The OECD has published a report which provides an overview of the activities by countries in 2024 and the results of effective collaboration in addressing tax evasion and avoidance, improving revenue mobilisation, and in advancing tax policy and administration reforms. The report also summarises a recently concluded independent evaluation of the group’s tax and development work

On 22 July,  members of the FISC Subcommittee will travel to Dublin for a day of meetings and discussions on tax policies, the fight against tax avoidance and tax simplification. The objectives of the visit are to gain a better understanding of Irish tax policies and to have direct engagement by the subcommittee with key policymakers, tax authorities and stakeholders on critical issues

Revenue has updated the tax and duty manual Addresses in Company cases to provide more comprehensive guidance for companies on how to update their official and/or business addresses through ROS or myAccount. The manual confirms that all relevant requests must be raised via ROS.

Revenue has updated guidance in several collection tax and duty manuals including the guidance on the Standards in Public Office (SIPO) tax clearance, the agents guide to the Collector General’s division and the guidance on using online payment methods. The stamp duty manual relating to property searches has also been updated. The guide on Tax Clearance for Standards in Public Office applicants has been updated to reflect a reference to the judicial appointments commission and to include relevant contact information. The updated guidance on property searches using PRAI and ST21 returns and property valuations replaces references to the Property Registration Authority with ‘Tailte Eireann’. The manual on using online methods to make a payment to Revenue has been updated to confirm that from 1 September 2025,Revenue will no longer accept payment by means of a commercial debit card. The revised agents guide to the Collector-General’s division notes that Revenue has removed the facility to pay tax liabilities by single debit authority from multiple paper returns. The guide also outlines that Revenue will not accept payment by means of a commercial debit card from 1 September 2025.  

Revenue has released a four-part video presentation providing guidelines on completing the research and development (R&D) tax credit panels on Form CT1 for 2024. The videos cover R&D expenditure incurred in the accounting year ended 2024 as well as any remaining instalments due from 2022 and 2023. Each video covers certain topics as follows: Part 1 covers the relevant legislation, including how to correctly complete the sections for grants and subcontractor costs. Part 2 outlines how to claim for carried forward amounts under section 766(4B) TCA 1997, including guidance on completing the relevant panels on the Form CT1 in respect of the instalments from years 2022 and 2023. Part 3a and 3b cover how to make claims under section 766C TCA 1997. Part 4 explains how to claim group relief and highlights common errors made when completing the Form CT1 for 2024. The links to the videos are available on a dedicated Revenue webpage.

Revenue has issued new guidance on the VAT treatment of admission to events outlining the relevant place of supply rules for events and related ancillary services. The guidance also sets out the new place of supply rules, effective from 1 January 2025, for virtual or streamed events delivered to non-taxable individuals. The relevant place of supply rules will be determined by considering whether the event is a physical event, a virtual event or an electronically supplied service and if the supply is to a non-taxable person or to a business. A useful summary table is included in section 4.4 of the guidance summarising the various rules. The guidance confirms that the rate of VAT applicable to admission to an event depends on the type of event being held. Ancillary services associated with admission to an event follow the same place of supply rules applicable to the event itself. The manual relating to the VAT treatment of education and vocational training has also been updated as it includes a consequential amendment arising from the new place of supply rules.

The Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have published the Fiscal Monitor for June 2025 confirming an Exchequer surplus of €4.5 billion to the end of June. This compares to a surplus of €3.1 billion recorded for the same period last year. Tax receipts collected to the end of June were €49.5 billion, which was €4.7 billion higher than the same period in 2024. Excluding the once off receipts from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judgement in the Apple State Aid case, total receipts amounted to €47.7 billion, an increase of €3 billion on the corresponding period in 2024. Income tax receipts for the month of June were €2.9 billion which was €0.1 billion ahead of receipts collected in June 2024. On a year-to-date basis, receipts to the end of June of €17.4 billion were up by €0.7 billion (4.3 per cent), when compared to end of June 2024. June is considered a significant month for corporation tax payments and receipts of €7.4 billion were collected last month which was an increase of €1.5 billion compared to June 2024.  On a cumulative basis, receipts of €14.8 billion represented an increase of €2.6 billion on the same period last year. When the once-off CJEU receipts are excluded, cumulative corporation tax receipts to June 2025 amounted to €13.1 billion, up on the same period last year by €0.9 billion. VAT receipts collected in the month of €0.2 billion reflecting the fact that June is a non-VAT due month. Cumulative receipts of €11.6 billion were ahead by 5.8 percent on end of June last year. Commenting on the figures, Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said: “June is a key month for tax receipts. The steady performance across most revenue streams in the first half of the year is a positive sign of the strength of our economy as we navigate a deeply uncertain period. Corporation tax receipts in June have seen a sharp increase, which follows a sharp decline last month. This serves as a reminder of the extreme volatility in this revenue stream, and of its inherent unsuitability as a basis for permanent spending commitments” Commenting on the figures, Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers said: “Tax revenues are strong. As we prepare for Budget 2026, we need to carefully manage expenditure in the second half of the year, while continuing to commit the necessary resources to improve our public services, support our people and enhance quality of life across our country.”

The regulatory difficulties facing frontier workers in Ireland are having an increasing impact on the all-island labour market. The lack of clarity and indeed fundamental barriers to employment are significantly impeding the mobility of cross-border workers. Last Thursday, the Institute’s Head of Public Policy, Stephen Lowry raised the issue directly with the UK’s Minister of State for Europe and North America Stephen Doughty MP at a meeting hosted by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. Minister Doughty agreed to personally bring these issues to the attention of his colleagues in HM Treasury. Earlier in the week, the Institute’s Head of Tax, Gearóid O’Sullivan attended a meeting convened by InterTradeIreland with Minister Peter Burke, Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, and Minister Caoimhe Archibald, Department for the Economy NI. The Institute is working with InterTradeIreland to address issues relating to the mobility of workers. Last year, the Institute formed a working group to discuss the complexity of cross-border employment arrangements across the island. We informed the Ministers that the Institute’s working group will be writing to them later in the summer with our initial recommendations. Both Ministers noted that they welcome the insights from the group.

