Revenue has published a new Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on the operation of the new Defective Concrete Products Levy (DCPL) as set out in Part 18E and Schedule 36 TCA 1997. The DCPL will apply to the ‘first supply’ of certain concrete products, at a rate of 5percent of the market value of concrete products, on or after 1 September 2023.

Revenue has published an updated version of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 - Notes for Guidance on its website to include all amendments to the 1999 Act by subsequent Acts up to and including the Finance Act 2023.

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on the Interest Limitation Rule (ILR). Updates to the manual are set out in a new appendix 2 while an example scenario (example 3.4.1) of a company leaving one interest group to join another is included.

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manuals dealing with Irish Real Estate Funds (IREF) guidance notes and IREF declarations to include Pan-European Pension Product (PEPP) provisions introduced by Section 21 of Finance Act 2022. Amendments contained within Section 14 of Finance Act 2021 to effectively abolish Approved Minimum Retirement Funds (AMRFs), whereby they became Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs) as of 1 January 2022, are also referenced. In addition, IREF Declarations guidance has been further updated to request supporting documentation evidencing the equivalent nature of an entity where appropriate, to request additional baseline information where appropriate, and to remove detailed guidance regarding the transitional arrangements that were in place to assist with the introduction of the IREF declaration process, but which are now expired.

Readers are reminded that the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS), designed to help businesses with energy costs, ends today, 31 July 2023.  Under the scheme, announced in Budget 2023, €1.25 billion was set aside to help tax compliant trade and professional businesses cope with significant increases in their electricity and/or natural gas prices from September 2022 to 31 July 2023. Chartered Accountants Ireland advocated for several changes to the scheme throughout 2023, many of which were implemented.  Businesses have until 30 September 2023 to submit claims under the scheme. Furthermore, the Department of Finance has published an assessment of the TBESS.

Last week, the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath T.D., launched a second Feedback Statement on the transposition of the EU Minimum Tax Directive (the Pillar Two Directive). With work progressing on the domestic transposition of the Pillar Two Directive, legislation is to be included in Finance Bill 2023. The feedback statement is open for consultation until 21 August 2023. The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, will respond to the consultation. Members can email any comments to tax@charteredaccountants.ie. As the OECD negotiations continue, the design process is constantly evolving. Earlier this month, the OECD released further Administrative Guidance on the GloBE rules covering a number of topics, including on items such as a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) Safe Harbour, a transitional undertaxed payments rule (UTPR) Safe Harbour for the jurisdiction where a multinational group is headquartered, general currency conversion rules, guidance on tax credits, substance based income exclusion and further guidance on a QDMTT. It is intended that the agreed guidance will help to provide tax certainty for businesses and mitigate administrative burden for both businesses and tax authorities. The OECD also issued a revised version of the GloBE Information Return (GIR). The GIR is a standardised return to be filed by entities within scope of the Pillar Two rules. Guidance is provided on the format and required content of the GIR, together with the circumstances when categories of information in the return will be disseminated between jurisdictions. As previously reported in March, the first feedback statement set out proposed approaches to key elements of the implementing legislation and the administration of the new rules. The second Feedback Statement contains draft approaches to further elements of the implementation legislation, including the proposed approach to a QDMTT, together with consultation questions on a range of technical and policy issues and an update on the Administrative Guidance package, in particular, the safe harbour provisions. Minister McGrath commented, ‘I am pleased to publish the second Feedback Statement on the Irish implementation of the EU Minimum Tax Directive. This is a further important step in our domestic process of transposition and marks Ireland’s continuing commitment to delivering on agreed international tax reforms. I welcome the constructive input of the business and advisory communities with the development of these complex new rules and would encourage their early engagement with this new Feedback Statement.’ Read the full press release here.

