The European Commission's Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union has published an exploratory study on health taxes from an EU perspective. The study provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of taxes on products high in fat, sugar and salt in the European Union, including their design, implementation, and impact on public health.

The European Parliament’s FISC Subcommittee hosted a public hearing on the implementation of the Two-Pillar framework in the light of the US Administration backing down from some of the tax commitments it has made previously. The hearing assessed the implications for the EU's approach to global tax governance and analysed the next steps for the implementation of the OECD agreement for a global minimum tax rate for multinational companies.

EU finance ministers have agreed a new approach to the Value Added Tax (VAT) rules for distance sales of imported goods and import VAT. The new directive will make suppliers liable for the import VAT and VAT on certain distance sales. Foreign traders or platforms using the VAT Import One-stop Shop will not need to be registered in each Member State.

Revenue has updated its guidance on the income tax and PRSI treatment of individuals who are engaged as Sub-Postmasters by An Post, and Social Welfare Branch Managers by the Department of Social Protection. The updated guidance confirms that the five-step framework, as set out in the Supreme Court judgement in the Karshan (Midlands) Ltd t/a Domino’s Pizza case [2023] IESC 24, should be used to determine whether the individual is an employee or is self-employed.

Revenue has updated its general background guidance on corporation tax. The updated guidance reflects Finance Act 2024 amendments to Start-up Relief for companies under section 486C TCA 1997. The new participation exemption for foreign distributions under section 831B TCA 1997 in also included in the revised guidance.  

Revenue has updated its guidance on the High-Income Individual’s Restriction to reflect amendments to section 485C TCA1997 introduced by Finance Act 2024. The amendments delete section 485C (1B) TCA 1997 and relevant references in Schedule 25B of the Act which were required to reflect the removal of obsolete provisions in the section dealing with the restriction on the use of capital allowances for certain leased assets.  Examples throughout the guide have also been updated to the calendar year 2024, with the 2024 credit values and rate bands now applied.

The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe has recently signed the Statutory Instrument bringing into effect the changes announced in Finance Act 2024 relating to the Film Tax Credit. The enhancements announced in Finance Act 2024, referred to as the Scéal Uplift, provide for an uplift of 8 percent to the tax credit for small to medium budget feature film productions. Finance Act 2024 introduced enhancements to section 481 TCA 1997 which provides relief, by means of a corporation tax credit (Film Tax Credit), for the qualifying costs of certain audio-visual productions. The uplift will result in a tax credit rate of 40 percent for feature films for projects with a maximum qualifying expenditure of up to €20 million. As a result of the commencement order, the enhanced relief took effect from 2 May 2025 and is subject to the sunset clause of 31 December 2028 provided for in section 481 TCA 1997.

Revenue has issued a further warning of fraudulent emails, text messages and phone calls appearing to come from them seeking personal information from taxpayers.  The fraudulent messages typically relate to tax refunds and the immediate payment of tax to avoid criminal proceedings and are a phishing attempt. Revenue has confirmed that MyEnquiries, the secure online service, is used to send, receive and track correspondence. Examples of fraudulent emails and texts are included in the release. Revenue also advises individuals to reset passwords if account details have been provided in response to an email, text or phone call and to contact their bank or credit card company if bank details have been provided.

Revenue has updated the Agent's Guide to the Collector General’s Division to include new content and to update existing information. While the guidance is primarily intended to be of assistance to tax agents, it will be of assistance to any customer who transacts business with the Collector-General’s Division. The following new sections have been added to the manual: Non-resident repayment of Relevant Contracts Tax, International claims, E-linking process for agents and taxpayers, and EU VAT modernisation. The sections which have been updated are as follows: Notification of representation of properties for LPT, Late payments and interest charges, Tax relief at source (mortgage interest and medical insurance), Unregistered VAT repayments, and Due dates for submission of returns and payments. References to fixed direct debits have been removed from the guidance.

In advance of the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) pay and file deadline of 23 May 2025, Revenue has produced a series of prerecorded general information sessions on RZLT. The recordings cover a step by step guide dealing with site registration, and RZLT return and payment processes which can be accessed on Revenue’s RZLT Hub.

Revenue has updated the guidelines for charging interest on late payment through Revenue Debt Management Services. The manual now includes relevant details for capital acquisitions tax. The purpose of the guidance is to explain why interest is charged and how interest charges are raised and charged from the Debt Management Services. The title of the guidelines has also been updated and references to charging interest on fixed direct debit and balloon payments have been removed. Appendix 4, which provides details of the due dates for self-assessed taxes, has been updated to reflect current practices. 

In Irish news this week, the Department of Finance has published its first Annual Progress Report and Revenue has published new guidance on the participation exemption for certain foreign dividends. In UK news, the Institute recommends that the introduction of any UK wide e-invoicing policy should commence on voluntary basis and HMRC is no longer providing unique taxpayer references (UTRs) to taxpayers or agents over the phone. In International news, two EU Parliament subcommittees will host a joint public hearing next week on the impact of tax policies on the EU housing crisis. Ireland 1. Read about the Annual Progress Report recently issued by the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. 2. Revenue has issued new guidance on the dividend participation exemption. UK 3. The Institute responded last week to the consultation by the UK Government  on e-invoicing, outlining the recommendation that any e-invoicing policy should commence on voluntary basis. 4. HMRC is no longer providing unique taxpayer references (UTRs) to taxpayers or agents over the phone for security reasons. International 5. Read about the upcoming public hearing on the impact of tax policies on the housing crisis in the EU. 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.