Revenue eBrief No. 12/10
09 March 2010
Extension of time limit for errors discovered in completing the Form RCT 35 2009
The filing deadline for the Form RCT 35 2009 was 15th February 2010 or 23rd February for customers filing on the Revenue On-Line Service (ROS).
In completing the Form RCT 35 for 2009, principals or their agents may have come across instances where gross payments were made to a subcontractor who had a valid C2, but the principal was not in possession of the payments card (RCT 47) for that subcontractor. Where the error of this nature is exceptional, and a qualifying disclosure is made to Revenue within one month of the filing date, Revenue will not seek to impose the normal tax, interest or tax-geared penalties. Instead, a fixed penalty (currently €3,000) will apply to each instance of the failure to deduct the correct tax. An error will not be exceptional if it involved a general failure to operate RCT or involved suppressed receipts/payments. Steps must be taken to prevent a recurrence and the principal contractor making the disclosure must be generally tax-compliant. Full details were outlined in eBrief 10 of 2007 .
Revenue is extending the time limit for making a disclosure in relation to the 2009 RCT 35 return by a further month to 15th April (and 23rd. April for ROS customers). You may wish to review your clients return and if necessary make a qualifying disclosure of any errors made, along with the accompanying payment, to your client’s local Revenue Office.
Making a qualifying disclosure in these circumstances will not result in an audit. However, an audit of the principal’s, or the subcontractor’s, returns may arise based on normal selection procedures, in due course.
You should note that this extended deadline refers to qualifying disclosures and does not extend the filing date of the actual return. If your client has not already filed their Form RCT 35 for 2009, please advise them to do so as soon as possible.
A letter is being issued to each principal contractor on Revenue’s records to advise them of the extension.
For more information on taxation and the construction industry visit the Construction Industry section of the Revenue website at: Taxes & Duties – Relevant Contracts Tax – Construction Industry.