Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty manual Credit in respect of tax deducted from emoluments of certain directors and employees to include the contact details for the Tax Appeals Commission. Periodic updates have also been made throughout the manual including references to the 2024 tax year.

HMRC has sent a range of emails and published several documents relevant to employers, including the April 2025 Employer Bulletin. The minutes of the 13 March 2025 HMRC Employer and Payroll Group forum meeting, which the Institute is represented on, have also been published. These contain detailed information about the new Globally Mobile Employee PAYE Notification Form.   April 2025 Employer Bulletin  The April 2025 edition of the Employer Bulletin brings you all the latest HMRC updates and guidance to support employers, payroll professionals and agents. Included in this edition are important updates on:    • the new rates of the National Minimum Wage,   • reporting expenses and benefits for 2024/25,   • changes to notifications by employers to operate PAYE on a proportion of a globally mobile employee’s income and to overseas workday relief, and   • changes to the tax treatment of double cab pickups.         It also provides information to employers to ensure they are selecting the correct national insurance contributions (NICs) category letter for certain employees in respect Category B (married women and widows who have a certificate of election form showing that they are entitled to pay reduced NICs).   You can read the bulletin on screen or print it off. It’s compatible with most screen reading software packages.  Paying your PAYE and VAT bill by direct debit  HMRC is reminding taxpayers that you can make your PAYE or VAT payments simpler by signing up to pay by direct debit (DD). According to HMRC, DD is the most accurate way to pay these tax bills and reduces the burden of having to make the payment yourself, so you don’t need to work out how much you need to pay or miss a payment deadline.  Payments are automatically collected from your bank account based on the information you provide in the: Full Payment Summary and Employer Payment Summary for PAYE tax bill, and  VAT return.  To pay PAYE bill by DD, see: https://www.gov.uk/pay-paye-tax?utm_source=PAYE&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DD. To pay your VAT bill via DD go to https://www.gov.uk/pay-vat?utm_source=VAT&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DD.  Employer emails from HMRC  HMRC has sent a range of emails on subjects relevant to employers:  Are you expecting to pay statutory payments?,   Reporting accurate information in real time, and  Statutory Neonatal Care Leave and Pay update. 

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty manual VAT – Postponed Accounting to reflect the recent change to the VAT 3 return making it mandatory to complete the Postponed Accounting PA1 field.

Revenue has issued an eBrief announcing Wednesday 19 November 2025 as the ROS 2024 return extended filing and payment date for certain self-assessment taxpayers. The extension applies to taxpayers who file their 2024 Form 11 return and fully meet their payment obligations through ROS. The payment obligations relate to the balance of income tax due for 2024 and the preliminary tax payment due for 2025. Beneficiaries in receipt of gifts and inheritances with a valuation date in the year ended 31 August 2025 who file a capital acquisitions tax return and make the appropriate payment through ROS can also avail of the extended deadline date. Taxpayers are required to both file and pay through ROS to qualify for the extension. Revenue confirmed in the eBrief that extension will not apply if only one action is completed through ROS. In these cases, the filing and tax payment due date will then be no later than 31 October 2025.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) recently published its report Economic Overview of Ireland and Northern Ireland which provides a high-level comparison of the economies of Ireland and Northern Ireland (NI) over recent years. The report outlines similarities and differences between the two economies in terms of economic growth, labour market trends, living standards, education, health, general well-being and economic structures. The report highlights, that over recent years, the disparity in economic performance and well-being indicators between Ireland and NI is widening with the economy in Ireland displaying stronger economic growth and higher wages and living standards. Some of the key findings in the report are as follows: Ireland's population is growing faster than NIs, largely due to strong net migration in recent years. This has resulted in Ireland having a younger population, with a lower old-age dependency rate. There have been shifts in the labour market over time.  Labour market participation in Ireland has increased significantly since 2010, widening the gap with NI.  In 2022, the participation rate of those aged 16-64 was 76.8 percent in Ireland compared to 72.4 percent in NI. Employment rates in Ireland overtook NI in the period after the financial crisis, reflecting Ireland’s strong recovery. Ireland’s modified gross national income per capita in 2022 was 57 percent higher than NI’s gross domestic product per capita, reflecting stronger economic growth. In terms of wages, the data show a positive gap favouring Ireland, with hourly earnings 36 per cent higher than in NI in 2022. While Great Britain (GB) remains NI’s largest trading partner, NI’s trade with GB has declined since 2015, while trade with Ireland has increased. On a per capita basis, NI residents pay significantly lower personal income tax than those in Ireland (€2,980 in NI vs. €6,725 per capita in Ireland). Corporate tax receipts per capita in Ireland (€5,760) are over five times those in NI (€1,018), reflecting the dominance of multinationals.

