Revenue has published a new Tax and Duty Manual to provide guidance on the VAT treatment of medical equipment and appliances. In addition, VAT guidance on rollators has been moved to the new manual and has been marked as no longer relevant. 

PAYE taxpayers may be entitled to a repayment of income tax and USC if they are out of work. Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides information on claiming an unemployment repayment online with screenshots of amended myAccount and ROS screens. 

Section 83DA SDCA 1999 came into effect on 1 June 2023. It provides for a full repayment of stamp duty where a residential property is sold for the purposes of an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement under the Affordable Housing Act 2021, within 12 months of its acquisition. Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Manual to include detailed step-by-step guidance on how to make a repayment claim using Revenue's eRepayments system, which can be accessed through ROS or myAccount. 

Revenue is hosting free online events to give taxpayers an overview of the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR). ERR applies to certain expenses/benefits paid to employees and/or directors. The events will include a Q&A and will address the following topics:  requesting Employer Reporting Notifications (ERN)  submitting expense/benefit details through ROS by file upload or by online form  viewing expenses/benefits by submission type and  an employee’s view in myAccount of submissions made by their employer.  For anyone wishing to attend a webinar they should go to www.revenue.ie/err, select the link to Revenue’s ‘Eventbrite webpage’ and choose the relevant event for your business and follow the on-screen instructions to book your ticket. For further details see eBrief No.212/23. 

The Department of Finance has published the White Paper which sets out estimates of receipts and expenditure for 2024. The latest economic analysis by the Government predicts a surplus of €9.6 billion for 2023 and surplus of €12.5 billion for 2024. Tax revenues are strong with revenue of €88.3 billion predicted for 2023 increasing to €93.3 billion for 2024. The post-Budget forecast was published as part of Budget 2024. 

Revenue has published the Budget Excise Duty Rates Tax and Duty Manual (TDM) to reflect changes in certain excise duty rates announced in Budget 2024. The TDM includes new rates of Mineral Oil Tax and Tobacco Products Tax effective from 11 October 2023. Relevant changes have also been made to the Excise Duty Rates on Energy Products and Electricity Taxes TDM. 

Revenue has published its Budget 2024 summary, detailing key measures in this year’s budget. 

Following Budget announcements delivered by Ministers Michael McGrath T.D. and Paschal Donohoe T.D., our tax team was pleased to share Budget 2024 updates via our Tax News special edition which issued to readers on Tuesday evening. We remind readers that they can read insights and updates on the Institute’s Budget 2024 landing page.  

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD, announced a package as part of Budget 2024 to assist businesses with ongoing challenges. The range of tax measures include improvements to the R&D Tax Credit, a new Angel Investor Scheme with a reduced Capital Gains Tax Rate of 16 percent for individuals, and improvements to the EIIS. These measures will particularly benefit start-ups and SMEs. The Minister also announced the Increased Cost of Business Scheme (ICOB), which is a once-off grant for small and medium businesses.  Welcoming the increases in personal income tax credits, reduction in the USC and the delay in the increase in Employer’s PRSI Contribution until October 2024, Minister Coveney said it was a pro-business Budget:  "As a government we have supported businesses with targeted interventions and supports, particularly through the extraordinary challenges of recent years. I recognise though that those challenges haven’t gone away, including very high energy costs. For that reason we’re introducing the Increased Cost of Business Scheme which will benefit up to 130,000 Small and Medium enterprises.  The aim of the Scheme is to provide financial support to those firms which have been most impacted by additional business costs, by providing a tiered grant equivalent to up to half business rates for this year. This will also go some way to helping businesses meet the increase in the Minimum Wage to €12.70, which is obviously an important step towards the government’s commitment to introducing a Living Wage.  I’m really pleased too to see the introduction of a new Angel Investment Scheme. It will be a standalone relief, with a reduced Capital Gains Tax rate of 16% and will be targeted at angel investors who invest in ‘innovative’ SMEs. While the details of the scheme are being finalised, Enterprise Ireland will have a key role in certifying eligible businesses that the angel investor chooses to invest in.  The changes to our R&D tax credits from 25% to 30% and the increase in the payment threshold to €50,000 are also really welcome for large and small businesses alike. The increase in the rate will mean that any companies in-scope will be eligible to the same value of the R&D tax credit before the implementation of the new minimum effective corporation tax rate."  You can read more about some of these measures in Chartered Accountant Ireland’s Budget 2024 special newsletter.    

Check out the latest items on the Agent Forum. Remember, in order to view each item, you must be signed up and logged in. All agents, who are a member of a professional body, are invited to join HMRC’s Agent Forum. This dedicated Agent Forum is hosted in a private area within the HMRC’s Online Taxpayer Forum. You can interact with other agents and HMRC experts to discuss topical issues and processes.

Revenue has launched a public consultation on modernising Ireland’s administration of Value-Added Tax (VAT). Revenue’s objective is to introduce real-time digital reporting for VAT, supported by electronic invoicing (eInvoicing).  Advancements in digital technology offer the possibility to align VAT compliance obligations more closely with normal business processes, reducing compliance costs and yielding efficiencies for tax-compliant businesses, while enabling Revenue to focus more effectively on combatting fraud. At European Union (EU) level, discussions are currently underway on the European Commission’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) proposals for similar developments in respect of cross-border transactions between Member States.  This consultation focuses on modernising Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) VAT reporting through eInvoicing. The consultation period will run from Friday 13 October 2023 to 12 January 2024. The consultation, in questionnaire format, can be viewed here.  The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I will respond to the consultation and members wishing to provide input can email us.  Announcing the commitment on Budget Day, Minister McGrath further commented:  “With the continued advancement of technology, it is important that the State continuously assesses its current operations to ensure that we are keeping pace with that advancement and that we are fully availing of the opportunities available.  Therefore, I welcome today’s announcement from the Revenue Commissioners launching a public consultation on updating and modernising Ireland’s VAT system, which represents an important start on this significant body of work. I would encourage businesses and their representatives to engage with the public consultation and to have their say in the development of the future of VAT reporting and VAT invoicing processes.” 

Do you use HMRC online services? Don’t be caught out by the planned downtime to some services. HMRC are warning about the non-availability of specific services on the HMRC website, a range of services are impacted. Check the relevant page for information on planned downtime.