Chartered Accountants Ireland, as a member of CCAB-I, has responded to the Revenue consultation on iXBRL. While CCAB-I is not hostile to technological developments, we have to take some warning from the experience in the UK, where the use of iXBRL has been mandatory for some time. In the UK, it has led to increased compliance costs and delays in satisfactory filing. In the submission, both these notions are expanded and we also point to other elements which must be considered by Revenue before proceeding with the proposed implementation of iXBRL.

The submission points out the costs and difficulties for Irish businesses which may be associated with a transition to iXBRL, and suggests that the mandatory element be deferred at least for a year. We also suggest that Revenue needs to be more selective about the cases for which iXBRL usage will be mandatory. Lastly, we observe that proposals to replace existing elements of the ROS computational system with an iXBRL equivalent may be premature, and certainly not in accordance with the new Finance Act 2012 rules on assessments.

The submission is published on Chartered Accountants Ireland website at https://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Global/TAX/CCAB-I%20response%20to%20iXBRL%20consultation.pdf and is reproduced in full on here.