Revenue has published its Protected Disclosures Annual Report for 2025 which outlines  information on both the internal and external protected disclosures received by Revenue in 2025. The publication notes a continued year‑on‑year increase in external disclosures relating to possible tax or duty non‑compliance. Internal disclosures come from current or former Revenue staff and relate to potential wrongdoing within the organisation, while external disclosures are made by workers outside Revenue concerning potential tax, duty, or customs‑related wrongdoing. In 2025, four reports were received for consideration under Revenue’s internal policy on protected disclosure reporting in the workplace. In respect of the four reports received in 2025, assessments have been completed and follow-up procedures are ongoing, all of which are at an advanced stage. During 2025, follow up procedures in respect of four reports, which were received prior to 2025, were finalised. In three of these instances the assessment and detailed follow-up determined that there was no evidence of a relevant wrongdoing. In the fourth instance, the detailed follow up and recommendations from the Protected Disclosures Group, resulted in a strengthening of internal procedures. External protected disclosures are reports made by workers who are employed by a business, individual or organisation, other than Revenue, that contain information about potential wrongdoing related to tax, duty or customs controls. In 2025, a total of 1,743 reports were received through Revenue’s external protected disclosures channels, up from 930 reports received in 2024. After an initial assessment was completed for all 1,743 reports received in 2025, 241 reports were assessed as meeting the criteria to be considered as a protected disclosure. The publication indicates that compliance interventions opened on foot of the receipt of protected disclosure reports received yielded over €1.5 million in additional taxes and/or duties for the Exchequer in 2025. Commenting on the publication, Revenue’s Director of Internal Audit, Leeann Kennedy said “It has always been the case that Revenue welcomes all reports of information regarding suspected tax non-compliance or tax evasion. Revenue continues to demonstrate a clear commitment to its obligations under the Protected Disclosures Act by making it as easy as possible for workers to report information about potential tax related wrongdoing that they have encountered in a work-related context”.

In this week’s cross-border trading corner, we bring you the most recent Trader Support Service bulletin and the latest Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs team. HMRC has also sent an update for businesses on the UK UK-EU SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) agreement and HMRC has also sent comms on CERTEX validation and errors, including information for traders. Update for businesses on the UK UK-EU SPS agreement Readers may have already be aware that on 19 May 2025, the UK government and the European Union (EU) agreed to pursue a SPS agreement. This, together with the Windsor Framework, aims to make it easier, cheaper, and more predictable for goods to move not just between the UK and the EU, but also within the UK itself, including smoother movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. This agreement covers the trade, production, and movement of plants, animals, and their products, food and feed safety, broader nutrition-related areas such as food supplements, fortified foods, food for specific groups, nutrition and health claims, and nutrition labelling, wider agrifood rules related to food labelling, organics, key agri-food marketing standards, and compositional standards, in addition to the regulation of pesticides and biocides. More information has been published by Defra here: UK-EU SPS Agreement - Information for Businesses - GOV.UK This includes who these changes will apply to and when, the benefit of the changes, what these will mean for businesses, what businesses can do now to start getting ready, and the launch of a Call for Information to understand the impact of the agreement and what further support businesses need in order to prepare.   The Government will continue to update businesses as this progresses.

Last week, the Institute’s Head of Public Policy, Grant Sweetnam attended the inaugural Annual Savings and Investment Forum held at the Central Bank. The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris T.D. addressed the Forum announcing his intention to introduce an Investment Account for Ireland. The Government intends to legislate for the Investment Account this year and for accounts to be offered from 2027. Savings and investment accounts form a fundamental pillar in Europe's Saving and Investment Union proposals to increase levels of investment among citizens. In Ireland, nearly €170 million in household deposits is held in low return deposit accounts which diminish in terms of purchasing power over time. The savings and investment account proposed by the Tánaiste is similar in nature to the Swedish model which was first introduced in 2012. Simplicity is central in the proposal with a proposed annual flat rate of tax to be applied and administered entirely by the financial provider rather than the individual investor. As a result, investors have no reporting obligations and individual transactions are not taxed. At the Forum a strong emphasis was placed on financial literacy. Improving understanding and confidence among individuals will be critical to increasing participation in capital markets over the long term. The Institute made the point that without financial literacy, the savings and investment accounts will not be as successful as they can be. The Tánaiste also indicated that the roadmap on taxation of investment products will be published in the coming months.

The Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union Member States has published the latest Data on Taxation Trends. In 2024 EU Member States collected €7.1 trillion in taxes, an increase of 5.6 percent from 2023, with labour taxes accounting for 51.5 percent of total tax revenue.  

The OECD and the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) have completed a series of joint workshops to support the simplification of transfer pricing throughout the African region. ATAF and the OECD have reaffirmed their commitment to supporting African countries through continued capacity building and technical assistance to facilitate the effective application of transfer pricing rules across the region.

From the Professional Accountancy team…... The Irish Companies Office has confirmed recently that it plans to start prosecuting liquidators for non-filing offences before the end of 2026. We understand that  prosecutions will be preceded by a publicity campaign to afford offending liquidators the opportunity to get their filings up to date. The forms in question are forms E3 and E4. The  form E3 is an account of the liquidator’s acts and dealings where the liquidation is not completed within 12 months. The form E4 is the liquidator’s statement of account under section 681 of the Companies Act 2014. Failure to comply makes the liquidator guilty of a category 3 offence. That is, liable on summary conviction, to a class A fine (up to € 5,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.   This information is provided as resources and information only and nothing in these pages purports to provide professional advice or definitive legal interpretation(s) or opinion(s) on the applicable legislation or legal or other matters referred to in the pages. If the reader is in doubt on any matter in this complex area further legal or other advice must be obtained. While every reasonable care has been taken by the Institute in the preparation of these pages, we do not guarantee the accuracy or veracity of any resource, guidance, information or opinion, or the appropriateness, suitability or applicability of any practice or procedure contained therein. The Institute is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of the resources or information contained in these pages.  

From the Professional Accountancy team…... The Irish Companies Office has confirmed recently that it plans to start prosecuting directors and companies for non-filing of annual returns. It is understood that this will recommence later in the year. The filing obligation arises under Section 343 of the Companies Act 2014 and if a company fails to comply with the requirements of the section, the company and any officer of it who is in default is guilty of a category 3 offence. That is, liable on summary conviction, to a class A fine (up to € 5,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.   This information is provided as resources and information only and nothing in these pages purports to provide professional advice or definitive legal interpretation(s) or opinion(s) on the applicable legislation or legal or other matters referred to in the pages. If the reader is in doubt on any matter in this complex area further legal or other advice must be obtained. While every reasonable care has been taken by the Institute in the preparation of these pages, we do not guarantee the accuracy or veracity of any resource, guidance, information or opinion, or the appropriateness, suitability or applicability of any practice or procedure contained therein. The Institute is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of the resources or information contained in these pages.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced a package of measures regarding audits of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This includes an updated practice note (PN 28) regarding 'Guidance for audits of small and medium-sized entities' and the final report regarding the FRC's SME Audit Market Study. This information is provided as resources and information only and nothing in these pages purports to provide professional advice or definitive legal interpretation(s) or opinion(s) on the applicable legislation or legal or other matters referred to in the pages. If the reader is in doubt on any matter in this complex area further legal or other advice must be obtained. While every reasonable care has been taken by the Institute in the preparation of these pages, we do not guarantee the accuracy or veracity of any resource, guidance, information or opinion, or the appropriateness, suitability or applicability of any practice or procedure contained therein. The Institute is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of the resources or information contained in these pages.

This week, the Institute attended the inaugural Annual Savings and Investment Forum held at the Central Bank. The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris T.D. addressed the Forum announcing his intention to introduce a Savings and Investment Account in Ireland. It is intended that legislation will be drafted this year with a view to products being established in 2027. Savings and investment accounts form a fundamental pillar in Europe's Saving and Investment Union proposals to increase levels of investment among citizens. Statistics from the Central Bank of Ireland show that Ireland has a long way to go when it comes to households and individuals investing in capital markets. This week’s announcement has the real potential to increase retail participation in capital markets and empower workers and households to create wealth over their working lives. The savings and investment account proposed by the Tánaiste is similar in nature to the Swedish model which was first introduced in 2012. Simplicity is at its core, with one simple tax applied which is administered solely by the financial provider and not the individual investor. This means there are no reporting obligations placed on the investor and individual transactions are not taxed. As a consequence, investors can focus on making the right investment decisions for themselves. At the Forum a strong emphasis was placed on financial literacy. Improving understanding and confidence among individuals will be critical to increasing participation in capital markets over the long term. In Ireland, nearly €170 million in household deposits is held in low return deposit accounts which diminish in terms of purchasing power over time. The Institute made the point that without financial literacy, the savings and investment accounts will not be as successful as they can be. The Institute also pointed out that the savings and investment account should be seen as one element of a wider reform plan which should include tax reform and the removal of the deemed disposal tax which penalises investors. The Tánaiste indicated that the roadmap on taxation of investment products will be published in the coming months. Chartered Accountants Ireland is hopeful that the roadmap will contain commitments to remove the deemed disposal tax along with other tax measures to improve the overall investment environment in the economy. We will continue to engage with Government on this issue over the coming months including as part of our Pre-Budget Submission.   You can read our earlier response here. You can read about the Investment Tax Guide published in conjunction with Goodbody here.

