The deadline for filing the annual share scheme returns for 2024 due by employers and trustees operating share schemes is 31 March 2025. The relevant forms include Form ESA, Form RSS1, Form KEEP1, Form ESS1, Form SRSO1 and Form ESOT1. New versions of the forms are now available which incorporate changes relating to accessibility details, penalties, and the number of line entries. The new forms and information on the filing obligations are available on Revenue’s share reporting obligations webpage.

The Council has taken a significant step towards simplifying tax procedures and reducing administrative burdens on businesses by its adoption of a new legislative package on electronic VAT Exemption Certificates. The electronic VAT Exemption Certificate will be mandatory from 30 June 2032.

HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) team will be in Northern Ireland next week on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 March and would like to visit/meet with some agents to talk about MTD for income tax. With just over one year to the first tranche of mandation from April 2026, we would encourage small and medium sized firms in particular to consider taking up this unique opportunity for a face to face meeting. If your firm would like to meet with HMRC, please contact us by email to take forward. HMRC has also recently updated the list of available software for MTD for income tax with sixteen products now available to choose from.

Member States have updated the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes on 18 February 2025 as part of the EU's commitment to promoting tax transparency and fair taxation globally. No new jurisdictions were added to the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions (Annex I).

Finance Bill 2024-25 continues its path through the parliamentary process. Committee stage for the Bill concluded at the end of last month with a number of government amendments passed affecting a range of areas including the UK’s Pillar Two rules and the abolition of the remittance basis regime for non-UK domiciled individuals from 6 April 2025. The Bill is now due to have its report stage and third reading next week on Monday 3 March. Amendments can be made to the Bill at this stage. These are selected by the speaker. However, report stage is the last opportunity for amendments to be made before third reading takes place after which the Bill will move to the House of Lords.

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, the latest Agent Update is available and HMRC has sent a reminder email that the new legislation for alcohol approvals, returns and payments went live from the start of February with the associated online service to be launched from the end of this week on 1 March 2025. HMRC has responded to the latest annual report from the Adjudicator's Office and the latest schedule of HMRC Talking Points live and recorded webinars for tax agents are available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place. HMRC is also holding webinars in the coming weeks on “Help with Common Risks in Transfer Pricing Approaches”, and “Employers – what’s new for 2025 to 2026?”. And finally, check HMRC’s online services availability page for details of planned downtime and the online services affected. Agent Update 128 Agent Update: Issue 128 is available now and features news and guidance across a range of areas including: The new default cash basis, Alcohol duty reform, The official rate of interest from 6 April 2025, Statutory neonatal care leave, Getting ready for the changes to employer’s national insurance contributions, and Guidance for clients who need to change the way they report their income and expenses HMRC response to latest Adjudicator's Office annual report HMRC and the Valuation Office Agency’s joint response to the Adjudicator's Office annual report published last September is now available. The Adjudicator’s Office 2024 Annual Report highlighted learnings based on insight from complaints investigated in 2023/24. The Adjudicator’s foreword commented that 2023/24 saw an increase in complaints and requests for reviews (1,046 complaints from HMRC compared to 950 in 2022/23) and that it had been another challenging year for HMRC with HMRC having “struggled to deal with high volumes of complaints. Issues with customers accessing help – primarily through their phone lines – are significant and have been reported in the media.” However, according to the report there “are signs more recently of an improved picture” which was summarised as follows: “HMRC has committed to action aiming to end a peak and trough cycle of complaint handling we have seen over the last few years. There has been a tendency for complaint volumes to increase, for recovery action to be taken that reduces wait times before the cycle begins again. Initiatives to rectify this include greater empowerment of frontline staff to fix problems at first contact before they develop into a complaint. HMRC’s strategic direction is to move more of its activity online. The data suggests that customer satisfaction is considerably better through digital channels and the approach is intended to free up more resource for those who are vulnerable, digitally excluded or have complex issues that require someone to help. A significant step by HMRC this reporting year was its decision to close its Self-Assessment helpline between June and September 2023. HMRC explained that customers using this helpline were more likely to be able to engage with them online, and in doing so, make it easier to speak to customers on the phone who need that support most. In theory, this makes sense. We challenged HMRC to demonstrate the efficacy of its decision. In March 2024, HMRC announced that it would be closing a number of other helplines. It said that it had learned from the initial trial and that in doing so, more people could be moved into digital channels and in doing so, staff would be freed up to deal with vulnerable or digitally excluded customers. However, there was significant feedback on HMRC’s readiness to implement this change without adversely impacting customers and HMRC quickly reversed their decision. This will have inevitably impacted its operational plans and demonstrates the significant pressure HMRC is under to deliver its digital transformation whilst maintaining existing services. It is too early to say that HMRC have in place a long-term sustainable solution that ensures great customer service and complaint handling. We will continue to hold HMRC to account especially in relation to service that is too slow or doesn’t answer the problem raised and for those who find it difficult to interact digitally with HMRC. As we have said before, the mechanism for that is HMRC’s Charter which sets out simply and clearly what HMRC aspires to as a modern, responsive, trusted tax authority.” HMRC responded to the 2024 Annual Report as follows: “The Adjudicator’s Annual Report highlighted the high volume of complaints we received during 2023 to 2024. We acknowledge that this was a difficult period as we faced serious challenges in delivering our customer services because of financial pressures and the need to manage a growing number of customers with complex tax affairs. Reducing demand for traditional contact channels like post and telephone, alongside the deployment of additional customer service advisers, has now enabled us to meet our telephony service standard and more effectively support those who need to speak to an adviser. As noted in our Annual Report and Accounts, our strategy is firmly focused on how we can help more customers get things right first time, rather than fixing problems after they happen, and supporting more customers to self-serve using our online services. As more customers use our digital services, we will ensure that our customer service resource is focused on customers who need additional help.”

