Revenue has updated the stamp duty manual providing guidance on the application of Consanguinity Relief. This relief provides for a one percent reduced rate of stamp duty on the conveyance and transfer of land between certain related parties. The updated guidance outlines that to qualify for the relief, the entire beneficial interest in the land must be transferred between related parties.

Revenue has issued a reminder that the deadline for filing the annual share related returns for 2025 is 31 March 2026 and has also updated its website to provide relevant tips and recommendations.  New versions of the relevant share scheme returns are now available and employers and trustees are advised to ensure the new version of the forms are used when completing and uploading details in respect of the return year 2025. The updated forms ESA, RSS1, ESS1 and KEEP1 have been annualized to allow for the new reporting year, 2025 and all cells that relate to “market value” data have been modified to allow entry and display of up to five decimal points. The following changes have been made to Forms SRSO1 and ESOT1: References to 2024 have been replaced with 2025. Reference to 31 March 2025 has been replaced with 31 March 2026. The .pdf files now contain free-text editable text fields. Some formatting and layout changes have been made to reflect latest accessibility guidance. Some linguistic changes were made to the Irish version of both returns to ensure they align with current Revenue Irish style guidance. In respect of the Form SRSO1 - a formatting error has been resolved on page 4 of the return. The text ‘4. Continued’ has been removed and the text ‘Replacement Options Exercised’ has been reformatted as a subheading rather than a main heading. This change applies to both the English and the Irish version of this return. In the reminder, Revenue outlined that failure to make a return by the due date may attract penalties.

Last week the Institute responded to the HM Treasury ‘Call for Evidence: Tax Supports for Entrepreneurs’, which was launched on Autumn Budget Day last November. We thank members for their feedback on this important issue. In our submission, the Institute highlights how the draft Finance (No. 2) Bill clauses which implement the Autumn Budget 2025 changes to the various scheme limits for several of the UK’s tax advantaged venture capital schemes exclude specified Northern Ireland (NI) companies due to EU State Aid rules. The submission also highlights that there is a need for a wider review of how the UK tax system could better support all entrepreneurs, and not just those investing in high growth companies. A specified NI company is currently defined in the Finance (No. 2) Bill as a company that has its registered office in NI which carries on a trade involving a trade in goods, or the generation, transmission, distribution, supply, wholesale trade, or cross-border exchange of electricity. As a result, these NI companies will be unable to benefit from the increased limits to these schemes from April 2026. This divergence in UK tax policy means that companies in NI who are excluded are disadvantaged when seeking external finance compared to their competitors across the remainder of the UK for no objective reason other than their location. To level the playing field, the Government needs to take the necessary steps to resolve this issue and enable the April 2026 changes to apply to all companies in NI via the discussions through the existing UK-EU structures which underpin the Windsor Framework, followed by an application for State Aid approval.

Last Wednesday, a delegation from the Institute attended a meeting with senior officials from  the Department of Finance to discuss our response to the Phase One Interest Review Feedback Statement. The meeting is part of the Department’s ongoing stakeholder outreach that is growing on the back of the formation of its Business Tax Stakeholder Forum back in 2024. The meeting involved a general discussion on the feedback received placing our own comments within that wider context. The discussion that followed was constructive and it was clear that our feedback and the feedback of the other respondents has been carefully considered. Broadly, the feedback we provided focused on our reservations with the earlier Feedback Statement, particularly the proposed application of a ‘profit motive’ test for Case I/II scenarios.  We also drew out our concerns about the potential impact on the principles established in Ringmahon. The Department advised it was not their intention to change the scope of the analysis applied in Ringmahon. Rather, the Department is considering how it can broaden the analysis for deductibility accepted in Case I scenarios in a way that is appropriate for Case III/V scenarios. It is considering alternative approaches now and we will be making further recommendations on this point. In terms of our detailed feedback to government through these public consultations, it is greatly welcomed that we are having more frequent opportunities to meet directly with officials to discuss our recommendations, or reservations as the case may be. As mentioned, we will be providing a follow-up note to the Department later this week highlighting our key recommendations as the next phase of work progresses on this key legislative project. At this point, it seems that the Department has taken stakeholders’ views on board and will consider an approach that preserves what already functions well within the current system.  It is also open to accepting proposals on what could be addressed in this year’s Finance Act and what proposals should be given further consideration for inclusion in later Finance Acts to avoid any unintended consequences. If you are reading this and have views you would like to share in relation to your own response to the Phase One proposals, please reach send your thoughts to tax@charteredaccountants.ie.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will deliver this year’s Spring ‘Forecast’, previously known as the Spring Statement, tomorrow Tuesday 3 March at approximately 12.30 in the afternoon. The Institute will be reacting on the day with coverage of the key announcements on our dedicated UK fiscal events webpage, followed by more detail in next Monday’s Chartered Accountants Tax News. The expectation is that this year’s speech from the Chancellor will not contain any major tax policy changes or surprises. This follows the announcement at the Autumn Budget that performance against fiscal rules will only be assessed once every year in the autumn. Tomorrow’s forecast from the Chancellor and the Office for Budget Responsibility is therefore expected to be an interim update on the economy and public finances, without policy changes, unless, as the Chancellor said in November, there is ‘a significant change to the economic outlook that requires a response.’ Will global disruption in recent days mean that the Chancellor needs to increase defence spending? What we do expect tomorrow is the launch of several tax consultations which were previously announced on the day of the 2025 Autumn Budget. The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on the Spring Forecast, whilst the Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a useful article ahead of tomorrow. And, in light of the events that occurred in the run up to the 2025 Autumn Budget, HM Treasury has published a review of Budget information security. 

