IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Amelia O’Beirne and Trevor Glavey, A&L Goodbody
On Request Exchange of information on request is facilitated under all of the mechanisms listed in 7.1 Legal Framework for Administrative Co-Operation . Spontaneous All of the mechanisms listed in 7.1 Legal Framework for Administrative Co-Operation , other than Ireland’s TIEAs, provide for spontaneous exchange of informa - tion. For example, Article 9 of the DAC obliges EU member states to spontaneously exchange informa - tion where the tax base of another EU member state may be at risk. Automatic Ireland participates in a number of automatic exchange-of-information initiatives, some of which include the following. Ireland and the USA automatically exchange informa - tion pursuant to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) intergovernmental agreement, which is implemented in Ireland under Section 891E TCA and the Financial Accounts Reporting (United States of America) Regulations (as amended). The agreement provides for the bilateral and reciprocal exchange of information between Ireland and the USA in relation to accounts held in Irish financial institutions by US persons, and accounts held in US financial institutions by Irish tax residents. Similarly, Ireland participates in automatic exchange of financial account information pursuant to the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework. The CRS is similar to FATCA, in that under the CRS par - ticipating jurisdictions exchange the financial account information of non-resident account holders with the jurisdiction of tax residence of the account holders. The CRS has been implemented in Ireland pursuant to Section 891F TCA and the Returns of Certain Informa - tion by Reporting Financial Institutions Regulations. Council Directive (EU) 2015/2376 (DAC3) provides for the mandatory automatic exchange of information on advance cross-border rulings and advance pricing arrangements (APAs) provided by Revenue to com - panies and other entities in respect of all taxes except VAT, customs duties, excise duties and compulsory
social security contributions. With effect from 1 Janu - ary 2026, Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 (DAC8) expands the scope of DAC3 to include certain cross- border tax rulings involving individuals. Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) has been implemented into Irish law under Section 891H TCA and the Taxes (Country-by-Country Reporting) Reg - ulations. CbCR requires multinational groups with annual consolidated revenue of EUR750 million or more to file certain information with tax authorities, providing a global view of their operations and tax paid in the jurisdictions in which they operate. Reve - nue exchanges CbC reports filed with it with the com - petent authorities of relevant jurisdictions in which the multinational group operates on a quarterly basis. The exchange occurs under Ireland’s DTAs, TIEAs or the Convention. 7.3 Other Forms of International Tax Collaboration Joint Audits In terms of other forms of international tax collabora - tion, a significant development for taxpayers in the EU in recent years has been the introduction of Article 12a of DAC7, which established a legal basis for joint audits between member states of the EU. Article 12a was implemented into Irish law by the Finance (No 2) Act 2023, which introduced a new Sec - tion 891L TCA. The provision means that, for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024, there is now a legal basis for Revenue and other EU tax authori - ties to conduct joint audits in Ireland. A joint audit is an administrative enquiry conducted by Revenue and the competent authority of another EU member state linked to one or more persons of common or comple - mentary interest to both tax authorities. As a result of DAC7, it is expected that, going forward, taxpayers – particularly multinationals – will experience greater joint audit activity in the EU. ICAP Ireland also participates in the OECD’s International Compliance Assurance Programme (ICAP) and the EU’s European Trust and Cooperation Approach. The intention of both initiatives is to promote tax compli - ance on a co-operative basis between multinational
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