Summary
- Revenue eBrief No. 144/26 introduced a new Tax and Duty Manual for end-of-lease transactions involving movable goods.
- A secondary lease is a further taxable supply of services, while a trade-in requires the lessor to account for VAT on disposal of the original asset.
- Where the asset passes through a special-purpose vehicle, the lessor and the vehicle each account for their respective sales, and rebates require a credit note.
Extended article
Irish Revenue published eBrief No. 144/26 on 7 October 2026 together with a new Tax and Duty Manual on end-of-lease transactions. The guidance applies where a financial institution purchases a movable asset and leases it to a customer. It confirms that a lease is a supply of services and is generally subject to VAT at the standard rate. A follow-on or secondary lease for the same asset is also a taxable supply of services.
Where the original asset is traded in against a replacement, the financial institution disposes of the original asset and charges VAT as appropriate before acquiring and leasing the replacement. The manual also addresses structures in which a special-purpose vehicle buys the asset from the lessor and sells it to the lessee. The lessor must sell at market value, the vehicle must account for VAT on the onward sale, and any rebate of lease payments must be documented through a credit note. Lessors should align contracts, residual-value processes, trade-in documents and credit-note controls with the manual.
Exact sources
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