Tax

David Duffy highlights the latest VAT cases and discusses recent VAT developments. IRISH VAT UPDATES Revenue guidance updates eBrief 218/18, issued on 27 December 2018, contained links to a number of new and updated sections of Revenue’s VAT Tax and Duty Manual. This includes: Confirmation of a change in Revenue practice, which will result in the VAT rate for sales of certain food supplement products increasing from 0% to 23% with effect from 1 March 2019; Confirmation of a change in Revenue practice, which will result in the application of 0% VAT to sales of rollators with effect from 1 March 2019. A rollator is a device, equipped with wheels, used by persons with a disability or infirm people for support while walking; Refreshed or updated guidance on the VAT rules applicable in certain sectors including opticians, staff canteens, pharmacists and personal contract plans (PCPs); and New guidance on changes to the VAT treatment of vouchers (see below for more detail). Vouchers New VAT regulations (Statutory Instrument No. 582 of 2018) were published in December 2018, which update the Irish VAT law applicable to transactions involving vouchers. The regulations apply to vouchers issued from 1 January 2019 onwards. This update is in line with the harmonisation of the VAT rules for transactions involving vouchers across all EU member states. The new legislation defines the meaning of a voucher for VAT purposes and distinguishes between two types of vouchers for VAT purposes: single purpose vouchers and multi-purpose vouchers. A single-purpose voucher (SPV) is one where the place of supply (i.e. the jurisdiction where VAT is due) of the goods or services to which the voucher relates, and the amount of VAT due on those goods or services, are known at the time of the issue of the voucher. VAT will be due by the seller of the SPV in the VAT return for the period during which the SPV is sold based on the VAT rate of the good or service against which the voucher can be redeemed. A multi-purpose voucher (MPV) is a voucher other than a single-purpose voucher. This would include a voucher that can be redeemed against goods and services in more than one jurisdiction or at different VAT rates. For example, a voucher for a supermarket would typically be an MPV as the voucher can redeemed against products at a number of different VAT rates. VAT will be due on an MPV at the time of redemption of the voucher and the VAT rate will be determined by the goods or services against which the voucher is redeemed. Businesses that sell vouchers will need to review their business to determine whether they are selling an SPV or MPV, and apply the VAT treatment accordingly. VAT refund scheme for charities In Budget 2018, the Minister for Finance announced a refund scheme for charities in respect of VAT incurred by them from 1 January 2018 onwards. Qualifying charities are now entitled to submit an annual claim for VAT incurred during 2018. The deadline for making such claims in respect of 2018 is 30 June 2019. eBrief 219/18 contains guidelines for the procedures for making such claims. In order to qualify for the scheme, a charity must hold a charitable tax exemption from Revenue and be registered with the Charities Regulatory Authority at the date of the claim and the date the expenditure was incurred. Charities will be entitled to apply for a refund of a proportion of their VAT based on the level of non-public funding they receive out of total funding. Revenue’s guidance sets out the method for calculating a refund claim and the process for submitting the claim to Revenue. There is an overall cap of €5 million for this scheme across the charity sector in respect of claims made in 2019, which will be allocated on a pro-rata basis for qualifying claims. EU VAT CASE LAW UPDATES Termination payments  In MEO (C-295/17), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that payments a telecom company was contractually entitled to receive as a result of the early termination of a customer’s contract were subject to VAT. The CJEU rejected the argument that they were non-VATable compensation. In the facts of the case, the telecom company offered contracts under which customers paid lower prices in return for agreeing to a minimum contract period. The contract provided that where the customer defaulted and his/her contract was terminated, the customer owed a lump sum termination amount equal to the net monthly instalments for the number of remaining months in the contract period. According to the CJEU, this termination payment was not a compensation for damages and therefore, was subject to VAT. While the judgment is not available in English, the CJEU’s decision appears to be based on the termination amount being specified in the contract and the fact that the telecom company ended up in the same position as if the contract ran for the full duration. It is still possible that payments which amount to compensation can be outside the scope of VAT, but this judgment highlights that the exact fact pattern and contractual arrangements are important in determining the VAT treatment. Conditional payments  The Baumgarten case (C-548/17) considers when VAT becomes due in a scenario where there are multiple payments that are conditional on future events. The default rule is that VAT becomes due on a supply of goods or services when they are supplied. However, there are exceptions which allow for VAT to be due at a later date where successive payments are made in respect of those goods or services. In this case, the CJEU ruled that the supply of a service by a football agent to football clubs, which was paid for in later instalments that were conditional upon future events, became subject to VAT when the payments were made rather than when the service was initially performed. Baumgarten was a professional agent, which placed professional footballers with German football clubs. When Baumgarten successfully placed a player with a football club, it became entitled to commission from that club provided the player subsequently signed an employment contract and held a licence issued by the German Football League. This commission was paid to Baumgarten in instalments every six months after the player joined the club, for as long as the player remained under a contract with that club and held a German Football League licence. While the service of placing the footballer took place on day one, it was paid for over the duration of the player’s contract and the exact amount due was conditional. The taxpayer argued that VAT should be payable on each payment as and when it became due. The German Tax Authorities, however, argued that VAT was due upfront on the full amount that would be due over the term of the contract. The CJEU decided that, as the full amount of the payments to be made is conditional, the VAT on those payments became due on the expiry of the periods to which the payments made relate. David Duffy is a VAT Partner at KPMG.

