Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 6 September 2019
123. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the efforts the Revenue Commissioners make to engage with subcontractors to ensure that they are reimbursed the relevant contract tax and to resolve related filing issues; and the amount of tax which has not been retuned in each of the years 2005 to 2018 and to date in 2019. [35952/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by Revenue that extensive efforts are made to engage with sub-contractors (and their agents) to ensure that the Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) system is operated correctly.
Since 1 January 2012, all RCT payment and return filing activity is conducted online using the Revenue Online Service (ROS). The online facility provides sub-contractors with access to a range of reporting facilities, which enables them to view the contract payments made to them in any specified period and any related RCT withheld. Also, sub-contractors who have fiduciary tax liabilities as employers and/or who are registered for and required to deduct VAT, can offset any RCT withheld against those liabilities, provided they have filed the relevant tax returns.
Revenue also advises me that sub-contractors’ annual tax returns (Form 11 or CT1) are pre-populated with the gross payments received, and the RCT withheld for the year. Additionally, the ‘Summary Pay and File Liability’ screen of the ROS annual return provides sub-contractors with the amount of RCT credit that is available for offset against either the balance of tax for that year or against the preliminary tax due for the following year. After the offsets are completed, any remaining credit is automatically refunded to the sub-contractor, providing all other tax returns are filed.
To ensure a high level of timely compliance across the self-employed sector, Revenue issues ‘pay and file’ reminders to all customers, including sub-contractors, to ensure they prepare for and file their tax returns on time. Also, in addition to making all RCT information available to sub-contractors through ROS, Revenue provides additional support via the Revenue website and through secure email channels and telephone services. These services responded to almost 80,000 requests for assistance from sub-contractors (or their agents) in 2018.
The following table sets out the amounts of RCT paid to Revenue by principal contractors and subsequently either offset or repaid to sub-contractors for the years 2007 to 2019 (year to date).
|
Year |
RCT Gross |
RCT Offsets |
RCT Repayments |
RCT Net |
|
|
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
|
2007 |
1,033.40 |
578.3 |
405.3 |
49.9 |
|
2008 |
826.7 |
504.7 |
389.3 |
-67.3 |
|
2009 |
436.5 |
224.8 |
265.5 |
-53.9 |
|
2010 |
312.4 |
140.0 |
181.7 |
-9.3 |
|
2011 |
267.3 |
103.5 |
169.9 |
-6.1 |
|
2012 |
174.3 |
96.0 |
75.9 |
2.4 |
|
2013 |
157.0 |
101.2 |
43.5 |
12.3 |
|
2014 |
200.8 |
121.2 |
48.7 |
31.0 |
|
2015 |
200.6 |
126.6 |
61.5 |
12.5 |
|
2016 |
255.5 |
161.0 |
54.6 |
39.9 |
|
2017 |
316.9 |
194.3 |
78.8 |
43.8 |
|
2018 |
364.7 |
229.7 |
97.0 |
38.0 |
|
2019 (to end-July) |
293.5 |
172.0 |
71.8 |
49.6 |
The data for 2005 and 2006 cannot be provided as the IT systems at that time did not provide a breakdown between offsets and refunds.
