Mingling with the 70,000 U2 fans making for Slane today will be a special team of tax collectors. Its mission is to ensure that the State, in the form of the Revenue Commissioners, gets its fair share of the takings of the traders who set up stalls.
The team will try to collect value-added tax on any sales traders make on the day. "We have to go down there to make sure we collect the tax before they leave the country," one Revenue source explained.
The targets are traders and suppliers of services who are not registered with the Revenue for VAT. This would include many of the foreign traders who are coming to Slane for the day, and Irish traders who set up stalls or sell on the roadside on an occasional basis at concerts.
They include traders selling merchandise from T-shirts to posters, tapes and CDs, burgers, chips, sweets and chocolate and drinks. Registered traders are obliged to charge VAT at a rate of 20 per cent on the price of their merchandise and pass the amount collected on to the Revenue. On a sale of £20 the VAT bill would be £4.
Officially the Revenue declined to comment on specific operational procedures. But the spokesman confirmed that its officials regularly attend events such as concerts, trade shows and exhibitions to collect VAT from non-registered traders.
Generally, these will be foreign traders who come in specially for the concert and have no other links here, he added. But the Revenue officials will also be on the look out for non-registered Irish traders.
Non-Irish artists supporting U2 on stage at Slane, such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay, are liable for VAT on their performance fees. But the spokesman said the Revenue would generally be informed in advance about these artists by the promoters and make arrangements for VAT collection.
In any case, if artists leave without paying, the Revenue can collect any VAT due from the concert promoter.
At Slane today traders can expect to be approached by Revenue officials who will show official identity cards. The traders will be asked for their VAT registration details.
Where they have none they will be invited to register by filling out a form.
During the day Revenue officials will observe the newly registered traders' stalls to ascertain the quantities being sold and the prices being charged and to ensure that traders are recording their sales.
At the end of the day's trading, a Revenue official will do a deal with the trader on the amount of VAT due, according to the former Revenue official who worked in this area.
Officials cannot monitor individual traders all day so at the end of the day the official and the trader effectively agree a sum for VAT which is collected on the spot, he explained.
Up to 10 officials under the direction of the Revenue's Special Inquiry Branch are expected to be on the prowl for VAT in Slane today. They will show no interest in whether merchandise is counterfeit or bootleg. Colleagues from Customs and Excise will be present to deal with that problem.