Revenue has advised that it will be issuing a notice to all companies who have claimed the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit outlining common errors observed in claims being submitted. In the notice, Revenue outlines that making an R&D tax credit claim is a self-assessment process, hence the onus is on the claimant to ensure that a valid claim is made within the 12-month statutory time limit. The notice also confirms that Revenue does not have discretion when applying the R&D legislative provisions. The notice also encourages all claimants to review the accuracy of any R&D claim submitted or to be submitted to ensure a valid claim is made. Notices will also be sent to the agent for the relevant company.

Revenue has confirmed in guidance, ‘Submission of iXBRL Financial Statements as part of Corporation Tax Returns’, that draft financial statements in iXBRL format will not be accepted from 1 January 2026. Currently, by concession, Revenue accepts the filing of draft financial statements in iXBRL format in limited circumstances. In cases where the concession applies, draft financial statements can be filed, without prior permission from Revenue, if the filer is satisfied that director sign off of the financial statements is the only outstanding item. Where other issues are giving rise to the draft/provisional financial statements, filers are currently required to contact the Revenue Branch which handles their affairs. From 1 January 2026, draft Financial Statements in iXBRL format will not be accepted; companies experiencing genuine difficulties in meeting iXBRL filing deadlines will be required to contact their operational branch within Revenue. Revenue has also confirmed that the 2025 Irish extension taxonomies for FRS 101, FRS 102 and EU IFRS will be accepted from 1 July 2025, while the FRS 101 + DPL, FRS 102 + DPL and EU IFRS + DPL taxonomies with a date of 1 September 2017 will no longer be accepted from the same date.

Over the weekend, Chartered Accountants Ireland, under the auspices of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies – Ireland (CCAB-I), launched this year’s Pre-Budget 2026 submission, titled “Addressing the ongoing housing shortage”. You can read the full submission here. With 1 in 4 SMEs reporting that their business has lost employees or seen prospective employees unable to take roles due to the unavailability of affordable housing, the lack of housing is now clearly both a business as well as a social issue. CCAB-I notes this market failure, and calls for a targeted, time bound and regularly reviewed tax intervention to correct it. As well as housing, we are calling on the Government to address certain ‘quick wins’ to ease the regulatory and compliance burden on businesses. We are also asking the Government to enhance tax reliefs specifically with the needs of SMEs in mind, and to commit to no further increases in Employers’ PRSI to 2028 to manage the substantial increases in the cost of doing business. Businesses are facing substantially increased compliance and regulatory burdens. As part of our mandate to voice areas where Government could simplify reporting requirements for businesses without compromising the information required, we have identified some areas where the Government can score ‘quick wins’. These are: Simplify tax filing by introducing a single pay-and-file date for capital gains tax aligned with the annual income tax return. Simplify the reporting of tax-free small benefits and expenses (the Enhanced Reporting Requirements rules) by replacing real-time reporting with monthly or quarterly returns. CCAB-I also recommends that penalties of €4,000 that are potentially chargeable where a reportable item is missed are made proportionate with the fact that the payments are non-taxable. Introduce legislation enabling businesses to provide their staff with reasonable levels of hospitality while working without having to apply a benefit-in-kind tax charge. This would provide much needed certainty to business as to what they can provide in terms of lunches and teas and coffees and would critically support the local economy and hospitality sector. As we operate within a self-assessment tax system, employers should be empowered to determine what is a reasonable accommodation. In addition to the ever-increasing compliance and regulatory burden on businesses, SMEs continue to need support, particularly given the impact of the significant increases in the cost of doing business. As such, we are calling on the Government to address the following areas: Government should commit to no further increases in the rate of Employers’ PRSI for the next four years. Incremental increases across all classes of PRSI are planned up to 2028. Consideration should also be given to reducing the rate of Employers’ PRSI on minimum wage workers by 1.5 percent to help with the initial costs of pension auto enrolment which will likely come in next year. Broaden the eligibility criteria for the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP), so indigenous SMEs can benefit from the relief. Enhance the Research & Development tax credit regime for SMEs and broaden the scope for claiming costs relating to third parties.  

