At the end of each accounting period, which is typically aligned with the financial year, all VAT registered businesses are required to file a Return of Trading Details (RTD) to Revenue. Your Return of Trader Details is due by the 23rd day of the month following the period’s end and failure to do so will result in an increase in the Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) rate applicable to subcontractors and denial of the tax clearance certificate as well as a penalty fee.
To ensure you are fully aware of what a Return of Trader Details is and what is required of you when filing one, we at Big Red Cloud have written this complete guide full of everything you need to know to make sure you’re RTD-ready!
What is an RTD?
An RTD is a statistical return that compiles actual sales and purchase figures, on which the VAT was included in the less detailed periodic VAT returns during the accounting period. The return gathers vital information under four key questions. These are;
- Have you made supplies of goods or services?
- Did you acquire any goods or services from the European Union, including Northern Ireland?
- Did you purchase goods or services for resale?
- Did you purchase goods or services that are not for resale but where VAT paid on them can be claimed as an input credit?
As the RTD is a statistical return, there is no requirement to pay any VAT liability as a result of filing the return. In short, the RTD serves as an auditing tool to help Revenue confirm the accuracy of your monthly VAT returns submitted during the accounting period.
How to generate the RTD report
In Accounting, you can use the Return of Trading Details (RTD) report to generate the RTD values of your sales and purchases for your financial year. However, we would recommend that you only generate the RTD report, once you submit all your VAT Returns to Revenue for your financial year period.
To generate your RTD report, you first need to submit the report through the ROS website as a registered Revenue online service customer. To do so, 1) securely log in, 2) then go to reporting, and click Return of Trading Details. It’s important that you remember that the Return of Trading Details (RTD) reporting period is automatically set to run from January to December for the current year. After submitting it, you will then be able to download this report by clicking export and choosing either CSV or PDF.
It’s important to note that in contrast to VAT returns, there is no option to complete a ROS Offline file in respect of the RTD – the return must be completed ‘live’ on ROS.
Understanding your RTD report
The information on the report is broken down into boxes by VAT rate over four columns:
Supplies of goods and services Net of VAT:
This column breaks down the value of all goods and services supplied broken down by VAT rate
Acquisitions from EU countries Net of VAT. Postponed Accounting & VAT free imported parcels:
This column breaks down the value of the Intra EU acquisitions of goods and imported parcels, where VAT has not been charged by VAT rate.
Stock for resale (Purchases, Intra-EU acquisitions, Postponed Accounting and imports):
This column breaks down the value of all stock bought for resale broken down by VAT rate. This breakdown by VAT rate into the different boxes should be based on the vat rate applicable in Ireland to the goods.
Other deductible goods and services (Purchases, Intra-EU acquisitions, Postponed Accounting & imports):
This column breaks down the value of goods purchased that will not be resold broken down into by VAT rate. This breakdown by VAT rate into the different boxes should be based on the VAT rate applicable in Ireland to the goods.
Our advice when filing your RTD
In order to aid you in completing annual RTDs and to ensure that the information provided to Irish Revenue is correct, we would advise that your tax and VAT codes within your Accounting System take account of the data required to be declared in RTDs. Additionally, preparing the RTD on a periodic basis when preparing your periodic VAT return will help ease the burden on you at the “year-end” process.
The RTD still has obvious flaws despite recent improvements and its completion, in parts, is certainly open to interpretation by the taxpayer. Furthermore, it is understandable that taxpayers frequently struggle with completing this return due to a lack of clear instruction from Revenue themselves. However, we hope this guide has provided you with some direction when filing your RTDs.
Should you have any queries on this article’s contents or would like any assistance with the preparation of your RTD, feel free to contact us! You can phone us at 01 204 8300 or at info@bigredcloud.com. We are Ireland’s #1 Cloud accounting software for small business owners who want to be more profitable. Don’t leave your finances in the dark!
