Published 11 October 2026
By Richie Lennon
The next brand deal pays €8,000, but the brief does not say whether that includes VAT. The agency is in London, the brand has an Irish office and most of your audience is elsewhere. Guessing the VAT treatment now can turn an agreed fee into a smaller margin later.
The first question is who buys your service. The location of the audience, the platform’s logo and the currency of the payment cannot answer it.
VAT for an Irish creator depends on the service, the customer’s business or consumer status and the place-of-supply rules. Ordinary services to an overseas business can fall outside Irish VAT, with evidence and reporting obligations. Consumer subscriptions need a separate assessment. The €42,500 domestic services threshold is not a universal exemption, especially when you buy taxable services from abroad.
Identify the legal customer before choosing a VAT code
Read the brand contract, agency agreement or platform terms. Record the entity receiving the service, its address, its VAT number where relevant and the nature of the work. An agent arranging a campaign is not necessarily your customer. A platform paying you is not necessarily just a payment processor.
This distinction matters when the same creator has sponsorships, advertising revenue and paid content. They may require different VAT treatment even when the money reaches one bank account. Give each income stream a documented treatment, rather than applying a single “foreign income” code to all of it.
Work through ordinary brand services by customer
For ordinary business-to-business services, the general place-of-supply rule follows the business customer’s establishment receiving the service. Specific exceptions can change that result. Revenue’s guidance for Irish suppliers serving businesses abroad explains the evidence, invoicing and EU reporting requirements.
| Customer in this illustration | Starting VAT treatment | Evidence and action |
|---|---|---|
| Irish business | Irish VAT where the supply is taxable and registration applies. Ordinary influencer advertising is generally at 23%. | Agree whether the fee excludes VAT; invoice correctly. |
| VAT-registered business in another EU Member State | Generally no Irish VAT under the ordinary B2B rule; customer accounts under reverse charge. | Validate the VAT number, include required invoice details and report taxable services on VIES. |
| Business established outside the EU | Generally no Irish VAT under the ordinary B2B rule. | Retain evidence of business status and the establishment receiving the service. |
| Consumer buying content | Assess the actual service and applicable consumer rules separately. | Do not reuse a B2B reverse-charge code. |
The table assumes an Irish VAT-registered creator supplying ordinary advertising services, with no applicable exemption or special place-of-supply exception. Revenue’s influencer VAT manual covers creator-specific examples. “No Irish VAT” under a place-of-supply rule does not mean the supply is automatically zero-rated.
For a UK brand, establish whether the contracting business and receiving establishment are in the UK. A euro payment or an Irish contact person does not settle that. Equally, an EU address on an email signature is weaker evidence than the correct legal entity and validated VAT number.
Agree the fee before VAT becomes your cost
Assume a VAT-registered Irish creator supplies an ordinary taxable advertising service to an Irish business. This fictional illustration uses the standard 23% rate and ignores input VAT credits.
| Agreement | Fee excluding VAT | VAT | Total paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| €8,000 plus VAT | €8,000.00 | €1,840.00 | €9,840.00 |
| €8,000 including VAT | €6,504.07 | €1,495.93 | €8,000.00 |
The wording changes the fee available before production costs by €1,495.93. Confirm the customer and tax treatment before quoting, then put the agreed VAT wording into the contract and invoice. If the customer cannot recover VAT, the total price can also change its buying decision.
Apply the same discipline to non-cash deals. An exchange of promotion for goods or services can carry VAT consequences without a cash receipt. Establish the valuation and VAT treatment before accepting it, and agree how any cash tax requirement will be funded.
Check registration for both sales and purchases
Revenue’s current VAT threshold guidance gives €42,500 for services and describes turnover by calendar year. The appropriate threshold and what counts towards it depend on the supplies. Mixed goods and services, exemptions and cross-border transactions need assessment rather than a simple total of all bank receipts.
Purchases can create obligations too. Revenue says there is no registration threshold for taxable services received from abroad. Overseas advertising, software or platform fees can therefore need a reverse-charge assessment even when domestic sales are below the services threshold.
Reverse charge means accounting for VAT yourself under the applicable rules. Whether you can recover that VAT is a separate question. Do not assume the two entries always cancel: recovery depends on your activities and the usual deduction conditions.
Bring supplier invoices and the supplying entities to the accountant. The fact that an app subscription is small, or automatically paid by card, does not decide its treatment. Ask whether the registration needed for cross-border transactions affects other supplies, and how those transactions should appear in the returns.
Separate platform income from direct consumer sales
Advertising revenue paid by a platform, a brand commission arranged through it and a subscription sold directly to a follower are different transactions. Establish what you sell and whether the platform acts as customer, intermediary or supplier to the consumer.
For paid consumer content, distinguish an electronically supplied service from live teaching, bespoke advice or another service. The EU €10,000 place-of-supply threshold can apply to qualifying cross-border consumer electronic services and distance sales of goods combined, subject to conditions. Above it, destination VAT and the One Stop Shop can become relevant. Revenue explains the threshold conditions. Any VAT SME Scheme exemption needs a separate eligibility check.
Keep this assessment tied to the actual product. A downloadable course library and a live one-to-one coaching session should not inherit the same VAT code just because both use the same checkout. Revisit the treatment when you add a product or change the platform contract.
Make the VAT decision visible in the records
Keep a short treatment register: income stream, legal customer, service, customer location and status, evidence, agreed VAT treatment, and required return. Record the accountant’s conclusion and the date it was checked. That makes the instruction usable by whoever raises invoices or codes payouts.
At the monthly close, investigate transactions that do not match the register. A new overseas payer, a missing VAT number or a platform fee without an invoice needs follow-up. Software can apply a code consistently while applying the wrong underlying decision.
Our creator income-tax guide explains how to reconcile the earnings behind a payout. Ongoing bookkeeping should preserve both the reconciliation and the VAT evidence, so the return can be checked against the commercial agreement.
Our accounting support for content creators and influencers serves established Irish businesses that need recurring accounting and clearer decisions about cash. For a creator business, that might mean several income streams, regular brand contracts and a growing production team. We typically work with businesses from around €250,000 in annual turnover, considering complexity and support needs as well as size.
Book a Finance Fit Call to discuss whether our tax and accounting support is the right fit. Any particular restructuring or specialist tax work needs an agreed scope.
FAQs
Does an overseas audience mean I can invoice without Irish VAT?
No. Identify the customer buying your service, what you supply and the applicable place-of-supply rule. Audience location alone is insufficient.
Can I treat every overseas platform payout as reverse charge?
No. The contract must establish the customer and the service. Advertising revenue, intermediary collections and consumer subscriptions can differ.
Does the €42,500 services threshold cover every VAT obligation?
No. It is not a universal exemption for cross-border transactions. Taxable services bought from abroad can trigger registration without a turnover threshold.
What is VIES?
VIES reporting includes taxable services supplied to VAT-registered business customers in other EU Member States under the relevant rules. Check the required return as well as the invoice.
Will reverse-charge VAT always cancel out?
No. VAT recovery depends on your activities and the normal deduction rules. Have the purchase and recovery position checked.
Should my brand fee say plus VAT?
Agree the correct VAT treatment first, then make the price wording explicit. An inclusive fee can leave less revenue available for production costs.