The OECD has published the consolidated text of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) 2025. The CRS scope has been expanded to include specific electronic money products, central bank digital currencies and indirect investments in crypto-assets, through derivatives and investment vehicles. In addition, amendments have been made to strengthen the due diligence and reporting requirements and to provide a carve out for genuine non-profit organisations. 

The OECD has published a report compiling comparable tax revenue statistics for 27 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. The report notes that tax revenues in the LAC region decreased as a share of GDP in 2023 amid a slowdown in economic activity in the region and a decline in global commodity prices.

In this week’s post EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant in the post EU exit environment. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available as is the most recently published Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs team. We update you on initial thoughts from the UK Government on the new partnership agreement between the UK and the EU. And finally, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published new guidance aimed at businesses exporting animal products from Great Britain to the EU which you can read more about in an email from DEFRA. Update on new UK and EU partnership agreement At a meeting last week of the HMRC forum, the Northern Joint Customs Consultative Committee which the Institute is represented on, HMRC advised that there will be no immediate changes to customs procedures as a result of the announcement of the new partnership agreement between the UK and the EU. Any changes and updated guidance will be shared in due course. The overall sense from the UK Government is that the agreement will impact positively on Northern Ireland, particularly in the context of sanitary and phytosanitary checks.                                                                                              Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications This week’s miscellaneous guidance updates and publications are as follows: Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (National) of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), Simplified Process for Internal Market Movements (SPIMM) and UK Carrier (UKC) Scheme: Additional Procedure Codes, Find customs authorisations for importing and exporting goods, CDS Declaration and Customs Clearance Request Instructions (UK Trade Tariff: volume 3 for CDS), Internal Market Movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, Apply for authorisation for the UK Internal Market Scheme if you bring goods into Northern Ireland, Making an import declaration in your records, Apply to claim a repayment or remission of import duty on ‘at risk’ goods brought into Northern Ireland, Submitting the Internal Market Movement Information, Apply for the UK Carrier Scheme, Apply to make an entry declaration in your records under the UK Internal Market Scheme, Apply for a Notification of Presentation waiver for goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland, Check if you can apply for the UK Carrier Scheme, Categorising goods for Internal Market Movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and Using entry in declarant's records for goods moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates which you can read more about below, HMRC has published a new Spotlight which examines the use of a capital gains tax (CGT) avoidance scheme, and, the VAT Regulations 1995 have been amended to formalise a longstanding administrative concession regarding the due date for final VAT returns. In other news this week: HMRC is reminding parents of teens to go online to extend their child benefit claim, As US tax reform continues, KPMG has published a useful article explaining how the Bill could impact on UK corporates with US operations, and Fancy yourself as a budding Chancellor of the Exchequer? Ahead of the 2025 Spending Review, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has launched a new ‘Be the Chancellor' tool, which illustrates the key choices and fiscal challenges faced by the current Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. New CGT Spotlight In Spotlight 69, HMRC is warning that individuals who transfer a property business to a LLP which is subsequently put into MVL are involved in a CGT avoidance scheme. Such schemes aim to reduce/avoid a range of taxes as follows: CGT on the disposal of the properties to the LLP which enables a tax-free uplift to be achieved for the CGT base cost of the properties when subsequently disposed by the LLP, stamp duty land tax on the transfer of the properties to the LLP due to the rules for partnerships, and inheritance tax via potential access to business property relief. However, it is HMRC’s view that the scheme does not work as intended therefore HMRC is advising those involved to withdraw and settle their tax affairs by emailing the relevant HMRC team. Administrative concession for final VAT returns enshrined in law HMRC recently amended the VAT Regulations 1995 to formalise a longstanding administrative concession regarding the due date for final VAT returns. You can find the legislation and documents here: The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and Amendment to the Value Added Tax Regulations 2025. This amendment will take effect from 13 June 2025. The new legislation explicitly gives HMRC the power to provide businesses with additional time to submit their final return when deregistering from VAT. Currently, the regulations required most businesses to submit a final return within one month and seven days from their effective date of deregistration. However, it has been HMRC practice to provide businesses with one month and seven days from the date it makes the final return available for completion. This allows for any administrative delay during deregistration and gives consistency of treatment by ensuring all businesses have the same amount of time to submit their final return and pay their final VAT bill. HMRC will publish a ‘Direction’ under the amended regulations after it comes into force on 13 June. Although this will only apply in respect of businesses whose effective date of deregistration is on or after 14 June 2025, businesses with a deregistration date prior to this will effectively be treated the same under the current concession.

