Tax compliance is the process of ensuring your Irish company accurately calculates, reports, and pays all taxes including corporation tax, VAT, and PAYE on time, maintaining records, and filing returns with Revenue to avoid penalties and ensure legal operation.
Tax compliance is the legal obligation for your Irish company to accurately calculate, report, and pay all applicable taxes to Revenue. This includes corporation tax on profits, VAT on sales, and PAYE/PRSI for employees, ensuring filings align with statutory deadlines.
You achieve tax compliance by maintaining detailed records, using approved accounting methods like double-entry bookkeeping, and submitting returns through Revenue's online systems. Non-compliance risks audits, penalties, and even director liability, making it foundational for business sustainability.
For startups, tax compliance integrates with your compliance calendar, linking financial year end deadlines to corporation tax computations and annual returns, preserving audit exemptions for micro companies.
Tax compliance focuses on meeting current legal requirements through accurate reporting and timely payments, whilst tax planning strategically minimises liabilities using allowable reliefs like R&D credits or capital allowances. Compliance ensures legality, planning optimises outcomes within those bounds.
Both are essential, but poor compliance undermines planning benefits. Revenue audits verify compliance first, scrutinising records before considering planning structures.
Irish companies must file corporation tax returns nine months after financial year end, pay preliminary tax by the ninth month, and handle monthly VAT and PAYE returns. Thresholds determine filing frequency, with intra-EU trade adding Intrastat obligations.
Directors sign returns confirming accuracy, exposing personal liability for negligence. Professional accountants often manage this, integrating with CRO filings like Form B1.
Failure triggers tax interest at 0.0219% daily from due dates, escalating penalties up to 100% of underpaid tax for deliberate defaults. Revenue may restrict tax clearance certificates, blocking grants or tenders.
Persistent issues lead to director investigations by ODCE, potential disqualification, and company strike-off, dissolving operations.
Tax compliance aligns with CRO obligations, attaching financial statements to Form B1 annual returns. Late tax filings risk audit exemptions, forcing full audits and inflating costs for qualifying firms.
Your compliance calendar synchronises Revenue and CRO deadlines, preventing overlapping penalties.
Tax software automates calculations, generates returns, and flags deadlines, but human oversight verifies inputs. Revenue accepts electronic filings, yet directors remain liable for accuracy regardless of tools used.
Integrate with accounting platforms tracking VAT, payroll, and corporation tax seamlessly for startups.