Last month we highlighted the key aspects of how the 2025 Spending Review will specifically impact on HMRC. Overall, the Spending Review announced an additional settlement for HMRC of £0.5 billion in 2026/27 which will be used to “make HMRC a digital-first organisation”. The Department was also set two ambitious targets related to this; that by 2029/30, 90 percent of taxpayer interactions will be digital self-serve and HMRC will have reduced the number of letters it sends by 75 percent. The Institute recently met with HMRC to discuss this.    In the meeting we highlighted to HMRC how ambitious these targets are and expressed concern about the impact on current service levels as HMRC seeks to achieve these targets. The transition to a digital-first organisation must not result in a deterioration of service levels and HMRC will need to communicate clearly how it will deal with incoming post as it moves to becoming digital first.     We also asked when HMRC expects to publish both its digital roadmap and its broader transformation roadmap which will be critical elements in seeking to achieve these targets. HMRC noted that these are expected to be published over the summer and both will set out in more detail how HMRC intends to achieve the targets set by government. The Institute will continue to discuss this and service levels with HMRC; we welcome your feedback at any time on this by email to tax@charteredaccountants.ie.     The House of Lords Treasury Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the Spending Review and continues to take oral evidence from experts.  

The Institute is pleased to advise that HMRC will be delivering a webinar for our members on Tuesday 16 September 2025 on Making Tax Digital for income tax. The webinar will cover key technical points and readiness tips ahead of the first phase of mandation from April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with gross income above £50,000. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions. More details, including a booking link, will be available in the coming weeks.  

Last week we highlighted a request from HMRC for agents to participate in phase two of testing the VAT Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) system in Northern Ireland, the system which allows business to report and pay VAT on imports of low value goods to consumers. As mentioned HMRC is now working on the phase of delivery of this which will allow agents to register and act on behalf of businesses. HMRC is seeking agent volunteers to participate in testing during phase two. Read more about how you can get involved in this unique opportunity and email tax@charteredaccountants.ie if you would like to participate or require more information.  

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates which you can read more about below, HMRC is seeking participants for a 12-month project aimed at improving corporation tax guidance, and a number of changes have been made to the personal tax query resolution service.   In other news this week:    The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a paper which asks what role taxation can/might play in reducing inequality in low/middle-income countries,   HMRC has published a guidance collection page for taxpayers on setting up and running a small business, and   HMRC is holding webinars this week looking at statutory maternity and paternity pay and statutory sick pay.   Corporation tax guidance research project   HMRC’s Comms and Guidance team are currently conducting research as part of a 12-month project aimed at improving corporation tax guidance. According to HMRC, this initiative is being conducted in response to reports that there is a lack of understanding around certain tax principles.   The project will explore the following four phases:   wholly and exclusively,   capital v revenue,   record keeping, and   director’s loans.   The team is currently in the discovery phase for wholly and exclusively, the goal being to understand how organisations manage and submit expenses on their corporation tax return, and how well they grasp the relevant tax principles. HMRC’s team is keen to speak with:   Limited companies,   Foreign companies with a UK branch or office,   Clubs, co-operatives, or other unincorporated associations (for example: community groups, sports clubs), and   Agents and accountants acting on behalf of these taxpayers.    They are especially interested in micro-entities and small companies with:    An annual turnover of no more than £10.2 million, and   No more than 50 employees.    The research is being undertaken via a 60-minute MS Teams session and will require completion of a consent form and privacy notice in advance. As a thank you, participants will receive a £60 Love2Shop voucher, redeemable at a wide range of high street and online retailers.    If you or a client would be interested in participating, please contact customerengagementforums@hmrc.gov.uk.    Changes to the personal tax query resolution service for agents   Earlier in the year we highlighted the launch by HMRC of a new enquiry service for agents, the personal tax query resolution service which was launched on 31 March. HMRC has been analysing and improving the service since then to make it quicker and easier to access; this includes introducing interactive guidance and enabling agents to access the service using the 'Where's my reply' tool instead of emailing HMRC. These changes are now live.    The ‘Where’s my reply’ tool should first be used by agents to check that their query meets the eligibility criteria before the agent subsequently submits their query. Queries should therefore no longer be sent by email. The aim of this change is to enhance the user experience, save time, and increase HMRC’s efficiency so that the relevant teams can focus on dealing with eligible queries and responding within the relevant timeframes. The guidance in the ‘Tax agents handbook’ has since been updated to reflect this.    By way of reminder, this service is specifically for PAYE and Self-Assessment queries for individuals; it is not available for employer related queries. Before using the service, you must:    have checked the ‘Where’s my Reply’, and at least 20 working days must have passed from the reply date given by the tool,   have tried at least twice to resolve the query by contacting HMRC’s Agent Dedicated Line or Agent Webchat, and   not have already initiated a complaint with HMRC related to the query.    In response, HMRC aims to:    make contact with the agent within 48 hours to acknowledge their query,   provide an update every five working days by phone, and   resolve the query within 20 working days or make an action plan if this is not possible.    To help HMRC resolve queries within the set timeframe, agents are asked to:    provide all relevant information and documentation,   respond promptly if HMRC asks for clarification, or more information,   not to chase a query before the 20 working days have passed, and   not to use this service to chase repayments.