The European Commission’s VAT Expert Group is looking for new members. The group is composed of business representatives, tax practitioners and academics, and provides advice and expertise to the Commission on the preparation of legislation, initiatives and any other matters relating to the field of VAT. Applications must be sent by 24 June 2025.  

As previously outlined in Chartered Accountants Tax News, HMRC is consulting on potential reforms to its behavioural penalty regime. The consultation is open until 18 June 2025 and seeks views on options to ‘simplify and strengthen’ the behavioural penalty regime for inaccuracies and failures to notify. The Institute will be responding to the consultation and is seeking your views on the proposals. Contact us by email before Monday 9 June to share your feedback. HMRC has been holding workshops on the proposed changes and has also provided a useful document summarising the proposals an overview of which is set out below. For failure to notify penalties, HMRC is proposing to remove the timing of disclosure as a factor in determining the relevant penalty ranges and to remove the narrower penalty ranges. There are also proposals to combine consideration of the type and quality of disclosure into one step, so that there is one set of headline rates. ‘Telling’ and ‘helping’ would be combined into one category to reduce overlap. For deliberate and repeated non-compliance, the potential changes are: increased penalty rates for all deliberate behaviour (e.g. same level as category 2 offshore penalties), a new higher tier of penalty rates for repeated deliberate non-compliance (e.g. at the same level as category 3 offshore penalties) and the potential for higher rates to be 'reset' for new occurrences in the future, the merger of ‘deliberate but not concealed’ and ‘deliberate and concealed’ into a single ‘deliberate’ category, and to codify ‘deliberate’ in penalty legislation, e.g. regarding intent, blind-eye knowledge, and, potentially, recklessness. There are also proposals for offshore penalties and penalty suspension. Alternative approaches are also considered as are a range of potential new non-financial penalties, many of which are very concerning.  

