The VAT3 return: T1, E1, ES1 and the moneys received basis

Once you're registered for VAT and issuing invoices with a tool like the free Irish invoice generator, you file a VAT3 return for each taxable period, telling Revenue the VAT you charged and the VAT you can reclaim.

Periods and due dates

The standard period is two months: January–February, March–April, May–June, July–August, September–October and November–December. The return and any payment are due on the 19th of the following month, or the 23rd when you file and pay on ROS. The July–August return is due by 19 September (23 September on ROS).

Revenue may put a business with a small VAT bill on longer periods — four-monthly, six-monthly or annual.

The boxes

Invoice basis or moneys received basis

On the invoice basis, the default, you account for VAT on the invoices you issue in the period, paid or not; credit notes reduce it. On the moneys received basis, you account for VAT on the payments you receive. It's open to businesses with turnover of €2 million or less, or with at least 90% of sales to customers who can't reclaim VAT, and it helps cash flow when customers pay late.

The Return of Trading Details

Once a year, the RTD breaks your sales down by VAT rate — 23%, 13.5%, 9%, 0% and exempt. Credit notes reduce the rate they were issued at, which is the rate of the original invoice.

A worked example

A Dublin web studio on the invoice basis issues these invoices in July and August 2026:

• €1,000 at 23% and €800 at 13.5% to a Cork customer: VAT €230 + €108;
• €500 of event catering at 9%: VAT €45;
• €2,000 of goods to a German business, zero-rated as an intra-Community supply;
• €1,500 of services to a French business, reverse charged there.

Its July–August VAT3 shows T1 €383 (230 + 108 + 45), E1 €2,000 and ES1 €1,500. The German and French sales also go on its VIES return for the period. If it had issued a credit note for June catering at 13.5% in August, the VAT credited would reduce T1, and the net would reduce the 13.5% row of the RTD.

Credit notes and bad debts

On the invoice basis, a credit note you issue reduces T1 in the period you issue it, at the VAT rate of the original invoice. On the moneys received basis, a credit note reduces what your customer owes, so it changes the VAT share of any payments they make after it. If an invoice is never paid on the invoice basis, Revenue allows relief for the bad debt once you've taken reasonable steps to recover it.

Late filing and payment

Revenue charges interest on VAT paid late, and can impose penalties for late or missing returns. If you can't pay in full, contact Revenue before the due date about a phased payment arrangement. A nil return is still needed when you had no sales in a period.

Moving to e-invoicing

Ireland is introducing structured e-invoicing in phases: large corporates from November 2028, and all VAT-registered businesses trading with other EU countries from November 2029, ahead of EU-wide reporting in July 2030. Until your phase starts, the invoices you send can stay as PDFs.

What Invoice Native gives you

Signed-in Irish businesses get a VAT3 summary on the Reports page for any period, on their own basis: T1, E1 and ES1, the construction sales the principal contractor accounts for listed separately, and the sales by rate for the RTD, with a CSV for your accountant. Purchases (T2) aren't tracked in Invoice Native, so add them from your own records.