This is untrue. The OP has clearly no business involvement in the construction industry that would bring him into the RCT net in relation to works commissioned on the building of his own home.
My apologies on this you are correct. I confused the plans of the Revenue enforcement section vis a vie direct labour builders with those of Principle contractors.
The main message at this meeting was as the construction sector was declining the RC were using public resources - planning lists, whistle blowers etc to track the shadow economy.
The call from the CIF members was for unconnected homebuilders going direct labour to be considered as principle contractors as a counterpoint to the race to the bottom. This was to level the playing field per se.
See below an excerpt from a CIF meeting held in 2010 which featured the Revenue inspectors.
6. Where a homeowner engages contractors directly to build a house, are they obliged to operate RCT on payments made to the contractors (self-builds)? What is Revenue doing about the possible shadow economy issues in this scenario?
For RCT to apply, the homeowner must be a principal for RCT purposes i.e. a person carrying on a business which includes the erection of buildings or the development of land, or the manufacture, treatment or extraction of materials for use in construction operations, or a person connected with a person (which includes any individual, company or any unincorporated body of persons) carrying on such a business.
However, if the homeowner engages a main contractor (principal) who subcontracts some of the work to other contractors (subcontractors), then the main contractor is required to operate RCT on all payments to these subcontractors.
Revenue has always maintained a significant presence in monitoring activities in the construction sector and is involved in an ongoing programme of construction related audits, compliance interventions and site visits, including one off housing, repairs, maintenance and enhancements. The Revenue Commissioners take a proactive approach to tackling non-compliance and abuses in the construction sector, often as part of Joint Investigation teams with our colleagues in the Department of Social Protection and the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). The nature of the construction sector is that it is mainly cash based, mobile and labour intensive and these features pose compliance challenges for Revenue. While cases are mainly sourced through information in Revenue’s systems, it also uses intelligence gathered from a number of third party sources, including the general public.
The full session is [broken link removed]
I suppose my point would remain for the OP to be tax compliant when dealing with his contractors to avoid any possible inspection and difficulty resulting from engaging with non tax compliant contractors. The revenue have the power to suspend a site pending inspection.
I know of an occasion where a compliant contractor with registered employees and correctly recorded subbies had to suspend work on a private extension while the inspectors checked out everybodies status.
I still support the OP on his venture and continue to wish good fortune. Just take the easier road to his goal.
