Accounts Payable

Be Alert to Fraudulent Emails and Purchase Orders

What is the fraudulent purchase order scam?

Suppliers have recently been targeted by a series of fraudulent purchase order emails purporting to come from the University of Limerick. This is a scam wherein fraudsters attempt to obtain equipment from suppliers by providing them with a forged University of Limerick purchase order.

The scam operates in the following way:

A supplier will receive an email requesting a quotation for specific item/s of equipment, often medical or I.T. equipment, and often in large quantities and of high value. Once the quotation has been provided, a purchase order is emailed to the supplier, which bears only minor resemblance to an authentic University of Limerick purchase order. The purchase order typically instructs delivery to an address not affiliated with the University of Limerick. After shipping the item/s of equipment, the supplier never receives payment and is unable to retrieve the shipped products.

How to identify the Fraudulent emails/POs:

• Incorrect domain names are used to send emails and purchase orders. A valid University of Limerick email address will always end in @ul.ie An example of an incorrect domain being used in these fraudulent emails is @ul-ie.com
• The shipping address is not a location in the University of Limerick. Fraudulent addresses will typically be a domestic residence or a unit in an industrial estate or a self-storage facility, often based in Dublin, or other locations nowhere near the University of Limerick.
• Poorly written email with grammatical errors are always a sign of a suspicious email.
• Unusually large quantities are requested.
• Rush to ship priority/overnight
• Use of a false or unknown contact from the university. If requests are received from an unknown university contact that raises your suspicion, please contact the University of Limerick Purchasing Office by email: purchasing@ul.ie or by phone: 353 (0) 61 202 027 to verify the validity of the request. Do not contact the name/number used on the email/purchase order.
• Please note fraudulent emails may contain seemingly legitimate contact information so it is important to look for other signs.

ll suppliers are required to have an up to date tax clearance certificate if they have received more than €10,000 from the University within any 12 month period, before any further payments can be made. The University operates eTax Clearance for confirmation of tax clearance for its Irish registered suppliers. The University gets electronic confirmation from Revenue that the supplier has a current tax clearance certificate. This data is updated by the University on a monthly basis. Revenue advise on its website that where a taxpayer is found to be non-compliant with their obligations their tax clearance certificate can be rescinded (withdrawn).

Non-Irish suppliers need to provide the University with a copy of their tax clearance certificate. Suppliers can apply for a TCC by completing a TC1 (available on the Revenue website) and submitting it to nonrestaxclearance@revenue.ie

PSWT, at the rate of 20%, must be deducted at source from fees and similar payments, including expenses, made by the University to self-employed individuals and companies who provide “professional services” to UL. The tax is charged on payments net of value-added tax but it does not apply to payments made to employees on the basis that such payments fall within the PAYE system.

PSWT applies to a wide range of professional services. These are set out in Section 520 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and include “services of accountancy, auditing or finance and services of financial, economic, marketing, advertising or other consultancies”. There are a number of services which revenue specifically do not regard as professional services for the purposes of PSWT. These include (among others) teaching, training or lecturing services, translation services including services of an interpreter, and setting and assessing oral, aural or written examinations. A summary of the services to which Profession Withholding Tax applies/does not apply is contained in the Revenue guide booklet for PSWT available in quick links under finance documents.

When the service provider is from outside the state and not registered for Irish tax, the obligation to deduct PSWT from all relevant payments remains even though they may be entitled to a refund of the PSWT deducted as they are not subject to Irish income or corporation tax on that income. When making the payment for professional services, UL will issue a form F45 to the service provider, which documents the amount of PSWT which has been withheld.

Where a non-resident is not chargeable to tax in the State for the year/period in which the PSWT is deducted, repayment of the PSWT maybe claimed from Revenues International Claims Section (Collector-General’s Division, Government Office, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary). Non-residents claiming repayment of PSWT must complete form IC11 and a separate questionnaire and send them together with the relevant forms F45 to the foregoing address.

Professional Services Withholding Tax

Relevant Contracts Tax

Tax Clearance

Goods Inwards Staff