The Minister for Justice, Simon Harris, has confirmed that he considers it no longer appropriate to keep the Immigrant Investment Programme (IIP) open. The Ireland IIP was established in 2012 to allow wealthy individuals and families from outside the European Union to obtain residency in Ireland in exchange for making an approved investment in the Irish economy. Although permanent residence is not offered by the program, once the appropriate conditions are met residency permission could be extended every few years for an indefinite period. The Ireland IIP does not officially provide Irish citizenship by investment, but long-term residency in Ireland can be used to support a citizenship application under the country's naturalization rules. Although the government granted a three-month grace period in limited exceptions, applications will no longer be accepted after 15 February 2023. Further information is available here.

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual for qualifying health expenses relating to certain illnesses. The updated manual includes the flat rate expense amount allowable regarding certain kidney patients and children with life threatening illnesses. The examples throughout the manual have also been updated to refer to the current year of assessment.

Revenue has updated the Share Schemes Manual relating to growth shares, to include updated examples and provide a link to comprehensive guidance on filing the employer return.

Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Tax and Duty Manual for relief for leases of farmland to reflect recent developments. Section 81D SDCA1999 provides for relief from stamp duty (subject to State aid rules) in respect of certain leases of farmland executed (signed, sealed or both) on or after 1 July 2018. In order to qualify for the relief, a farmer must either hold a relevant agricultural qualification or spend a specified amount of time farming. Finance Act 2022 inserted a new section 654A in the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997, which streamlines how agricultural qualifications are listed and updated for the purposes of various tax relief schemes, including relief on certain leases of farmland.

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.  In developments this week, following public consultation, IAASA has issued a revised version of ISA (Ireland) 600 Special Considerations – Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors) and conforming amendments; the Financial Reporting Council has announced an increase in the number of signatories to the UK Stewardship Code following the publication of its updated list. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below. Financial Reporting The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has released a podcast on its recent discussion paper Accounting for variable consideration – from a purchaser’s perspective. EFRAG has also released a summary report on its recent conference entitled “Where is Corporate Reporting heading?” Auditing IAASA issues a revised version of ISA (Ireland) 600 Following public consultation, IAASA has issued a revised version of ISA (Ireland) 600 Special Considerations – Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors) and conforming amendments. https://iaasa.ie/iaasa-issues-a-revised-version-of-isa-ireland-600/ Sustainability The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK has recently published a discussion paper on finance for positive sustainable change: governance, incentives and competence in regulated firms. The paper does not make any concrete proposals in terms of new regulatory rules, but it seeks views on how firms should develop their arrangements for governance, incentives and competence in sustainability. The FCA has requested responses to the paper by 10 May 2023. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is holding a series of free events for businesses which will highlight the opportunities and challenges presented by digital transformation and decarbonisation. The first event will be hosted in the North-West on Friday 3rd March and is open for businesses based in Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. You can read more and register here. Small businesses and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to sample hundreds of events helping them to start or grow their business as part of this year’s Local Enterprise Week which takes place from March 6th to 10th. Click here to read more about it and here for more details of the events  including spotlight events for example one on Green, Sustainability & Competitiveness on Thursday 9th March from 2.30pm to 3.30pm. Insolvency The Institute recently hosted a webinar on Options for directors in financial difficulty. It outlined directors’ duties and obligations when a business is in financial difficulty, and possible consequences for directors for not adhering to those duties and obligations. There was also discussion on the recent insolvency related changes to Companies Act 2014 on the expansion of directors’ duties and a Q&A session. The recording can be accessed here. Sanctions/cybercrime The UK government recently sanctioned seven people said to be part of a Russia-based cybercrime gang under the UK’s thematic cyber sanctions regime pursuant to The Cyber (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. In conjunction OFSI also published Guidance on Ransomware and Financial Sanctions and you can read the UK Government press release here . The European Union this week announced that it is considering its 10th package of sanctions against Russia. Click here to read the press release on the proposed 10th package. They propose to further restrict the export of dual use and advanced tech goods and to add third country entities to the Russia dual use sanctions. They will also look at setting up an overview of all frozen assets of the Russian central bank held in the EU and will look to tackle circumvention of sanctions. We will bring further news of the sanctions when available. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and CERT-EU, which is the Computer Emergency Response Team of all the EU institutions, bodies and agencies (EUIBAs), have issued a joint publication to alert on sustained activity by particular threat actors which they say pose a significant and ongoing threat to the European Union. Click here to go to the ENISA webpage where you can access a copy of the publication and the recommendations in it. Other Areas of Interest The FRC has announced an increase in the number of signatories to the UK Stewardship Code following the publication of its updated list. The list now includes successful applicants who submitted their reports at the end of October 2022. The regulator received 105 applications, of which 88 were successful, taking the total number of signatories to 254, up from 235 in September last year. This includes 179 asset managers, 58 asset owners and 17 service providers. The additional signatories bring the total assets under management of the list to £46.4tn, up from £40.7tn. The European Central Bank recently issued its ECB February 2023 Supervision newsletter where there a number of topics readers may find of interest including a piece from the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland on whether banks are overregulated, an article on crypto-assets: a new standard for banks and an article on banks’ digital transformation. Section 225 of the Companies Act 2014 introduced a requirement for a directors’ compliance statement (DCS) into Irish law. Now that the DCS has been operational for several years, the Company Law Review Group (CLRG) is reviewing it to determine its effectiveness in achieving compliance and its usability and, if appropriate, to make recommendations as to how these might be enhanced in the interest of good corporate governance. Readers may know that the CLRG is a statutory advisory expert body charged with advising the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the review and development of company law in Ireland. The CLRG has issued two surveys, a directors’ survey and a practitioners’ survey, to get feedback from directors of affected companies and practitioners (auditors, financial directors, solicitors, and so on) who are involved in the preparation of the annual DCS. Please see here for more information from DETE on the review . Please access the directors’ survey here. Please access the practitioners’ survey here. The closing date is 28 February 2023. DETE's February 2023 Enterprise newsletter is now available. It contains information on the survey referred to in the preceding paragraph and a number of consultations which DETE is currently involved in including the consultation on which we brought you details in the last few weeks seeking the views of interested parties on the member state options in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. As a reminder of the details you can click here for a recent Institute news item with some more information on the Directive. The Irish Minister for Justice this week obtained approval from Government to close the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) to further applications from close of business on 15 February 2023. He said that all programmes are kept under review and the Government has also taken on board a number of reports and findings from international bodies such as the EU Commission, Council of Europe and OECD on similar investment programmes. You can read more in the press release from the Dept of Justice website. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.  

The Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, has urged tenants who are eligible for the Rent Tax Credit to make their claims without delay. While 137,697 people have already successfully claimed the credit for 2022, the Department of Finance estimates the up to 400,000 tenants may be eligible to claim the relief. The rent tax credit is valued at up to €500 per person, or €1,000 in the case of a jointly assessed couple, and is available for the 2022 to 2025 years of assessment inclusive. As previously outlined, PAYE taxpayers can claim the 2022 rent tax credit by filing a Form 12 via MyAccount PAYE Services, while self-assessed taxpayers can claim the rent tax credit when filing their Form 11 via ROS. In addition, PAYE taxpayers have the option of claiming their 2023 rent tax credit in 2023 by using Revenue’s Real Time Credit facility. Commenting, the Minister said: “The Rent Tax Credit was introduced in Budget 2023 as a means to help renters deal with the rising cost of living. This tax credit is different to most as it applies retrospectively for 2022 as well as going forward to 2025. To date, 137,697 claims have been made in respect of rent paid in 2022. The vast majority of those taxpayers will have received a refund of €500 paid directly into their bank accounts. This is very welcome given that for many, the cost of living pressures are most acute at the beginning of the year. I would strongly urge tenants who have not already done so, and who are eligible for the Rent Tax Credit, to complete their 2022 tax returns through Revenue’s myAccount without delay so they can claim the refund, and any other tax refunds that they may be due.”  

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual for Schedule 2 - Encashment Tax. The updated manual now incorporates guidance regarding encashment tax and US dividends and provides an example on how encashment tax is applied to US dividends. The previous guidance has been archived.

Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Tax and Duty Manual for transfers of land under section 81AA SDCA 1999 to young trained farmers to reflect recent developments, including the extension of the relief to 30 June 2023. Further information is available in eBrief no.030/23.

The Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, has announced the transfer of €4 billion from the Exchequer’s Central Fund into the National Reserve Fund. Commenting on the transfer, Minister McGrath said: “On Budget day, the government committed to putting aside additional resources, from excess corporation tax receipts to prepare the public finances for future challenges. This commitment was made while also providing over €11 billion in economic support to households and businesses in Budget 2023 to help individuals, families and businesses deal with the rising cost of living. While we have acted to deal with this immediate challenge, there are future costs which we must be prepared for including the consequences of an ageing population, the digital transition and climate change. Recent history has taught us that we must also be prepared for unforeseen challenges, which are becoming more frequent and increasingly impactful. The transfer of €4 billion to the National Reserve Fund today is an important step in that preparation. Today’s transfer comes after the €2 billion transfer made in 2022 and brings total transfers to the Fund since Budget night 2022 to €6 billion. This means that the NRF will have a strengthened position to respond to the type of unforeseen challenges that the Fund was established to deal with in 2019."

Revenue has written to taxpayers who are currently registered for Income Tax but have not filed Income Tax returns for years up to and including 2021 notifying them of their obligations, as chargeable persons, under self-assessment rules for Income Tax.  A chargeable person is obliged to file Income Tax returns and make payments, on or before 31 October each year.   Revenue advises that where a taxpayer is no longer a chargeable person, the taxpayer should cancel their Income Tax registration. This can be done online via ROS or by completing Form TRCN1 which is available on the Revenue website.  If the taxpayer continues to be a chargeable person, the notice is a final reminder to file the outstanding Income Tax returns.  If taxpayers do not file the outstanding Income Tax returns or cancel the registration within 21 days of this letter, Revenue will proceed to cease the Income Tax registration without further notice.  The notice will issue directly to taxpayers with no Agent copies issuing.

