Plan contractor hiring in Ireland

Engage an Irish contractor either directly as a sole trader or through an Irish limited company, because the named legal supplier determines Revenue's starting branch. A direct contract with the individual goes through the five-question framework from the Supreme Court's 20 October 2023 Karshan judgment. Revenue's tax-status manual treats a contract with the worker's company as a corporate engagement instead. Short duration offers no shortcut: one job, shift or piece of work can still be employment. Record the counterparty, apply the framework to the actual working arrangements, and retain the analysis Revenue expects when a worker is engaged.

Sources: Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-30, determining employment status for taxation

If the line is crossed

If a direct engagement is employment and the duties are performed in Ireland, the payer's foreign residence does not take the remuneration outside Irish PAYE. The foreign employer registers before the first employee payment, requests the payroll instructions for that employee, deducts Income Tax, USC and PRSI as appropriate, and reports pay and deductions to Revenue on or before each payment date. Duties performed outside Ireland are treated separately, while the Department of Social Protection owns the PRSI-status decision. Establish the work location before moving from a contractor correction into Irish payroll.

Sources: Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 42-04-35A, Employers' Guide to PAYE, Revenue, registration of employers for PAYE, Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-30, determining employment status for taxation

Valid customer VAT number

For an EU business buyer, its valid VAT number starts the ordinary cross-border VAT workflow. The Irish supplier obtains it, confirms validity, places it on the invoice and retains the check with the transaction record. A new business that has not yet received a VAT number can instead provide a letter from its tax authority. The contractor still decides whether the service is taxable or exempt in the buyer's member state before making the VIES report, so a number alone does not settle the full VAT treatment.

Issued by: The EU buyer or, for a new business awaiting a number, its tax authority

Timing: Collect and validate before the first reverse-charge invoice, then recheck when the buyer's status changes

Sources: Revenue, VAT obligations when supplying services to business customers abroad

Non-EU customer business-status evidence

For a buyer outside the EU, collect proof of where the customer is established and proof that it is a taxable person. Revenue accepts material such as tax-authority details, an order form carrying the business address and trade-registration number, or comparable signs of economic activity on the customer's website. A mailing address answers only part of that test. Give the contractor records that connect the contracting entity to both its country and its business activity before accepting an invoice issued without Irish VAT under the general B2B rule.

Issued by: The non-EU buyer, supported where available by its tax authority or business register

Timing: Collect during onboarding and refresh if the contracting entity or place of establishment changes

Sources: Revenue, VAT obligations when supplying services to business customers abroad

Form PREM Reg

Employer PAYE and PRSI tax registration form

PREM Reg belongs to the employment failure path. Once a direct Irish engagement is employment and the Irish duties fall within PAYE, the employer must notify Revenue of its name, address and intention to pay staff before the first employee payment. Revenue lists PREM Reg as the named employer PAYE and PRSI registration form, while the underlying registration route can vary with the payer's legal form and existing Irish tax record. Keep this form out of genuine contractor onboarding; introduce it when the payer is becoming an Irish payroll employer.

Issued by: The in-scope foreign employer files the registration with Revenue

Timing: Before the first payment of employee remuneration

Sources: Revenue, registration of employers for PAYE

Revenue Payroll Notification

The Revenue Payroll Notification, or RPN, carries the employee's tax credits, rate band and deduction instructions. An Irish employer requests the latest RPN before every payroll calculation. If none can be retrieved, Revenue requires the emergency basis. Revenue supplies this live payroll input only after the direct relationship has entered Irish employment and payroll; it is not a contractor-onboarding document. Building the employee record without retrieving the current RPN can put the first calculation on the wrong basis even when employer registration is complete.

