In this week’s EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant to EU exit. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available. From 2027, a carbon pricing mechanism for imports will be implemented in the UK to support decarbonisation and the Institute is meeting with HMRC next week to discuss the Import One Stop Shop rules and welcomes any member questions in advance. We briefly update you on the impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (“REUL Act 2023”) and the introduction of the first elements of the UK’s Border Target Operating Model which commence from the end of this month.   Retained EU Law update  As a result of the REUL Act 2023, from 31 December 2023, circa 600 pieces of retained EU law were repealed. The Government’s first report on the status of REUL is due to be published by 22 January 2024. This is expected to include a summary of the data on the REUL dashboard, and is expected to include progress and future plans. Reports are due to be published every six months until June 2026. The House of Commons Library has also published a useful briefing on the new powers available to the Government under the REUL Act 2023.  Border Target Operating Model (“BTOM”)  The UK government has published a set of communication assets to support the readiness of traders and has been sharing these assets with UK and EU traders in preparation for the first phase of its BTOM which commences later this month.   These communication assets include:- Border control posts leaflet for plant and plant products;  Composite products decision tree;  Health certificates guide;  Import notifications guide; and  Phytosanitary certificate guide.  BTOM training sessions for traders are being held online throughout January. What changes are coming on 31 January 2024?   The introduction of health certification on imports from the EU of medium risk which are as follows:- animal products;  plants;   plant products;   the introduction of health certification on imports from the EU of high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin; and  the introduction of new checks and controls when moving Irish goods (i.e., any goods other than qualifying Northern Irish Goods) which are moved from Irish ports directly to Great Britain.  The Government has also set out three actions which can be taken to prepare for these changes:-   Know your risk-category – use these online tools to find the risk category of your commodity;  Ensure that your EU supply chain is preparing to provide you with health certificates and/or phytosanitary certificates – find out more here; and  Be ready to correctly submit your pre-notification via the Import of products, animals, food, and feed system (“IPAFFS”) – attend a January training session and read the import notifications guidance.  Sign up for the Defra Traders/Exports Newsletter for updates relating to the BTOM   Miscellaneous updated guidance etc.   Below we highlight recently updated guidance, and publications relevant to EU exit which this week includes the UK Government’s responses to various customs related consultations:-  Customs, VAT and excise UK transition legislation from 1 January 2021;  Reference Documents for The Customs Tariff (Suspension of Import Duty Rates) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020;  Reference Documents for The Customs Tariff (Preferential Trade Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020;  Bringing goods into the UK temporarily;  Apply to use simplified procedures for import or export (C&E48);  Apply to operate a customs warehouse;  Apply to use simplified declarations for exports;  The future of customs declarations;  Transit newsletters — HMRC updates; and  Introducing a voluntary standard for customs intermediaries. 

The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, made representations on behalf of members at the first meeting of the Tax Administration Liaison Committee (TALC) Simplification subgroup last week. The subgroup, made up of representatives from Revenue, the CCAB-I, the Irish Taxation Institute and the Law Society, was established on the direction of the Minister for Finance to “identify any opportunities to simplify and modernise the administration of business supports”. Other business groups representative of Irish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be invited to contribute with a view to identifying perceived administrative issues and obstacles that deter SMEs from availing of business reliefs.  CCAB-I will inform members via Tax News of all relevant updates. 

We have compiled the latest updates to various HMRC VAT publications, briefs, and guidance. Readers should note that there are also numerous updates to VAT guidance and rules due to the UK’s departure from the EU. Claim a VAT refund as an organisation not registered for VAT;   Late payment interest if you do not pay VAT or penalties on time;   Pay the VAT due on your One Stop Shop VAT Return;  People involved in transactions connected with VAT fraud;  Partial exemption (VAT Notice 706);  Health professionals and pharmaceutical products (VAT Notice 701/57);  Updates on VAT appeals;   Charity funded equipment for medical and veterinary uses (VAT Notice 701/6);  Insolvency (VAT Notice 700/56);  Apply to join the VAT Flat Rate Scheme;   Motoring expenses (VAT Notice 700/64);  VAT on goods exported from the UK (VAT Notice 703);  Register for VAT if you make relevant acquisitions into Northern Ireland;  VAT Government and Public Bodies;  Claim a VAT refund as an organisation not registered for VAT; and  Register for VAT by post. 

Revenue has released the 2023 ROS Form 11, which will be updated on an ongoing basis to include additional prefilled information from third parties. It intends to issue an updated version in early February 2024 to facilitate claims for the mortgage interest tax credit.   In conjunction, Revenue has published a Tax and Duty Manual which addresses change to the ROS Form 11 from 2022 on the following matters:  Professional services withholding tax (paragraph 3.1),  Non-resident landlord withholding tax (paragraph 4.1),  Non-refundable foreign tax panel for employees/directors (paragraph 5),  Employments not subject to PAYE (paragraph 6.1),   Remote working relief (paragraph 6.2),  Social welfare payments (paragraph 6.3),   Lump sums from relevant (foreign) pension arrangements (paragraph 6.4),  Transborder relief (paragraph 7.1),   Personal tax credits (paragraph 8), and  Extracts from accounts (appendix 1).  The manual also outlines some misunderstandings that arise in completing the capital gains tax section (paragraph 10). A summary of prefilled information in included in appendix 2.  

