New Reporting Requirements on Financial Institutions

Financial institutions will have to automatically send details of interest payments in excess of €635 in a year under new regulations announced.

The Revenue Commissioners, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, made regulations requiring certain financial institutions to make automatic returns of interest and other similar payments to them. The regulations apply to banks, buildings societies, credit unions and the Post Office Savings Bank where accounts or investments pay more than €635 in a year. The new provisions also apply anti-account splitting rules.

The reporting requirement is to be introduced on a phased basis. The first phase requires payments made by banks, buildings societies and the Post Office Savings Bank from which DIRT was deducted for the years 2005 and 2006 to be reported to Revenue by 15 September 2008. Presumably this means credit unions will not be included in the first phase.

Details to be reported include gross payment, name, address and date of birth if the account holder is an individual, and the account was opened or the investment was made before 1 January 2009. For new accounts opened and investments made on or after 1 January 2009 the details to be reported include gross payment, name, address, and tax reference number or, in the absence of a tax reference number, a special marker indicating that the tax reference number was not provided.