Revenue has published statistics on Local Property Tax (LPT) and Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) for 2024. LPT collected to date amounts to €403 million, with a 96 percent return compliance rate and 95 percent payment compliance rate indicating that the majority of property owners have met their LPT payment and filing obligations. In terms of VHT, there were 6,425 homes declared to be vacant, of which 2,630 claimed an exemption from VHT. The total liability to VHT amount to €2.2 million.  

Last week, a delegation from the Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, met the Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers TD to discuss this year’s Pre-Budget 2025 submission. The Minister was joined by several key senior officials from his department who facilitated an engaging and thorough discussion on a number of our proposals. We raised our concerns over the increased cost of doing business for SMEs in particular, the potential to reduce Employers' PRSI and reducing the headline rate of CGT from 33 percent to 25 percent. We also raised concerns about capacity and adequate childcare, and how the lack of affordable childcare is impacting workers. In addition, we reiterated many of our recommendations for enhancing share-based remuneration, particularly for SMEs, including recommending a deferral of the upfront tax charge on unapproved share options and a safe harbour for valuations for private companies instituting share schemes. We discussed the impact of the new Enhanced Reporting Requirements on businesses and the ongoing question about the need for businesses to report in real-time or, or before in-scope payments are made to employees. The requirement to file on a real-time basis does not seem to add any integrity to the information reported to Revenue but has caused significant problems for affected businesses and workers. We also suggested that two-gift limit applying to the small benefit exemption should be removed with the only limit being by reference to the total value of non-cash benefits made in a year, i.e. a taxpayer should be entitled to receive any number of non-cash benefits up to €1,000 as long as those benefits are not part of a salary sacrifice arrangement. The Institute is grateful to Minister Chambers for taking time to meet with us and consider our proposals. We wish the Minister every success in his new role and look forward to continued engagement with him and his office.

Completing the new Labour team in HM Treasury, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (XST) role has been allocated to James Murray MP. Last week’s King’s Speech set out the new Government’s legislative agenda but did not give any further hints on what tax policy will look like. And the current parliamentary session has been extended from 23 July to 30 July, during which it is expected that the date for the new Government’s first fiscal event will be announced.     The XST is responsible for the UK tax system including:  Direct, indirect, business, property, and personal taxation   European and other international tax issues   Customs and VAT at the border   The Finance Bill and the National Insurance Bill   Departmental Minister for HMRC, the Valuation Office Agency, and the Government’s Actuary’s Department   Tax administration policy   Input to Investment Zones and Freeports focusing on tax and customs elements   Overall responsibility for retained EU Law and Brexit.  

HMRC has asked users to share their views on the new alcohol duty approvals, returns and payments digital service which due to launch in 2025 via a survey. According to HMRC, it will use feedback from the survey to “improve the quality and relevance of information in future”. The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete. All responses will be kept confidential and anonymised when used in reporting.  

