Tax Appeals Commission determination 106TACD2023 regarding Value Added Tax, 2023

• Administrative Decision Number: 106TACD2023
• Date: 02 June 2023
• Subject Matter: Value Added Tax
• Respondent: The Criminal Assets Bureau

1

Between

Appellant

and

The Criminal Assets Bureau

Respondent

Determination

Introduction

1. This is an appeal to the Tax Appeals Commission (“the Commission”) pursuant to and in

accordance with the provisions of section 949I of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (“the

TCA 1997”) brought on behalf of (“the Appellant”)

against Notices of Assessment to Value Added Tax (“VAT”) issued on 8 May 2019 by the

Criminal Assets Bureau (“the Respondent”) for the periods 1 January 2015 to 31

December, 2015 in the sum of €547,615; 1 January 2016 to 31 December, 2016 in the

sum of €1,132,791; 1 January 2017 to 31 December, 2017 in the sum of €434,425; and 1

January 2018 to 31 December, 2018 in the sum of €91,398.

2. The liabilities arose in circumstances where the Respondent withdrew the zero-rate

provision for VAT applied by the Appellant to sales of in the United Kingdom

(“UK”), as the Appellant did not comply with the provisions of Regulation 29 of the Value

Added Tax Regulations 2010 (S.I. No. 639 of 2010) (“the Regulations”), in so far as the

Appellant failed to retain requisite documentary evidence that the goods were removed

from the State and transported to another Member State, namely the UK.

106TACD2023

2

3. The appeal proceeded by way of a hearing on 27 March 2022. The Appellant was

represented by Junior Counsel and its Accountant (“the Appellant’s

representative”). The Respondent was represented by Senior Counsel.

Background

4. The Appellant is engaged in the trade business. The Respondent submits that

since 18 April 2013, the Appellant has been registered as a taxpayer in respect of tax

heads VAT, Corporation Tax and PREM.

5. As part of an investigation conducted by the Respondent, it evaluated the VAT returns

filed by the Appellant for all VAT periods from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018. The

Respondent, in its statement of case filed in relation to this appeal, sets out the VAT

returns of the Appellant for the period 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018. The

Respondent summarises the VAT returns as follows:

Period

Start

Period End

T1

T2

T3

T4

E1

E2

01/01/2015

30/04/2015

11,013

3,395

7,618

0

2,235,821

2,199,131

01/05/2015

31/08/2015

655,058

643,955

11,103

0

2,835,344

2,786,744

01/09/2015

31/12/2015

853,472

849,076

4,396

0

3,736,646

3,668,875

01/01/2016

30/04/2016

12,415

8,813

3,602

0

30,406

0

01/05/2016

31/08/2016

9,573

4,638

4,935

0

2,790,265

2,737,183

01/09/2016

31/10/2016

2,966

1,799

1,167

0

0

0

01/11/2016

31/12/2016

1,904

2,049

0

145

0

0

01/01/2017

28/02/2017

6,609

3,084

3,525

0

177,954

174,204

01/03/2017

30/04/2017

6,018

1,560

4,458

0

523,238

509,800

01/05/2017

30/06/2017

5,231

997

4,234

0

1,802,098

1,758,024

01/07/2017

31/08/2017

2,626

467

2,159

0

0

0

01/09/2017

31/10/2017

62,588

61,079

1,509

0

267,641

260,193

01/11/2017

31/12/2017

4,154

680

3,474

0

449,979

436,059

01/01/2018

28/02/2018

5,346

1,733

3,613

0

240,425

232,677

01/03/2018

30/04/2018

2,220

524

1,696

0

531,794

518,521

01/05/2018

30/06/2018

2,647

781

1,866

0

531,794

518,521

01/07/2018

31/08/2018

1,851

915

936

0

124,753

122,068