Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 October 2013
148. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance the way his Department ensures that it receives its complete entitlement of VAT from online sales; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41909/13]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that online sales of goods and services to private individuals by Irish-based sellers are liable to Irish VAT and that the seller must account for the VAT on his/her VAT return. However, where an Irish-based supplier sells goods to private customers in other EU Member States, and the value of supplies to a particular Member State exceeds the relevant threshold for that Member State, then the Irish supplier must register and account for VAT in that Member State on those supplies. Similarly, suppliers in other Member States who supply goods to private customers in Ireland in excess of our threshold must register for VAT in Ireland and account to Revenue for the VAT on those supplies. The threshold is €35,000 in Ireland and as high as €100,000 in some Member States. The Revenue Commissioners are fully aware of the potential for tax evasion as a result of eCommerce and online trading generally. Revenue’s overall approach to managing compliance is to undertake a range of targeted interventions that are most appropriate for dealing with the specific risks presented in individual cases – including those trading online. Their work is also supported and enhanced with appropriate technology, including their Risk Evaluation Analysis and Profiling (REAP) risk identification system and the capture of data from multiple sources. One of these sources is trading information received from merchant acquirers, which contains indicators of cases involved in internet trading.
Revenue's extensive range of measures and activities, designed to address shadow economy activity, includes exploiting the potential of new and emerging technology towards the identification of tax evasion associated with online trading and business activity.
