A report published by Revenue on the 18th July 2012 shows that Revenue has reduced the administrative burden on businesses by 25%, saving businesses over €85 million a year.


Having identified 62 of the most burdensome information obligations, interviews were held with 51 businesses and agents to establish the time and cost associated with these obligations. The measurement was carried out in accordance with the internationally accepted Standard Cost Model, and was overseen and validated by external consultants in the context of the commitment made by Government in March 2008.
The main initiatives which led to the 25% burden reduction:
  • Reduced filing frequencies for VAT, Employers’ PAYE/PRSI and Relevant Contracts Tax;
  • An increase in the VAT registration threshold;
  • Pre-population of income tax and corporation tax forms;
  • Revenue’s new electronic Relevant Contracts Tax system;
  • Ongoing expansion and improvement to the range of electronic services on ROS.
Revenue has also made a significant contribution to the administrative burden savings of other State agencies including the:
  • Improved quality and timeliness of trade data collected by Revenue on behalf of the CSO, reducing the duplication in data submission from businesses ;
  • Providing an electronic identity authentication service via the ROS digital signature to the Companies Registration Office, allowing them to widen their base of entities that can sign and submit documentation electronically and enabling the real-time registration of changes in company details without the administrative burden of physically posting paper documentation.
Recognising that the compliance burden on businesses can be exacerbated by complex legislation and regulation, Revenue has undertaken an extensive programme to systematically consolidate and streamline older tax and customs legislation including stamp duty, capital acquisitions tax and VAT legislation.
Speaking about the report, Revenue Chairman Josephine Feehily said:

“It is very important for the economy generally, and for inward investment in particular, to have tax and customs systems that are easy to comply with, responsive to the needs of taxpayers and other stakeholders, and that encourage and actively promote voluntary compliance. 


Our strategies include consulting with stakeholders, designing out complexity and providing good quality services to make it as easy as possible to comply. Our approach is based on the smart use of technology-based solutions including self-service options. A measure of our success is that for the fifth year running, Ireland continues to be ranked the easiest country in the EU in which to pay business taxes, and fifth easiest in the world according to an annual index by the World Bank and PWC “