Mandatory Filing of iXBRL Financial Statements

Section 133 of the Finance Act 2012 amended section 884 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to extend the definition of a return to encompass financial statements required to be prepared under the Companies Act. This, coupled with the existing e-filing legislation, establishes a statutory basis for the mandatory submission of iXBRL financial statements as part of the tax return.

Currently, in the case of a company, Financial Statements may be uploaded before, simultaneously with, or after the filing of the Form CT1. It is expected that the Financial Statements would be filed within 21 days of the filing of the CT1 or 21 days after the due date for the return, whichever is later. Accordingly, it is expected that the iXBRL financial statements in respect of the year ended 31 December 2013 will be submitted by 14 October 2014.

As this is the first "end-December Accounts" filing date for which the iXBRL financial statements are required, and as an acknowledgement of the volume of such statements to be filed, Revenue has agreed to extend the deadline for the submission of the iXBRL financial statements to 31 October 2014.

On a general point, it should be noted, that a right to a repayment of tax only arises where a valid claim has been made. In the context of corporation tax repayments, Revenue does not consider that a valid claim has been made until any iXBRL financial statement required to be filed has been so filed. Accordingly, in the absence of iXBRL financial statements no repayments of corporation tax will be made.

13 October 2014