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, the latest Agent Update is available and the rules for reporting advances of pay have been relaxed. Construction industry scheme payment deduction statements should now only be requested by post and the UK and Gibraltar have signed an agreement on social security. HMRC guidance on genuine contact has been updated for new emails about child benefit and the latest schedule of HMRC live and recorded webinars for tax agents is also available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place. HMRC has also published data on expected exchequer receipts from environmental taxes and finally, the VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries came into operation from 8 July 2024.   Latest Agent Update   Agent Update 121 is available now. Get the latest guidance and information including:   changes to form R40   more information on notifying HMRC of changes to VAT registration details   supporting your clients to claim refunds for PAYE tax overpayments   P11D and P11D(b) filing and payment deadlines.   Relaxation of rules for reporting pay advances    From 6 April 2024, any payment on account of salary which is a genuine advance and not a loan should be reported by employers via PAYE Real Time Information on or before what would have been the normal payday, as opposed to being reported on the date of payment of the advance. This applies even if the normal date of payment falls into a different tax year.   The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2024) SI 2024/305 and the Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No.3) Regulations 2024 SI 2024/306 are the underpinning legislation for this change.    Construction industry scheme payment deduction statements   HMRC has recently contacted us to advise that from 1 July 2024 it is now no longer possible for subcontractors in the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) to request payment deduction statements from HMRC’s CIS helpline. Any such request should instead be made by post. HMRC has advised that this change has been made for security reasons and acknowledges that this may increase the admin burden for some taxpayers. More information on this is included in this month’s Agent Update.   Social security agreement with Gibraltar    An agreement between the UK and Gibraltar on social security coordination was implemented from 1 June 2024. HMRC’s view is that the agreement simply replaces retained EU law following the UK’s departure from the EU and works to protect the social security position of cross-border workers whilst also continuing to ensure access to the UK state pension. HMRC advises individuals from the UK who are working in Gibraltar to continue to follow the guidance on GOV.UK.   Genuine HMRC contact updated   HMRC has updated its guidance on genuine contact to provide information of how HMRC may contact child benefit applicants by email to acknowledge receipt of their claim and advise it is being progressed. In order to do so, HMRC will use the email address provided in the application and will use the subject line ‘Thank you — we’ve received your Child Benefit claim’ in the email title.   Environmental taxes   HMRC has published provisional 2023/24 data on exchequer receipts from a range of environmental taxes, including the climate change levy. Overall receipts for 2023/24 are expected to be lower than in 2022/23.   VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries    The Value Added Tax (Refund of Tax to Museums and Galleries) (Amendment) Order 2024 SI 2024/720 came into force on 8 July 2024. This adds additional museums and galleries which provide free public admission to the VAT refund scheme and removes those no longer eligible. A policy paper on the scheme is also available. This scheme supports the government’s policy of encouraging free admission to be offered by museums and galleries by enabling VAT refunds of certain purchases related to the provision of free admission.  

In this week’s EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant to EU exit. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available.   Miscellaneous updated guidance etc.    Recently updated guidance and publications relevant to EU exit are set out below:   Notice to exporters 2024/14: customs declaration service (CDS) - exhaustion in error guidance   Customs Declaration Service error codes   Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (Union) of the Customs Declaration Service   Appendix 2: DE 1/11: Additional Procedure Codes of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS)   Data Element 2/3: Document and Other Reference Codes: Licence Types — Imports and Exports of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS)   Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (Union) of the Customs Declaration Service   External temporary storage facilities codes for Data Element 5/23 of the Customs Declaration Service   Data Element 2/3 Documents and Other Reference Codes (National) of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS).  

In Irish news, the Government’s Summer Economic Statement 2024 has been published and Revenue has published the report of the TALC sub-committee on Administrative Simplification of Business Reliefs for SMEs. In UK news today, the new Financial Secretary to the Treasury has now been appointed and the deadline is approaching to make the second self-assessment payment on account for 2023/24. In International news, the OECD has released data on statutory corporate tax rates in the last three years. Ireland The Government’s Summer Economic Statement 2024 has been published. Revenue has published the report of the TALC sub-committee on Administrative Simplification of Business Reliefs for SMEs. UK Read about the appointment of the new Financial Secretary to the Treasury. The deadline is approaching to make the second self-assessment payment on account for 2023/24. International The OECD has released data on statutory corporate tax rates in the last three years. 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 EU exit corner.  

Last week it was confirmed that Lord Livermore has been appointed to the role of Financial Secretary to the Treasury (FST) in the new Labour government. The FST is the Minister responsible for a range of areas, including HMRC and tax policy. Accountancy Daily sets out more on what might be expected from the new Minister and his previous roles and experience in government. As the dust begins to settle after the UK General Election with new Ministers sworn in last week, the Labour government began preparing for the opening of parliament which took place earlier this week.  This took place on Wednesday 17 July with the King’s Speech outlining the new Labour government’s legislative agenda for the next year. More on this will feature in Monday's edition of Chartered Accountants Tax News. The date for Labour’s first budget is also expected to be confirmed before MPs break up for summer recess at the end of next week. 

The second 2023/24 self-assessment payment on account for income tax and Class 4 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) is due for payment on or before midnight on Wednesday 31 July 2024. Each payment on account is half of the previous year’s tax bill. Information on time to pay arrangements and how to apply is available on GOV.UK.  Anyone who is self-employed is required to make two payments on account for 2023/24 unless:  Their 2022/23 Self-Assessment tax bill was less than £1,000, or  More than 80 percent of all the tax owed in 2022/23 was deducted at source, for example via PAYE.  If a taxpayer knows that their tax bill for 2023/24 is going to be lower than that in 2022/23, a claim can be made to HMRC to reduce payments on account.  Each payment on account made should be 50 percent of the person’s total income tax and Class 4 NICs liability for 2022/23. If the final tax liability in 2023/24 is greater than the total payments on account made, a balancing payment will be due on or before 31 January 2025.   