In Irish news this week, new guidance on the General Anti-Avoidance Rule was issued and the Government announced the development of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity. In UK news, the Institute has written to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury to express its concerns on the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief and this week is your last chance to take our short survey on Making Tax Digital for income tax. In International news this week, the Council of the European Union has adopted an amendment to DAC9. Ireland 1. Revenue has published a new Tax and Duty manual on the General Anti-Avoidance Rule and protective notification procedure. 2. Read about the development of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity recently announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. UK 3. Read the submission by the Institute’s NI Tax committee to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief. 4. This is your final opportunity to take our short survey on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. International 5. Read about the amendment to DAC 9 recently adopted by the Council of the European Union. 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.

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, HMRC has shared with us the current version of the AM103 letter; the letter that is sent to agents who have access to HMRC’s services for tax agents and need to confirm who their anti-money laundering supervisory authority is. The latest schedule of HMRC Talking Points live and recorded webinars for tax agents are available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place. And finally, check HMRC’s online services availability page for details of planned downtime and the online services affected. AM103 letter HMRC has shared with us the current version of its AM103 letter; the letter that HMRC sends to agents who have access to HMRC’s services for tax agents and need to confirm who their anti-money laundering supervisory authority is in order to avoid losing access. To continue using HMRC’s agent services, the declaration form with the letter must be completed and sent to HMRC within 28 days together with evidence of the agent’s anti-money laundering supervision. By completing the declaration form an agent is confirming that it is: trading as a business, registered with a supervisory authority for anti-money laundering purposes or has registered (or applied to be registered) with HMRC for these purposes, and complying with the HMRC standard for agents. HMRC will suspend access to its agent services if the letter is not complied with or if the agent does not respond in the 28 day timeframe.

We have compiled the latest updates to various VAT legislation, publications, briefs and guidance. VAT Assessments and Error Correction, Insolvency (VAT Notice 700/56), Local authorities and similar bodies (VAT Notice 749), Caravans and houseboats (VAT Notice 701/20), Help with VAT compliance controls — Guidelines for Compliance GfC8, Extra Statutory Concessions (VAT Notice 48), VAT Refund Scheme for museums and galleries (VAT Notice 998), Claim a VAT refund as an organisation not registered for VAT, Local authorities and similar bodies (VAT Notice 749), VAT Civil Penalties, VAT Default Surcharge Officer's Guide, Goods and services you can claim for under the VAT DIY Scheme, VAT Export and Removal of Goods from the UK, and Insolvency practitioner bulletin 1 (2025): VAT7 form update.

This is your last chance to take our short six question survey on Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax. The survey will close later this week on Friday 25 April and will take less than 5 minutes to complete. Take the survey now.

On 14 April 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted a further amendment of Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC9). The amendment will streamline filing obligations and reduce compliance burdens for companies under the Pillar 2 Directive. Member States are required to implement the Directive into national legislation by 31 December 2025.

Last week the Institute’s NI Tax Committee, chaired by Janette Burns, wrote to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (XST) to express its concerns about the UK Government’s April 2026 proposals to restrict the availability of 100 percent agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) for inheritance tax (IHT) to a £1 million allowance. A copy of the letter has also been sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee, the House of Commons Treasury Committee, and the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland. The Committee has also responded to the related consultation ‘Reforms to Inheritance Tax agricultural property relief and business property relief: application in relation to trusts.’ The letter to the XST highlights the particularly damaging impact of these proposals which are already being felt across the UK but which will impact disproportionately for family owned businesses and farms in Northern Ireland. Also highlighted is the need to ensure these proposals do not impact retrospectively which would damage the principle of legitimate expectation. Although the £1 million allowance will refresh every seven years on a rolling basis which will be of benefit to lifetime gifts, the proposals are especially unfair to the many owners of APR and BPR property who are elderly and/or in poor health amongst whom a common strategy is to hold these assets until death before passing these on to the next generation. Unfortunately, this cohort of taxpayers will not realistically be able to make future lifetime gifts to their children every seven years over an extended period of time to take advantage of the renewal of the £1 million allowance. Whilst recognising that difficult decisions may be necessary in the current geopolitical and economic environment, the Government still needs to do whatever it can to protect genuine business and farming activity in the UK. The value of comprehensive, wide-ranging consultation also cannot be underestimated. The consequences of not consulting are already clear with reports of farmers and business owners in deep distress. A broader review of the UK’s IHT regime, building on prior work conducted by the Office of Tax Simplification, is warranted to address concerns that the effective IHT rate falls as estates get larger. This should also examine mechanisms to target the concern that ‘non-farmers’ are currently investing in land to avoid IHT by using APR to pass assets to the next generation IHT free. At the moment, the government is focusing solely on these two reliefs leaving those who run businesses and farms facing an unexpected tax burden with little choice but to consider selling. These reliefs are not loopholes but exist to allow farms/businesses to continue trading, without penalty, when the owner dies and the next generation takes over. The Committee is urging the government to postpone the changes in order to consult wider and reframe this policy change in a way that it is more effectively targeted. However, if this is not an option, a range of potential mitigations are suggested in both the letter and the consultation reply which would curtail the impact.

Revenue has updated its guidance on Securitisation Regulation: Notification of Investment to reflect the most recent EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes which was updated on 28 February 2025.