891I Reporting obligations for digital platform operators

Summary

Section 891I provides for the transposition of Article 1(8) of Council Directive (EU) 2021/514¹, which amends Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation between EU Member States in the field of taxation.

This is the sixth extension to the Directive and is more commonly referred to as DAC7.

Details

(1) The purpose of this section is to provide for the collection and reporting of certain information by reportable platform operators in respect of certain activities undertaken by reportable sellers on their platforms.

Definitions

(2) The meaning of certain terms used in section 891I are defined as follows:

“business registration number” means a unique business identification number issued by a Member State, or a functional equivalent in the absence of a business identification number,

the following terms-

“consideration”, “entity”, “excluded platform operator”, “financial account identifier”, “goods”, “platform”, “platform operator”, “primary address”, “property listing”, “qualified non-union platform operator”, “relevant activity, “reportable period”, “reportable seller”, “reporting platform operator”, “seller”, “TIN”, and “VAT identification number”,

have the same meanings respectively given to them by Section I of Annex V to the Directive,

“Directive” means Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011² as amended by-

• Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014³ (commonly known as DAC2),
• Council Directive (EU) 2015/2376 of 8 December 2015⁴ (commonly known as DAC3),
• Council Directive (EU) 2016/881 of 25 May 2016⁵ (commonly known as DAC4),
• Council Directive (EU) 2016/2258 of 6 December 2016⁶ (commonly known as DAC5),
• Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018⁷ (commonly known as DAC6),
• Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020⁸ (commonly known as the Covid extensions), and
• Council Directive (EU) 2021/514/ of 22 March 2021⁹ (DAC7),

“Platform Operator ID” means a unique individual identification number that will be assigned to the platform operator by the Revenue Commissioners once it has registered with them for the purposes of section 891I,

“relevant information” is defined in subsection (7)(a) and means the information that must be supplied by the reportable seller to the reporting platform operator in order for the reportable platform operator to comply with the reporting obligations imposed on it by subsection (5).

Reportable platform operators

(3) Subsection (3) sets out the registration obligations of reportable platform operators.

(3)(a) A platform operator that -

• (3)(a)(i) is resident in the State for tax purposes,
• (3)(a)(ii) is incorporated in the State,
• (3)(a)(iii) has a place of management in the State, or
• (3)(a)(iv) has a permanent establishment in the State and is not a qualified non-union platform operator,

shall register with the Revenue Commissioners as a reporting platform operator for the purposes of section 891I.

(3)(b) A platform operator that meets one or more of the conditions of subsection (3)(a) and also satisfies those conditions in another Member State may elect to register as a reporting platform operator with the competent authority of that other Member State. If that election is notified in writing to the Revenue Commissioners then that platform operator will not be required to register with the Revenue Commissioners also.

(3)(c)(i) and (c)(ii) A platform operator that facilitates ‘relevant activities’ in a Member State (including the State) by ‘reportable sellers’ or involving the rental of real estate and that is not required to register under paragraph (a) as a reporting platform operator with

• the Revenue Commissioners, or
• the competent authority of another Member State,

shall register with the Revenue Commissioners as a reporting platform operator for the purposes of section 891I and the Revenue Commissioners will provide them with a Platform Operator ID.

(3)(d) A platform operator that facilitates ‘relevant activities’ in a Member State (including the State) by ‘reportable sellers’ or involving the rental of real estate and is not required to register as a reporting platform operator with Revenue Commissioners if

• it has registered as a reporting platform operator with the competent authority in another Member State,
• it has been assigned the equivalent of a Platform Operator ID by that competent authority,
• the Platform Operator ID assigned to it has not been revoked.

A reportable platform operator covered by the provisions of subsection (3)(c) or subsection (3)(d) are referred to as a “non-union reportable platform operator”.

(3)(e) A platform operator, that has registered as a reporting platform operator with the Revenue Commissioners under the provisions of subsection (3)(c), that does not comply with the obligations placed on it under the provisions of section 891I or regulations made under subsection (9), shall have the Platform Operator ID assigned to it by the Revenue Commissioners revoked.

(3)(f) A Platform Operator ID shall not be revoked by the Revenue Commissioners until

1. two reminders, in writing, have been issued by the Revenue Commissioners to the platform operator advising the platform operator of the obligations imposed on them under the provisions of section 891I, and
2. a period of 30 days has elapsed from the date the second reminder was issued.

(3)(g) An excluded platform operator registered in the State shall, by the 31^st January of the year immediately after the end of the reportable period, make a return to the Revenue Commissioners

• confirming that the excluded platform operator has not facilitated any relevant activities in the reportable period, and
• providing any particulars that are necessary to demonstrate that the excluded platform operator is not a reportable platform operator.