The Commission has published Questions and Answers on the US reciprocal tariff policy, noting that VAT is a consumption tax, similar to US sales taxes, and applies indiscriminately to any foreign or domestic business selling goods in the EU.

In this week’s post EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant in the post EU exit environment. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available as is the latest Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs team. Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (Union) of the Customs Declaration Service, Using an express operator to import and export, Notices made under The Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018, Notices made under The Customs (Export) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, Get someone to deal with customs for you, Applying to use simplified declarations for exports, Transit newsletters — HMRC updates, Search the register of customs agents and express operators, Apply to pay less duty on goods you export to process or repair,  Apply to import goods temporarily to the UK, and Report a problem using the Customs Declaration Service.

Later this week, Regina Doherty, MEP, will lead a delegation of the tax matters subcommittee to meet with representatives of key Finnish and Estonian institutions to discuss topical international tax issues and challenges. The topics to be discussed will include the implementation of the OECD's Two-Pillar solution, the simplification of the tax system and improving competitiveness, tax incentives, the situation of cross-border workers, energy taxation, and the implementation of EU Directives.

The latest UK tax tidbits features updated guidance across a range of areas and updated guidance on how to spot genuine HMRC contact and identify phishing attempts. Appeals reviews and tribunals guidance, Simplifying the onboarding process for new starters: communication resources, Cryptoassets Manual, Apply for an agent services account if you're not based in the UK, Property Income Manual, Create an agent services account, Check if you need to carry out digital platform reporting, Check genuine HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method, Check if a phone call you've received from HMRC is genuine, Check if an email you've received from HMRC is genuine, Check if a text message you've received from HMRC is genuine, Check for signs of labour fraud in construction, What to do when an employee dies, Receive Income Tax or PAYE repayments on behalf of others, Collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals, Set up a private limited company, Claim tax relief on your private pension payments Employment Status Manual, and Named tax avoidance schemes, promoters, enablers and suppliers.

If your firm wishes to file information at Companies House on behalf of clients or if you plan to verify the identity of certain individuals, you will need to register to be an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Please see the linked document for more information.

