Revenue’s Manual on the Taxation of Maternity Benefit, Paternity Benefit, Parent’s Benefit, Adoptive Benefit and Health and Safety Benefit has been updated to reflect amendments included in the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019. Revenue’s Manual now details that Parent’s Benefit paid by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (“DEASP”) is subject to Income Tax, from 1 November 2019.

Revenue’s Manual on Income from Scholarships has been updated to include details of concessions for non-resident students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue’s Manual on Income from Scholarships now includes a link within Revenue’s website, providing guidance for non-resident students who are unable to travel to the State to obtain a PPSN from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (“DEASP”). Within this guidance, Revenue have confirmed that they are prepared to disregard the need for a student to be present in the State to qualify for relief provided certain conditions are met.

Revenue have amended their Tax and Duty Manual on Allowances for Scientific Research to reflect amendments included in the Finance Act 2019. Revenue states that references to “capital expenditure on scientific research”, within section 765(1) Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (“TCA”) will not include any expenditure on plant and equipment. Only where expenditure on the construction or development of a building or structure is, in itself, scientific research, will that expenditure be qualifying capital expenditure for the purposes of section 765(1) TCA 1997. For further details see Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual Part 29-02-01– Allowances for Scientific Research.

Revenue’s Pensions Manual Chapter 16 – Group Schemes is now updated to reflect the amendment included in Finance Act 2019.  Chapter 23 is also updated to provide further clarification on the application of double tax agreements to repayment claims from non-Irish resident owners of Approved Retirement Funds (“ARFs”), vested Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (“PRSAs”) and Approved Minimum Retirement Funds (“AMRFs”). Amendments in Finance Act 2019 now allow employers to make contributions to pension schemes of employees of another employer, including another company in the same group, in certain circumstances. Details relating to this are now included within the Pensions Manual Chapter 16 – Group Schemes. Section 16 of Chapter 23 contains details on the updated tax treatment of ARFs, AMRFs and retirement fund balances owned by non-Irish tax resident individuals. 

Revenue’s Compliance Procedure Manual for Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax ("SSDT") has been updated to include certain plant protein drinks and certain drinks containing milk fats as being within the scope of SSDT. The SSDT or sugar tax as its commonly known, came into effect on 1 May 2018 and applied to water and juice-based drinks. The scope of the tax was extended with effect from 1 January 2019 to include certain plant protein drinks and drinks containing milk fats. In addition to the types of drinks now included within the scope of SSDT, section 2 of the updated Manual now also includes the method for determining if those drinks are liable for SSDT. Links to the tax regulations in respect of SSDT have also been included in section 1.4 of the Manual.

The Tax and Duty Manual Compliance Programme for Agent Services representing PAYE Taxpayers can now be found within the Tax and Duty Manual Part 37-00-04b – Guidance for Agents Acting on Behalf of Taxpayers. This manual outlines procedures for agents acting on behalf of taxpayers. It also provides guidelines for Revenue staff in dealing with agent/client links.

May’s Exchequer returns show a €78 million (1.3 per cent) increase in tax revenues compared to May 2019 due to a €1.2 billion increase in corporation tax receipts.  Income tax fell 7.8 per cent year-on-year, or by €137 million. VAT and Excise receipts fell by 35 per cent and 36 per cent year-on-year respectively, or nearly €1 billion combined.  An Exchequer deficit of over €6.1 billion was recorded to end-May 2020 due to public funding demands in response to the COVID-19 crisis.   The May 2020 corporation tax take comprise of the first instalment of preliminary tax for large companies with a November 2020 year end, the second instalment of preliminary tax for large companies with a June 2020 year end and a final corporation tax payment for companies with an August 2019 year end.   Income tax receipts have been the largest contributor to tax receipts for the last five years, with VAT receipts being the second largest. While corporation tax receipts are holding strong, the fall in VAT receipts impacted the over tax receipts figure for May.    More details are available from the Department of Finance.  

Revenue recently released version 13 of the FAQ, Guidance on the Operational phase of the COVID 19: Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).   Updated items include:  Paragraph 2.8 Rehiring employees – advice on the processes relating to employees who were removed from payroll and rehired, including steps to take for the inclusion and processing of rehired employees on the TWSS.   Paragraph 3.12 Multiple employments – confirmation that earnings from active employments, including retirement benefit/an occupational pension are considered in determining the CVS File figures.   Paragraph 4.3 Retirement benefits and ARNWP – confirmation that retirement benefits/pensions payments, subject to income tax through the PAYE system, will be taken into account in calculating the Average Revenue Net Weekly Pay (ARNWP).  Paragraph 4.5 Using a different value to the ARNWP – further confirmation that the employer risks applying incorrect values to the ARNWP and subsidy calculations, due to the potential for multiple employments, where the figures in the Employers CVS file are not followed.   Paragraph 4.18.1 Entering subsidy information through ROS screen – information for employers not using payroll software or who are entering payroll information manually.  Paragraph 5.4 treatment of BIK for eligible employees – information on the treatment of BIKs for employees moving off the TWSS, with the suspended BIK being spread over the remaining payroll periods for 2020.   Paragraph 5.6 Reduction or refusal of refunds – further information on subsidy reduction or refusals due to excessive additional gross payments.   Further details on these updates and additional information are highlighted in grey in Revenue’s FAQs. 

Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, recently announced the extension of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (“TWSS”) until the end of August. The scheme was originally due to run for twelve weeks from 26 March.    Considering the challenges faced by employers in the re-opening of the economy under the Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, the Minister said he was satisfied with the decision to continue the scheme.   Over 58,300 employers have registered for the TWSS, allowing for the support of more than 514,700 employees. The numbers relying on the TWSS for support is expected to decline as the re-opening of the economy continues throughout the summer.   According to the Department of Finance, continued monitoring of economic recovery will inform further decisions on the TWSS, with the Minster stressing that “this support cannot last forever”. Revenue has yet to issue guidance on the extension of the TWSS.  

HMRC has confirmed that unless someone has been furloughed for a full three-week period by 30 June 2020, the job retention scheme will be closed to claims for them by employers. As a result, Wednesday 10 June is the last day on which someone who has never been furloughed before can start a period of furlough and qualify for the scheme. The full update from HMRC, with other important dates, is set out below.  “As part of changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), I’ve outlined below important dates that may impact you in the coming weeks.  Important dates – what you need to know now   The scheme will close to anyone who hasn’t been furloughed for 3 weeks by 30 June, so you will only be able to claim for employees after that if they have been furloughed for a full three-week period at any time before the end of June.  So, if you intend to furlough an employee who hasn’t been furloughed before, you will need to agree that with them and start their period of furlough on or before 10 June – this is the last day on which someone who has never been furloughed before can start a period of furlough and qualify for the scheme – this ensures the minimum three-week period is complete by 30 June.  You will then have until 31 July to make a claim for any periods of furlough up until 30 J‌un‌e – this applies to both employees furloughed for the first time and those you have previously furloughed and claimed for.  The future of the scheme  The rules of the scheme are changing from 1 J‌ul‌y.   On 12 J‌un‌e, we’ll publish full guidance on all the scheme changes on GOV.UK – search for 'Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme' to find this – webinars offering more support on the changes will also be available to book online from 12 June – please do not call us for more information, as everything you need to know about the scheme changes will be published online on GOV‌.UK.  From 1 July, you’ll have the flexibility to bring previously furloughed employees back to work part time, you can decide the hours and shift patterns they work to suit the needs of your business – you’ll pay their wages for the time they’re in work and can apply for a scheme grant to cover any of their normal hours they are still furloughed for.  Also, for periods starting on or after the 1 J‌ul‌y, the maximum number of employees you can claim for in any period cannot be higher than the maximum number you have claimed for in a previous period. For example, if your highest single claim for periods up to 30 J‌un‌e was for 100 people, you can’t claim for more than this number in later periods.  From 1 Au‌gu‌st, you will need to contribute towards the wage costs of your furloughed employees until the scheme ends on 31 Oc‌to‌be‌r.  Making changes to your claims if you have over-claimed  If you’ve made an error in a CJRS claim that means you received too much money, you must pay this back to HMRC.  We’ve updated the application system so you can tell us if you have over-claimed in a previous claim – when you apply you’ll be asked if you need to reduce the amount to take account of a previous error. Your new claim amount will be reduced to reflect this. You should then keep a record of this adjustment for six years.  If you have made an error in a CJRS claim and do not plan to submit further claims, we are working on a process that will allow you to let us know about your error and pay back any amounts that you have over-claimed. We will update guidance and keep you informed when this is available.  Protect yourself from scams   Stay vigilant about scams, which may mimic government messages as a way of appearing authentic and unthreatening. Search 'scams' on GOV‌.UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact. You can also forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599.”  

To make a claim now, please visit GOV‌.UK and search 'Check if you can claim back Statutory Sick Pay paid to employees due to coronavirus (COVID-19)'.  Which employers can use the scheme?  Employers are eligible to use the scheme if they meet all of the following criteria:  they’re claiming for an employee who’s eligible for sick pay due to coronavirus  they had a PAYE payroll scheme in operation before 28 February 2020  they had fewer than 250 employees across all PAYE schemes on 28 February 2020  they’re eligible to receive state aid under the EU Commission Temporary Framework – more information about this can be found on GOV‌.UK (please use the search term above).  Which employees are entitled to SSP?  The repayment will cover up to two weeks of the applicable rate of SSP, and is payable if a current or former employee was unable to work on or after 13 March 2020 and entitled to SSP, because they either:  had or have coronavirus  could not or cannot work because they were/are self-isolating at home  were/are shielding in line with public health guidance.  Which records should employers keep?  Employers must keep records of SSP that they have paid and want to claim back from HMRC. They must keep the following records for 3 years after the date they receive the payment for their claim:  the dates the employee was off sick  which of those dates were qualifying days  the reason they said they were off work – if they had symptoms, someone they lived with had symptoms or they were shielding  the employee’s National Insurance number.  Employers can choose how they keep records of their employees' sickness absence. HMRC may need to see these records if there’s a dispute over payment of SSP.   

HMRC continue to hold a number of webinars covering various COVID-19 business supports. These have a limited number of spaces, so save your place now.  Coronavirus COVID-19 Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme: Choose a date and time  This webinar provides an overview of the scheme, looks at who can claim, when to start paying SSP, employees you can claim for, making a claim, keeping records, and more.  Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – How to make a claim: Choose a date and time  This guides you through making a claim, including the essential information you need, what to do before you make your claim, calculating and processing claims.  Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS): Choose a date and time  This webinar covers the aim of the scheme, who can apply, how much may be claimed, applying for the scheme, what happens after applications are made, and other support available.