Revenue has published updated guidance notes to the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, to include all amendments to the 1999 Act by subsequent Acts up to and including the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022.

Revenue has published a new Tax and Duty Manual to provide guidance regarding the VAT treatment of the Special Flat-rate scheme for Farmers. In addition, the Farmers and intra EU Transactions Tax and Duty Manual has been marked as no longer relevant.

Revenue has updated its Tax and Duty Manual  to include information on changing accounting periods and the need to ensure that linked returns, such as the Form 46G Company, have the same accounting period as the Form CT1 for that same tax year.

Revenue has updated its guidance removing prior guidance on ‘patronage shares’. This reflects Revenue’s acceptable that shares issued by a co-operative at a value less than market value to members arising from the trading relationship between the member and the co-operative (or a nominated purchaser), otherwise known as patronage shares, does not give rise to a trading receipt within the charge to income tax.

Revenue has published an updated Tax and Duty Manual to reflect an amendment made by Finance Act 2021 to the scheme of accelerated capital allowances available under section 285A TCA 1997. Capital expenditure incurred on or after 1 January 2022 on equipment operated by fossil fuel (other than equipment operated on electricity generated using such fuel) does not qualify for accelerated allowances.

Revenue has published new guidance on the Interest Limitation Rule (“ILR”). The ILR transposed Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 (as amended by Council Directive (EU) 2017/952) which establishes rules to combat tax avoidance schemes which impact the functioning of the EU marketplace. The ILR applies to accounting periods commencing on or after 1 January 2022 for all corporate taxpayers.

Revenue has released a new Tax and Duty Manual setting out guidance on the tax treatment of a number of health and well-being related benefits including the provision of a qualifying medical check-up, access to healthcare, COVID-19 testing, and flu vaccinations. In the past, Revenue did not apply a charge to tax when the above benefits were provided by an employer. These administrative measures were placed on a statutory footing by the Finance Act 2021 and the manual sets out detailed guidance of all conditions attaching to the exemptions.

Lesotho has deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS Convention) which will enter into force on 1 November 2022.

The Tax Strategy Group (TSG) published its annual papers on 10 August 2022. The group is chaired by the Department of Finance and comprises senior officials and advisers from several governmental departments and offices. The TSG is not a decision-making body, rather its purpose is to set out different options and issues to be considered as part of the annual budgetary process. In this year’s papers, the TSG notes the key challenges Ireland currently faces are our aging population, the digital transition, and the green transition and also notes the country’s reliance on FDI-sectors. The papers include income tax proposals to help alleviate inflation pressures on taxpayers as well as policy proposals on climate measures, corporate tax, VAT and capital taxes.   The TSG referred to the OECD recommendations for improving Ireland’s tax system: Broadening Ireland’s tax base Streamlining the VAT system Transition Ireland’s tax mix from distortionary taxes. Readers will be interested to note the various options considered by the TSG in terms of personal income taxation policy for Budget 2023: Option 1 – Full indexation of tax credits and bands Option 2 – Partial indexation of tax credits and bands Option 3 – Third rate of income tax of 30 per cent As part of our annual position paper, The Next Financial Year, we noted that possibility of introducing a third rate of income tax. A key consideration when introducing such a measure is the entry point at which workers would pay tax at the mooted 30 per cent intermediary rate of income tax. It appears that the Government is now considering indexation of tax credits and/or tax bands as it will likely benefit a much wider cohort of the taxpaying population. Partial indexation is the most flexible option and allows the Government to apply different fiscal parameters when indexing different areas of the tax system. The full list of papers released by the TSG is as follows: TSG 22 – 01 Economic Context for Taxation Policy which sets out the economic and fiscal context for taxation policy. TSG 22 – 02 Income Tax which includes a summary of tax yields, information on the distribution and burden of income tax and USC, international comparisons and policy considerations for reform, including a discussion of personal income tax policy options (as mentioned above). TSG 22 – 03 Corporation Tax which examines a range of topics including corporation tax trends, an update on the Apple State Aid case, and a discussion on the recent reviews of the R&D tax credit and the KDB. TSG 22 – 04 Property Related Tax Issues which looks at the Help to Buy Scheme, Residential Zoned Land Tax, and Local Property Tax, and also considers a Vacant Property Tax. TSG 22 – 05 Social Protection Budget Package – Budget 2023 Issues which examines the general role of social transfers, presents information on overall Department of Social Protection expenditure, discusses a range of illustrative welfare Budget measures, and then considers the PRSI system. TSG 22 – 06 Climate Action and Tax which examines energy and environmental taxation, including motor vehicle taxes, setting out the structure and current operation of taxation regimes which come under this category of tax. TSG 22 – 07 Value Added Tax which reviews the Value-Added Tax (VAT) rates and structures, provides options for change and looks at VAT developments at EU and domestic level. TSG 22 – 08 General Excise Paper which looks at non-environmental excise duties. It outlines the rates that have been applied and the revenue yielded from excise duties on tobacco products, alcohol products, and betting duty in recent years. TSG 22 – 09 Capital & Savings Taxes & Stamp Duty which covers capital gains tax, capital acquisitions tax, stamp duty, DIRT and life assurance exit tax and examines rates, yields and exemptions associated with these taxes. The paper sets out the current position on each and examines potential options for change in the context of Budget 2023. TSG 22 – 10 Response to Covid – Support Schemes which sets out a high-level overview of the main policy supports under the remit of the Department of Finance.

