Finance (No.2) Bill 2026: VAT

E-Invoicing & Digital Reporting

In October 2025, Revenue announced that it would begin a phased roll-out of domestic E-Invoicing for business to business (B2B) transactions from November 2028 as part of its preparation for the implementation of the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) requirements from 1 July 2030, an initiative to modernise EU VAT systems to better support how businesses trade, while bolstering the fight against VAT fraud. Finance Bill (No. 2) 2026 now contains the proposed legislative framework for the implementation of this important initiative.

The Proposed legislation introduces:

• A requirement to use structured E-Invoices for relevant domestic transactions
• Electronic submission of prescribed transaction-level data to Revenue
• Requirements for identifying customers, retaining structured invoices, maintaining business controls and ensuring reliable audit trails
• Specific provisions covering self-billing, credit and debit notes, and certain domestic reverse-charge transactions.

Modernising the administration of VAT will have a significant impact on Irish businesses, who need to start familiarising themselves with the measures so they can assess the impact on their business. Such changes will involve numerous parts of a business, including tax, finance, IT, procurement, etc.

Affected businesses should begin to act now to prepare by reviewing their ERP systems and/or invoicing software to determine the extent to which existing systems will be able to cope with the potential new digital requirements or whether additional tools/add-ons are required. We are here to help, so please get in touch with us to discuss the implications of this in more detail.

IOSS Intermediary – Tax Clearance Certificate

• A requirement has been introduced for intermediaries registered for the import one stop shop or IOSS in the State to hold a tax clearance certificate for the duration of their registration and to notify Revenue where they no longer fulfil this requirement. The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) enables businesses to account for VAT on eligible low-value goods imported into the EU through a single registration and monthly VAT return in one EU Member State.

Legislative Updates to the VAT Act

• The Bill provides for some other minor updates to the VAT Act to provide that the VAT treatment of certain financial services in domestic legislation aligns with the EU VAT Directive. There will be no change in practice as the Revenue Commissioners already apply the appropriate rules set out in the Directive.