As Thursday, 1 July 2021, all goods arriving in Ireland from non-EU countries, regardless of their value are subject to VAT. Revenue issued a reminder to shoppers that these changes could mean additional charges on the arrival of goods in Ireland. Where the supplier is operating under the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS), the total price paid for the goods at the time of purchase will include any Irish VAT due.

In a press release, Revenue renewed its advice for consumers, “to check whether the advertised price of goods includes all tax and duty costs due before making a decision to buy.”

If the supplier is operating under the IOSS this will be reflected in the ‘terms and conditions’ at the time of checkout and the total price paid for the goods at the time of purchase will include any Irish VAT due.

A non-EU established supplier who wishes to register for the IOSS, can only do so directly if they are established in a country that the EU has a VAT mutual assistance agreement in place with and the goods are supplied from that country to the EU. Otherwise, a non-EU established supplier must register for the IOSS indirectly through the appointment of an intermediary.

The VAT Protocol within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement is not considered to be similar in scope to Council Directive 2010/23/EU and Regulation (EU) No.904/2010, and so, Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) does not have a VAT mutual assistance agreement in place with the EU. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/942 confirms that a VAT mutual assistance agreement is in place between the EU and Norway.

An intermediary will have responsibility for the payment of the VAT due and the fulfilment of the VAT obligations of the supplier under the scheme.

Section 109A VATCA 2010 prescribes that an intermediary “shall be jointly and severally liable with the taxable person… for the tax and duty payable on the taxable supplies of the taxable person and shall be liable to pay that tax as if it were tax due and payable by the tax representative in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 9.”

The IOSS Tax and Duty Manual sets out that:

An intermediary registered for the IOSS in Ireland is expected to engage in standard risk management practices, such as customer due diligence, and where an intermediary has concerns about a taxable person that they represent, they should inform the Revenue Commissioners of those concerns.

Where the Revenue Commissioners deem it necessary for the protection of the revenue, they may hold the intermediary jointly and severally liable with the supplier they represent. In such cases, a notice will issue to both parties from the Revenue Commissioners to notify them that joint and several liability applies. This will apply on a prospective basis.

Further information on the IOSS is also available in the VAT eCommerce rules section of the Revenue website.