Return

(4) A reportable platform operator registered in the State for the purposes of section 891I shall, by the 31^st January of the year immediately after the end of the reportable period, make a return to the Revenue Commissioners.

A reportable platform operator is also obliged to provide the reportable seller with a copy of the information contained in the return made to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of the reportable seller.

Information to be included on the return

(5) Subsection (5) sets out the information that is to be included in return to be made under subsection (4).

(5)(a) The information to be included in the return in respect of a reporting platform operator is as follows:

1. their name,
2. their registered office address,
3. their TIN,
4. their Platform Operator ID, where one has been assigned by the Revenue Commissioners, and
5. the business name of each platform in respect of which the reporting platform operator is reporting.

(5)(b) The information to be included in the return in respect of reportable sellers who are individuals is as follows:

1. their first and last name,
2. their primary address,
3. their TIN, and where a reportable seller has a TIN issued by more than one Member State, the Member State of issuance of each TIN, or in the absence of a TIN the place of birth of the reportable seller,
4. their VAT identification number, where available, and
5. their date of birth.

(5)(c) The information to be included in the return in respect of reportable sellers who are not individuals is as follows:

1. their legal name,
2. their primary address,
3. where relevant activities are carried on through a permanent establishment in any Member State, where available, details for each reportable seller of each Member State where such a permanent establishment is located,
4. any TIN issued to each reportable seller, and where a reportable seller has a TIN issued by more than one Member State, the Member State of issuance of each TIN,
5. their VAT identification number, where available, and
6. their business registration number.

(5)(d) The following details are to be included in the return in respect of all reportable sellers:

1. the total consideration paid or credited to them during each quarter of the reportable period along with the number of relevant activities,
2. any fees, commissions or taxes withheld or charged by the reporting platform operator during each quarter of the reportable period,
3. their financial account identifier, if available,
4. where different from the name of a reportable seller, the name of the holder of the financial account to which the consideration is paid or credited, to the extent available, as well as any other financial identification information available to the reporting platform operator, and
5. each Member State in which each reportable seller is resident, as determined by the Directive.

(5)(e) Where the relevant activity of a reportable seller includes the rental of immovable property, in addition to the information required to be returned under subsections (5)(b), (5)(c) and (5)(d), the following information is also required:

1. the address of each property listing,
2. the unique identifier(s), allocated under the Registration of Title Act 1964 to the land of each property listing, if available, or, where available, its equivalent under the law of the Member State where it is located,
3. the total consideration paid or credited during each quarter of the reportable period and the number of relevant activities provided with respect to each property listing, and
4. the number of days each property listing was rented during the reportable period and the type of each property listing, where available.

The return should also contain all other information as may be prescribed in regulations made by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (9).

Reportable sellers

(6) A reporting platform operator shall put in place such procedures as may be prescribed in regulations made under subsection (9) to identify when a seller becomes a reportable seller.

(7)(a) A reportable seller shall provide the reporting platform operator with the information (the ‘relevant information’) that is necessary for the reporting platform operator to comply with the reporting obligations imposed on them under subsection (5).

(7)(b)(i) Where a reportable seller does not provide the relevant information to the reporting platform operator the account of the reportable seller shall be closed by the reportable platform operator.

(7)(b)(ii) Where the account of the reportable seller has been closed it cannot be reopened, or a new account opened by the reportable seller, with the reportable platform operator until such time as the relevant information has been provided.

Appointment of a third party

(8) A reporting platform operator may, subject to the conditions relating to the appointment of a third party that may be contained in regulations made under subsection (9), appoint a third party to carry out the duties and obligations imposed on the reporting platform operator by section 891I.

Regulations

(9) The Revenue Commissioners are authorised to make regulations, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to provide for the registration of platform operators with the Revenue Commissioners and specifying the information, regarding the relevant activities undertaken by reportable sellers on their platform, that is to be included in the return to be made by the reportable platform operators.

(10) Regulations to be made under subsection (9) shall:

(10)(a) Set out the period within which the requirements placed on platform operators by subsection (3) shall be satisfied.

(10)(b) Specify, in respect of a return required to be made under subsection (4):

1. the manner in which the return is to be made,
2. the currency in which the reporting platform operator is required to report, and
3. the rules for the conversion of amounts, denominated in a currency other than the currency in which the return is to be made, into that currency, for the purposes of making a return under subsection (4).

(10)(c) Specify the procedures to be put in place by a reporting platform operator for the purposes of identifying when a seller becomes a reportable seller as required under subsection (6).

