Revenue has issued a reminder to importers of goods from countries outside of the EU (including Great Britain) of the correct way to record postponed accounting for VAT.

e-Customs Notification 45/2021 notes that while many importers are correctly recording postponed VAT in their returns to Revenue, they have identified instances of incorrect recordings.

Postponed accounting allows an importer to account for VAT on imports of a VAT 3 return rather than paying the VAT immediately when the goods arrive in Ireland. This results in a VAT neutral transaction whereby the import VAT is reclaimed on the same tax return.

Revenue have reminded readers that the importer rather than the declarant or representative is obliged to account for the postponed VAT on the VAT3 and VAT RTD returns. Detailed guidance on how to do this is provided in the e-Customs notification.