  Research published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found that almost a third of Irish enterprises used ICT in 2025 to reduce their environmental impact, slightly ahead of the EU average. It also found that investing in technological innovation can support enterprise resilience, efficiency and competitiveness as well as environmental sustainability within enterprises, allowing enterprises to use fewer resources while producing the same or greater output. Commenting on the release, Morgan O’Donnell, Statistician in the Sustainability, Circular Economy & Transport division of the CSO said: “Sustainability is of increasing importance to enterprises, in terms of meeting environmental regulations and expectations, but also from an economic and social perspective. There is increasing national and international recognition that economic growth alone is not a sufficient measure of success, and that long term prosperity depends on achieving a balanced integration of economic, environmental, and social outcomes.” The research, titled Business in Ireland 2025 - Sustainability Through Innovation and Technology, is the second in a series of releases that brings together relevant enterprise economy statistics from a variety of outputs and looks at them through the lens of sustainability to provide greater insights around sustainability and climate targets.

The Climate Change Advisory Council’s latest report: Annual Review 2026 - Our Changing Climate in 2025, finds that climate change is having measurable impacts in Ireland, with growing risks for communities, infrastructure, essential services and the economy. The economic damage from the five named storms that affected Ireland in 2025 amounted to almost €360 million, following estimated losses of €4.1 billion from flood and windstorm events in Ireland in 2024. The storm also exposed vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and essential services, including energy, water and telecommunications. The Council identifies gaps in how the economic, social and environmental consequences of extreme weather events are monitored and notes that robust data and evidence are essential to inform effective policy, planning and investment; it also calls for coordinated Government action, including investment in climate monitoring and infrastructure systems, strengthened policy and legislative frameworks, and a systemic approach to improving national resilience.

Moving away from fossil fuels is key to reducing the impact of the current crisis and future crises, according to Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD. The Taoiseach was commenting in a  recent Government announcement of temporary and targeted measures to reduce fuel prices for households and businesses in order to shield them from the recent hikes in fuel prices. The measures provide for temporary reductions in the rates of Mineral Oil Tax (MOT) applying to petrol, auto diesel and Marked Gas Oil (MGO), and are in effect from 25 March to 31 May 2026. Separately, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris TD, warned that Ireland and the European Union remain exposed to fossil fuel price shocks: “As long as we rely on imported fossil fuels, events far beyond our shores will continue to impact in a real way on households and businesses. That is not a sustainable position. And it is not a secure one.” The Tánaiste further commented that reducing that dependence as “the only lasting answer”, by accelerating Ireland’s transition to renewable energy and improving efficiency, and building a system that is more resilient and more within our own control. Energy was also a core pillar of Ireland-UK Summit 2026 which took place in Cork in March. A key focus of the Summit was closer cooperation between both countries to deploy offshore wind at scale, as well as increased electricity interconnection and securing critical infrastructure in shared maritime space. An expanded Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Summit between the electricity transmission system operators of Ireland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland (EirGrid, NESO and SONI), to increase knowledge-sharing and cooperation. Commenting, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien TD said “This Summit has come as Ireland reaches 8GW of onshore renewable electricity generation, which is a significant milestone. We're building on this both in Ireland and with our near neighbours, creating opportunities for jobs, investments, and a more stable economy." Ireland has doubled wind energy capacity over the past decade, receiving more electricity from onshore wind farms than any other country in Europe. A new peak for wind energy was reportedly recorded in Ireland during February 2026, according to provisional data from EirGrid, with almost 50 percent of Ireland’s electricity came from renewable sources last month.