I am advised by Revenue that it does not have any role to play in regard to the licensing of dog breeding premises.
As regards compliance with tax and duty obligations, Revenue has confirmed that dog breeding establishments are monitored in the same way as taxpayers across all other sectors. This includes selecting cases for audit or other interventions based on the presence of specific risk indicators and other available information.
Revenue’s risk ranking systems are very comprehensive and take account of a wide range of data sources including details provided directly by taxpayers and information received from third party sources. Depending on the nature of the risks identified, Revenue may opt to carry out a sectoral based intervention project or individual case interventions. Revenue has confirmed that a number of such risk interventions were carried out on dog breeding premises in 2017.
In addition to tax compliance operations, Revenue works with various agencies such as the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) to disrupt the cross border illegal trade in pups and has achieved some notable successes as part of this joint working initiative.