Revenue has updated the guidance on the confidentiality of taxpayer information to reflect changes introduced by Finance Bill 2025 and to update legislative references throughout. The main changes to the guidance include the following:   in paragraph 3, the word “penalty” is replaced with “fine”, in paragraph 4.10 to reflect the new subsection (8)(oa) to section 851A TCA 1997 which ensures that Ireland can comply with its obligations under the EU De Minimis Regulation and the EU Agricultural De Minimis Regulation, in paragraph 4.12 on the disclosure of taxpayer information to the Charities Regulatory Authority, and in paragraph 4.13 to clarify guidance in relation to joint audits conducted by Revenue and the competent authority of another Member State.

Revenue has updated numerous income tax guidance documents to reflect changes introduced by Finance Bill 2025 which we have outlined as follows. In some cases, the examples in the guidance have also been updated to reflect the changes. High-Income Individuals’ Restriction Tax Year 2010 onwards to include the Living City Initiative, High Income Individuals’ Restriction to reflect rate bands, Rent tax credit to reflect the extension of the credit, and Mortgage interest tax credit to reflect the extension of this credit. Full details of the relevant changes are included in the Institute’s Finance Bill at a glance document.

Revenue has published updated guidance on domestic employers and the taxation of domestic employees removing references to pre 2019 requirements and excluding information in the  appendices which is now available from the Department of Social Protection. The contact details for the special collection section of the Department of Social Protection have also been included.

Revenue has updated several stamp duty guidance documents to reflect changes introduced by Finance Bill 2025. We have listed below the documents which have been updated, and details of the relevant changes are included in the Institute’s Finance Bill at a glance document. Provisions applicable to particular instruments, Stamp Duty on certain acquisitions of residential property, Exemptions and Reliefs from Stamp Duty, Levies, Levy on authorised insurers, and Further levy on certain financial institutions.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris and the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan jointly launched the new tax relief for the unscripted production sector. The relief will operate by means of a corporation tax credit for costs incurred in developing unscripted programmes and is available at a rate of 20 percent of eligible production expenditure, up to a maximum of €15 million per project. As the relief is cultural in nature, a cultural test will apply. To claim the credit, a company must first obtain interim cultural certification from the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport before commencing production on a qualifying unscripted programme. Relief is available under section 487A TCA 1997 and is available to a qualifying producer in respect of certain costs associated with eligible unscripted productions. To qualify, the total production cost must be at least €250,000, and eligible expenditure must amount to at least €125,000. The credit is calculated at 20 percent of the lower of: eligible expenditure, 80% of the total production cost, or €15 million. Commenting on the announcement of the tax credit, the Tánaiste said: “Ireland has a brilliant reputation internationally as being a centre of excellence for film television and audio production. The introduction of this measure represents a further strengthening of Ireland’s tax incentives for the audiovisual sector, reinforcing the Government’s long-standing commitment to supporting screen production and Irish creative industries”

Revenue is providing one final extension to the timeline for the completion of the Large Corporates Division VAT Modernisation and eInvoicing survey. The timeline to submit responses has been extended to 5pm on 30 January 2026. The survey is aimed at VAT-registered businesses managed by Large Corporates Division and will inform Ireland’s implementation of the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package and the implementation of eInvoicing in Ireland.  The survey issued, on 20 November, directly to businesses through Revenue’s Online Services (ROS). Queries can be sent to VATmodernisation@revenue.ie, and all relevant updates on VAT Modernisation will be published at revenue.ie/vatmod. Further information on the survey is included in our earlier newsletter item

The Model Reporting Rules for Digital Platform Operators (MRDP) is the agreed standard for Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) on digital platform operators. The MRDP and DAC7 require digital platform operators to collect and automatically report information on certain sellers who use their platforms to earn consideration.  The relevant returns for the 2025 calendar year must be filed by Saturday, 31 January 2026. Further details are available on Revenue’s DAC7 Hub

An electronic tax clearance certificate (eTC) typically remains valid for four years, provided the taxpayer continues to meet all its tax compliance obligations. Once the four‑year period ends, a new application must be submitted. Grants and certain relief schemes require an annual renewal application. Revenue has introduced a new agent notification feature that will give agents a list of clients whose electronic Tax Clearance certificates (eTCs) are due to expire within the next 30 days. Approximately 30 days in advance of the expiry date of an eTC, a reminder will issue to ROS and myAccount customers and at the same time, a notification will issue to the agent’s ROS inbox providing a list of linked clients who have been issued with an eTC reminder. The agents listing will provide the client’s name, registration number and eTC expiry date.