Revenue has confirmed that it is in the process of developing guidance and will publish an updated Tax and Duty Manual (TDM) in the coming weeks, in relation to the tax treatment of GMS (General Medical Services) income of GPs. This follows repeated calls from practitioners for clarity, in advance of the upcoming tax return filing season, in relation to the tax treatment of GMS income of GPs in circumstances where GMS payments have been mandated to a medical practice by a GP that is an employee of, or partner in, the practice. In advance of that publication, and cognisant of the need for certainty as soon as possible, Revenue has provided us with the following note of the position that will be set out in the TDM: “At the most recent meetings of Main TALC and TALC Direct practitioners emphasised the need for clarity in relation the GP/GMS income matter in advance of the upcoming tax filing season. Revenue is in the process of developing guidance on this matter and will publish an updated TDM in the coming weeks. In advance of that, and taking on board the calls for certainty as soon as possible, this note provides a brief outline of the position that will be set out in the TDM. Further detail will be provided in the TDM. As has been acknowledged at both TALC fora, the PSWT credits issue is part of a wider issue arising from contractual arrangements involving GPs. As a matter of law, payments made to a GP under a GMS contract belong to the GP who has entered into that contract with the HSE. This is evident from the terms of a GMS contract and this interpretation was confirmed in a TAC determination in 2022 (01TACD2022). This position does not change because the payments are mandated to be paid to another person, such as a medical practice. There is no legal basis for Revenue to treat income belonging to an individual GP to be income of another person/ medical practice for tax purposes. Therefore, a GP who holds a GMS contract— is a chargeable person as regards income arising under the contract and should report that income under the self-assessment system, and is the specified person for the purposes of PSWT and, therefore, is the person who may, where the relevant criteria are met, claim a credit for PSWT deducted on a GMS payment. A credit may not be claimed by any other person, including a medical practice. Revenue understands that practices have developed whereby a GP may have mandated that GMS payments are paid to a medical practice in circumstances where— a) the GP is employed by the medical practice concerned and receives a salary from that practice, which is payable subject to PAYE, or b) the GP is a partner in the medical practice concerned and receives a share of the partnership profits. Revenue expects that, in relation to bona fide arrangements referred to in a) or b) above, for the tax year 2024 onwards, a GP who holds a GMS contract will, where they are not already doing so, account for tax payable in respect of their GMS income under the self-assessment system (i.e. the correct treatment outlined at 1) and 2) above is applied). This expectation, as regards the application of 1) and 2) above in relation to income arising from a GMS contract for the tax year 2024 onwards, does not apply in respect of arrangements that are not bona fide or which have been entered into for the purpose of securing a tax advantage. In respect of such arrangements, the treatment referred to at 1) and 2) above will be applied for all tax years. For the avoidance of doubt, in circumstances where a GP, who holds a GMS contract, has incorporated his or her medical practice, the treatment referred to at 1) and 2) above will be applied in respect of his or her GMS income for all tax years.”

Over the past number of months, we have been informing Tax News readers that employers will be required to report details of small benefits, travel and subsistence and remote working allowances paid to employees and directors from 1 January 2024. This new requirement was introduced in Finance Act 2022 and is set out in Section 897C TCA 1997.  Last week, Revenue updated its website to set out information on the new reporting requirements for employers. As previously reported, in Tax News, representatives from the Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, attended the first meeting of the Tax Administration Liaison Committee (TALC) Enhanced Reporting Requirements Subgroup earlier this month to discuss the implementation of enhanced reporting requirements. At the subgroup meeting, and previously at Main TALC, our representatives raised their concerns around the practicality of real-time reporting as well as concerns with the additional costs for businesses associated with the new measures. The CCAB-I has suggested to Revenue that an annual return frequency is a more reasonable reporting time-frame given it would meet Revenue’s needs in terms of reporting non-taxable reimbursements but would place less burden on employers to comply. While it is accepted that employers already maintain records of the reportable benefits, feedback has informed us that integrating these records with a real-time filing requirement is a complex task. Earlier this month comments from Cróna Clohisey, Tax & Public Policy Lead, on the new Enhanced Reporting Requirements for Employers were covered in the Sunday Independent Business. The current edition of Accountancy Ireland’s Briefly newsletter explores the practical challenges employers need to address and outlines four key actions to prepare for this new initiative. CCAB-I will continue to liaise with Revenue on these requirements and will inform members via Tax News.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has announced that it has concluded its decision making on two projects and will begin drafting and balloting two new IFRS Accounting Standards. The IASB expect to issue the new standards in the first half of 2024. The first of these standards will be the result of the Primary Financial Statements project and will supersede IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. This standard will result in companies reporting more consistently and transparently on their financial performance, making it easier for investors to compare companies. The second standard is the result of the Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosure project and will reduce the disclosure requirements for subsidiaries that are not traded on a public market, or who do not hold assets entrusted to them by their customers. The IASB have decided that the effective date for the two new standards will be periods commencing on or after 1 January 2027, with early adoption permitted.