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup. In developments this week, as part of its ongoing engagement activities in relation to the periodic review of FRS 102 and other FRSs, the Financial Reporting Council hosted a webinar on 19 January which gave an overview of the proposals and provided further context in relation to the decisions made; the Chairperson of the European Banking Authority recently gave a speech on Financing transition to sustainability? What is the role of banking regulation? He said that the financial sector has an important role to play, both in terms of financing the transition to sustainability and for managing financial risks stemming from ESG factors. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below. Financial Reporting IAASA has published a compendium of financial reporting decisions. These decisions relate to accounting treatments applied by three companies in their 2021 annual financial reports. This compendium, for the first time, includes decisions covering accounting for climate change and sustainability initiatives. As part of its ongoing engagement activities in relation to the periodic review of FRS 102 and other FRSs, the FRC hosted a webinar on 19 January which gave an overview of the proposals and provided further context in relation to the decisions made. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) are hosting a webinar on 31 January entitled “ESG – what we’ve achieved so far and what’s next” The IASB have released a webcast which addresses the proposals on financial instruments contained in the recent Exposure Draft on the Third Edition of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard. In its Q4 2022 podcast the IFRS Interpretations Committee discussed a recent submission in relation to IFRS 16 relating to whether a contract including a substitution right contains a lease. The tentative agenda decision in relation to this is open for comment until 6 February 2023. In its sixth episode of “The Fast Future with IFAC” podcast series, some issues relevant to small and medium practitioners are discussed, including cybersecurity, cloud computing, client relationship-building, attracting and retaining talent and firm innovation. Auditing The IAASB has opened its public consultation for a group audit-specific section of the proposed auditing standard for less complex entities. This is open for public comment until 2 May. Sustainability The Chairperson of the European Banking Authority recently gave a speech on Financing transition to sustainability? What is the role of banking regulation? He said that the financial sector has an important role to play, both in terms of financing the transition to sustainability and for managing financial risks stemming from ESG factors. There was some discussion on the EBA roadmap which was adopted in December 2022 and that EBA are going to continue working to embed ESG considerations into their risk analysis and stress testing. Professional Accountancy Education Europe (PAEE), which is a collaboration between European accountancy bodies striving to provide a high-quality education framework at international level have issued some Q&As which explain why it is vital to further develop sustainability awareness among accountancy and auditing professionals. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) have issued their January 2023 update and podcast. This discusses recent developments including the rollout and adoption of Sustainability Standards S1 and S2. Insolvency The Institute is hosting a webinar on Options for directors’ in financial difficulty on Thursday, 9 February 2023. We will outline directors’ duties and obligations when a business is in financial difficulty, and possible consequences for directors for not adhering to those duties and obligations. There will be discussion on the recent insolvency related changes to Companies Act 2014 on the expansion of directors’ duties. Anti-money laundering The Irish Minister for Justice, with the consent of the Minister for Finance recently issued Guidelines under section 37(12) of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 (as amended) (Act) giving a bit more detail of  those functions in the State that may be considered to be prominent public functions for the purposes of the Act. This will assist firms to identify domestic Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) when conducting their AML risk assessment. The UKFIU recently published the 2022 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) Annual Report and annexes which features statistics covering the years 2020-21 and 2021-22.SARs are submitted to the NCA by individuals working in regulated sectors such as banking, legal and financial services, where they suspect that transactions are being used to launder money or conceal criminal activity. Other Areas of Interest The Irish Central Bank recently issued a Dear CEO letter concerning its supervisory findings and expectations for payment and electronic money (E-Money) firms. The purpose of the letter is to reaffirm supervisory expectations of CBI with the CBI stating that the supervision of all financial services sectors is risk-based. The letter also sets out a requirement that all payment and e-money firms who are required to safeguard users’ funds obtain a specific audit of their compliance with the safeguarding requirements under EU regulations and the letter sets out what CBI expects the audit opinion to contain. Read the full letter at the link above . Also, in CBI news the Governor recently issued a letter setting out his financial regulation priorities 2023.Among other items it includes continuing progress on actions on the systemic risks generated by non -banks and ensuring that the EU’s Anti Money Laundering Action Plan including the establishment of a single supervisory authority results in  a consistent and robust EU wide framework. The DETE webinar on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)was held on 26 January 2023.The purpose of the webinar was to introduce CSRD and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards arising out of it, to Irish businesses so that they can begin their preparations. DETE reported that next week will see the launch of a public consultation on member state options contained within the CSRD. Further news on the webinar can be found here. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.  

The deadline for making an Unprompted Qualifying Disclosure in relation to previously undisclosed Period 1 liabilities under the Debt Warehousing Scheme (DWS) is 31 January 2023. Revenue has updated its Tax and Duty Manual on the process for taxpayers making an Unprompted Qualifying Disclosure of previously undisclosed Period 1 liabilities. Such taxpayers have an opportunity to have those additional liabilities warehoused under the terms of the DWS. The updated guidance sets out the period within which taxpayers availing of Debt Warehousing must agree a Phased Payment Arrangement (PPA) for their warehoused liabilities.