fixed base in the State, details of—

(i) the specified person’s income tax or corporation tax number, as may be appropriate, and

(ii) if the relevant payment includes an amount in respect of value-added tax, the specified person’s value-added tax registration number,

and

(b) in the case of a specified person other than a person mentioned in paragraph (a), details of—

(i) the specified person’s country of residence,

(ii) the specified person’s tax reference in that country, and

(iii) the specified person’s address and contact details.

(2) (a) Where a relevant payment (including a payment to which section 522 applies) is made in accordance with section 529A(1), the precedent partner shall furnish the tax number of the partnership to the accountable person.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a), ‘tax number’ in relation to a partnership means—

(i) the registration number allocated by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the operation by the partnership of value-added tax, or any other tax, or the reference number stated on any return, form or notice issued by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the partnership, or

(ii) where appropriate, the tax reference of the partnership in another country.

(3) For the purposes of this section, an accountable person may require a specified person or, as the case may be, a precedent partner to provide evidence from the Revenue Commissioners that—

(a) the income tax or corporation tax number furnished by the specified person in accordance with subsection (1)(a)(i) relates to that specified person, or

(b) the tax number of the partnership furnished by the precedent partner in accordance with subsection (2)(a) relates to that partnership.

(4) Where the specified person has complied with subsection (1) or, as the case may be, the precedent partner has complied with subsection (2), the accountable person, on making a relevant payment, shall submit to the Revenue Commissioners a notification using the PSWT service (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘payment notification’), specifying—

(a) the name and address of the specified person or, as the case may be, of the partnership,

(b) the specified person’s tax reference as furnished in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) or, as the case may be, the partnership’s tax number as furnished in accordance with subsection (2),

(c) the amount of the relevant payment,

(d) the amount of the appropriate tax deducted from that payment,

(e) the date on which the payment was made, and

(f) such other information as may be required by the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of this section.

(5) Where, before the date on which a return in respect of a relevant payment is required to be made in accordance with section 525(7), an accountable person is aware or becomes aware that a payment notification submitted in respect of the relevant payment contains an error or omission or was not required by this Chapter, the person shall, before the date on which the return is required to be made—

(a) cancel the payment notification and, where required by this Chapter, submit a further payment notification, or

(b) amend the payment notification.

(6) Upon submission of a payment notification, an accountable person shall be provided by the PSWT service with a reference number (in this Chapter referred to as a ‘payment notification reference number’), which shall be deemed to be an acknowledgement issued by the Revenue Commissioners.

(7) Where, having made a relevant payment, an accountable person has complied with subsection (4) and, where appropriate, subsection (5), the accountable person shall—

(a) as soon as practicable, provide to the specified person or, as the case may be, the precedent partner, by written or electronic means, details of—

(i) the name and tax reference number of the accountable person,

(ii) the gross amount of the relevant payment, including the tax deducted,

(iii) the amount of tax deducted from the relevant payment, and

(iv) the date of the relevant payment,

and

(b) where requested by the specified person or, as the case may be, the precedent partner, provide to that person, by written or electronic means, the payment notification reference number in respect of the relevant payment.

(8) The Revenue Commissioners may, by electronic or other means, make available to a specified person or precedent partner details of the information contained in a payment notification relating to the specified person or partnership, as the case may be.”,

(c) in section 525—

(i) in subsection (1), by substituting “23 days” for “14 days”,

(ii) in subsection (2), by deleting “, in relation to each specified person, or where section 529A applies, each partnership to whom a relevant payment has been made in the income tax month concerned,”,

(iii) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (4):

“(4A) A return shall be made by electronic means and the relevant provisions of Chapter 6 of Part 38 shall apply.”,

and

(iv) by inserting the following subsections after subsection (6):

“(7) On or before 23 February following each tax year, an accountable person shall submit to the Collector-General, in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may approve or prescribe, a return containing details of—

(a) all amounts of appropriate tax which the accountable person was liable to deduct from relevant payments made during that year,

(b) all amounts of appropriate tax remitted by the accountable person in accordance with subsection (1) during that year, and

(c) any amounts of appropriate tax owed by the accountable person in respect of relevant payments made during that year.

(8) On or before the 23rd day of the month following the coming into operation of section 13 of the Finance Act 2020, an accountable person shall submit to the Collector-General in such form as the Revenue Commissioners may approve or prescribe, a return containing, in relation to the period from 1 January 2021 to the date of that coming into operation, details of—

(a) the amount of relevant payments made by the accountable person to each specified person or, where section 529A applies, each partnership to which relevant payments were made by the accountable person during that period,

(b) the amount of appropriate tax which the accountable person was liable to deduct from relevant payments to each specified person or, where section 529A applies, each partnership to which relevant payments were made by the accountable person during that period,

(c) the amount of appropriate tax remitted by the accountable person in accordance with subsection (1) during that period, and

(d) such other particulars as may be required by the return.”,

(d) in section 526—

(i) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) The specified person shall, where requested by the Revenue Commissioners, furnish the following in respect of each amount of appropriate tax included in a claim under subsection (1) or (2) —

(a) the payment notification reference number in respect of the payment notification made in accordance with section 524(4), and

(b) in the case of a specified person who is a partner in relation to a partnership trade or profession, the documentation referred to in section 529A(3).”,

and

(ii) in subsection (4), by substituting “payment notifications” for “forms”,

(e) in section 527—

(i) in subsection (2)(c), by substituting “payment notification reference number in respect of the payment notification made in accordance with section 524(4)” for “form given to the specified person by an accountable person in accordance with section 524(2)”,

(ii) in subsection (3)(a), by substituting “payment notifications” for “forms”,

(iii) by deleting subsection (3A), and

(iv) in subsection (4)(b)(ii), by substituting “payment notifications” for “forms”,

(f) in section 528, by substituting “payment notification” for “form”, and

(g) in section 529A(3), by substituting “which shall include the details provided to the precedent partner by the accountable person in accordance with section 524(7)” for “together with a copy of the form given to the precedent partner by the accountable person in accordance with section 524(2)”.

(2) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.