TALC Update – Revenue & Danske Bank transition

In 2018, Revenue was part of the Government wide tender run by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) for the provision of banking services to Government departments. The OGP tender process resulted in Danske Bank being awarded the contract.

Revenue has commenced a project for the transition of commercial bank accounts with existing providers BOI and AIB to Danske Bank. This project will be completed on a phased basis with the bank accounts used for EFT payments being the first category to move to Danske, with an expected go-live for the new Danske accounts of 1^st Oct 2019.

Over the coming months, Revenue will be closing all existing EFT accounts with BOI and AIB. We will be commencing a communications campaign advising customers who make payments via EFT of the account closures and providing details on how to avail of alternative online payment methods. A similar communications campaign is planned at a later stage for the much smaller number of customers paying Revenue by cheque.

Customers have an obligation under S917EA TCA 1997 to file and pay their taxes online with the only exceptions being for (1) non-residents, (2) those who have been granted an exemption from mandatory e-filing from Revenue. In addition, pending an IT development in early 2020, VRT customers can avail of the EFT payment option via the existing payment notification process.

Mandatory eFiling regulations specify that ‘payment shall be made by such electronic means as are required by Revenue’. In this context payment by electronic means as required by Revenue is an electronic payment made via ROS/my Account, and/or Direct Debit. Electronic payment includes a number of different payment options such as debit or credit card, single or recurring debit instruction. Payment by EFT is not deemed to be a payment by electronic means as required by Revenue.The many advantages of paying online for taxpayers include:

• Payment records are updated in real-time with immediate credit as Revenue can identify the taxpayer immediately using the tax reference number provided with the payment
• Availability of a payment history and audit trail of payments
• Online payments can be made for a wide range of taxes (including interest and penalties) including audit and notice of attachment payments
• A single payment can be made for a number of different taxes in one transaction
• Compliance with mandatory efiling and epaying regulations

The main disadvantages of not paying online include:

• Delays in processing where the tax reference number is not provided with the payment, requiring customer and bank contacts
• EFT and Cheque payments can require manual intervention preventing the real time update of credit to the customer record for payments received

Source: Revenue Commissioners www.revenue.ie Copyright Acknowledged