Defective Concrete Products Levy (Ireland only)

What is the Defective Concrete Products Levy (DCPL)?

DCPL is a new piece of legislation that requires an additional 5% levy on certain concrete products on their first supply. The levy operates on a self-assessment basis and a chargeable person or business will be accountable for and liable to pay the levy and to submit returns to Revenue on a bi-annual basis. 

The levy is chargeable at the rate of 5% on the VAT-exclusive value of concrete products before any ancillary costs such as delivery and haulage have been applied. 

Why is DCPL being introduced?

The levy has been implemented to help finance a redress scheme for homeowners affected by the issue of defective products that have been used in the building of their homes.

Who does DCPL apply to?

Specific people or businesses who supply certain concrete products. These will primarily operate in the construction industry.

Who is the chargeable person and what are they responsible for?

The person, or business, who makes the first supply of concrete products within the scope of the levy is the chargeable person for the levy. For more information on the scope of the levy, read more >

The levy is not chargeable on any second, or subsequent, supplies of that concrete product. The chargeable person charges the customer the levy of 5% on relevant supplies and remits the levy to Revenue via a periodic return.

Chargeable persons will be responsible for doing the following:

• Registering for the Levy. Taxpayers and their agents can register (and de-register) via their online ROS account or their MyAccount.
• Charging the levy and issuing documentation to the customer for any impacted transaction including the amount of the levy, the supply date, and the name of the chargeable person
• Keeping full and accurate records of all first supplies of concrete products made during an accounting period in order to ensure that true and accurate returns can be made (details of the types of records to be retained are detailed in section 3.2) 
• Filing periodic returns and paying the resulting levy.

When does DCPL begin?

The levy is chargeable on supplies made on or after 1st September 2023. The first DCPL accounting period i.e. the period for which a return is due will be 1st September 2023 to 31st December 2023. Subsequent accounting periods will be 6-monthly (bi-annual) periods. The DCPL return and levy payment to Revenue will both be due 23 days after the end of each accounting period. Therefore, initial accounting periods and due dates will be as follows:

• 1st September 2023 to 31st December 2023 - Return and payment due by 23rd January 2024
• 1st January 2024 to 30th June 2024 - Return and payment due by 23rd July 2024
• 1st July 2024 to 31st December 2024 - Return and payment due by 23rd January 2025

Need to find out more?

For more information on the Defective Concrete Products Levy, including which products are subject to it, please see the Revenue.ie website.

Below is a process you can follow to manually record DCPL transactions in Sage 50 Accounts.

We recommend the following process:

Recording DCPL transactions

1. Create a new nominal code, named DCPL. This should be a current liability nominal code.
2. For sales that qualify for the DCPL, calculate 5% of the net sale value of the applicable concrete products.
3. Add an extra line to the Sales invoice for the 5% labeled as DCPL, using the DCPL nominal code created in Step 1.
    TIP: You can also create a product record for DCPL if desired.
   
4. Apply a VAT rate of 13.5% to the transaction. T3 by default. This is the usual VAT rate for sales of concrete products.
5. Add a message line to the invoice, ensuring the amount of the levy, the supply date of the products and name of the chargable person or business is entered.

Reporting DCPL to Revenue

Revenue will require a 6-monthly submission and payment for applicable transactions under DCPL. The submission and payment will need to be made outside of Sage 50 Accounts on the Revenue website and recorded manually in your accounts. 

To help you with this, run a Nominal Activity Report for the DCPL nominal code for the period required. For help with the report, please see our Nominal Activity Reports article.

After calculating the balance due to Revenue for the applicable accounting period, and submitting and paying this amount you can then post a bank payment to the DCPL nominal code to clear the liability balance.  TIP: The payment to Revenue is recorded as non-vatable (T9).