REVENUE HAS SAID that a “technical error” resulted in around 2,000 overseas businesses being sent incorrect invoices.
These were supposedly for the new VAT Moss system that has been put in place to allow businesses to pay tax abroad without having to register in each jurisdiction.
Revenue has said that it is working to update the system to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
Traders who received the invoices took to social media to express their disbelief, with the error being covered on the WebDevLaw blog. Earlier Alastair Houghton, a member of the HMRC/SME VAT Moss Working Group in the United Kingdom, said that the letters had come from the Irish Revenue Commissioners but had been sent in error.
There has been no financial impact on those who received the invoices and Revenue has issued an apology for the incident.
Earlier letters were asking some individuals for amounts in excess of €1 million.
Invoices were mostly sent to customers in the United Kingdom. Other correspondence is known to have been sent to the Netherlands and possibly the United States.
The letters sent out were addressed from Michael Gladney, the collector-general with the Revenue. Individuals were given instructions on where to transfer money to.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say