Enhanced employer reporting will necessitate prompt collation and submission of data in the correct format. Doone O’Doherty explores the practical challenges employers need to address and outlines four key actions to prepare for this new initiative From 1 January 2024, all employers will be required to report to Revenue, on a real-time basis, three categories of non-taxable employee remuneration:  €3.20 per day remote working payment, which employers can provide; Small Benefits Exemption; and travel and subsistence. Details are only starting to emerge from Revenue, leaving a very short timeframe for preparation. However, it is already clear that enhanced employer reporting (EER) will challenge employers to collate and report the required information on time in the correct format. There are significant practical challenges that employers need to consider and navigate in preparing for EER, on top of potential risks that they need to be aware of arising from these increased compliance requirements. “Enhanced” reporting – who benefits?  Enhancement is all about providing more information to Revenue. As a result, Revenue will have enhanced information, enhanced insights and enhanced data to interrogate. Revenue has stated it intends to utilise the information received via EER to target its Revenue audit resources where it perceives the highest risk of non-compliance to arise (and therefore compliance intervention ‘yield’). Revenue has also confirmed that the three elements of EER are just ‘phase one’ of a planned expansion of requirements for employers to report non-taxable remuneration to Revenue. Preparing your organisation From a practical perspective, each employer needs to consider: whether it provides any of these reportable non-taxable reimbursements/benefits to employees; what internal systems/processes/policies apply to these benefits; how and where the data relating to these benefits is recorded and how the data is to be extracted in the format required for reporting in real-time; who in the organisation will be responsible for reporting to Revenue; and  if the company will have access to software or be required to complete manual filings for EER.  Some organisations may utilise finance systems or expense tools with self-service or configurable reporting capabilities. Others may be facing compiling information from emails or spreadsheets. (Revenue did a consultation questionnaire on EER in early 2023 and found that half of employers are tracking expenses with manual processes, including 37 percent of respondents using spreadsheets to record these benefits and a further 13 percent using paper-based records.) How will the reporting work?  Regarding getting the information to Revenue, EER will be a separate ‘service’ or tax head area on ROS, likely similar to how share scheme reporting is currently managed. This separation of EER from standard employer PAYE reporting should result in privacy/separation of EER data from full payroll remuneration. But the EER data is still employee-specific, and each organisation will have to decide who should own/have visibility of this data and is capable of undertaking the reporting to Revenue. In reality, a partnership approach between several functions in the organisation will probably be required, making it even more critical for organisations to have clarity around their EER. Requirements for reporting A return is required when any employee receives any of the reportable EER elements. The return must be made “on or before” the date the reimbursement or tax-free benefit is provided to the employee.  There will be a facility to import/upload a file into ROS or manually enter the reporting details one employee at a time via an online form in ROS. General data required includes: Employee details; Date of payment; Tax year; Employer reference; and Employment ID. For each specific element, there are differences in what data must be reported: Small Benefit Exemption: the value per employee; Remote Working Relief: the amount paid per employee and the number of days it relates to; Travel and subsistence: the amount paid per employee across several categories: Travel vouched and unvouched; Subsistence vouched and unvouched; Site-based employees (includes “country money”); Emergency travel; and Eating on-site. Preparing for employee engagement Revenue has stated that it plans to give employees visibility of what their employer reports about them. The reported information is expected to be available on a per-employee basis in the relevant employee’s Revenue myAccount portal. As such, employers also need to plan for employee communications and possible queries around this. If changes are made to the expense reimbursement, e.g. frequency, policy or process in preparation for EER, this will likely also necessitate employee engagement.  Four key actions to take now Understand the new reporting requirements and identify relevant data owners within your organisation. Consider data quality and timeliness, data flow, reporting capabilities, accountability, etc. Analyse the data before Revenue does. Consider whether any policy or process changes are required, including any retrospective non-compliance that may need to be addressed with Revenue via a self-correction/voluntary disclosure. Educate stakeholders, map and document internal roles and responsibilities, and keep compliance under review regarding timeliness, quality, completeness of data and tax risk. Consider what resources you’ll need to manage the reporting. Will you use software, and does your current provider have a solution? If manual reporting is used, you must allocate and train resources. Doone O’Doherty is Tax Partner at PwC