(10)(d) In respect of the requirements imposed on the platform operators by subsection 7(b) specify-

1. the procedures to be followed by a platform operator in respect of closing an account of a reportable seller, and
2. the requirements to be satisfied before the platform operator can reopen an account, or open a new account, for a reportable seller whose account has previously been closed by the platform operator.

(10)(e) Specify the records and documents that are required to be provided by the reportable seller to the reporting platform operator in order for the reporting platform operator to comply with the reporting obligations imposed on them by subsections (5)(b), (5)(c), (5)(d) or (5)(e).

(10)(f) Specify the records, obtained by the reporting platform operator under the provisions of subsection 10(e), that are required to be retained by the reporting platform operator.

(10)(g) Provide that a third party may be appointed by a reporting platform operator to carry out the duties and obligations imposed on the reporting platform operator by Section 891I or regulations made under subsection

(10)(h) Specify, in relation to any of the matters specified in subsections 10(a), 10(b), 10(c), 10(e), 10(f) and 10(g), the manner in which the records shall be kept and the period the records are to be retained as provided for in the Directive.

(10)(i) Regulations made under section 891I may contain any such supplemental and incidental matters as appear to the Revenue Commissioners to be necessary to enable persons to fulfil their obligations under the regulations or for the general administration and implementation of the regulations.

Requirement to lay regulations before Dáil Éireann

(11) Every regulation made under section 891I must be laid before Dáil Éireann as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by Dáil Éireann within the next 21 days on which Dáil Éireann has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Authorised Officer

(12) The Revenue Commissioners may authorise, in writing, any of their officers to exercise any powers to perform any acts or discharge any functions conferred by section 891I or by the regulations made under subsection 9.

Audit

(13) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter any premises or place of business of a reporting platform operator for the purposes of-

1. (13)(a) determining whether information regarding a relevant activity -
   1. (13)(a)(i) included in a return made under subsection (4) or regulations made under subsection (9) by the reporting platform operator was correct and complete, or
   2. (13)(a)(ii) which was not included in a return was correctly not included in the return,
2. (13)(b) examining the procedures put in place by the reporting platform operator for the purposes of ensuring compliance with that platform operator’s obligations under section 891I or regulations made under subsection (9).

(14) An authorised officer shall not, other than with the consent of the occupier, enter a private dwelling without a warrant authorising the entry.

District Court Warrant

(15) A judge of the District Court, if satisfied on the sworn evidence of an “authorised officer” that

1. (15)(a) there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that information or records, that the “authorised officer” may require for the purposes of his or her functions under this section, is or are held on any premises or part of any premises, or
2. (15)(b) the “authorised officer”, in the performance of his or her functions under this section, has been prevented from entering the premises or any part of the premises,

may issue a warrant authorising the “authorised officer”, accompanied by other persons if necessary, to enter, if needs be by reasonable force, at any time or times within 30 days from the date of issue of the warrant and on production of the warrant if so requested, the premises or part of the premises concerned and perform all or any of the functions conferred on the authorised officer under this section.

Penalties

(16)(a) The provisions of Section 898O shall apply to

1. (16)(a)(i) a failure by a reporting platform operator to make a return required under subsection (4) or regulations made under this subsection (9), and
2. (16)(a)(ii) the making of an incorrect or incomplete return under subsection (4) or regulations made under subsection (9),

as it applies to a failure to deliver a return or to the making of an incorrect or incomplete return referred to in section 898O.

The penalty for the failure to make a return or for making an incomplete or incorrect return under section 898O is €19,045. A further penalty of €2,535 also applies for each day a return remains outstanding.

(16)(b) A penalty of €1,265 will apply to a person who does not comply with-

1. (16)(b)(i) the requirements of a Revenue officer in the exercise or performance of the officer’s powers or duties under this section or regulations made under subsection (9), or
2. (16)(b)(ii) any requirement of the regulations made under subsection (9).

(17) Subsection (17) is an anti-avoidance provision and provides that where arrangements are entered into by any person and the main purpose or one of the main purposes of the arrangements is the avoidance of any of the obligations imposed by section 891I or the regulations made under subsection (9), then the section and the regulations shall apply as if those arrangements had not been entered into.

(18) A word or expression which is used in section 891I or in regulations made under subsection (9) and which is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this section or in those regulations as it has in the Directive.

Interaction with Section 888 and Section 890 TCA 1997

(19) In order to avoid double reporting of information by the reportable platform operator the provisions of sections 888 and 890 TCA 1997 shall not apply to a reportable platform operator where that reportable platform operator has fulfilled their obligations under section 891I and regulations made under subsection (9).

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2021