Brian Keegan: Revenue will have to woo firms over IT plans

Business community will need to be convinced that simplifying tax compliance duties will justify the cost and effort involved

During the pandemic, Revenue managed to secure a constant flow of money to the exchequer, while  acting as the bursar of preference for wage and business supports.

We acquired many habits during the pandemic that we will cheerfully relinquish, but some aspects of how we now routinely conduct ourselves — contactless payments, online reservations, and the abandonment of separate documents, tickets, and tokens in favour of the ubiquitous smartphone app will persist. These make our lives easier. 

Savvy businesses are gaining market share not necessarily because they are doing anything new, but because they are applying technology to demand less effort from their customers.