Revenue have issued a new instruction to assist in clarifying the type of information which may or may not be released to an MIP/receiver in order to establish the VAT history of a property.

Instruction 04.02, which is inserted into Chapter 4 Tax and Duty Manual, Value-Added Tax, advises that in the case where a MIP/receiver has insufficient information to definitively decide if the transactions in any of the property over which they are appointed would give rise to a VAT charge, they may write to the Revenue District of the borrower for information. Where this information is available in Revenue records, it may be disclosed to an MIP/receiver to enable them to meet their obligations under the VAT Acts without breaching Revenue's confidentiality obligations.

The information that may be provided by the Revenue District following a request from a MIP/receiver is set out Instruction 04.02. This includes:

• Whether the debtor was registered for VAT and the effective date of the registration.
• If debtor(s) were registered for VAT as a partnership.
• Whether the debtor had a waiver in place and the effective date of the waiver.

Revenue's Tax Briefing Issue 10 of 2010 deals with the VAT treatment of “Forced Sales” and similar situations involving a MIP or an asset receiver.

Instruction 04.02 is available on here