Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 238 of 2008)

The Revenue Commissioners have made Regulations under the Value-Added Tax Act 1972 concerning the operation of VAT.

These Regulations make the following amendments to the VAT Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 548 of 2006) to:

• Update all references to taxable person and accountable person,
• Update all references to the Sixth Council Directive now replaced by the VAT Directive,
• Provide that records include cash register records for sales to unregistered persons and the details required in a capital good record,
• Provide that a document containing a schedule of dates on which rent is payable will be treated as a VAT invoice provided it contains all the information required for a VAT invoice,
• Exclude from the cash basis of accounting the tax chargeable on construction services supplied by subcontractors to principal contractors where the reverse charge applies,
• Ensure that persons who are not liable to tax under the TCA 1997 are still entitled to make a claim for bad debt relief in respect of VAT,
• Substitute “accounting year” for “accounting period”, and
• Align the provision with the Customs rules in relation to exempting goods which are re-imported by the person who exported them.

These Regulations also contain two new Regulations as follows:-

• Regulation 21A clarifies how a shift in an accounting year during an adjustment period in the context of the capital goods scheme should be dealt with, and
• Regulation 21B deals with the VAT treatment of the private or non-business use of business assets.

The Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2008 came into effect on 2 July 2008.

A copy of the Regulations can be accessed on the Revenue website or purchased from the Government Publications Sales Office.