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, HMRC has launched a new VAT registration estimator tool, and it is also confirmed that from next month, VAT registration changes will only be able to be made by agents online. A webinar is being held later this week on the new additional information form for the creative sector reliefs and guidance has been published on the abolition of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) multiple dwellings relief (MDR). Scotland’s visitor levy legislation has completed the necessary legislative stages in the Scottish parliament and finally, in an update on GOV.UK, HMRC no longer automatically issue PAYE refunds.  HMRC launches VAT registration estimator tool  HMRC has now launched its new VAT registration estimator guidance tool. A Welsh version of the tool is also available. The tool is designed to help businesses estimate what registering for VAT may mean for them and has been developed after feedback from small businesses suggested that an online tool would be helpful to show when their turnover could require businesses to register for VAT and the potential effect on profits.  The estimator also links to further information about the registration process and aims to assist businesses when considering voluntary registration by allowing the business to experiment with different levels of inputs and outputs in the tool.   The accompanying Press Release confirming the tool’s launch also contains a helpful reminder of the UK’s VAT registration rules.  VAT registration changes online only by agents from 5 August  From Monday 5‌‌‌ August‌‌‌ 2024, any request by an agent to change a client’s VAT registration details should only be made using their online Agent Services Account, and not by using the VAT484 form or any other postal or electronic means. HMRC has set out more details on this upcoming change in an email.  Webinar on creative industry tax reliefs  HMRC is holding a webinar later this week on 18 July which is specifically covering the new  additional information form for creative industry tax reliefs. This new  online HMRC form must be used from 1 April 2024 by a company claiming creative industry tax relief by way of providing supporting evidence for the claim.  Abolition of SDLT MDR   As announced in the Spring Budget 2024, Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 contains the legislation which has abolished SDLT MDR. This applies to land transactions in England and Northern Ireland if the effective date is on or after 1 June 2024, subject to transitional arrangements. HMRC has therefore updated its SDLT manual to include guidance on this.   MDR is still available in Scotland under its land and buildings transactions tax regime. Wales is currently consulting on the potential abolition of its corresponding legislation within the land transactions tax regime.   Scottish visitor levy passed   The legislation which will implement Scotland’s new visitor levy has passed all stages in the Scottish parliament. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) bill will enable local authorities in Scotland to apply a levy on overnight stays. All revenue raised is to be reinvested in services and facilities largely used by tourists and business visitors. Councils that will be seeking to introduce the levy will only be able to do so after having consulted with local communities, businesses, and tourism organisations. It is expected that the earliest the levy could come into force is spring 2026.   HMRC no longer automatically issue PAYE cheque refunds  In an update on the GOV.UK page on tax overpayments and underpayments, HMRC has essentially confirmed that it no longer automatically issues PAYE refunds by cheque. Individual employees must instead register a claim online to ensure they receive any refund due. This change is another strand in HMRC’s ongoing strategy to drive services online usage.   Cheques are still available if requested, but these will take up to 42 days or six weeks to issue compared to five working days if the refund is instead claimed online.   The July 2024 Employer Bulletin was also recently published and sets out updates on a range of areas for employers. 

In this week’s EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant to EU exit. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available.   Miscellaneous updated guidance etc.   Recently updated guidance, and publications relevant to EU exit are set out below:  Moving processed or repaired goods into free circulation or re-exporting them  Transit newsletters — HMRC updates  Declare your goods to authorised use and completing authorised use  Authorised Consignee Temporary Storage (ACTS) location codes for Data Element 5/23 of the Customs Declaration Service  Check if a business holds Authorised Economic Operator status  List of customs training providers  Search the register of customs agents and fast parcel operators 

Statutory corporate tax rates have stabilised worldwide after a lengthy period of falling rates, according to new OECD data released last week. The 2024 edition of OECD Corporate Tax Statistics shows that average statutory corporate income tax (CIT) rates have remained steady at 21.1% over the past three years. This follows a two-decade period that saw average statutory CIT rates decline from 28% in 2000 to 21.1% in 2021.