You may have read on Friday that it has been brought to our attention that the recently launched MyFutureFund employer registration portal may potentially allow individuals with restricted ROS access to view sensitive payroll-related information. This presents significant privacy concerns under the GDPR and requires immediate investigation. Last week, we requested clarity from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and raised a formal query regarding access controls. At present, we are still awaiting a response, although we understand that the DSP is looking into this. Members are advised to exercise caution when using the portal and report any anomalies. We will keep members informed on this issue.

Readers are reminded that next Monday, 15 December 2025, is the payment deadline for capital gains tax (CGT) liabilities arising in the period 1 January to 30 November 2025. Revenue’s CGT webpage details how to register for CGT via MyAccount. CGT payments can be made online using a debit/credit card or a one-off single debit instruction.

The Department of Finance and Revenue have together launched a public consultation seeking stakeholders views on an eWHT (electronic withholding tax) system in Ireland. eWHT proposes a move toward real-time taxation for self-employed taxpayers subject to withholding tax (WHT). The deadline to respond to the eWHT survey is 5.00pm on Friday 30 January 2026. As part of the public consultation, the stakeholders’ views are sought on the proposed modernisation of Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT) and Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT), and the expansion of a WHT mechanism to the platform economy. Feedback is also requested on the introduction of personalised deduction rates for a new modernised and expanded WHT regime for self-employed workers. Taxpayers who will be impacted by the current proposals include: Accountable persons who currently operate PSWT, Providers of professional services subject to PSWT, RCT Principal contractors and subcontractors in the construction, forestry and meat-processing sectors, Platform operators, and Platform workers. In the accompanying press release, Revenue provided details of the eWHT Consultation Hub which contains general information on the background, objectives, and features of the modernisation proposal. The hub also provides details of the impact on both new and existing stakeholders, as well as outlining how eWHT will operate for them.

Last week the Institute’s tax team and a representative from the NI Tax Committee met with HMRC to feedback our initial reaction to the 2025 Autumn Budget. The Institute highlighted a range of concerns, including our disappointment that the transferability of the £1 million allowance for agricultural property relief and business property relief, whilst welcome, was the minimum attempt made to protect the succession plans of genuine farming activity, family-owned businesses, and older farmers. Members are welcome to feedback their concerns and queries on the Budget’s tax announcements at any time by email to tax@charteredaccountants.ie. Leontia Doran, UK Tax Manager, outlined to HMRC that the early announcement of the soft landing for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax quarterly filings in 2026/27, as one of our ongoing recommendations, was a welcome announcement given the scale of the change that MTD for income tax represents. The Institute also highlighted that the confirmation on Budget Day by the Government that it will not regulate tax advisers, another Institute lobbying win, provided certainty to the regulated tax agent community, and particularly our members, that they would not be facing dual regulation in future. Other matters raised included the roadmap for e-invoicing and how HMRC plans to engage on this ahead of its publication at the next Autumn Budget given our concerns about this for smaller businesses, earlier Self-Assessment payments and the forthcoming consultation on close companies reporting certain  transactions to HMRC. The Institute will continue to engage with HMRC on the Budget’s outcomes and will be discussing its impact on Northern Ireland with local Government in the coming weeks and months. For all things UK Budget related, visit our UK Autumn Budget 2025 page for useful links, news stories, guidance and analysis.  