As part of the ongoing work to implement the Two-Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges Arising from the Digitalisation of the Economy, the OECD is seeking public comments on the draft model rules to implement a new taxing right that will allow market jurisdictions to tax profits from some of the largest multinational enterprises ("Amount A of Pillar One"). Responses to the consultation must be submitted by Friday, 19 August 2022. A public consultation meeting will also take place on Monday, 12 September 2022. Individuals wishing to attend the public consultation virtually are invited to register by Wednesday, 7 September 2022

That’s according to the Northern Ireland Tax Committee in its response to the consultation “Tertiary legislation for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax”. The Committee also highlighted the lack of available software and the importance of ensuring that detailed guidance is not only developed as soon as possible but that it must explicitly set out the digital record keeping requitements for businesses under Making Tax Digital (“MTD”) for income tax. The Committee also made the following recommendations:- HMRC should work at pace and aim to publish the final MTD for Income Tax notices and more detailed guidance as a matter of urgency; The reporting simplification for smaller businesses should be automatically available to those business with turnover less than £85,000 and this simplification should be de-linked from the VAT registration threshold; HMRC should establish a dedicated MTD for Income Tax exemptions unit to deal with exemption applications; and HMRC should also explore what further categories of exemptions should be made available. In other consultation news, HMRC has also recently published two further consultation outcomes:- Call for evidence: An Independent Customs Regime; and Employment status. The Institute responded to both of these consultation; you can read our submissions here and here. The employment status consultation was conducted in 2018 and its outcome is only now being published. According to the accompanying email from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Government has also announced new employment status guidance designed to provide additional clarity for businesses, individuals and other groups such as those in the gig economy, so that they have a better understanding of which employment status for employment rights (including pay, leave and working conditions) an individual falls into. The guidance also makes reference to an update to the ‘Calculating the Minimum Wage’ guidance which has been refreshed to provide more information about what counts as working time for National Minimum Wage purposes in the gig economy. The guidance is being published alongside the Government response to this consultation on employment status, where many respondents called for additional clarity around the employment status boundaries and examples of how to apply the rules to different scenarios. A new consultation on the UK Single Trade Window (“STW”) has also been recently opened. This consultation sets out the UK government’s proposed approach to four key areas where legislation will be needed to enable the full functionality of the STW:- The collection, use and sharing of data within government; Enabling government visibility, and use of, supply chain data;  Facilitating trade through targeted international data sharing with other countries and territories; and Transitioning to the STW as the sole point of entry for border data required for transactional processes. The Government is interested in any views or feedback to ensure the STW improves UK businesses’ ability to import and export by reducing costs and burdens, and ultimately drives economic growth. Should you wish to discuss the proposals, please contact btbo-event-enquiries@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

The European Commission has issued a call for applications to join an informal expert group to provide advice and expertise on certain elements of the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM is a climate measure that is intended to prevent the risk of carbon leakage and support the EU's increased ambition on climate mitigation overall. The informal expert group will assist the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union to complete methods for the monitoring, reporting, quantification and verification of embedded emissions of products in the sectors in the scope of the CBAM, and in the early preparation of implementing acts, before submission to the relevant comitology committee. While Member States’ authorities will form part of the expert group, applications are also sought from other organisations, such as business associations and Non-Governmental Organisations. The deadline for applications is 15 September 2022.