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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1988
Philips Pocket Memo
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PHILIPS BUSINESS SYSTEMS
Newstead.Clonskeagh,Dublin 14.Tel.693355.
PHILIPS
PHILIPS
I refer to your letter of 16 June,
1988, conce r n i ng VAT visits. This
may be an oppo r t une occas i on to
put on record for the information of
t he Society and its membe rs t he
general policy in relation to these
visits.
For normal visits involving an
examination of business records,
the usual notice is approximately
t w o weeks. In cases whe re t he re-
gistered person fails repeatedly to
co-operate by being on hand to pro-
duce t he records and answer ques-
tions, t he Inspector reserves t he
right to call w i t h o ut notice.
Persons w h o apply for registra-
t i on can expect a visit f r om an
Inspector to verify t he accuracy
and authenticity of their application
for registration. In these cases in-
spec t i on of records does not arise
(in many cases records do not
exist) and t he purpose of t he visit
is merely to verify t hat t he taxable
person exists and to obtain some
b a s ic i n f o r m a t i on a b o u t t h e
business. It is not cons i de r ed
necessary to give t w o weeks notice
of such calls and in any event to do
so could give rise to undue delay in
cases where registration is required
urgently.
Visits are also made to cross
c h e ck invoices issued by one
taxable person to another. These
chec ks usually involve only one or
t w o invoices and t hey normally
take approximately fifteen minutes.
It is not possible to give notice of
these calls since t he chec ks relate
t o the au t hen t i c i ty of t he invoice(s)
issued by t he first taxable person.
On arrival t he Inspector should
indicate t hat she/he w i s hes to
verify a limited number of invoices
and is not carrying out a comp r e-
hensive check of business records.
If such a call is made at an incon-
venient time, Inspectors are under
i ns t r uc t i ons to make an appoint-
ment if requested to do so by t he
taxpayer. In these cases the oppor-
tunity is usually taken at the agreed
date t o carry out a full audit of t he
business so t hat visiting resources
are used efficiently.
I hope t hat this explains bo th t he
general position as well as t he
bac kg r ound to t he particular case
wh i ch you brought to my notice.
Yours sincerely,
D. J. THORNHILL,
Ass i s t ant Secretary,
VAT & Capital Taxes.
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