Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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24. To ask the Minister for Finance what exactly the Revenue Commissioners mean when they refer to the estimated value of contract and to the degree should this be accurate as to the actual amount earned by the person to whom that contract refers. [7961/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by Revenue that when a principal contractor enters into a relevant contract with a subcontractor, they are obliged to provide to Revenue through a contract notification process that is part of the electronic Relevant Contracts Tax (eRCT) system, details, inter alia, of the estimated value of the contract.  The estimated value of the contract is the value that the principal contractor, to the best of their knowledge, has placed on the contract.  I am advised by Revenue in recognition of the fact that circumstances and contract specifications may change, a facility is provided to principal contractors whereby, if necessary, the contract details, including the estimated value of the contract, may be amended.

Revenue has advised me that the information provided in the contract notification process is not the sole source of details of amounts paid to subcontractors.  The key figure is obtained by means of the payment notification process whereby, a principal contractor is obliged to give to Revenue, immediately before any payment is made to a subcontractor, details of the actual amounts that will be paid to the subcontractor.

Apart from the payment notification process, the aggregate of all amounts set out on payment notifications can be cross checked by Revenue against the estimated amounts on related contract notifications. Variations are risk profiled and may give rise to a compliance intervention by Revenue. 

Details of the number and value of contract and payment notifications advised through the eRCT system during 2014, as published by Revenue in its Annual Report, are set out in the table.  I am advised that 2015 data is due to be published shortly.

Contracts/Payments Notified to Revenue in 2014

The Deputy will appreciate that through the contract and payment notification processes in the eRCT system, Revenue has access to significant amounts of realtime data covering activity in the construction, forestry and meat processing sectors.  I am assured by Revenue that this data is used to target compliance interventions as part of its ongoing programme of compliance checks in those sectors.