Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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333. To ask the Minister for Finance in relation to a Dublin-based windows and doors company that went into liquidation (details supplied), if he will consider a rule change whereby revenue commissioners will give any VAT back to customers before they are paid in an effort to help customers who are facing significant financial loss due to a company's inept operations. [46853/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should note at the outset that I am not in a position to consider the rule change he has suggested. Context for this is provided below.

Liquidation is the winding up of a company, including the sale of assets to pay creditors and shareholders based on the legal priority of their claims.

Once appointed, a liquidator is legally obliged to distribute the dividends secured from the sale of the company’s assets to creditors and shareholders in accordance with their priority status. For example, preferential creditors rank higher in priority than ordinary or unsecured creditors, as provided for in Section 621 of the Companies Act 2014.

I am advised by Revenue that it has no authority to direct the operations of a liquidator or to suggest how dividends are distributed among creditors and shareholders. Revenue is legally obliged to accept the level of dividends provided by the liquidator having regard to its status as a preferential creditor.

Once Revenue in is receipt of any dividends, they will be allocated to the appropriate tax head, such as VAT. Revenue is obliged to pay overall tax payments to the Exchequer.