EY’s Helen Byrne, Sherena Deveney and Brendan McSparran outline the relevant compliance dates for February and March. REPUBLIC OF IRELAND RELEVANT DATES FOR COMPANIES 14 February 2019 Dividend withholding tax return filing and payment date for distributions made in January 2019. 21 February 2019 Due date for payment of preliminary tax for companies with a financial year ended 31 March 2019. If this is paid using Revenue Online Service (ROS), this date is extended to 23 February 2019. Due date for payment of initial instalments of preliminary tax for companies (not “small” companies) with a financial year ended 31 August 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 February 2019. 23 February 2019 Last date for filing corporation tax return Form CT1 for companies with a financial year ending on 31 May 2018 if filed using ROS. Due date for any balancing payment in respect of the same accounting period. Loans advanced to participators in a close company in the year ended 31 May 2018 may need to be repaid by 23 February 2019 to avoid the assessment (on the company) of income tax thereon. A concessional three-month filing extension for iXBRL financial statements (not Form CT1) may apply. For 28 February 2018 year-ends, this should extend the iXBRLW to 23 February 2019. 28 February 2019 Last date for filing third-party payments return Form 46G for companies with a financial year ending on 31 May 2018. Latest date for payment of dividends for the period ended 31 August 2017 to avoid Sections 440 and 441 TCA97 surcharges on investment, rental or professional services income arising in that period (close companies only). Country by Country Reports (CbCRs)/Equivalent CbCRs for the fiscal year ended 28 February 2018 (where necessary) must be filed with Revenue no later than 28 February 2019. 14 March 2019 Dividend withholding tax return filing and payment date for distributions made in February 2019. 21 March 2019 Due date for payment of preliminary tax for companies with a financial year ended 30 April 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 March 2019. Due date for payment of initial instalments of preliminary tax for companies (not “small” companies) with a financial year ended 30 September 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 March 2019. 23 March 2019 Last date for filing corporation tax return Form CT1 for companies with a financial year ending on 30 June 2018 if filed using ROS. Due date for any balancing payment in respect of the same accounting period. Loans advanced to participators in a close company in the year ended 30 June 2018 may need to be repaid by 23 March 2019 to avoid the assessment (on the company) of income tax thereon. A concessional three-month filing extension for iXBRL financial statements (not Form CT1) may apply. For 31 March 2018 year-ends, this should extend the iXBRL deadline to 23 March 2019. 31 March 2019 Last date for filing third-party payments return Form 46G for companies with a financial year ending on 30 June 2018. Latest date for payment of dividends for the period ended 30 September 2017 to avoid Sections 440 and 441 TCA97 surcharges on investment, rental or professional services income arising in that period (close companies only). CbCRs/Equivalent CbCRs for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2018 (where necessary) must be filed with Revenue no later than 31 March 2019. PERSONAL TAXES  31 March 2019 Deadline for claiming separate assessment and nominating assessable spouse for 2019.  GENERAL 23 February 2019 P35 deadline for employers for 2018 (assuming returns and tax payments are made through ROS). Due date for Special Assignee Relief Programme employer returns for 2018. 31 March 2019 Return of information in relation to share options or rights granted in the year ended 31 December 2018. A similar deadline applies in connection with reporting obligations for forfeitable and convertible shares given to employees and directors. NORTHERN IRELAND RELEVANT DATES FOR COMPANIES The key dates for corporation tax purposes will, in most instances, depend on a company’s accounting period end date. The dates below are for a company with a 12 month accounting period ended 31 December 2018. 