GoFundMe scores €11.3m Vat 'win' from Revenue
A GoFundMe campaign raised over €370,000 for Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio, who stopped a knife attacker outside a school on Parnell St, Dublin, last year. Picture: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
The Irish arm of global online fundraising platform GoFundMe has scored an €11.3m Vat ‘win’ arising from the favourable resolution of a tax investigation by the Revenue Commissioners.
Last year, GoFundMe enjoyed international headlines with the ‘buy a pint' fundraiser that raised €370,020 for the ‘hero’ of the Parnell Street stabbings in November 2023, Deliveroo rider, Caio Benicio.
Now, new accounts show GoFundMe Ireland Ltd was under investigation at the time by the Revenue Commissioners relating to the company's Vat returns filed for 2017 through to 2020.
Arising from the investigation, directors for GoFundMe Ireland state that the company “had estimated a liability — or Vat reserve — of €9.5m consisting of a Vat liability of €11.3m less a Vat receivable of €1.8m to be settled upon the close of the examination”.
The new accounts show that the company recorded the exceptional gain of €11.33m arising from the company receiving a communication from the tax authorities in February regarding resolution of the Vat examination "which resulted in a de minimis tax liability for the company”.
The directors state that “in addition the company received cash for the €1.8m Vat refunds receivable from Ireland”.
The accounts show that the €11.33m exceptional gain contributed to pre-tax profits at the company increasing by more than 11-fold from €2.24m to €27.7m in 2023.
This followed revenues increasing by 10% from €37.35m to €41.13m and the revenues are generated in Europe, Britain, and Canada.
The company holds the intellectual property rights for all GoFundMe geographical locations outside the US.
The company recorded a post-tax profit of €24.07m after incurring a €3.7m corporation tax charge.
Accumulated profits at the end of last year totalled €29.3m.
The directors state that the company's operations contributed to a 10% increase in revenue primarily driven by strong growth in key markets across Europe and international crisis.
They state “despite this growth, foreign exchange rate volatility and differing regional regulatory frameworks presented challenges, impacting overall profitability”.
The directors point to the company's healthy cash position of €37.22m.
A breakdown of revenues show that €16.57m was generated in Europe, €10.76m in Canada, and €13.79m in Britain.
They state that looking forward, the company "aims to further expand its presence internationally, though we anticipate continued risks from global economic uncertainties and evolving regulations in key markets".
Numbers employed last year reduced from 60 to 53 and staff costs declined from €5.22m to €5.09m which included bonus payments of €134,000.
The directors for the Dublin-based company state that in August, the company provided notice to its landlord to exercise its break option included in its office lease agreement, which allows for termination of the lease as of September 30, without penalty.
