Revenue eBrief No. 32/11 – Mandatory Electronic Filing and Payment of Tax – Implementation of Phase 3A Update
This eBrief is an update to eBrief No. 04/11 issued on 24 January 2011.
Regulations
The Revenue Commissioners have made Regulations under section 917E of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 concerning the extension of mandatory electronic filing of tax returns and payment of tax by certain taxpayers.
The Regulations will take effect on 1 June 2011.
The text of the Regulations, along with an accompanying explanatory note, is available on the Revenue website www.revenue.ie at: Tax Practitioners – Legislation – Statutory Instruments – 2011.
Communications to taxpayers
Revenue issued letters to approximately 225,000 taxpayers, identified as Phase 3A mandatory electronic filers, during the period 27 March to 21 April 2011. Revenue also sent advisory copies to tax advisors on 27 March. Tax advisor were sent copies for all their Phase 3A clients on that date.
Revenue will issue a reminder letter to Phase 3A taxpayers during the week commencing 23 May 2011. Revenue will also issue a letter for the first registration stage for ROS to Phase 3A taxpayers who are not registered for ROS or have not yet commenced the ROS registration process.
It is critical that the ROS registration process is completed as paper returns will not issue to taxpayers covered by Phase 3A.
Paper return forms
Revenue will no longer issue paper return forms to individuals or businesses who are required to pay and file electronically and who have not been granted an exclusion from the provisions of the Regulations. This will apply to all return forms that are specified as return forms that must be filed electronically.
Exclusion criteria
The Revenue Commissioners may, on application, exclude a person from the obligation to pay and file electronically if they are satisfied that the person does not have the capacity to do so and, in this context, “capacity” is taken to mean sufficient access to the Internet and, in the case of an individual, is not prevented by reason of age, physical or mental infirmity from filing and paying electronically.
A person aggrieved at a failure by the Revenue Commissioners to exclude them from the requirements may appeal that failure to the Appeal Commissioners. An excluded person may, if circumstances change, have that exclusion revoked and that decision may also be appealed to the Appeal Commissioners.
Stamp Duty
Stamp Duty returns and payments, as respects instruments executed on or after 1 June 2011, must be filed electronically.
Mandatory electronic payment and filing-Phase 3B
Employers with 10 or more employees will be required to pay and file their returns electronically for payments and returns due or after 1/10/2011. This phase will involve approximately 5,400 taxpayers and Revenue plans to commence its communications program for those taxpayers in June.
Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) return forms:
Revenue will implement the new eRCT system with effect from 1/1/2012. This new system effectively does away with our current RCT contractor return forms. The new system is a fully electronic system for all principal contractors.
Revenue will accept RCT35 returns on paper for periods up to 31/12/2011 from any contractor who is not currently submitting their RCT returns electronically.
Source: Revenue Commissioners. www.revenue.ie. Copyright Acknowledged.