14 January 2019 Due date for third quarterly instalment payment for “large” companies.  A “large” company is defined as having total taxable profits in excess of the upper limit (being £1.5 million divided by the number of 51% group companies plus one and adjusted accordingly for length of period). PERSONAL TAXES 31 January 2019 Deadline for submission of tax return (individuals, partnerships and trusts) for 2017/18 by internet filing, with a £100 penalty for failure.  All tax due for 2017/18 to be paid by this date.  First payment on account towards the taxpayers 2018/19 liability is due.  Deadline for amending the 2016/2017 tax return. Note that amending the tax return, will extend the enquiry period by 12 months from the end of the quarter period of submission. Quarters run April, July, October and January. Any 2016/17 tax returns submitted after this date will be subject to a penalty amounting to the higher of £300 or 5% of the tax due for the year. This can be increased to as much as £3,000 or 100% of the tax due if HMRC consider that an individual is deliberately not filing the tax return.  Any tax for 2016/17 not paid by this date will be subject to a 5% penalty (in addition to an interest charge).  The trustees of all relevant trusts and complex estates that have incurred a liability for any relevant tax in the tax year 2017/2018 must register beneficial ownership information about the trust on TRS, by no later than 31 January 2019, if they have not already done so.    Relevant taxes are: Capital gains tax; Income tax; Inheritance tax; Land and buildings transaction tax (in Scotland); Stamp duty land tax; and Stamp duty reserve tax or stamp duty. The lead trustee may have to pay a penalty if they do not register the trust before the registration deadline. If they do not register or update the information, and cannot show HMRC that they took reasonable steps to do so, the penalties are: £100 for registering up to three months after the deadline; £200 for registering between three to six months after the deadline; and £300 or 5% of the total tax liability in the relevant year (whichever is higher) for registering more than six months after the deadline. Penalties will not be issued automatically and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.   Note that if the trustees incurred income tax or capital gains tax liabilities in 2016/2017 they should already have registered. If you have sold or disposed of a UK residential property after 5 April 2015 and are a: Non-resident individual; Personal representative of a non-resident who has died; Non-resident who’s in a partnership; Non-resident landlord; Non-resident trustee; Non-resident company or fund; and UK resident meeting split year conditions and the disposal is made in the overseas part of the tax year. You have 30 days from the date of conveyance to report your disposal on the non-resident Capital Gains Tax return, and pay any tax due.  If you do not submit and pay HMRC by the deadline you may have to pay a penalty and interest both on the late filing of the return and late payment of any tax due. Penalties for missed deadlines: £100 if up to six months late; A further penalty of £300 or 5% of any tax due, whichever is greater, if more than six months; and A further penalty of £300 or 5% of any tax due, whichever is greater, more than 12 months. If any non-resident capital gains tax remains unpaid after 31 January after the end of the tax year of the disposal, a late payment penalty of 5% of the tax outstanding will be charged. There are exceptions to the pay now rule if you already have an existing relationship with HMRC – for example, through Self Assessment. If you do, you can either: Pay when you submit your non-resident Capital Gains Tax return; or Defer payment until your normal due payment date through Self Assessment (i.e.31 January following the tax year of disposal). 2 March 2019 Any tax due in respect of 2017/18 and not paid by this date will be subject to a 5% penalty (in addition to an interest charge).