Issued by: Revenue makes the current notification available to the registered employer

Timing: Retrieve before each payroll calculation

Sources: Revenue, Revenue Payroll Notification

An Irish contractor generally leaves Irish VAT off an ordinary B2B service invoice to a foreign business because the place of supply is where that customer is established. Service-specific exceptions and use-and-enjoyment rules can move the place. Customer onboarding then splits: an EU customer provides a validated VAT number and receives reverse-charge treatment, while a non-EU customer provides proof of establishment and taxable-person status. Resolve the buyer's location, status and the service type before deciding that a VAT-free invoice is complete.

Sources: Revenue, general place of supply rules for services, Revenue, VAT obligations when supplying services to business customers abroad

What an invoice has to show

• The customer's VAT number and a notation that reverse charge applies for a qualifying EU B2B service

  When the general EU reverse-charge branch applies, the invoice carries the customer's validated VAT number and a notation that reverse charge applies. It does not display VAT payable. These particulars depend on the buyer handing over a valid number, so an invoice can fail because the payer's onboarding file was incomplete. Apply this exact requirement to an EU business customer and the relevant taxable service. Revenue excludes construction services subject to RCT from the reverse-charge invoice rule described here, and the same wording has not been established for every non-EU invoice.

  Sources: Revenue, information required on a VAT invoice

• Corresponding euro figures when a VAT invoice is issued in another currency

  A foreign-currency Irish VAT invoice must also show the corresponding figures in euro. Revenue points to the Central Bank selling rate in force when the invoice is due to be issued. A supplier may use another conversion method only by agreement with Revenue and should apply that method consistently. This euro-display rule applies to VAT invoices; it does not extend the same figures to every invoice from an unregistered sole trader or choose the parties' commercial pricing currency.

  Sources: Revenue, information required on a VAT invoice

When invoices are settled

If Irish law governs this commercial transaction and the contract sets no payment date, the statutory payment date is generally 30 calendar days after the buyer receives the invoice. If receipt is uncertain or the invoice arrives before the services, the clock runs from service provision; a contractual acceptance procedure can move it to 30 days after acceptance. A date more than 60 days after service provision must be expressly agreed in the contract and must not be grossly unfair to the supplier. Statutory interest begins after the relevant date when the supplier has performed and the buyer is responsible for the delay. This statutory fallback leaves the parties' commercial payment term to their contract.

Sources: S.I. No. 580/2012, commercial-transaction payment dates

Classifying the work before identifying the legal supplier

A trading name can hide whether the contract is with the individual or an incorporated company, and that choice changes Revenue's starting point. Match a sole trader's business-name certificate to the registered proprietor, or verify the limited company and its certificate on CRO. Then apply Karshan to the relationship that actually exists. The registration record establishes identity only; working practices still require review, and the individual's relationship with their own company carries its own status and director-remuneration consequences.

Sources: Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-30, determining employment status for taxation, Companies Registration Office, registering a business name, Companies Registration Office, company search, Companies Registration Office, digital certificates of incorporation, Companies Act 2014 section 25, incorporation certificate effect

Using one Irish status conclusion for tax, PRSI and employment rights

Revenue determines status for tax, the Department of Social Protection determines it for PRSI, and the Workplace Relations Commission and Labour Court decide it for employment rights. One body's decision does not bind the other two because each applies its own legislation. A file marked simply 'Irish contractor approved' loses that boundary. Record which authority and legal question each conclusion answers, especially before using a tax result to avoid payroll or a PRSI result to dismiss an employment-rights issue.

Sources: Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-30, determining employment status for taxation

Running the EU VAT checklist for a buyer outside the EU

The EU branch starts with a valid customer VAT number, reverse-charge invoice wording and VIES reporting. A buyer outside the EU instead documents where it is established and that it is a taxable person, using tax-authority details, a business address with trade-registration number, or comparable signs of economic activity. Requiring one pack from every foreign buyer can produce a false invoice defect or leave the contractor without the records Revenue expects. Fix the buyer-country branch before reviewing the first invoice, then test any service-specific exception.

Sources: Revenue, VAT obligations when supplying services to business customers abroad