Did you know that every year the Leinster Society organises a charity toy drive at our Christmas Lunch? We are proud to partner with 7 different children's charities each year, and with thanks to our generous members this helps lighten the load for many families at what can be a difficult time of year. Each guest brings along a gift for a child, and with the help of Santa and his elves these gifts are distributed among our 7 charities; SVP,  YPAR, Carr's Child & Family Services, The Santa Fund, Barnardos Millbrook, One Family, and Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin. Learn more about our children's charity partners; SVP According to SVP requests for assistance have increased on last year, this means that people who have never reached out for help are now looking for assistance with the basics – food, rent, electricity and heating. They have also noticed that those in employment on low incomes are especially reaching out to them this year as they are finding the cost of living increases more difficult to manage.  With our gifts they can help make Christmas less of a struggle for families hoping to give their children what they wish for this year, whether it’s a toy or a voucher so the family can purchase what the child wants. YPAR - Young People At Risk (North Inner City) The YPAR Initiative (Dublin North Inner City) is an interagency network of statutory, voluntary and community projects and services, established in 2003, whose work is to meet the needs of young people at risk and vulnerable families in the area through action focused collaborative and co-ordinated approach, aimed at improving all aspects of the young people’s life.  YPAR defines a young person at risk as a child/young person aged 0 to 25 years experiencing significant personal, family, educational or social problems. At present there are over 1400 children living in Emergency Accommodation in the Dublin City Centre region alone. With funding YPAR can be proactive and provide an appropriate response to families living in, and leaving, homeless accommodation.  Throughout the last couple of years YPAR have provided large numbers of children with Christmas gifts and art & crafts / games for families. Carr's Child and Family Services CLG Carr's Child and Family Services CLG was established in 1887 with a vision that all children should live in safe, stable homes nurtured by their families and communities. They are a unique service on the island of Ireland because they provide three interlinked services: early years, assessment, and support. These services offer children from birth to five years the opportunity to live in the service with their parents. At the same time, they support parents with disabilities, mental health, homelessness and addiction in being the best parents they can be. The team that makes up Carr's is passionate, dedicated, and committed to their vision, and they work tirelessly to make these early years safe and nurturing for children. The Board of Management strongly focuses on accountability, transparency, integrity, effectiveness and leadership in ensuring good governance of the organisation. They partner with The Child and Family Agency and Pobal in making Ireland a better place for children.  The Santa Fund 'The toys your members provide are fantastic and bring joy to children who otherwise would never receive anything from Santa. Any contributor to the Santa Fund can sit down to their Christmas lunch certain in the knowledge that their contribution went to the people who require it.' - Sean Allen, The Santa Fund The Santa Fund caters for people in dire need and does most of its work in the South Inner City. The people they cater for are in dire need despite the Social Welfare payments and the Christmas bonus. The families are carefully chosen with the assistance of people working in the local area. There are no administrative costs whatsoever and accordingly any money / toys received by the Santa Fund goes directly to the families; the bags they use to pack are donated, the vans they use to transport goods are provided on a voluntary basis, and the people who pack do so on a voluntary basis Barnardos Millbrook Barnardos Millbrook provides preschool and family support services to families. They are a referral-based service, and receive most of their referrals from Tusla, the HSE, mental health services, homeless services and Education & Welfare services. They are one of 4 Barnardos services in the Tallaght area, each with a different remit around the services and support they offer in the community. They support parents through parenting work in the family home, practical support and crisis intervention. They work directly with children to support their development and to support improved emotional wellbeing and overall development. The donations they receive at Christmas are used to directly support and supplement parent’s own efforts to provide for their families. The donations they receive are given directly to parents and help ensure children will have a present to open or warm new clothes to wear on Christmas morning.  They recognise that parents are doing their best, and their aim is to support those efforts to bring extra cheer and comfort to children and families that are often struggling with the cost of living.  Children's Health Foundation Children's Health Foundation raises vital funds to support sick children and their families in Children's Health Ireland hospitals and urgent care centres in Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly. One Family One Family believes in an Ireland where every family is cherished equally, and is enabled to enjoy the social, financial and legal equality to create their own positive futures. One Family is working to ensure a positive and equal future for people parenting alone, sharing parenting and parenting around separation – changing attitudes, policies, services and lives. They are committed to achieving equality and respect for all families. While acknowledging that every family is unique, they will endeavour to bring about better lives for these parents and children. In addition to striving for fundamental attitudinal and structural change in our society, their services offer support in a family-centred way to individual families through times of change and difficulty, as well as supporting those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.

