Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) for employers. As previously reported, the period of Revenue’s ‘service to support compliance’ is extended to the year end. The updated guidance therefore confirms that in the period 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024, Revenue will continue to support employers in relation to their ERR obligations and will not seek to apply penalties for non-compliance.  The updated manual also confirms that from 1 July 2024, there is a firm expectation that all employers providing reportable benefits submit details of same on or before the provision of the benefit. It is also expected that any employer who commences filing after 1 July, will be expected to backdate its filings to 1 July 2024.   Employers experiencing difficulties complying with ERR are advised to report issues to Revenue through MyEnquiries, or through the National Employer Helpline, which can be contacted on (01) 738 3638 between 09.30 and 13.30 Monday to Friday.   Feedback on issues or problems you experience with the new ERR reporting regime can also be emailed to the Institute and we will continue to engage with Revenue through the TALC process.  

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which outlines procedures to make an application to pay Local Property Tax (LPT) by SEPA monthly direct debit. Paragraph 4 of the manual has been revised to include Andorra and the Vatican City in the list of countries in the SEPA area, and the screenshots to demonstrate online procedures in appendix 7 have been refreshed.

Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Manual which provides guidance on the exemption from stamp duty on conveyances and transfers of property between associated companies. The exemption is provided under section 79 SDCA 1999 and is generally referred to as “associated companies relief”. The manual has been updated to clarify the treatment that may apply where the transferred property comprises shares in a company that is liquidated or dissolved within a two-year period following the transfer, resulting in the extinguishment of those shares (section 5.3.1).

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual regarding the confidentiality of taxpayer information. The updated guidance addresses the authorised disclosure of taxpayer information in the context of Joint Audits carried out by Revenue officials in conjunction with nominated officials from other EU Member States(paragraph 4.13). Section 891L TCA 1997, introduced by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023, implemented article 12a of DAC7. A joint audit is an administrative inquiry conducted by Revenue and the competent authority of another Member State when linked to a person of common or complimentary interest in both jurisdictions. At a recent meeting of the TALC Audit Sub-Committee, Revenue confirmed that the joint audit process is outside the scope of the Compliance Intervention Framework.

Revenue has updated the following guidance to reflect increases in the 2024 tax rate bands and tax credits in Finance (No.2) Act 2023: High Income Individuals' Restriction regarding income chargeable to tax at the standard rate in joint assessment cases; PAYE reviews where Week 53 applies; and Guidance on the income tax treatment of married persons and civil partners.

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on tax relief for charitable donations to approved bodies. The amendments include: Examples of payments to "approved bodies" which are not considered a relevant donation for the purposes of the Charitable Donation Scheme (paragraph 3); Educational institutions defined in section 53(1)(a) of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 and the Royal Irish Academy are added to the list of approved bodies (paragraph 6); and The increase to €250,000 in the minimum annual income limit for audited financial accounts (paragraph 8).

Revenue’s Economic Research Unit is running a survey of medium sized tax agents to further inform its understanding of the issues facing tax agents in order to improve the quality of the service it provides. Agents selected for the survey will receive an email inviting them to complete the online survey before Monday 8 July 2024. Revenue has confirmed that it will not ask for financial or personal information in this, or in any other survey, or email. The survey is not in any way connected with an agent’s individual tax affairs. Further information is available in Revenue’s press release.

The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, made representations on behalf of members at last week’s meeting of the TALC Collections Sub-Committee. At the meeting, Revenue provided an update on the Debt Warehousing Scheme and the local property tax (LPT) and vacant home tax (VHT) compliance projects which it has commenced. Revenue confirmed that it is preparing updated guidance on 2023 income tax filing requirements for non-resident landlords and it has updated its system to allow agents to pay Relevant Tax on Share Options for pre-2024 liabilities. Debt Warehousing Scheme Revenue confirmed that if taxpayers have phased payment arrangements (PPAs) for both warehoused debt at 0 percent interest and other debt at the standard rate, PPA payments are automatically allocated against the oldest debt. Taxpayers cannot elect to allocate payments against debt with a higher interest rate if this did not precede the warehoused debt. However, it may be possible to reduce the interest charge if the taxpayer makes a payment outside the PPA towards current taxes.   Revenue explained that PPA compliance monitoring is fully automated once commenced. If there is a failed payment, the taxpayer is notified that Revenue will retry in 21 days. If there is a further failure, the taxpayer will lose the 0 percent interest rate and standard enforcement will commence.   Local Property Tax Revenue noted that some taxpayers who pay their LPT by deduction at source from pay or pension have failed to file an LPT return. Revenue advises that they file an LPT return as soon as possible in order to avoid issues at a later date. Revenue will write to this cohort of taxpayers in September to remind them to file the outstanding return; agents will not be copied. Vacant Homes Tax Revenue intends writing to persons that own 2 to 19 properties, asking them to declare whether the property is occupied or is vacant. Where vacant, and not already returned, a return and payment will be required to regularise their affairs. In September Revenue will issue 2024 reminder letters to those that previously declared a VHT liability. Non-resident Landlords A consequence of the commencement of the non-resident landlord withholding tax (NLWT) portal on 1 July 2023 is the requirement, in some cases, for two income tax returns for 2023. This arises in instances where a collecting agent was responsible for the non-resident landlord’s rental affairs for the period to 30 June 2023 then opted to utilise the NLWT portal from 1 July 2023 onwards. Revenue is preparing guidance to outline how a single return can be filed in such circumstances for 2023. Single filing will require the chargeable person (responsible for period 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023) to cease registration and the non-resident landlord will file all rental details for the 2023 year. Letters will issue in the coming weeks to chargeable persons. If they want to retain registration, they must contact Revenue to do so. Revenue has confirmed that non-resident landlords should not include details of Irish rental income that is being returned by a chargeable person. Payment of RTSO As readers will be aware, from 1 January 2024, the taxation of a gain realised on the exercise, assignment, or release of share options no longer falls under individual self-assessment. Instead, employers are responsible for collecting income tax, USC, and PRSI from employees on share option gains and for remitting those taxes to Revenue as part of the payroll process. Revenue has updated its website for these changes and additional text has been added to screens to alert anyone trying to submit RTSO for 2024. The self-assessment regime continues to apply to gains arising on or before 31 December 2023, as does the obligation to register for RTSO. Revenue has confirmed that is has updated its system to allow an agent to make an RTSO payment for pre 1 January 2024 liabilities.