1 in 4 SMEs surveyed by Chartered Accountants Ireland in April reported that their business has lost employees or seen prospective employees unable to take a role due to the unavailability of affordable housing. This is evidence of the economic impact the housing crisis is now having according to the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies – Ireland (CCAB-I), the umbrella group for professional accountants, as it published its 2026 Pre-Budget submission today.   The OECD has noted that Ireland’s housing stock lacks the flexibility to meet the increasing demand for housing, and only last Tuesday, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) told the Oireachtas Committee on Housing that there will be no major uptick in housing supply in 2025 and 2026. CCAB-I notes this market failure, and calls for a targeted, time bound and regularly reviewed tax intervention to correct it.   Cróna Clohisey, Director of Members and Advocacy at Chartered Accountants Ireland said  “Viability of certain construction projects, namely apartments, student accommodation, and independent living facilities has been cast into sharp focus in recent months, with knock on impacts on the costs of rent, availability of student accommodation and the lack of options for downsizers. Recent data from the CSO shows that there was a drop of 24% in apartment completions from 2023 to 2024.   “October’s Budget should include tax measures to stimulate the development of such dwellings, but they need to be targeted, time-limited, and regularly reviewed to ensure that they are cost effective and do not repeat the mistakes of the past. We welcome the opportunity to discuss with government how tax might work as a lever in this regard.”    Regulatory burden  57% of SMEs surveyed by Chartered Accountants Ireland last month cited regulatory compliance as the area they most need help from the government in tackling (rising to 75% amongst small practices). In its Pre-Budget submission, CCAB-I identifies key areas where the intersection of tax law and administration are loading uncertainty and burden onto businesses, and calls for the following measures to be considered in Budget 2026:  Key proposed simplification measures   Simplify tax filing by introducing a single pay-and-file date for capital gains tax aligned with the annual income tax return.   Simplify the reporting of tax-free small benefits and expenses (the Enhanced Reporting Requirements rules) by replacing real-time reporting with monthly or quarterly returns. CCAB-I also recommends that penalties of €4,000 that are potentially chargeable where a reportable item is missed are made proportionate with the fact that the payments are non-taxable.   Introduce legislation enabling businesses to provide their staff with reasonable levels of hospitality while working without having to apply a benefit-in-kind tax charge. This would provide much needed certainty to business as to what they can provide in terms of lunches and teas and coffees and would critically support the local economy and hospitality sector. As we operate within a self-assessment tax system, employers should be empowered to determine what is a reasonable accommodation.  Cróna Clohisey, Director of Members and Advocacy at Chartered Accountants Ireland said  “A single pay-and-file date for capital gains tax aligned with the annual income tax return would alleviate the administrative burden of what is a low-yielding tax. 2024 Exchequer receipts from CGT accounted for approximately €1.7 billion, only 1.6% of the total tax receipts in that year.   “There is similar scope to ease administrative burdens for SMEs when it comes to the reporting of tax-free small benefits and travel expenses. The requirement to report these benefits “on or before” the time they are made or paid is excessive and should be replaced by monthly or even quarterly reporting. For example, in order to reduce the number of returns and the administrative headache of this requirement, many businesses now only reimburse travel expenses to workers on the same day as payroll. This means workers can be out of pocket for longer.  “Our research also shows that the regulatory compliance burden is particularly acute for SMEs with fewer than 50 staff; 35% have sought advice on how to reduce this burden, and they are the least likely to be able to shoulder it.”  Measures to support SMEs   The Programme for Government 2025 committed to rigorously implement the SME test to scrutinise every new piece of legislation and regulation for its impact on SMEs and examine the regularity of SME reporting and filing requirements.  CCAB-I calls for consideration to be given to enhancing the R&D tax credit regime for SMEs which has played an important role in promoting innovation and job creation in Ireland. The existing regime is limiting for the SME sector due to the restrictions on relief available for third party costs, and the use of third parties to carry out research and development on behalf of the SME is an indispensable option for Ireland’s SMEs. The automatic qualification for the R&D tax credit for SMEs in receipt of RD&I funding from Enterprise Ireland would also benefit the sector and remove complexity and uncertainty in this area.   Businesses are facing substantially higher employment costs, so CCAB-I is also asking that Government commits to no further increases in the rate of Employers’ PRSI for the next four years. Incremental increases across all classes of PRSI are planned up to 2028. Consideration should also be given to reducing the rate of Employers’ PRSI on minimum wage workers by 1.5% to help with the initial costs of pension auto enrolment which will likely come in next year.   Clohisey concluded:  “According to research we conducted last month among SMEs, 3 in 4 (77%) said that business costs have increased in the past six months, with staff costs the biggest challenge. There is anecdotal evidence that increases in minimum wage are causing employers to reduce hours to offset the increased costs, so committing to no further increases in the rate of Employers’ PRSI for a set period of time would go some way in trying to stem increasing labour costs.”  ENDS  Pre-Budget Submission 2026: Addressing the ongoing housing shortage