HMRC’s latest schedule of live and recorded webinars for tax agents is available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place.  

Do you use HMRC online services? Don’t be caught out by the planned downtime to some services. HMRC are warning about the non-availability of specific services on the HMRC website, a range of services are impacted. Check the relevant page for information on planned downtime.  

Check out the latest items on the Agent Forum. Remember, in order to view each item, you must be signed up and logged in.  All agents, who are a member of a professional body, are invited to join HMRC’s Agent Forum. This dedicated Agent Forum is hosted in a private area within the HMRC’s Online Taxpayer Forum. You can interact with other agents and HMRC experts to discuss topical issues and processes.   

IAASA has published a Consultation paper on its proposal to revise International Standard on Auditing (ISA) (Ireland) 505 External Confirmations and make related conforming amendments to ISA (Ireland) 600 (Revised February 2023) Special Considerations – Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors). The proposed effective date of the revised standard is for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2024, with early adoption permitted. Responses are requested by 23 February 2024.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) launched a consultation on proposed narrow scope amendments to achieve greater convergence with the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (Including Independence Standards). The proposals have two key objectives. align definitions and requirements in IAASB standards with new definitions in the IESBA Code. extend the applicability of existing requirements for listed entities to meet heightened stakeholder expectations regarding audits of public interest entities. Key proposed revisions include extending the scope of the entities included under the International Standards on Quality Management and the International Standards on Auditing which will impact on: Engagement quality reviews; The auditor’s report including independence, communicating key audit matters, and the engagement partner’s name; and Communicating with those charged with governance. Feedback is requested by April 8, 2024.

In every issue of The Bottom Line, we ask students for their thoughts on a particular topic. This month, we want to know: What are your New Year's resolutions? Sarah McAleese KPMG I am firmly of the belief that it is more realistic to stick to the habit of taking up and incorporating positive habits into your schedule as opposed to giving things up.  This year, my New Year’s resolution is to prioritise setting myself up for a successful day by embracing slower mornings.  On the days that I am working from home and do not have to commute, I have started and plan to continue making a habit of getting up earlier to get out for a walk before work in order to clear my head.  I also intend to listen to the news headlines while getting ready each morning in order to stay on top of current affairs.  Coffee is a crucial part of my morning routine, and given the cost-of-living crisis in 2024, I am now a self-proclaimed barista and have vowed to make more coffee at home. Kaillum Burns  Gilroy Gannon New Year's resolutions are always something I try to include in my transitions from one year to another. Setting resolutions can offer a rejuvenating beginning. They are an excellent way to initiate the upcoming year, a chance to press the 'restart' button, and enable you to establish fresh goals or revisit existing ones and decide on your approach to accomplishing them.  Achieving resolutions always brings positivity into my life.  It is a great thing when you commit to a goal and follow through. Resolutions ignite a similar feeling.  Regardless of the obstacles, proving to yourself that you can overcome anything is an unparalleled source of satisfaction.  In essence, humans thrive when pursuing goals, and what better method to recalibrate your objectives than through a set of New Year's resolutions? Conor Flynn EY As the calendar turns, a wave of contemplation can sweep over us, prompting New Year's resolutions.  These annual pledges are more than just a cultural tradition; they can serve as a compass, guiding us towards personal growth and positive change. By setting specific goals, resolutions can help us articulate our aspirations. They can turn abstract desires into actionable plans that guide our actions and decisions, thereby instilling a sense of purpose for the coming year. Personally, I have found that a New Year can provide a renewed sense of empowerment. That being said, we should remind ourselves that the New Year does not hold a monopoly on resolutions as we can engage in self-reflection at any point throughout the year.  It is an exercise we should strive to do regularly for our own well-being and personal development.

