File Specificatin and Guide t the Annual Transfer f Payment Data by Gvernment Departments and Public Bdies Infrmatin Management, Planning Divisin, Office f the Revenue Cmmissiners. Email: mailt:3rdpartyreturns@revenue.ie March 2014
Cntents 1. General...... Page 3 2. Summary f particulars required in the Annual Return. Page 3 3. Data Transfer Frmats......... Page 4 3.1 Header Recrd frm Department / Bdy t Revenue..... Page 5 3.2 Data Recrd frm Department / Bdy t Revenue.... Page 6 3.3 Trailer Recrd frm Department / Bdy t Revenue.... Page 7 2
1. General This dcument sets ut the file specificatin fr the transfer f payment infrmatin t Revenue. Sectin 891B f the Taxes Cnslidatin Act 1997 (as intrduced by sectin 125 f the Finance Act 2006) prvides fr the making f regulatins by the Revenue Cmmissiners, with the cnsent f the Minister f Finance, t require gvernment departments and bdies, t make autmatic annual returns t Revenue cntaining details f payments made by them. Infrmatin relating t these payments must be in electrnic frmat. A separate file is required fr each tax year. The schedule fr submissin f the files is set ut belw. Tax Year f Payment(s) Due Date 2008 (1 st January 2008 t 31 st December 2008) 30 th June 2011 2009 (1 st January 2009 t 31 st December 2009) 30 th June 2011 2010 (1 st January 2010 t 31 st December 2010) 30 th June 2011 2011 30 th June 2012 2012 nwards 30 th June f the fllwing year Summary f Data Required fr each Year Payment infrmatin where ttal payment t any persn fr the year is greater than 1,000. This excludes payments where PSWT has been deducted in these cases there is n reprting threshld and all payments shuld be included n the return. Persn includes individual, cmpany and any unincrprated bdy f persns. Fr the purpses f calculating this 1000 threshld and fr reprting purpses the fllwing payments can be excluded Thse that PAYE are perated n Thse that RCT are perated n Travel and Subsistence payments fr emplyees f department, agency etc. 2. Summary f Particulars Required in the Annual Return The main infrmatin required can be summarised as fllws: The name, address, tax reference number, cntact name f the gvernment department / bdy. The payee s name, address and tax reference number. The annual payment amunt, the ttal PSWT withheld per year and a grss r net f VAT indicatr. Nte: Only ttals in excess f 1,000 need be reprted except where PSWT has been deducted frm a payment in this case there is n reprting threshld - every payment f this nature shuld be included n yur return. This is t facilitate the remval f yur bligatin t file the F35 Schedule frm 2012 nwards 3
Please nte that this versin f the file specificatin (Nvember 2013) includes tw indicatr fields in the Data Recrd t be sent t Revenue: Payment Type Indicatr: This indicatr shuld be set t 1 if the payment is knwn t include a grant r grant type payment; in ther cases (including if the nature f payment type is unknwn) this indicatr shuld be set t 0. Fr example, fr payment f a student grant by a third level institutin r fr an enterprise grant, the indicatr shuld be set t 1. In the case f a payment fr supply f gds / services r a capital payment (e.g., a cmpulsry purchase rder), 0 shuld be entered in this field. If the nature f the payment is unknwn, the field shuld be set t 0 as the default value. Rental Incme Indicatr: If the payment is knwn t include payment f rent t a landlrd (r t a third party agent acting n behalf f a landlrd), this indicatr shuld be set t 1. In all ther cases, including if the nature f the payment is unknwn, this indicatr shuld be set t 0. Even if bth f these fields are set t 0, they must be included n the file f payments made in tax year 2013, t be returned t Revenue in 2014 (and similarly fr future years). If nt, the file will fail validatin and will need t be re-submitted. 