In Irish news this week, the Institute has responded to the public consultation on the Research and Development tax credit and Revenue has announced an extension to the 2025 Residential Zoned Land Tax filing deadline. In UK news, tomorrow is the deadline for issuing a P60 for the 2024/25 tax year and in this week’s miscellaneous updates, MPs are calling on the Government to delay its planned reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief. In International news, the OECD has published updated transfer pricing profiles. Ireland 1. Read the response by the Institute, under the auspices of CCAB-I, to the public consultation on the Research and Development tax credit and on options to support innovation. 2. Revenue issued a press release confirming an extension to the deadline for filing the 2025 Residential Zoned Land Tax returns. UK 3. Tomorrow is the date by which all employees should receive a P60 for the 2024/25 tax year. 4. This week’s miscellaneous updates features a wide range of issues, including news that a committee of cross-party MPs is calling for the Government to delay its proposed curtailments of agricultural property relief and business property relief, which are due to take effect from 6 April 2026. International 5. Read about the updated transfer pricing country profiles published by the OECD. Keep up to date with all the latest Irish, UK, and international tax developments through Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Tax Newsletter. Subscribe to the Tax News by updating your preferences in MyAccount. You can also read this week’s post EU exit corner here.

In this week’s miscellaneous updates: The controversy and disquiet over the Government’s plans to restrict the availability of 100 percent agricultural property relief (APR)/business property relief (BPR) for inheritance tax (IHT) continues to rumble on, The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report on collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals, HMRC has been busy issuing further communications regarding the UK’s Pillar Two rules, HMRC is seeking feedback on the Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) notification and certificate submission process, A new online interactive tool has been launched to help businesses and individuals understand HMRC compliance checks, Read an article from KPMG summarising the tax implications of the UK’s recent trade deals with India and the US, and HMRC has confirmed that Measuring Tax Gaps 2025, which will provide an estimated tax gap for 2023/24, will be published next month on 19 June. The latest schedule of HMRC Talking Points live and recorded webinars for tax agents is also available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place, And finally, check HMRC’s online services availability page for details of planned downtime and the online services affected. Government Committee of MPs says delay IHT reforms  A report by the cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is calling for the Government to delay announcing its final APR and BPR reforms until October 2026, to come into effect in April 2027, saying a pause in the implementation of the reforms “would allow for better formulation of tax policy and provide the Government with an opportunity to convey a positive long-term vision for farming.” It would also protect vulnerable farmers who would have “more time to seek appropriate professional advice”.  In April, the Institute’s NI Tax Committee wrote to the Government on the same issue and also told the Government that the reforms need to be postponed in order to consult wider and reframe this policy change in a way that it is more effectively targeted. If reform is not an option, a range of potential mitigations were suggested in the letter which would curtail the impact.   The Institute also responded in April to the related consultation ‘Reforms to Inheritance Tax agricultural property relief and business property relief: application in relation to trusts.’  National Audit Office report on collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals  The NAO has published its report on collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals which examines the extent to which HMRC is well placed to support wealthy individuals to pay the right tax and intervene in good time if people get things wrong.   The report concludes that although wealthy people contribute significant amounts of tax revenue to the Exchequer, the complexity of their affairs makes it more difficult to get their taxes right and presents more opportunities to deliberately not pay enough.   In response to this concern, HMRC now publishes annual estimates of the tax gap for wealthy individuals, which it estimates to have been stable and low. According to the NAO, “HMRC deserves credit for increasing the amount of compliance yield. Its move towards more upstream casework has been an important innovation and has resulted in improved returns.” However, the scale of the increase in compliance yield from the wealthy raises questions about whether underlying levels of wealthy non-compliance are higher than HMRC previously thought.  “There is too much uncertainty around the tax gap estimate for this group, notably for offshore wealth, to be confident that non-compliance is not far higher than HMRC has detected. HMRC is working to improve its estimate of the wealthy tax gap.”  Pillar Two letters  HMRC recently wrote on Pillar Two to businesses who do not have a Customer Compliance Manager (CCM). The letter contains information on Pillar Two registration and reporting requirements, OECD standardisation, and updated HMRC guidance.  SAO notification and certification – feedback wanted  HMRC is seeking feedback on its SAO notification and certificate submission process as it working on a project to build a new digital service for this via a short survey. According to HMRC, responses to the survey are confidential and will only be used for internal HMRC research purposes.