Important information regarding mandatory iXBRL filing for Corporation Tax payers

This eBrief covers the following:

1. Obligation to File Electronic Financial Statements with the Corporation Tax Return (Form CT1) - from 1st October 2014
2. Clarification regarding iXBRL Obligations for Holding Companies

1. Obligation to File Electronic Financial Statements with the Corporation Tax Return (Form CT1) - from 1st October 2014

Revenue has adopted iXBRL (inline Extensible Business Reporting Language) as the standard to be used for submitting electronic financial statements and is rolling out mandatory iXBRL filing for Corporation Tax payers in stages.

Phase 1 applied to cases dealt with in Large Cases Division, where electronic filing of the financial statements has been mandatory since October 2013. We are now entering Phase 2, for Revenue customers not dealt with in Large Cases Division filing Corporation Tax returns where the Accounting Periods end on or after 31st Dec 2013 and the Corporation Tax return is submitted on or after 1st Oct 2014.

Companies who meet all of the following criteria below are excluded from Phase 2. It is, however, open to such companies to choose to file electronic financial statements along with the CT1 now through Revenue's Online Service (ROS) before it becomes mandatory at the start of Phase 3 which will begin at a later date.

• Balance Sheet total does not exceed €4.4 m, and
• Company turnover does not exceed €8.8 m per annum, and
• The average number of employees does not exceed 50.

Each of the three criteria must be met - otherwise the company is required to file the financial statements in iXBRL format in Phase 2.

The financial statements constitute part of the return required to be filed under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and a return cannot be deemed to have been fully or correctly completed until the full financial statements have been electronically filed on ROS and all items in the financial statements have been fully tagged using one of the iXBRL taxonomies accepted by Revenue. Therefore, in order for the Corporation Tax return to be complete and the company to be deemed fully compliant, both the fully tagged financial statements in iXBRL format and the Form CT1 must be filed through ROS.

It should be noted that the minimum requirement is the Auditor’s Report, the Director’s Report, the detailed Trading and Profit and Loss Account, the Balance Sheet and the disclosure notes required as part of the financial statements.

Companies that are required to file Corporation Tax returns and are tax resident but incorporated elsewhere should follow the same template as set out in the previous paragraph when preparing their electronic financial statements for submission to Revenue.

Further information dealing with the submission of the financial statements in iXBRL format and the Corporation Tax return as separate files through ROS is available on the Revenue website along with a Frequently Asked Questions section. Queries can also be referred to Revenue’s dedicated helpdesk for iXBRL matters at iXBRL@revenue.ie or to the relevant local Revenue Office.

2. Clarification regarding iXBRL Obligations for Holding Companies

Revenue has clarified its requirements for filing of iXBRL accounts by holding companies. The revised requirements are set out in the iXBRL Frequently Asked Questions section of the Revenue website.

Holding companies that have deferred filing their financial statements in iXBRL format pending confirmation from Revenue of their requirements, have 8 weeks from the issue of this eBrief to submit such financial statements in order to avoid the imposition of a penalty or other sanction. Queries regarding this matter can be referred to Revenue’s dedicated helpdesk for iXBRL matters at iXBRL@revenue.ie or to the relevant local Revenue Office.

30 September 2014