At the end of last year, the Department of Finance and Revenue jointly launched a public consultation inviting stakeholder feedback on a proposed electronic withholding tax (eWHT) system in Ireland, which aims to introduce real-time taxation for self-employed taxpayers subject to withholding tax (WHT). The deadline to respond is fast approaching and submissions must be made by 5.00pm on Friday, 30 January 2026. The consultation also seeks views on modernising Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT), Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT), and extending WHT to the platform economy. Further details regarding the consultation are included in our earlier newsletter item.

Readers are reminded that 31 January 2026 is the payment deadline for capital gains tax (CGT) liabilities arising in the period 1 December 2025 to 31 December 2025. Revenue’s CGT webpage details how to register for CGT via MyAccount. CGT payments can be made online using a debit/credit card or a one-off single debit instruction.

Revenue issued a reminder last week outlining the disclosure and settlement opportunity available to businesses to regularise payroll obligations for 2024 and 2025 without the imposition of interest and penalties, following the landmark decision delivered in Supreme Court judgment in The Revenue Commissioners v Karshan (Midlands) Ltd t/a Domino’s Pizzaco. The deadline for making such a disclosure and paying all related taxes is 5pm on Friday 30 January 2026. The disclosure opportunity gives businesses, that may have misclassified employees as contractors, the mechanism to have the correction treated under the Code of Practice for Revenue Compliance Interventions provided the disclosure is made by the due date and all related liabilities are paid in full via REVPAY or by arranging a Phased Payment Agreement (PPA) when submitting the disclosure. Full details of the disclosure opportunity are set out in Revenue Guidelines – ‘Settlement arrangement arising from Revenue v Karshan (Midlands) Ltd. trading as Domino’s Pizza’ and are covered in our earlier newsletter item. In its reminder notice, Revenue clarified that if, after the submission deadline, a business needs to amend details in a disclosure already submitted, such amendments will be accepted in line with the Code of Practice for Revenue Compliance Interventions, provided that: the original disclosure was made on a best-efforts basis,  the amendments do not arise from careless or deliberate behaviour,  the amendments are not material in nature, the declared liability is paid or a PPA is requested, and critically, employees who work for the business are properly classified and PAYE/PRSI is being operated through the PAYE system for 2026.  In such cases, Revenue will continue to regard the disclosure as qualifying. 

The Department of Finance recently published the Research and Development Tax Credit 2025 review which was undertaken in line with the Department’s tax expenditure guidelines  and which examined the effectiveness of the scheme. As part of the review, a public consultation on the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit and on options to support innovation was conducted in 2025. The Institute submitted feedback as part of this process. One of the key messages from the review is that the R&D tax credit is important for both foreign direct investment and for supporting domestic companies and it fosters higher levels of productivity and innovation. Other findings of the review are as follows: The R&D tax credit contributes to higher levels of research and development which is associated with increased labour productivity and economic growth. Business expenditure on R&D has steadily increased over time and significantly increased in recent years. The R&D tax credit has increased in cost to the Exchequer in recent years with the cost of the R&D tax credit rising from €1.2 billion in 2022 to €1.4 billion in 2023, nearly twice that of the €708 million Exchequer cost in 2015. Companies claiming the R&D tax credit are also significant contributors to the Exchequer through corporation tax receipts. In 2023, total corporation tax liabilities for all claimant companies were €10.53 billion. The cost of the R&D tax credit is concentrated among large companies including multinational companies (MNCs), but participation by SMEs is also strong. Ireland ranks among the most attractive OECD countries for R&D tax incentives. Commenting on the publication of the review, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris said: “I am delighted to announce the publication of the 2025 Review of the R&D tax credit regime. The R&D tax credit is an important feature of the corporation tax system and plays a key role in our competitiveness and in the development of our knowledge economy. Companies engaged in R&D are at the forefront of developments critical to addressing the challenges of digitalisation and climate change. They also deliver valuable spillover benefits to our education sector and local economies, in addition to supporting high-quality employment in Ireland”.