In Irish news, Finance Act 2024 has been signed into law and Revenue Technical Services are hosting webinars next week to assist taxpayers in making submissions to the service. In UK news, the Institute met last week with HMRC to discuss the Autumn Budget 2024 and HMRC has published further information on VAT for private school fees. In International news, the Commission has launched a portal for the special SME VAT regime which goes lives from January 2025. Ireland Finance Act 2024 has been signed into law. Revenue Technical Services are hosting webinars next week to assist taxpayers in making submissions to the service. UK 3. Read about the Institute’s meeting last week with HMRC to discuss the 2024 Autumn Budget. 4. HMRC has published further information on VAT for private school fees. International 5. The EU Commission has launched a portal for the special SME VAT regime which goes lives from January 2025.   Keep up to date with all the latest Irish, UK, and international tax developments through Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Tax Newsletter. Subscribe to the Tax News by updating your preferences in MyAccount. You can also read this week’s post EU exit corner here.                

The EU Commission has decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failure to eliminate the discriminatory tax treatment of reinvested capital gains on the sale of German real estate. 

The OECD has published its Tax Administration 2024 report which is intended to be used by tax administration analysts to understand the design and administration of tax systems in other jurisdictions and to draw cross-border comparisons. The 2024 edition includes performance-related data, ratios, and trends up to the end of the 2022 fiscal year.  

The OECD Secretary-General Tax Report to G20 Leaders has been published. This report sets out recent developments in international tax reform, including the Two-Pillar Solution. It also covers progress made on the implementation of the BEPS minimum standards and tax transparency, as well as updates on tax policy, tax and inequality, and tax administration. 

From 1 January 2025, the special VAT regime (the SME scheme) will go live, allowing certain small enterprises to sell goods and services without charging VAT to their customers (in effect a VAT exemption) thereby alleviating their VAT compliance obligations.  Any small enterprise with a total annual turnover of no more than €100,000 (or the equivalent in its national currency) in all Member States, for the current and previous calendar year, is eligible for VAT exemption in its Member State of establishment and/or in other Member State(s) under the cross-border SME scheme.  

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance regarding the adjustment of VAT deductible due to unpaid consideration by deleting content that has become obsolete following the introduction of section 62A VATCA 2010.   

Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Manual which provides guidance on the exemption for reconstructions or amalgamations of companies under section 80 SDCA 1999. The manual has been amended in section 8 to clarify the circumstances in which relief under section 80 SDCA 1999 will be withdrawn. 

Certain intermediary financing companies, known as Qualifying Financing Companies (QFCs), are permitted to obtain a deduction for interest paid on certain external/third party loans under section 76E TCA 1997. Revenue has published a new Tax and Duty Manual to provide guidance on the deductibility of interest by QFCs . 

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidelines for registration for income tax, corporation tax, relevant contracts tax, employers’ PAYE and certain other taxheads.   The amendments are:  Inclusion of information regarding Statement of Particulars (Section 2.2.), An outline of Defective Concrete Products Levy (Section 7.6), An outline of Stamp Duty Insurance Levy (Section 7.7), and An outline of Non-Resident Landlord Withholding Tax (Section 7.8).

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which outlines the importance of context and wording when interpreting the words “control” and “interest” as they relate to companies.   The updated manual now includes a summary of the definition of “control” in section 11 TCA 1997 and provides additional detail regarding the definition of “control” in section 432 TCA 1997. Examples of various TCA provisions that apply the definitions of “control” from sections 11 and 432 TCA are also listed. 

Last week the Institute met with HMRC to discuss the 2024 Autumn Budget. We expressed concern and shared our views on the impact of a range of changes including increased employment costs as a result of the National Minimum Wage and employer National Insurance Contribution changes from April 2025. We also highlighted the damaging impact that the 2026 changes to key inheritance tax reliefs (agricultural property relief and business property relief) will have, particularly for Northern Ireland family-owned businesses and farms. The Institute recommended to HMRC that the Government consult more widely on these particular changes and we highligted the need for any anti-forestalling legislation to be fair. These changes should not impact retrospectively on lifetime gifts already made in the seven years prior to 6 April 2026. The changes need to be properly considered before implementation given the impact they will have on both indigenous businesses and investors in the UK. Other issues discussed were the fuel duty dilemma, tax simplification, the taxation of electric vehicles, the practical impact of the in-year capital gains tax rate changes, the extension in this Parliament of Making Tax Digital for income tax to the £20,000 - £30,000 turnover population and regulation of the UK tax agent market.