Court refuses to block Revenue’s €3m VAT bill against builder

A BUILDING company alleged by the Revenue Commissioners to have entered agreements with an auctioneering firm to avoid VAT has lost a court challenge to a notice that it was liable for more than €3 million in VAT.

Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill ruled the notice of assessment of VAT for €3,085,021 raised by the Revenue against Viera in December 2006 was valid.

The case arose after the Revenue in 2004 noted discrepancies between sales figures reported in the company’s financial statements and the total annual gross sales figures returned by it for VAT purposes.