3. Data Transfer Frmats Each file submitted will cnsist f a number f recrds. The first recrd in a file must be a Header recrd (see 3.1). The final recrd in a file must be a Trailer recrd (see 3.3). There can nly be ne header and ne trailer recrd in a file. All recrds are terminated with a carriage-return character. The recrds that lie between the Header and Trailer recrds must be f the Data type recrd (see 3.2). Each field within the recrd must be tab delimited with the last character f the final field in each recrd being fllwed immediately with a single carriage-return character that terminates the recrd. Carriage-return characters and ther unprintable characters (with the exceptin f the tab delimiter) are nt permitted in any recrd type. Characters shuld be cntained in the ASCII character set. All fields marked as Mandatry in the fllwing file specificatin must be prvided. s nt marked as mandatry can be mitted frm the file. Hwever, the tab delimiter that wuld fllw the absent field must still be prvided unless the field is f type integer where a default is required. The default values fr integer fields are specified in the recrd descriptins. If the absent field is the last field in the recrd then the carriage return character that terminates the recrd must be prvided rather than a fllwing tab character. All fields must be left justified with n leading spaces. Mnetary amunts must be reprted in cent.(eur Currency) Mnetary amunts must cntain n leading zeres. In the case f fields where a frmat has been specified the field must fllw that frmat. 4
There can be n blank rws in the file. The annual return file shuld be named using the fllwing frmat: GOVTYYYYNNNNNNNCCDDMMYYVN.DAT where GOVT is the type f file. It must be in blck capitals YYYY refers t the year f the return (e.g. 2008 will be used fr first return etc). NNNNNNN are the seven digits f the tax reference number CC is the check character(s) assciated with the tax reference number. If there is nly ne check character then 2 nd character shuld be set t Z. DDMMYY is the date f submissin f the file. VN refers t the versin (e.g. V1 fr first file, V2 if a replacement file is submitted. T1, T2 etc., fr test files). Example f file name is GOVT20081234567TZ210610V1.DAT r GOVT20081234567TZ210610V1.txt Only ne file per year is required frm each department / bdy. Hwever, if there are technical reasns why a department / bdy cannt prvide ne file, as an interim measure fr the reprts fr the years 2008-2010, mre than ne file per department / bdy will be accepted prvided that the file names have different versins and recrds are nt duplicated acrss reprts. The fllwing datatypes are used in the file specificatin t dente the valid values that each field in the recrds can cntain: Datatype Integer Char Date Descriptin Integer value with n fractinal part. Must be left justified with n leading r trailing spaces. Default, unless therwise specified, is zer. Cmmas and ther punctuatin must nt be stated within an Integer field. In instances where the Integer represents a mnetary amunt n currency symbl is t be supplied. Character field, the maximum length f which is stated in brackets after the field definitin e.g. Char (10) dentes a character field cntaining a maximum f 10 characters. Character fields can cntain nly printable ASCII characters (including spaces). Nn printable characters such as tabs, carriage-returns etc. are nt valid. Character fields must be left justified with n leading spaces. Due t the tab-delimited nature f the recrds they d nt need t be padded with trailing spaces. Date fields must be prvided in the frmat YYYYMMDD. A fur-digit year must be prvided, with the day and mnth cmpnents cnsisting f tw Integer characters each, leading zeres being used where required. 3.1 Header Recrd frm Department / Bdy t Revenue Each file has a single header recrd cntaining details abut the verall file. The Header recrd must be the first recrd in the file. Descriptin Type Mandatry Frmat Ntes Recrd Type Char (4) YES HGOV Value t be inserted is HGOV Reprt Year Char (4) Yes YYYY This is the year fr which the reprt is being made e.g. 2008, 2009 etc. 5