This year’s budget was much like the budgets in years past. Reading this article, the Budget probably seems a long time ago. However, the proposed changes are still a work in progress, with further changes included in the Finance Bill, prior to enactment in late December. Last year, the President signed the Bill on Christmas Day. Most of what was included in the Budget was well flagged in advance. Like in previous years, the main beneficiaries from a tax perspective were low to middle income earners. What is interesting is what was not said in the Budget speech about personal tax. There was no mention of our high marginal tax rates and no indication that these would be lowered in the future. Given the current political environment, it is difficult to see much movement in the near future on this front, with entrepreneurs also a victim of this atmosphere, with no increase in the €1 million cap on gains subject to the lower 10% capital gains tax (CGT) rate. Exit tax As expected, the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector was increased to 13.5%. The lower rate was seen to have served its purpose and a proposal to confine the increase in the rate to large cities was ruled out. On the corporate tax side, the biggest surprise was the introduction, at midnight on Budget Day, of tighter exit tax provisions. The exit tax seeks to prevent Irish companies from migrating tax residence and removing certain assets permanently from the Irish tax net. Prior to the amendment, it was relatively easy to escape the existing exit tax provisions. Going forward, Irish companies that migrate tax residence will suffer a 12.5% tax charge on unrealised gains at the date of migration, payable in six instalments in certain cases. The 12.5% rate increases to the standard 33% CGT rate if the migration is part of an arrangement whereby there is also a disposal of assets by the company.  The new exit provisions will principally impact companies with valuable intellectual property (IP) in Ireland. Going forward, it will not be possible to remove this IP from the Irish tax net without incurring a tax cost. The exit tax comes at a time when many groups are looking at moving IP currently housed offshore to onshore locations such as Ireland.  While the introduction of a revised exit tax regime was mandatory under an EU Directive, its introduction could have been delayed until 2020, so its implementation on Budget Day was surprising.  Controlled Foreign Company regime The Budget also saw the expected introduction of our Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) regime. Broadly, this affects Irish companies with subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions where the profits of the low-tax country are essentially driven by activities undertaken in the Irish company. The expectation is that the CFC rules, effective 1 January 2019, will not generate significant tax revenues but will require consideration by some groups. KEEP scheme There was a positive change to the KEEP scheme with an increase to 100% of salary on share value that can qualify for CGT treatment. KEEP is a tax-efficient share option scheme, granting CGT treatment rather than more penal income tax treatment, subject to certain conditions. Unfortunately, the scheme is still difficult to access and uptake has been slow. Many of the hoped for changes did not come to pass and this is likely to mean that no significant additional take-up in the scheme will be seen. EIIS The Budget, and subsequent Finance Bill, also saw fundamental changes made to the EIIS (old BES) relief, which incentivises investors with a tax deduction for qualifying investments. With EU rules making it difficult in many cases to establish whether a particular investment is eligible for relief, the existing EIIS regime has proved difficult to access for many investors. Combined with a resourcing issue in Revenue, this has caused significant delays in the certification process. The Finance Bill has completely rewritten the EIIS rules. The rules are now clearer and less complex, and introduce a new relief for investments in start-up ventures. While some issues remain within the new regime, there is hope that the improvements made will encourage more take-up of the scheme in 2019 and beyond.  Housing In a positive move, full interest relief for landlords in respect of interest charges on residential properties has been fast-forwarded to 1 January 2019.  In a further move to improve supply in the rental market, short-term lettings (less than 28 days) will no longer qualify as tax-exempt rental income under the “rent-a-room” scheme. The objective here is to discourage short-term lettings in favour of longer-term tenancies. Overall, the Budget produced nothing earth-shattering from a tax perspective. However, there were some missed opportunities to do more for Irish entrepreneurs and small businesses in general.  Peter Vale is Tax Partner at Grant Thornton.

