The Irish problem

I have a client who sells mechanical equipment to end users (not VAT registered) in Dublin and Germany as well as the UK. He charges UK VAT in relation to these sales.

He has just advised me that he has sold about €50 000 worth of goods to end users in Ireland in each of the past three calendar years so should have registered for VAT in Ireland under the distance selling rules. He didn’t because he thought the limit was €100 000.

My problem is working out how we sort this problem out going back to May 2009 when he should have registered for VAT in Ireland.

Do I just account for the difference between Irish VAT and UK VAT rates on the Irish return as with a double taxation agreement? Or do we need to raise lots...