Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Manual which provides guidance for the making of Stamp Duty assessments under section 20 SDCA 1999 and for appealing against Stamp Duty assessments under section 21 SDCA 1999. The manual has been updated and refreshed throughout and now includes details of the e-stamping regulations in the context of amending a self-assessment.  

Sections 90 to 102A of the Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) Consolidation Act 2003 provide for CAT relief in respect of gifts or inheritances of business assets. Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on the operation of this relief to reflect changes introduced in Finance (No.2) Act 2023. With effect from I January 2024 the clawback period will commence from the valuation date rather than the date of the gift/inheritance (paragraph 12.7).  

Revenue has updated its guidelines for charging interest on late payment through Revenue Debt Management Systems (DMS) and Fixed Direct Debit Systems . The manual provides guidance on when and how Revenue charges interest and the rates that apply.  

Revenue has updated the Tax & Duty Manual which provides guidance on employer’s PAYE obligations with effect from 1 January 2019.   The updates include:   Removal of content that is published in other manuals   Updated list of applicants who can submit a paper application to register as an employer   Updated contact information for Revenue offices throughout   Details of employer obligations under Enhanced Reporting Requirements   Updated guidance in relation to service charges (tips) paid out by/on behalf of an employer   Updated guidance in relation to annual membership fees paid to a professional body   Notification regarding the eSARP portal available in ROS   Updated examples throughout   Detailed guidance in relation to employer obligations throughout the income tax year  

Revenue is intending to enter into a Data Sharing Agreement under the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019. A Public Consultation Notice has issued on the proposed Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) which will allow for the sharing of the Unique Business Identifier Number (UBIN) between a number of government offices including Revenue.   The public consultation is available at gov.ie/consultations/DSA and is open from 17 July to 14 August. The public are invited to make submissions by email to consultations.dsa@per.gov.ie.  

As previously reported, Revenue has been working to resolve issues identified with the ROS Form 11. Revenue has notified us that the issue regarding the 3 percent USC surcharge on income over €100,000 has been resolved, along with some minor enhancements.   The issues regarding DIRT on UK deposit interest and pre-population of certain payments received from the Department of Social Protection are due to be released on 29 July. This is because of additional complexities in resolving these problems.  Revenue has confirmed that returns filed that have been impacted by these issues will be reviewed by Revenue, rather than the taxpayer (or their agent) having to revisit each return to make amendments.  

Revenue has published statistics on Local Property Tax (LPT) and Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) for 2024. LPT collected to date amounts to €403 million, with a 96 percent return compliance rate and 95 percent payment compliance rate indicating that the majority of property owners have met their LPT payment and filing obligations. In terms of VHT, there were 6,425 homes declared to be vacant, of which 2,630 claimed an exemption from VHT. The total liability to VHT amount to €2.2 million.  

Last week, a delegation from the Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, met the Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers TD to discuss this year’s Pre-Budget 2025 submission. The Minister was joined by several key senior officials from his department who facilitated an engaging and thorough discussion on a number of our proposals. We raised our concerns over the increased cost of doing business for SMEs in particular, the potential to reduce Employers' PRSI and reducing the headline rate of CGT from 33 percent to 25 percent. We also raised concerns about capacity and adequate childcare, and how the lack of affordable childcare is impacting workers. In addition, we reiterated many of our recommendations for enhancing share-based remuneration, particularly for SMEs, including recommending a deferral of the upfront tax charge on unapproved share options and a safe harbour for valuations for private companies instituting share schemes. We discussed the impact of the new Enhanced Reporting Requirements on businesses and the ongoing question about the need for businesses to report in real-time or, or before in-scope payments are made to employees. The requirement to file on a real-time basis does not seem to add any integrity to the information reported to Revenue but has caused significant problems for affected businesses and workers. We also suggested that two-gift limit applying to the small benefit exemption should be removed with the only limit being by reference to the total value of non-cash benefits made in a year, i.e. a taxpayer should be entitled to receive any number of non-cash benefits up to €1,000 as long as those benefits are not part of a salary sacrifice arrangement. The Institute is grateful to Minister Chambers for taking time to meet with us and consider our proposals. We wish the Minister every success in his new role and look forward to continued engagement with him and his office.