The UK Government is carrying out inspections and imposing fines on companies found to be non-compliant with the national minimum wage. Geraldine Browne highlights the common mistakes that organisations sometimes make. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) achieved record enforcement results this year, identifying £15.6 million of underpayments. The number of workers identified as underpaid was more than double that in 2016/17 and the highest number since the national minimum wage (NMW) came into force. There is no doubt that the Government’s commitment to this clampdown is working; we are seeing an increase in NMW reviews. There has also been a significant rise in whistleblowing over the NMW. HMRC received a record 5,053 reports of suspected underpayments in 2017, which had doubled from the year before. We expect that this will continue to increase with new payslip rules, which are due to come into force in April 2019. The main change will mean that any worker paid on an hourly basis will be due a payslip showing the number of hours worked. The aim is to help workers establish if they have been paid the correct amount under the NMW.  When we look beyond the headline figures, we see that most businesses take NMW compliance very seriously. In fact, of the 239 employers named and shamed, 85 were found to be underpaying just one employee, indicating that mistakes are being made, not malicious intent. Public naming and shaming has a huge impact on the reputation of a business. Employers tend to focus on ensuring that they are paying the correct rates to the correct categories of employee. They understand the rates but do not always understand the principles of what constitutes time for pay. It is a complex area and worth reviewing some of the common pitfalls. What is work time? There are periods of travelling time when the minimum wage must be paid to a salaried worker. When they are travelling in connection with their work, any rest periods taken during the time they are working counts as time worked, as does waiting for a train, waiting to collect goods, meeting someone in connection with work and travelling to a training venue. Employers need to address how they record and pay for this time. Contrast this to the recent Court of Appeal case on “sleep-ins”. The Court of Appeal decided that sleep-in workers were not entitled to national minimum wage for time spent asleep during a sleep-in shift. This case, Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake again focused on time worked with the employee arguing that time asleep was time worked. The outcome left the care sector in limbo as we await to hear if the Supreme Court will hear this appeal. In the meantime, this sector continues to pay employees for sleep-ins until a decision is reached. Many employers have systems whereby their workers clock in and out and this data is passed to a payroll department to process hourly paid workers. This area will be reviewed in detail by a NMW inspector. If they do come across a case where an employee has not been paid for time worked, this will form part of non-compliance with the NMW. This can easily happen. For example, the employee has clocked in at 8.10am, but has been paid from 8.15am. It is worth having your own internal review of this data to ensure compliance. One slip-up can be costly. Deductions It is not just what employers pay that requires review, but also what deductions they make from pay. There are deductions that will not reduce the employee’s pay for minimum wage purposes. These include deduction for income tax, national insurance and accidental overpayment of wages. Deductions can cause unintentional error. The employer may deduct something from the employee’s salary, which may take their pay below the NMW. For example, an employer may deduct the cost of the uniforms from staff salaries, bringing the employee below the NMW. Employers may wish, instead, to provide uniforms free of charge or, alternatively, spread the deductions over several pay periods. Review your pay practices In summary, the Government continues to put measures in place to protect employees from NMW exploitation. This is how it should be, even when it raises additional challenges for business. To safeguard against non-compliance, employers should conduct a thorough review of their pay practices in all areas of NMW. Substantial fines accompany NMW offences and the damage to the employer’s reputation can be significant. It can impact on business sales and on businesses’ ability to attract key talent in the future. You may think you are complying, but one error can lead to the naming and shaming. It’s worth moving this topic further up your organisation’s agenda and investing the time in a thorough review.   Geraldine Browne is Tax Director at BDO Northern Ireland.