At the most recent meeting of the TALC Direct & Capital Taxes Sub-committee, Revenue announced that it is finally updating its practice surrounding the review of its Tax and Duty Manuals (TDMs), including a commitment to make historic TDMs available on its website. The plan over the summer months is to commence a two-stage process to enhance the availability of Revenue guidance in future. Stage one will see up to four previous versions of a manual made available on Revenue’s website. The TDM will bear a watermark conveying that the particular manual is “out of date” and so may not be relied upon. Revenue has committed to refreshing its website so that the four most recent previous versions of guidance are available (excluding the current version). Stage two will see a change to the annual TDM review process whereby the manual under review will remain available during the review process. The manual will bear a watermark conveying that the guidance is “out of date/under review” and so may not be relied upon. The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, raised this issue in April 2022 via the TALC Direct & Capital Taxes Sub-committee (see Item 3). In October of that year, a delegation of stakeholders met with Revenue to progress the matter further (see Item 3(c)). Although it has taken time to implement the recommendations arising from this earlier engagement, this change in practice will make a significant difference to practitioners and taxpayers in future. As such, we are grateful for the continued engagement of both Revenue and those representing CCAB-I through the TALC process as a key forum to raise pressure points arising on both sides of the tax administration divide.

Readers are aware of an ongoing issue where Revenue-initiated emails in MyEnquiries can be overlooked if the email has been sent to an unattended or inappropriate email address. In response to the Institute’s representations at the Tax Administration Liaison Committee (TALC), Revenue is now providing a facility in MyEnquiries for users to mark a designated email address as the priority email address for sending Revenue-initiated queries. This enables practice staff with permissions to access that email address to ensure correspondence is not overlooked. Revenue has provided instructions to assist practitioners in assigning a priority email address for MyEnquiries if they choose to do so. Revenue will issue a revised Tax and Duty Manual (37-00-36A) in due course.

As recommended by the NI Tax Committee in a letter last August to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and subsequently in the Institute’s evidence submission to the House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee, the draft Finance Bill clause which would have retrospectively applied the change to the geographical scope of agricultural property relief (“APR”) for Inheritance Tax (“IHT”) has been removed from the most recent Finance Act. From 6 April 2024, APR, and woodlands relief (“WR”) is only available in respect of UK assets.  In accordance with draft Clause 1(7)(b), this change would have applied “in relation to transfers of value made before 6 April 2024, for the purposes of any charge to tax, or to extra tax, which arises on or after that date”.   This would have meant that lifetime gifts in the seven years prior to 6 April 2024 would have been impacted by the removal of APR and WR for non-UK assets had the settlor died within seven years of the original lifetime gift or made a further lifetime gift into trust within seven years of one made in the seven-year window prior to 6 April 2024. The original APR and WR would longer be available resulting in a decrease in the available nil rate band and potentially a 40 per charge to IHT.  The Institute recommended that the draft Finance Bill clauses be rewritten in a way that removed any damaging retrospective impact, as this would have otherwise threatened the principle of legitimate expectation.   HMRC confirmed the change when it published an updated policy paper on the amended Finance Bill clauses. The change is now reflected in Section 11 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 which received Royal Assent last month. 

Do you complete expenses and benefits returns? Or do you complete online filing for employment related securities? If so, you have a key role to play in ensuring returns are submitted by the 2023/24 filing deadline of 6 July 2024 and payments are made on time. By way of reminder, from 6 April 2023, forms P11D and P11D(b) can only be submitted online by employers (except for the digitally excluded). Also, since 6 April 2023, an online service is available for employers and their agents to apply for a PAYE Settlement Agreement (“PSA”). The 2023/24 deadline to apply for a PAYE settlement agreement is 5 July 2024, with payments due by 22 October 2024 (19 October 2024 if not paying electronically).  HMRC is running a webinar later this week on 27 June on how to use the PAYE online service to submit forms P11D and P11D(b). The webinar will provide an overview of these forms, examine the benefits of submitting them online, and consider payrolling of expenses and benefits. However, it will not cover how to calculate the value of benefits. You can book onto the webinar here.  It should also be noted that where Enterprise Management Incentive (“EMI”) options are granted on or after 6 April 2024, although the statutory reporting deadline is 6 July following the end of the tax year, some plan rules require the employer to notify HMRC within 92 days of grant. If this is the case, failure to report within the deadline can lead to the option lapsing or becoming non-tax advantaged. We recommend that employers check any EMI plans urgently to ensure this deadline is not missed.   Here’s a reminder of the key deadlines next month:  6 July 2024 - deadline for submitting all 2023/24 P11D(b) and P11D forms - and the employee must receive their copy of the P11D;  6 July 2024 – deadline for online reporting of the 2023/24 annual return in respect of employment related securities;  19 July 2024 - deadline for non-electronic payment of Class 1A National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for 2023/24; and  22 July 2024 - deadline for electronic payment of Class 1A NIC for 2023/24.