Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 527

Interim refunds of appropriate tax

Section 527 provides for interim refunds or offsets of professional services withholding tax (PSWT) during a period, covering ongoing businesses, start-up businesses, and cases of particular hardship.

• A specified person carrying on an ongoing business may claim an interim refund or offset of PSWT for a period, provided the profits of the immediately preceding period have been finalised, the tax for that period has been paid, and the claim is supported by the relevant payment notification reference numbers.
• The refund or offset available is the excess of PSWT shown on the payment notifications over the tax liability for the preceding period; this excess is first offset against other tax liabilities under section 960H, with any remaining balance refunded to the specified person.
• For a start-up business with no preceding period, the interim refund or offset is the lesser of the PSWT actually deducted in the claim period and an amount calculated by applying the standard rate of income tax to the formula E × A/B × C/P, where E is estimated total expenditure, A is estimated relevant payment income, B is estimated total income, C is the number of months in the claim period, and P is the number of months in the full period.
• Where a specified person claims and proves particular hardship, Revenue may waive one or more of the normal conditions and authorise an interim refund or offset of an amount they consider just and reasonable in the circumstances.