Navigating the notorious "Where do you see your career in five years?" question in an interview demands strategic thinking. Denis Galvin, Partner at Barden, shares his top tips for crafting a compelling answer to turn this common interview hurdle into an opportunity to showcase your strategic vision and ambition for career success Beyond the answer to your biggest personal weakness, failing to give a good answer to the common interview question, “Where do you see your career in five years?” is the next surefire way to ruin a great interview.  We all know it’s a common question during interviews, so why aren’t we better at answering it? When you’ve interviewed as many people as I have, the answer to this question can come out as bland, vague and usually accompanied by a few ‘ahhs’, ‘umms’ and false starts, giving the impression you have not given a great deal of thought to your ambitions but, instead, came up with an answer you think I would want to hear.  However, as a recruiter, it leads me to wonder: if this is how you go about planning your career, is this how you would go about running a department? Here are three ways you can prepare yourself to answer this age-old interview question and get it right. 1. Tailor it to the role you’re interviewing for: imagine a ‘future you’ The fact is, not many of us have clear career plans. We might have an idea of an end goal, but rigorous, self-directed career planning, although advised, is rarely done. Most of us rely on the organisation we work for to define this for us.  If you don’t have a clear ambition, all you need to do is imagine a ‘future you’ within the context of the role you are interviewing for.  What has been said about career progression within this new organisation or the people you’d be reporting to? Is there a typical career path already defined you could use to shape your answer? If it’s a flat organisation with not much room for upward progression, what potential lateral moves could you make? Is there a particular area you don’t have experience in and would like to develop skills in? Possible answer: “You’ve told me quite a lot about your career pathways. What is important for me is that I can build a toolkit of skills to enhance my overall performance as a finance manager. Therefore, in five years, I like to think that I would have proven my value and received the opportunity to move into a leadership role in commercial finance, an area in which I currently have limited exposure.” 2. Take control: set your own milestones that speak to the needs of the business Think about the role you’re interviewing for. Does it entail a two-, three- or five-year plan? Will long-term planning be a part of the role? If it is, then in five years, you will have delivered the objectives contained in the business plan of the organisation for which you are interviewing.  If they are talking about long-term change or business transformation, how does the role in question feed into these larger programmes, and how can you use this information to visualise the ‘future you’? Possible answer: “This role clearly has an important mandate, which is to support the delivery and adoption of the three transformation initiatives you have spoken about, which you anticipate will take four to five years. I would like to think that, nearing the end of this period, with regular communication with my superiors, I would be able to define my next career move, depending on the strategic priorities or needs of the business.” 3. Above all, be clear, concise and confident Clarity and precision of thought are essential when answering any interview question.  Someone who shows a lack of ambition at an interview is unlikely to be successful. Even if you are ambitious, but you fluff this up, you will appear as though you have not given your career enough thought, which may raise serious (if unjustified) questions over your capacity as a leader.  However you decide to approach this question, ensure you give it some serious preparation.  If it’s a question that makes you feel uncomfortable, practise until it feels natural.  Whether you record yourself, get your partner or friend to ask you the question, or write it out and learn it, become comfortable with your answer and how you want to say it.

Edel Walsh explores transformative strategies to break free from the grip of constant scrolling  When I feel even the slightest bit bored, I pull out my smartphone. I scroll when queuing for my coffee, taking a break from work or when I should be working. When I wake up, I check in with my smartphone rather than checking in with myself. It is also the last thing I do at night.  After realising what I had been doing with my time, I knew I had to change this habit as I was losing hours to doom scrolling.  When I was taking my Chartered Accountancy exams, I had a mobile phone; however, at the time, mobile phones were only used for phone calls and texting. The phone was not the distraction it is today.  Dopamine hit When a person is scrolling on their phone, dopamine gets released from the brain into the bloodstream. As part of the internal reward system, it makes a person feel happy.  We all want to feel good and are guilty of continuous scrolling. Eventually, 45 minutes pass, and you decide to start studying. Your brain is going from a dopamine trigger to being forced to look at books. It is fair to say your brain will find it challenging to engage in productive study. A 2021 study by Oluwafemi J Sunday, Olusola O Adesope and Patricia L Maarhuis, The Effect of Smartphone Addiction on Learning, shows that smartphones negatively impact students' learning and overall academic performance.  The researchers also found that using mobile phones negatively impacts the skills and cognitive abilities needed for students’ academic success and learning. Here are a few simple tips to make your smartphone less appealing while studying. Remove the phone from your study environment The easiest way to avoid being distracted by your phone as you study is to remove it from the area where you are studying.  Research in 2017 by Dr Adrian Ward et al showed that students who kept their phone on the desk while studying performed the worst on their test. Students who kept their phone in their bag or jacket but still in the study environment performed on par with those who kept their phone on their desk while studying. The highest performers were the students who left their phone in a separate room. Make your phone boring When I reflected on my mobile phone behaviours, one of the first steps I took was to make my phone more boring. I deleted all the social media, news, and other apps that were distracting. When I need to check those services, I use the desktop version.  To start, delete at least one app that distracts you. See how this makes you feel and observe your phone behaviour. After a few days, see how you feel about deleting a few more.  Take a break from it all The purpose of study breaks is to rest your brain so you will feel rejuvenated when you return to the books – for many of us, reaching for our smartphone when on a break is an automatic habit.  To give your brain the rest it genuinely deserves, how about you: sit in silence with a cup of coffee; take a walk around the block; get some fresh air in nature; do a guided meditation or a short yoga pose; or read a magazine or a chapter of a book. In the quest for productivity and focused study, breaking free from the allure of constant smartphone use is of utmost importance. As we navigate the digital age, these strategies can offer a roadmap to balance, ensuring that our smartphones become tools for productivity rather than barriers to success. Edel Walsh is a student and exam coach. She supports her clients with their studies and exams by focusing on academic success and personal development and looking after their well-being. For more information, check out www.edelwalsh.ie