Costly talent acquisition pales in comparison to the consequences of poor hiring. Paul O’Donnell identifies the three perilous profiles in staffing and offers strategies to overcome their impact on hiring success While winning and retaining customers is regarded as a top priority for most companies, many describe recruitment as their most difficult challenge. The ability to attract and retain talent for key roles determines the success or failure of most major initiatives. As expensive as talent acquisition seems, it is less costly than the consequences of poor hiring. Leaving key roles empty or not being able to retain talent causes a continuous cycle of organisation misery and cultural crisis. However, poor talent acquisition and retention is often due to their focus on the three most dangerous people in staffing: Cinderella managers, unicorns and ageing rock stars. Cinderellas  Cinderella managers fear making decisions and falling foul of organisation politics. They keep roles unfilled way past midnight, often at the expense of other employees left to carry the workload. No number of candidates will address the ever-increasing range of needs and concerns. The shoe just never fits.  Everyone wants to avoid making expensive mistakes, but the damage to your employer brand from such indecisiveness is real. Hiring becomes more challenging as frustrated candidates share their experiences. Address this by ensuring staffing processes have clear timescales, defined metrics, commitment and allocated responsibility so that hiring managers stay on point. Unicorns Organisations that chase unicorns seek only the “perfect” candidate. However, the perfect candidate does not exist. The organisation will apply more and more resources to seek out what cannot be found. The search for a unicorn often arises from poor hiring needs analysis, unrealistic strategy or underinvestment in a role. The cost of the position being empty is rarely considered.  Unicorns do not exist because top talent will not move to a role they can already deliver. High performers want a new position to stretch them, so offer something new to learn, a new challenge and something that builds their skill portfolio. Work out your must-haves versus your nice-to-haves when filling a role. Prioritise the essentials, create a development plan for other issues, and hire for potential, not just experience. Ageing rock stars Although Baby Boomers have started retiring, some still hold senior positions and have the final say on recruitment. Their expertise makes them valuable to firms. However, sometimes they do not possess the intergenerational flexibility to work with and understand the motives of later generations.  They can misread the desire of younger employees to work smarter as not wanting to “work hard”. They see the passion for connected relationships with line managers as not having respect for authority. These newer employees are put off at an interview if they sense an ageing rock star who has not adapted to new ways of working and they will not stay long if they report to one. Ask your younger employees to give feedback on the experience of working with your organisation. If such a manager exists, share the feedback with them. Coach this key manager away from these perspectives. Paul O’Donnell is CEO of HRM Search Partners

The constant flood of emails, coupled with the expectation of instant responses, can leave us feeling tethered to our inboxes, jeopardising our ability to focus on important tasks. Moira Dunne provides strategies to strike a balance between responsiveness and productivity Email is an essential business tool that can dominate our workdays. The volume of email seems higher than ever and there is an increasing expectation of instant response. We feel we need to be in touch all the time, which plays havoc with plans to get other work done resulting in more time being spent on other people’s priorities. And time is not the only issue when it comes to email. Email notifications on our screens are compelling and very difficult to ignore. High email volumes result in an interrupted work environment. Studies show that this impacts the quality of our work, our ability to make decisions and to think things through. Once distracted by an email alert, it can take up to 23 minutes to get the same level of focus back. So, how can we reduce this impact on our time and performance? Manage your response time We have become very responsive, often answering emails immediately, even when we don’t need to. To start to win back time, look for the opportunity to manage this better. First, think about your email statistics: How many emails do you get each day? How many interruptions is that? How important are those emails? Do they all require an instant response? Second, consider all your stakeholders. What is the agreed response time? What is their expectation when it comes to email responses? Once you have answered the questions about your emails and consider your stakeholder needs, you are able to go to all concerned parties (manager, colleagues, stakeholders) to discuss and agree on an acceptable response time that allows you to work productively but also manage other’s expectations. Spend less time on email To start to spend less time on email, there are two ways you can proceed: checking and processing. Checking email When checking your email, do a quick scan to check what emails have arrived and respond to anything urgent. You can do this as many times as you need to throughout the day. Processing email When processing emails, flag messages that require a response and then sort your inbox by the flag so that these emails stay at the top of your inbox until processed and unflagged. Because you have flagged the emails needing a reply, and they sit at the top of your inbox for your attention, you can schedule productive email processing/response time blocks in your diary. However, between those time blocks, you must mute or close out of email to give yourself time for other work, free of email alerts and distractions. You are still responsive to email but in a controlled way. Email time blocking is an increasingly common work practice that people are using to boost their productivity. Breaking the ‘always on’ habit It can be hard to step away from work when you need to. Start small by figuring out what checking frequency you need to stay in touch with your clients. Pick a day when your email volume is usually lower (perhaps on a Friday). Take a morning and try to alternate between checking and processing, using a time block. When you figure out which method works for you, build it into your schedule/email habits day by day until you have learned to manage your email productively. Moira Dunne is Founder of beproductive.ie Moira is providing a free monthly webinar series on the last day of each month. Her next webinar is on Friday, 25 August on how to reset after summer