Chartered Accountants Ireland has been advised by Revenue that it has written to the Irish Dental Association stating that from 1 January 2012 dental workers who in Revenue's view are employees must have PAYE operated on their payments. An extract of this letter has been made available to us and is reproduced here for your reference.

The Revenue correspondence is reproduced ‘as is’ and reads as follows:

• “Employment Status of Dental Associates and Dental Hygienists engaged by Dental Practices
• Revenue have considered the circumstances surrounding the engagement of dental associates and dental hygienists in dental practices, having regard to the criteria set out in The Code of Practice for Determining Employment or Self Employment Status of Individuals and relevant case law. It is the Revenue view that generally speaking associates and hygienists engaged by dental practices are engaged under a contract of service (i.e. they are employees) and their remuneration comes within the scope of PAYE and that PAYE should be operated on all payments from 1^st January 2012.
• It is accepted that there may be exceptional cases where the terms of engagement differ from the norm and in these instances Revenue is prepared to look at these on a case-by-case basis. Revenue will consider each case on its own merits and in cases of doubt a submission, outlining the terms and conditions of the engagement should be submitted by the dentist or the hygienist to their local Revenue District for consideration.”