A new excise duty on electric vehicles (EVs) from 2028, a further freeze on fuel duty until August 2026 and the annual increases in tobacco duty also featured on Budget day. Fuel duty The temporary 5p fuel duty cut has been extended for a further five months from 31 March 2026 to 31 August 2026. Thereafter, the cut is being reversed with three increases in stages as follows: 1p on 1 September 2026, 2p on 1 December 2026, and 2p on 1 March 2027. The planned inflationary increase for 2026/27 will not take place. However fuel duty will begin to increase with inflation again in accordance with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) starting from April 2027. EVs From April 2028 a new EV excise duty (eVED), a new mileage charge for electric and plugin hybrid cars, will take effect. Drivers will pay for their mileage on a per-mile basis alongside their existing vehicle excise duty. EVs will pay half the equivalent fuel duty rate for petrol and diesel cars, and plug-in hybrid cars will pay a reduced rate equivalent to half of the electric car rate. This will be a self-reported per-mile levy. Other electric vehicle types, such as vans, buses, motorcycles, coaches and HGVs, will be out of scope of the eVED when it is introduced as the transition to electric for these vehicle types is less advanced than for cars. At the same time, the Government also announced specific measures to help consumers choose EVs and to support effective and accessible charging infrastructure to support the transition to EVs. A consultation was launched on Budget Day which provides further detail on how the eVED will work and which also seeks views on its implementation. The consultation will remain open until 18 March 2026. According to the Budget Red Book, when the eVED takes effect, an average EV driver will pay around £240 per year or £20 per month. Tobacco duty Duty rates on all tobacco products increased by RPI inflation plus 2 percentage points from 6pm on 26 November 2025. A one-off increase of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or 50g of other tobacco products and the annual uprating of tobacco duty by RPI plus 2 percentage points next year will take effect from 1 October 2026. Air passenger duty (APD) rates All rates of APD will increase in line with the RPI from 1 April 2027 and will be rounded to the nearest penny. In last Autumn’s Budget the Government announced plans to extend the higher APD rate to private jets over 5.7 tonnes. A summary of consultation responses to the associated consultation has been published which confirms that this will be legislated in Finance Bill 2026 to take effect from 1 April 2027. Alcohol duty All alcohol duty rates will increase in line with RPI inflation from 1 February 2026. The small producer relief discounts will also increase from the same date. Vaping duty The previously announced vaping products duty will commence as planned from 1 October 2026 at a flat rate of £2.20 per 10ml. It will apply to all vaping liquid and will work alongside the vaping duty stamps scheme to drive compliance. £10 million of funding has also been redirected from HMRC to the Border Force in 2026/27 with the aim of enhancing operational information gathering capabilities ahead of the introduction of this new duty and to support enforcement at the border. Gambling duty Following consultation, the Government has decided not to proceed with a single tax on remote betting and gaming. Instead, duties on remote gambling will be increased with different rates applying to remote betting and remote gaming. Remote gaming duty will increase from 21 percent to 40 percent from 1 April 2026. A new remote betting rate will be introduced at 25 percent from 1 April 2027 as part of the general betting duty. This new rate will not apply to self-service betting terminals, spread betting, or pool betting. Remote bets on horseracing will be excluded from these changes and will remain taxed at 15 percent. Bingo duty will be abolished from 1 April 2026. Details of the changes are set out in a policy paper. Gaming duty bands The gross gaming yield bandings for gaming duty will be frozen from 1 April 2026 until 31 March 2027. Duty free allowances A duty free allowance of 50ml per passenger for vaping products will be introduced in October 2026, alongside moving cider and sparkling wine into the beer and still wine duty free categories, respectively. Vehicle excise duty (VED) Search and rescue vehicles will be exempt from VED; work will begin with stakeholders to design and implement this exemption from April 2027. The VED rates for cars, vans, HGVs and motorcycles will increase in line with RPI inflation from 1 April 2026. The HGV levy will also increase in line with RPI inflation from the same date. The VED expensive car supplement threshold will increase from £40,000 to £50,000 for zero-emission vehicles only. This change will take effect from 1 April 2026 and will apply to zero-emission EVs registered from 1 April 2025 onwards.

The OECD has announced that 26 countries and jurisdictions, including Ireland and the United Kingdom, intend to implement the new international framework for the automatic exchange of information regarding offshore property. Tax administrations will have access to offshore real estate information, including ownership details, property value, transaction history and rental income.

The OECD has published two reports prepared by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The reports contain the 2025 peer reviews of the implementation of the international standards of Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR) and the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI).

The EU Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters will host a public hearing on Thursday 11 December on the taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The hearing will review the use of loopholes and tax planning strategies to minimise tax liabilities, assess transparency measures and consider possibilities for tax authorities to enhance compliance enforcement and cross-border cooperation.

In UK developments we take a closer look at last week’s Autumn Budget examining both the personal and business taxes tax announcements. In Irish news this week, MyFutureFund, the country’s new pensions auto-enrolment system, opens for employers to register, and we bring you an update from the recent TALC Collections sub-committee meeting. In International news, the OECD has published its report on corporate tax statistics for 2025. UK 1. Read the main announcements impacting individual taxpayers in last week’s Autumn Budget which included frozen thresholds, increased rates of income tax for property, savings, and dividend income, and earlier self-assessment payment obligations. 2. On the business and employer tax side, Budget Day announcements included a soft landing for Making Tax Digital for income tax, unchanged corporation tax rates, e-invoicing from 2029, more timely payments of VAT and PAYE, and frozen employer NICs thresholds. Ireland 3. The registration portal for Ireland’s new pensions auto-enrolment system, MyFutureFund launched this week. 4. Read an update from the TALC collections sub-committee meeting held in November International 5. The OECD has recently released its 2025 Corporate Tax Statistics report. 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.  

Revenue has updated two other guidance notes this week dealing with debt issue costs, and Hepatitis C compensation payments.  The details are as follows: The guidance on the tax treatment of Debt Issuance Costs (including interest cap fees) has been updated to include details previously contained in the guidance titled the tax treatment of interest cap fees. The updated guidance on the taxation of compensation payments made to individuals diagnosed with Hepatitis C and HIV includes new sections detailing the relevant legislation and definitions applicable to the available exemption.

Revenue has updated its guidance on the anti-hybrid rules to outline changes to the application of the associated enterprises test to partnerships. It confirms that, with respect to the voting rights of shares held through the partnership, partners in a partnership are always deemed to be ‘acting together’. The Institute has been engaging with Revenue through the Tax Administration Liaison Forum to get clarity on this complex issue.

Last week, Finance Bill 2025 completed its fourth stage through the Oireachtas and the Report Stage Amendments to Finance Bill 2025 were published. The Bill now proceeds to the Second Stage in the Seanad. The Report Stage provides the opportunity to address and discuss the amendments arising from the Committee Stage and to provide additional details on proposed changes in the Finance Bill. Clarification on the VAT rate on the sale of certain apartment, as well as further additional items, can be found in the Report Stage amendments.