Completing the new Labour team in HM Treasury, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (XST) role has been allocated to James Murray MP. Last week’s King’s Speech set out the new Government’s legislative agenda but did not give any further hints on what tax policy will look like. And the current parliamentary session has been extended from 23 July to 30 July, during which it is expected that the date for the new Government’s first fiscal event will be announced.     The XST is responsible for the UK tax system including:  Direct, indirect, business, property, and personal taxation   European and other international tax issues   Customs and VAT at the border   The Finance Bill and the National Insurance Bill   Departmental Minister for HMRC, the Valuation Office Agency, and the Government’s Actuary’s Department   Tax administration policy   Input to Investment Zones and Freeports focusing on tax and customs elements   Overall responsibility for retained EU Law and Brexit.  

HMRC has asked users to share their views on the new alcohol duty approvals, returns and payments digital service which due to launch in 2025 via a survey. According to HMRC, it will use feedback from the survey to “improve the quality and relevance of information in future”. The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete. All responses will be kept confidential and anonymised when used in reporting.  

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, the latest Agent Update is available and the rules for reporting advances of pay have been relaxed. Construction industry scheme payment deduction statements should now only be requested by post and the UK and Gibraltar have signed an agreement on social security. HMRC guidance on genuine contact has been updated for new emails about child benefit and the latest schedule of HMRC live and recorded webinars for tax agents is also available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place. HMRC has also published data on expected exchequer receipts from environmental taxes and finally, the VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries came into operation from 8 July 2024.   Latest Agent Update   Agent Update 121 is available now. Get the latest guidance and information including:   changes to form R40   more information on notifying HMRC of changes to VAT registration details   supporting your clients to claim refunds for PAYE tax overpayments   P11D and P11D(b) filing and payment deadlines.   Relaxation of rules for reporting pay advances    From 6 April 2024, any payment on account of salary which is a genuine advance and not a loan should be reported by employers via PAYE Real Time Information on or before what would have been the normal payday, as opposed to being reported on the date of payment of the advance. This applies even if the normal date of payment falls into a different tax year.   The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2024) SI 2024/305 and the Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No.3) Regulations 2024 SI 2024/306 are the underpinning legislation for this change.    Construction industry scheme payment deduction statements   HMRC has recently contacted us to advise that from 1 July 2024 it is now no longer possible for subcontractors in the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) to request payment deduction statements from HMRC’s CIS helpline. Any such request should instead be made by post. HMRC has advised that this change has been made for security reasons and acknowledges that this may increase the admin burden for some taxpayers. More information on this is included in this month’s Agent Update.   Social security agreement with Gibraltar    An agreement between the UK and Gibraltar on social security coordination was implemented from 1 June 2024. HMRC’s view is that the agreement simply replaces retained EU law following the UK’s departure from the EU and works to protect the social security position of cross-border workers whilst also continuing to ensure access to the UK state pension. HMRC advises individuals from the UK who are working in Gibraltar to continue to follow the guidance on GOV.UK.   Genuine HMRC contact updated   HMRC has updated its guidance on genuine contact to provide information of how HMRC may contact child benefit applicants by email to acknowledge receipt of their claim and advise it is being progressed. In order to do so, HMRC will use the email address provided in the application and will use the subject line ‘Thank you — we’ve received your Child Benefit claim’ in the email title.   Environmental taxes   HMRC has published provisional 2023/24 data on exchequer receipts from a range of environmental taxes, including the climate change levy. Overall receipts for 2023/24 are expected to be lower than in 2022/23.   VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries    The Value Added Tax (Refund of Tax to Museums and Galleries) (Amendment) Order 2024 SI 2024/720 came into force on 8 July 2024. This adds additional museums and galleries which provide free public admission to the VAT refund scheme and removes those no longer eligible. A policy paper on the scheme is also available. This scheme supports the government’s policy of encouraging free admission to be offered by museums and galleries by enabling VAT refunds of certain purchases related to the provision of free admission.  

In this week’s EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant to EU exit. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available.   Miscellaneous updated guidance etc.    Recently updated guidance and publications relevant to EU exit are set out below:   Notice to exporters 2024/14: customs declaration service (CDS) - exhaustion in error guidance   Customs Declaration Service error codes   Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (Union) of the Customs Declaration Service   Appendix 2: DE 1/11: Additional Procedure Codes of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS)   Data Element 2/3: Document and Other Reference Codes: Licence Types — Imports and Exports of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS)   Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (Union) of the Customs Declaration Service   External temporary storage facilities codes for Data Element 5/23 of the Customs Declaration Service   Data Element 2/3 Documents and Other Reference Codes (National) of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS).