Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-14, Income Tax relief for Medical and/or Dental Insurance, has been updated to include details on the tax treatment of employer-provided policies by an authorised insurer/tied health insurance agent.  Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-14 should be read in conjunction with Covid-19 measures introduced by Revenue on the tax treatment of refunds of healthcare insurance premiums.

The rates of expense relief for electricity, laundry and protective clothing, and telephone costs incurred by kidney patients have increased for 2019 and 2020.  Home dialysis kidney patients and chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients can claim relief for expenditure up to a certain rate on electricity, laundry and protective clothing and telephone costs. These rates are increased for 2019 and 2020 as reflected in the latest update to Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-12.

Childminders caring for the children of Covid-19 essential workers in the child’s own home may still qualify for Childcare Services Relief according to updated Revenue guidance.  Childcare Services Relief is an income tax exemption available to individuals who provide childminding services in their own homes. Current HSE guidance provides that, as part of Covid-19 measures, childminding should only happen in the home of the child. Revenue’s updated Tax and Duty Manual, Part 07-01-29 says that a childminder providing care to children of essential workers in the home of the child will still qualify for Childcare Services Relief on a temporary basis

Up to three thousand taxpayers may have given fraudsters access to bank and credit card details linked to their MyAccount records by responding to a fake text message purporting to be from Revenue.  Revenue confirmed that it has written to approximately 3,000 taxpayers advising them that, as a result of information provided by taxpayers as part of a text scam, personal details held in the user profile of their Revenue myAccount may have been accessed by the fraudsters.  The letters say that Revenue temporarily deactivated impacted taxpayers’ ‘myAccount’ access. Taxpayers impacted should contact their bank to cancel/change any accounts or credit cards that may have been provided to the fraudsters.  The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection should also be contracted if taxpayers have concerns that their PPSN may be compromised.

A tracking system for MyEnquiries will be available from Monday, 15 June. The tracking system will allow accountants and tax agents to view the current status of an enquiry submitted via MyEnquiries. Chartered Accountants Ireland under the auspices of the CCAB-I is working with Revenue though the TALC forum to improve the MyEnquiries service.  The tracking system will allow accountants and tax agents to track the progress of an enquiry by viewing a new ‘Status’ column on the ‘Enquiries Record’ screen within MyEnquiries (accessed by logging into ROS/myAccount). The Enquiries record will take the following form: Status Description Pending Indicates the enquiry has been received by Revenue and will be routed into a queue for working. In Progress Indicates that the enquiry is in a queue to be processed. Completed Indicates that the enquiry has been completed by Revenue. Awaiting Feedback Indicates that Revenue has requested something from the customer and is waiting on a reply. Revenue Initiated Indicates the message was sent from Revenue.   The tracking system will also give information about which Revenue division the enquiry is being processed in.  Full details on the new tracking system are expected to issue from Revenue in the near future. 

The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD announced plans last Friday, 29 May, to make the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) available to employees returning to work following maternity or adoptive leave. As the subsidy payment was designed to apply to employees on the payroll for January and February 2020, employees returning to work following maternity or adoptive leave were not eligible for a TWSS payment, where they were not on the payroll on 29 February 2020, or where the employer was not paying wages to the employee who was on such leave in either January or February. Chartered Accountants Ireland, responding to feedback from our membership, raised this matter with senior Government officials. The changes announced on Friday 29 May 2020 mean that employers will receive appropriate subsidy payments in respect of affected employees from 12 June 2020 backdated to 26 March 2020 for employees retained on payroll by their employers. For employees who were ceased from payroll and in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), no retrospection will apply as the individual was already in receipt of income support payments. However, employers may rehire these employees and the TWSS will be applied for these cases once their PUP claim has been ceased with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP). Further Revenue guidance and information for employers on this new TWSS development are expected to issue in the near future and such information will be reported in Chartered Accountants eNews and on our Covid-19 information hub. Take a look at the Minister’s press release and Revenue’s press release for information currently available on this development. 

According to a new report published by the OECD, tax administrations will play a critical role in planning the recovery from the impact of COVID-19. The report; Tax Administration Responses to COVID-19: Recovery Period Planning, highlights that early business restoration planning will help identify the main challenges and opportunities for both tax administrations and taxpayers.  The report sets out a number of considerations which tax administrations may wish to take into account in their planning for the recovery period. These are set under the following categories:  Business restoration governance Scenario planning Analysis and monitoring Business restoration planning Opening of offices Staff welfare Reputation management and communication Working methods Longer term implications for tax administration The report has been produced by the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA), in co-operation with the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT) and the Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations (IOTA). Two other reference documents have also been produced by this group, one on measures to support taxpayers and one on business continuity considerations.  For more information read the report.  

  This week, in Irish stories, read the latest information on the treatment of rehired employees under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. In UK developments, the sick-pay rebate scheme is now open for claims. In International news, read about the European Commission’s recommendations for a coordinated response to COVID-19.     Ireland Read the latest information on the treatment of rehired employees under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme   Read Revenue’s updated guidance on the tax treatment of medical, health care, and pharmacy locums UK The Statutory sick pay rebate scheme launched online on Tuesday 26 May Are you planning to defer your next VAT payment due on 7 June? Read what action you need to take in order to do so International Take a look at the European Commission’s recommendations for a coordinated response to COVID-19

Further guidance on the operational phase of the scheme was published by Revenue.  The updates to the FAQs, now at version 12, include guidance on employers ceasing the scheme (FAQ 2.13), the treatment of rehired employees (FAQ 2.8), additional gross payments (FAQ 2.1), and the ROS Statement of Account (FAQ 5.7).    Revenue also issued a press release to advise that the information relating to the calculation of the correct subsidy due for employees who were laid off and subsequently rehired from 1 May 2020, has been provided to employers.     As a reminder, to include employees rehired post 1 May in the Employer CSV file, employers should ensure that the rehired employees are on the Payroll and an RPN has been received one working day prior to first payroll payment.  Since 21 May 2020, Revenue is refreshing the Employer CSV file daily to include the rehired employees notified to Revenue.  Revenue are developing a notification processes that will inform employers when a refreshed Employer CSV file is available to download (see FAQ 2.8). Information on the calculation of the subsidy due to such employees can be downloaded now via ROS (see FAQ 2.8).  Revenue is reprocessing all J9 submissions for rehired employees received between 2 May 2020 and 18 May 2020 and any subsidy payment due to employers will be made automatically.  Read the FAQs, version 12.   

Over one billion euro has been paid under the scheme, this includes €96 million in income tax refunds.  Over 55,500 employers are registered with the scheme and over 473,500 employees have already received at least one payment.  This is according to the latest statistics published by Revenue.  Wholesale and retail trade sector continue to have the largest share of employers, followed by construction and professional and technical services.    The number of people that moved from the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) to the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) is 38,200.  While 29,800 people moved from the TWSS to the PUP.    Since the Operational Phase began (4 May 2020), 79 percent of employees are receiving a top up payment from their employer.  Over half (56 percent) are receiving a subsidy of at least €350.    Statistics on the scheme up to 21 May 2020 are available to read in full on the Revenue website

HMRC has contacted us to advise that this scheme which will enable employers with fewer than 250 employees to claim coronavirus-related Statutory Sick Pay (“SSP”) rebates is due to launch online tomorrow Tuesday 26 May. Agents will be able to make claims on behalf of employers.   Employers are eligible to use the scheme if:   they’re claiming for an employee who’s eligible for sick pay due to coronavirus;  they had a PAYE payroll scheme in operation before 28 February 2020;  they had fewer than 250 employees across all PAYE schemes on 28 February 2020; and  they’re eligible to receive State Aid under the EU Commission Temporary Framework.  The repayment will cover up to two weeks of the applicable rate of SSP, and is payable if a current or former employee was unable to work on or after 13 March 2020 and entitled to SSP, because they either:   have coronavirus  are self-isolating and unable to work from home  are shielding because they’ve been advised that they’re at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus.   To prepare to make a claim, employers should keep records of all the SSP payments they wish to claim for.   For more information about eligibility and how employers (or you on their behalf) can prepare to use the scheme, please visit GOV.UK.   HMRC advice is to only call them if you cannot find the support you need on GOV.UK advice pages or through the webchat service – this will leave lines open for those who need help most.   

With the next VAT deadline date of 7 June fast approaching, we remind readers of the process for those who wish to utilise the VAT payment deferral announced by the Chancellor in March.   There's no need to apply for a deferral BUT:    You are still required to file a return through the normal route, including Making Tax Digital if applicable.  Direct Debit payers will need to cancel their direct debit with their banks. If they don’t HMRC will request payment. There is no automatic deferral of Direct Debit payment.   The GOV.UK guidance is here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deferral-of-vat-payments-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19.        COVID-19: Job retention scheme latest guidance