David Duffy highlights the latest VAT cases and discusses recent VAT developments. IRISH VAT UPDATES Finance Bill  The Finance Bill (as initiated) contained a small number of provisions in relation to VAT, which are summarised below.  As announced in the Budget, the Bill confirmed that the VAT rate for certain goods and services, mainly in the tourism and hospitality sectors such as hotel accommodation, restaurants and admissions to many attractions, will increase from 9% to 13.5% with effect from 1 January 2019. The 9% VAT rate will continue to apply to newspapers (and similar publications) and the provision of sporting facilities. The 9% VAT rate will also be extended to e-books and digitally supplied publications with effect from 1 January 2019. This follows an EU-wide agreement reached in October to allow member states apply reduced rates of VAT to digital publications. The other VAT-related provisions in the Bill include: a technical amendment relating to the VAT treatment of sales of residential property by liquidators, receivers and mortgagees; and the withdrawal of a VAT relief in situations where VAT has been charged on the supply of a telephone card, which is then used outside the EU. EU VAT UPDATES Share transaction costs The question of a taxpayer’s entitlement to recover VAT on costs in relation to share transactions has been the subject of much debate and case law in recent years. In recent months, there have been two further European Court of Justice (CJEU) decisions, namely Ryanair (C-249/17) and C&D Foods Acquisitions (C-502/17). Ryanair was a referral to the CJEU from the Irish Supreme Court. In its decision, the CJEU confirmed Ryanair’s entitlement to fully recover VAT on professional costs relating to its bid to acquire Aer Lingus. This was on the basis that, if the acquisition had been successful, Ryanair would have provided management supplies to Aer Lingus. Prior CJEU judgments had confirmed that the provision of management services by a parent company to its subsidiary is a VATable “economic activity” giving a right to VAT recovery. While Ryanair only acquired a minority interest in Aer Lingus and did not provide any management services to it, the CJEU judgment confirmed the entitlement to VAT recovery based on the intended taxable economic activity of managing the subsidiary. The C&D Foods Acquisition case, a referral from the Danish courts, bore similarities to the Ryanair case in that it related to an intended but uncompleted share transaction. However, in this case, the taxpayer intended to sell rather than acquire shares. The taxpayer was a holding company which was actively involved in managing its subsidiaries, but engaged various consultants to advise it on the sale of the shares in its subsidiary. The proceeds from the sale were intended to pay down a debt owed to a bank. The CJEU ruled that the VAT on consultancy costs relating to the proposed share disposal was not recoverable as the proceeds of the share sale would not be used for taxable business activities.  The two cases mentioned above highlight the ongoing complexity of the VAT recovery position on costs relating to share transactions and the importance of considering the exact fact pattern in each case. Hire purchase transactions In Volkswagen Financial Services Limited (VWFS) (C-153/17), the CJEU concluded that VWFS is entitled to partial VAT recovery on the overhead costs of its hire purchase business.  This was the case even though these costs were incorporated into the finance charge forming part of the hire purchase contract rather than the cost of the underlying goods. HMRC in the UK had sought to argue that there should be no VAT recovery. By way of background, hire purchase is treated for VAT purposes as both a taxable supply of goods (the initial handing over of the asset/vehicle) and an exempt supply of credit (i.e. the margin earned by the finance provider). Under consumer law, the hirer is required to disclose separately on the hire purchase agreement the price of the vehicle and the finance element. The CJEU first confirmed that the VAT treatment of hire purchase as separate supplies of goods and finance was valid. However, the principal dispute arose in relation to the recovery of input VAT on general overheads in running the VWFS hire purchase business. VWFS argued that the proportion of the input VAT recoverable on overheads should be based on the number of exempt and taxable transactions carried out, with each hire-purchase transaction counting as two transactions (i.e. a taxable supply of goods and an exempt supply of credit). On this basis, half of the general overhead VAT would be recoverable. HMRC argued that the residual input VAT was a cost component of the exempt transactions alone and, therefore, no VAT should be recovered. The CJEU did not accept HMRC’s position that no VAT was recoverable on general overhead costs of the hire purchase business. While it did not specify the exact methodology to use, it nonetheless confirmed that the taxable supply, as well as the exempt supply of credit, should be factored into the calculation.  As the hire purchase VAT rules operate similarly in Ireland to the UK, providers of hire purchase products may wish to review their VAT recovery position in light of the judgment. David Duffy is a VAT Director at KPMG.