Welcome to the latest edition of Technical Roundup. In developments since the last edition, the Government has issued its Spring Legislative Programme 2025 the first since the new Government took office.  Chartered Accountants Ireland and ACCA as CCAB-I has prepared Technical Alert TA01-2025 containing some pointers for firms to consider in their use of artificial intelligence (AI). Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below. Financial Reporting EFRAG, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, is seeking views from financial statement users on particular aspects of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) Exposure Draft Provisions Targeted improvements. EFRAG is also seeking views in relation to when a levy provision should be recognised. EFRAG has prepared a summary report from its conference held on 10 December. The theme of this conference was “Advancing Transparency and Competitiveness in Challenging Times”. EFRAG has published its January 2025 update and podcast. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has announced that it expects to issue the third edition of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard on 27 February. The UK Endorsement Board has announced that it has adopted Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards – Volume 11, which was issued by the IASB in July 2024 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the January/February 2025 edition of its “Spotlight on Markets” Newsletter. Auditing The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) have issued the Post-Exposure Consultation: Invitation to Comment Before the IAASB Finalizes the Narrow Scope Amendments to the ISQMs and ISAs as a Result of the Revisions to the Definitions of Listed Entity and Public Interest Entity in the IESBA Code. Accountancy Europe has released its February 2025 Audit Policy Update. Insolvency Readers may find of interest the recent Court of Appeal case in the matter of Joe Miley and Partners (Dublin) Limited (in liquidation) and in the matter of sections 25 and 26 of the Trustee Act 1893.In this case a property was in the name of a partnership as the registered owner. The case was made by the liquidator of Joe Miley and Partners (Dublin) Limited (the Company) that a transfer of the property to the Company had occurred prior to the liquidation and the liquidator claimed the property as a Company asset. The Court of Appeal upheld the claim. The court held that section 26 of the Trustee Act 1893 could be used to vest the property in the Company which is clearly entitled to it. The court was satisfied that the criteria within section 26 is appropriate, and it is the best option available to give effect to the clear agreement between the partnership and the Company, whilst also ensuring the liquidator has this issue fully resolved. The court held that while section 596 of the Companies Act 2014 confers an entitlement upon the liquidator to take company records and provides that any person holding company property without lawful entitlement shall surrender it immediately to the liquidator, this may be of assistance to the liquidator, but the property remains in the name of its registered owner. The judge agreed that reliefs pursuant to the 2014 Act would not have entirely met the difficulties encountered by the liquidator in this case. Instead, the provisions of section 26 of the Trustee Act must be utilised to vest lands in persons shown to be beneficially entitled to them. Anti–money laundering and sanctions The National Crime Agency in the UK has recently issued its first SARs in Action magazine of 2025. It includes an interesting article on an Amber Alert issued by the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce in the UK in October 2024. The alert which is not publicly available covers the use of Artificial Intelligence to bypass customer due diligence checks. The magazine also includes an article on the destabilizing of a Russian speaking money laundering network, case studies on SARs and a reply to a reader’s question on NCA response or feedback from the NCA on a submitted SAR. Readers can find out more about being an Authorised Corporate Service Provider or Companies House authorised agent (UK). Registering as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) is a new requirement that will help Companies House to know who is filing information on the public register. The National Economic Crime Centre has issued its National Economic Crime Centre Annual Report 2023-2024. The UK financial sanctions authority, Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) recently published the first in a series of sector-specific assessments addressing threats and vulnerabilities relating to UK financial sanctions. This report relates to the financial services sector. It states that providers of related professional services, such as accountancy service providers or auditors are included as relevant persons. The report provides an insight into sanctions evasion typologies and areas where there is a higher risk of breaches. Sustainability The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) have confirmed a new partnership enforcing a shared commitment to high-quality sustainability assurance. The International Sustainability Standards Board has released its Q1 2025 Implementation Insights podcast. Irish Government Legislation Programme Spring 2025 The Government has in recent days issued its Spring legislative Programme 2025 the first since the new Government took office. In it there is some business legislation which may be of interest to members. For an in depth look at some of the proposed legislation  please click to read our latest news item on this topic. Other news The Corporate Enforcement Authority’s Director of Legal Michael Dillon recently wrote about directors’ duties. The Companies Act makes clear that the term ‘director’ encompasses anyone ‘occupying the position of director by whatever name called.’ He writes. The focus is on the function they perform, emphasizing ‘substance rather than form’.”. There is no such thing as director lite. The Dept of Enterprise Trade and Employment has recently issued its latest newsletter. News in the bulletin includes information on an European Commission AI webinar (see further below) and the Balance for Better Business 7th Annual Report. Readers can subscribe for the newsletter here. Central Bank of Ireland Governor Gabriel Makhlouf introduced the recent Strategic Foresight Symposium on The Importance of Foresight which took place on Tuesday, 11 February. The Dept of Finance recently published its first National Financial Literacy Strategy. A 5 year strategy, its ultimate mission is stated to be to improve the level of financial literacy in Ireland through a vibrant financial literacy ecosystem. Click for a press release on the strategy and here for the Action Plan. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a consultation on the criteria for the assessment of knowledge and competence of crypto-asset service providers’ (CASPs) staff giving information or advice on crypto-assets or crypto-asset services. The Charities Regulator has recently issued its first newsletter for 2025. Click for articles including an update on the Charities (Amendment) Act 2024 and details of provisions which have now been commenced. Also, read about the Charities Regulator’s plans to introduce a new traffic light system on the Register of Charities that will show more clearly and simply whether or not a charity has submitted its annual report on time. The change is designed to highlight the charities that meet their legal obligations. The European Commission recently published its work programme for 2025. Please click to access the programme and the annexes. There is also a fact sheet explaining the Commission work programme. In its competitiveness compass also recently published, the Commission signposted three planned omnibus packages. Two may be of particular interest to our members. The first one will deal with simplifying sustainability reporting, and the expected publication date is 26 February 2025 though we understand that this date may potentially slip. The other proposal will introduce a definition of small mid-cap companies, and the expected publication date is Q2 2025. Another proposal under “ongoing proposals” which may be of interest is the proposed directive to harmonise certain aspects of insolvency law.  Technical Release TR04-2015 ‘Companies Act 2014 - A statutory auditor’s duty to report to the Corporate Enforcement Authority’ has recently been updated. The updated version is available to members by logging into their member’s account. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced the successful signatories to the UK Stewardship Code following the latest round of applications. Accountancy Europe has released its February 2025 SME update. Artificial Intelligence (AI) - updates Please click to read a factsheet produced by Accountancy Europe (AE) in February 2025 entitled The EU AI Act: a guide for SME accountants. The factsheet outlines the key requirements of the EU AI Act, focusing on aspects relevant to SMEs. An accountant, as advisor to an SME or in their own practice may, AE writes, be developing or deploying AI systems. If so, the accountant should carefully familiarise themselves with the AI Act’s requirements, assess whether they are applicable to them, and take any required steps to ensure compliance. Article 4 of the AI Act requires providers and deployers of AI systems to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy. It entered into application on 2 February 2025.The European AI office invites us to learn more about the approach of the European Union towards Article 4 of the AI Act. Please click to go to the European Commission webpage and to access a recording of a webinar on AI Literacy.  In the first part of the webinar, the EU AI Office focuses on Article 4 of the AI Act and its requirements, presenting the initiatives foreseen to facilitate the implementation of this general provision. In the second part of the webinar, some practices and related learnings are presented in an interactive dialogue between the EU AI Office and AI Pact members. Also on the subject of AI, Chartered Accountants Ireland and ACCA as CCAB-I has prepared Technical Alert TA01-2025 containing some pointers for firms to consider in their use of artificial intelligence (AI). All firms should be considering putting a policy in place whether it’s just to cover basic points of whether your trainees (or other employees) are permitted to use AI in the office or whether you need more extensive provisions. The pointers in the technical alert and links included in it may be of use to members. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.      This information is provided as resources and information only and nothing in the information 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 information. 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 the information 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 herein.