Ireland VAT invoicing rules for integration teams

Standard and reduced VAT rates

Ireland's standard VAT rate is 23%. Revenue's current rates table also lists a reduced rate of 13.5%, a second reduced rate of 9%, and a livestock rate of 4.8%. Each product or service falls under one rate, so store the rate against each product or service code instead of hard-coding one percentage. Check Revenue's rates table for the effective date of each rate before you release a change.

Registration thresholds

Revenue's published thresholds are €42,500 of annual turnover for suppliers of services only and €85,000 for suppliers of goods. Separate thresholds apply to acquisitions from other EU member states (€41,000) and to mail-order and intra-EU distance sales and certain cross-border services (€10,000). Check these figures against Revenue's thresholds page before you hard-code them, and treat any change in the thresholds as a configuration update.

Invoices and deadlines

A VAT invoice must be issued within 15 days of the end of the month in which the goods or services are supplied. Build your invoice template from Revenue's invoice requirements guidance rather than from memory, and check each required field against it before you go live.

Credit notes and corrections

Issue a credit note within 15 days of the end of the month in which the goods or services were supplied when either of these applies:

• The original price changes because of an allowance, a discount, or a similar adjustment.
• The VAT rate on the original invoice was wrong.

No credit note is needed if you and your customer agree to lower the VAT-exclusive price and the VAT payable stays the same. Model credit notes as linked documents that reference the original invoice, so that the correction stays auditable.

Record retention

Keep VAT records for six years. Revenue's guidance says relevant records should be stored for six years, or until the matter at issue is finalised, for example for a VAT claim, an appeal, or a Revenue inquiry. Shorter periods require Revenue's written permission. Property-related records follow different periods, so check them separately.

Next step

Review the developer documentation to model rates, invoices, and credit notes in your integration.