Value Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 section 108C

Joint and several liability for tax

Section 108C provides that where VAT has been fraudulently evaded, any person who knowingly or recklessly participated in transactions connected to that fraud is jointly and severally liable for the unpaid VAT, and Revenue may notify them accordingly.

• Where a person participates as purchaser or supplier in a chain of taxable supplies and knows, or is reckless as to whether, the transaction is connected to fraudulent evasion of VAT, that person is jointly and severally liable with the defaulting trader for the unpaid tax.
• The amount of liability is the net VAT: the tax payable by the defaulting trader on the supply or intra-Community acquisition, less any input credit directly attributable to that trader's acquisition of the same goods or services.
• Revenue must serve a written notice on the liable person specifying the amount of tax due and the identity of the person with whom they are jointly and severally liable.
• Interest runs from the date the tax was originally due, but penalties do not apply solely because of the joint and several liability; normal penalties apply only to the defaulting trader.