VAT threshold in Ireland: when you must register

Revenue’s registration pages explain which threshold applies when a business supplies both goods and services.

• €85,000 for supplies of goods.
• €42,500 for supplies of services.
• €10,000 for distance sales of goods to consumers in other EU countries.
• €41,000 for acquisitions of goods from other EU countries.

Turnover for the threshold is the value of taxable supplies over a continuous twelve-month period, not your accounting year. Watch a rolling total: a busy quarter can push a services business past €42,500 well before its year end. Keep sales coded by type so you can see goods and services separately.

Many businesses register below the threshold. If your customers are VAT-registered businesses, charging VAT costs them nothing because they reclaim it, while you gain the right to reclaim VAT on your own costs. If your customers are consumers, registering early raises your prices or cuts your margin, so the decision needs numbers.

You will file a VAT3 every two months by the 19th of the following month, or the 23rd if you file and pay through ROS, plus an annual Return of Trading Details. Invoices must show your VAT number and the VAT charged. From that point every sale and purchase needs a VAT treatment in your books.

The distinction matters because the services threshold is half the goods threshold. A web designer, consultant or cleaner supplies services; a shop, wholesaler or online store of physical products supplies goods. Businesses that sell both, such as a garage selling parts and labour, should read Revenue’s guidance on mixed supplies and keep the two kinds of sale on separate accounts from the start.

HelloBooks records every sale with its date and type, so a rolling twelve-month total of goods and services sales is a report rather than a spreadsheet. Once you register, add your VAT number and the same transactions start carrying Irish VAT rates for the VAT3.