I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that claims to repayment of RCT arise where a sub-contractor does not present a C2 certificate to a principal contractor when they are being paid for work which they have undertaken on a contract. In these circumstances, the principal contractor is obliged to withhold 35% RCT from such payments and to pay it over to Revenue. A C2 certificate can be applied for by a sub-contractor and will be issued by the Revenue Commissioners where Revenue satisfy themselves that the sub-contractor's business meets a number of criteria which includes ensuring that the sub-contractor is fully tax compliant. The Revenue Commissioners encourage sub-contractors to apply for C2 certificates as they not alone reduce the administrative burden on sub-contractors but also significantly assist the sub-contractor's cashflow.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that due to the receipt in recent weeks of an unprecedented high volume of repayment claims and requests for offsets in respect of RCT credits for the counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, there is a backlog of these claims for processing at present. An action plan is in place to deal with these arrears and it is understood that substantial inroads will be made into this backlog within the next two weeks.
The Revenue Commissioners regret the delays in dealing with these repayments and offsets and they have assured me that they are doing all they can to get up to date with these claims as quickly as possible.