Department / Bdy Tax Reference N. (TRN) Char (12) YES The Tax Reference Number f the Department sending the data. Frmat fr the TRN is either 7 numeric fllwed by a check character i.e.,1234567t r in the case f a new frmat TRN, 7numeric and 2 check characters i.e., 1234567TA Department / Bdy Name Department / Bdy Address The Department / Bdy must ensure that the Tax Reference Number is their unique number assigned t them. Char (50) YES Name f the Department / Bdy Char (80) YES Headquarter address f the Department / Bdy Cntact Name Char (20) YES Cntact name within the Department / Bdy. If a prblem ccurs, Revenue will cntact this persn. Cntact Phne N. Cntact Email Address Char (12) YES Cntact telephne number. This field will cntain the telephne number fr the cntact name. Char (50) YES Cntact email address. This field will cntain the email address fr the cntact name. Creatin Date Date YES YYYYMMDD This refers t the date n which this file was created. 3.2 Data Recrd frm Department / Bdy t Revenue This recrd type cntains the infrmatin n the relevant payments t each payee required t be reprted in the year f the return. Descriptin Type Mandatry Frmat Default Ntes Recrd Type Char (4) YES DGOV DGOV Value t be inserted is DGOV Name Char (50) YES Surname f Payee. If nt an individual (e.g. a cmpany) enter name here Frename Char (20) TAB Frename f Payee. If it is nt an individual then this can be left blank. Tax Reference Number (TRN) Char (12) TAB Payee Tax Reference Number. Frmat fr the TRN is either 7 numeric fllwed by a check character i.e.,1234567t r in the case f a new frmat TRN, 7numeric and 2 check characters i.e., 1234567TA If the number cmmences with IE then this shuld be remved. In the cases f charities, the charity (CHY) number shuld be used. Frmat CHY12345. Address Line 1 Char (40) YES Address f Payee. At least 2 address lines must be prvided. Address Line 2 Char (40) YES Address f Payee. At least 2 address lines must be prvided. Address Line 3 Char (40) TAB Address f Payee. Address Line 4 Char (40) TAB Address f Payee. Address Line 5 Char (40) TAB Address f Payee. Business Address Line 1 Char (40) TAB Business Address f Payee (if available) Business Char (40) TAB Business Address f Payee. Address Line 2 Business Char (40) TAB Business Address f Payee. Address Line 3 Business Char (40) TAB Business Address f Payee. Address Line 4 Business Char (40) TAB Business Address f Payee. 6
Address Line 5 Ttal Amunt f Payments Integer YES The ttal amunt f the payments fr the year, excluding VAT. t be cmpleted in Cent.(Eur currency) This figure is net f VAT. VAT Indicatr Integer YES 0 If the figure is exclusive f VAT then this indicatr must be set t 1 else set t 0. Freign Payee Indicatr Payment Type Indicatr Rental Incme Indicatr Ttal Amunt f PSWT deducted Number f Payments Integer TAB If it is knwn t be a freign payee then this indicatr is set t 1 Integer 0 This indicatr shuld be set t 1 if the payment is knwn t include a grant r grant type payment. In ther cases, including if the nature f the payment is unknwn, this indicatr shuld be set t 0. Integer 0 If the payment is knwn t include payment f rent, this indicatr shuld be set t 1; else set t 0. Integer TAB The ttal amunt f the PSWT deducted fr the year. t be cmpleted in Cent.(eur currency) Integer YES Number f payments that cnstitute the ttal Amunt f Payments. 3.3 Trailer Recrd frm Department / Bdy t Revenue. Each file has a single trailer recrd cntaining details abut the verall file. The trailer recrd must be the last recrd in the file. The Creatin Date specified in a file s header and trailer must be identical. Descriptin Type Mandatry Frmat Ntes Recrd Type Char (4) YES TGOV Value t be inserted is TGOV Reprt Year Char (4) Yes YYYY This is the year fr which the reprt is being made e.g. 2008, 2009 etc. It must match what is in the Header recrd. Department / Bdy Tax Reference N. (TRN) Char (12) YES The Tax Reference Number f the Department / Bdy sending the data file. Frmat fr the TRN is either 7 numeric fllwed by a check character i.e.,1234567t r in the case f a new frmat TRN, 7numeric and 2 check characters i.e., 1234567TA The Department / bdy must ensure that the Reference Number is their unique number assigned t them. Creatin Date Date YES YYYYMMDD This refers t the date n which this file was created. Number f Integer YES Ttal n f recrds in the file inclusive f the header and Recrds Ttal f Payments Ttal f PSWT Deducted trailer recrds. Integer YES Sum f all entries in the Ttal Amunt f Payments field f the data recrds. Integer YES Sum f all entries in the Ttal Amunt f PSWT deducted field f the data recrds. 7