Helen Byrne, Senior Tax Manager at EY Ireland, outlines the relevant compliance dates for December 2018 and January 2019. RELEVANT COMPANY DATES 14 December 2018  Dividend withholding tax return filing and payment date (for distributions made in November 2018). 21 December 2018  Due date for payment of preliminary tax for companies with a financial year ended 31 January 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 December 2018. Due date for payment of initial instalments of preliminary tax for companies (not “small” companies) with a financial year ended 30 June 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 December 2018. 23 December 2018 Last date for filing corporation tax return Form CT1 for companies with a financial year ending on 31 March 2018 if filed using ROS.  Due date for any balancing payment in respect of the same accounting period. Loans advanced to participators in a close company in the year ended 31 March 2018 may need to be repaid by 23 December 2018 to avoid the assessment (on the company) of income tax thereon. A concessional three-month filing extension for iXBRL financial statements (not Form CT1) may apply. For 31 December 2017 year ends, this should extend the iXBRL deadline to 23 December 2018. 31 December 2018 Last date for filing third-party payments return Form 46G for companies with a financial year ending on 31 March 2018. Latest date for payment of dividends for the period ended 30 June 2017 to avoid Sections 440 and 441 TCA97 surcharges on investment, rental and professional services income arising in that period (close companies only). Contributions made by employers to approved occupational pension schemes are tax deductible on a payment basis, as are charges on income (e.g. patent royalties and certain interest). Companies with 31 December year ends may wish to review their positions to maximise/ minimise deductions before the year end. A two-year time limit applies to some corporation tax group relief and loss relief claims. Potential claims for the period ending 31 December 2016 may need to be considered prior to 31 December 2018.  Research and development (R&D) tax credits in respect of R&D expenditure incurred in an accounting period ended 31 December 2017 must be claimed by 31 December 2018. A similar deadline applies to capital allowance claims for intangible assets.  Country by Country Reporting Notifications relating to the fiscal year ended 31 December 2018 must be made to Revenue no later than 31 December 2018, via ROS (where necessary). 1 January 2019 Controlled foreign company (CFC) rules in effect from this date. 14 January 2019  Dividend withholding tax return filing and payment date (for distributions made in December 2018). 21 January 2019 Due date for payment of preliminary tax for companies with a financial year ended 28 February 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 January 2019 Due date for payment of initial instalments of preliminary tax for companies (not “small” companies) with a financial year ended 31 July 2019. If this is paid using ROS, this date is extended to 23 January 2019. 23 January 2019 Last date for filing corporation tax return Form CT1 for companies with a financial year ending on 30 April 2018 if filed using ROS. Due date for any balancing payment in respect of the same accounting period. Loans advanced to participators in a close company in the year ended 30 April 2018 may need to be repaid by 23 January 2019 to avoid the assessment (on the company) of income tax thereon. A concessional three-month filing extension for iXBRL financial statements (not Form CT1) may apply. For 31 January 2018 year end, this should extend the iXBRL deadline to 23 January 2019. 31 January 2019 Last date for filing third-party payments return Form 46G for companies with a financial year ending on 30 April 2018. Latest date for payment of dividends for the period ended 31 July 2017 to avoid sections 440 and 441 TCA97 surcharges on investment, rental and professional services income arising in that period (close companies only). Country by Country Reporting Notifications relating to the fiscal year ended 31 January 2019 must be made to Revenue no later than 31 January 2019, via ROS (where necessary). PERSONAL TAXES 15 December 2018  Capital gains tax due in respect of any chargeable gains arising on disposals in the period 1 January 2018 to 30 November 2018 must be paid on or before 15 December 2018.  31 January 2019   Capital gains tax due in respect of any gains arising on any disposals in the period 1 December to 31 December 2018 must be paid on or before 31 January 2019. GENERAL 31 December 2018  Valuation date for 2018 domicile levy. Irish assets held on this date will be taken into account in ascertaining if the €5 million ‘Irish asset test’ has been met. A four-year time limit generally applies to repayment claims. A claim for repayment of corporation tax for the year ended 31 December 2014 must generally be lodged with Revenue by 31 December 2018. Claims for repayments of income tax for the year of assessment 2014 must also be submitted by 31 December 2018.  Termination of Home Renovation Incentive Scheme, with the exception of cases where planning permission is in place by 31 December 2018 and work is carried out by 31 March 2019. Expiration of young trained farmers stamp duty relief. 1 January 2019 Removal of five-year exemption from IREF withholding tax for disposals occurring or unrealised profits or gains recognised in the income statement on or after 1 January 2019. Employers will be required to report employee remuneration and PAYE to Revenue on a real-time basis. 8 January 2019        Under mandatory reporting rules, promoters of certain transactions may be required to submit quarterly ‘client lists’ in respect of disclosed transactions made available in the relevant quarter. Any quarterly returns for the period to 31 December are due on 8 January. Due date for submission of return and payment of IREF withholding tax in connection with the accounting period ended on or before 30 June 2018. Note: The above does not take account of Budget 2019 and Finance Bill 2018.