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates which you can read more about below, the February 2026 Employer Bulletin has been published, and HMRC is holding a range of webinars in the coming weeks. In other news this week: The latest HMRC Stakeholder Digest is available, HMRC has published guidance for developers on what good use of generative artificial intelligence looks like in commercial software products which assist users when submitting tax returns or other information to HMRC, It has been confirmed in a consultation response that a proposal suggested in a 2024 consultation by the Tribunal Procedure Committee which would have removed written judgments on tax rulings will not go ahead following significant opposition, We remind you that as announced last March, from 31 March 2026 HMRC’s online service for filing a company’s accounts and corporation tax return (commonly known as the CATO service) will close. This means that from 1 April 2026, companies will need to use commercial software for filing, and HMRC is planning maintenance to the Agent Services Account service which will be unavailable from 7am this Sunday 8 March to 9am on Monday 9 March 2026. February 2026 Employer Bulletin The February 2026 edition of HMRC’s Employer Bulletin brings you all the latest HMRC updates and guidance to support employers, payroll professionals, and agents. Included in this edition are important updates on: reporting expenses and benefits for the tax year 2025/26, end of year reporting, upcoming State Pension age changes and the impact on payroll operation, implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025, Statutory Sick Pay changes: what employers need to know, and tax code changes for recovery of winter fuel payments. HMRC webinars The following webinars are scheduled over the coming weeks which are now open for registrations: Guidelines for Compliance 13: help ensuring documents filed with HMRC are correct and complete, upcoming payroll changes in 2026/27, and the treatment of statutory maternity and paternity pay.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on its draft for a new General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). This simplified and modernised version of GBER is intended to respond to changes in social, technological and internal market conditions. Member States and all interested parties are invited to submit their comments by 23 April 2026.

The European Parliament Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) has held a public hearing on addressing the debt-equity bias in taxation. The MEPs considered expert opinion on the impact of this bias on investment decisions, capital allocation, competitiveness and economic resilience.

The European Commission’s soon to be proposed new corporate legal framework for EU companies (“the 28th tax regime”) was discussed at a FISC Subcommittee public hearing. The MEPs expressed their concerns regarding the scope of the proposals and sought expert opinion on the removal of tax barriers for companies.

The EU Directive 2026/470, which amends the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), was published in the EU Official Journal on 26 February 2026. Part of the Omnibus I package, the Directive aims to streamline and simplify the EU’s sustainability reporting framework. It will take effect 20 days later, with Member States required to transpose its provisions into national law within 12 months. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment will be responsible for transposing the Directive in Ireland. The Directive also introduces updates to the CSDDD, with those elements to be transposed by 26 July 2028. Overall, the changes are intended to reduce administrative burdens, increase efficiency, and offer greater flexibility to companies while supporting the EU’s broader competitiveness goals. Please see our recent article in Accountancy Ireland for further details.

Core Funding is a grant scheme provided directly to Early Learning and Childcare service providers administered by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (the Department). Under the Core Funding Partner Service Agreement, all service providers that had an active core funding contract during the 1 September 2024 - 31 August 2025 programme year (Year 3) must engage a qualified professional accountant to submit a financial return.  The returns must be submitted by 31 March 2026. The Department requires that these financial returns must be submitted by a qualified professional accountant. The accountant can be an employee of the provider (if certain conditions are met) or an independent qualified accountant who holds a Practising Certificate (PC) and professional indemnity insurance.  Accountants linked to childcare service providers will have received a letter (attached)  from the Department this week outlining the steps to complete and submit the financial returns.  For the 2024/2025 programme year (Year 3), accountants will need to submit a trial balance prepared at site level using accruals-based accounting. Submission of the trial balance prepared using accruals-based accounting is a change for Year 3 given that returns submitted in Years 1 and 2 used cash-based accounting. The Department’s portal website  www.cfcrrs.ie  is now open for submission of the financial returns and guidance documents for Year 3 have been added to Department's Early Years Hive website. Members can read further information and links to some further guidance on our dedicated webpage.

Minister Jack Chambers has announced that a new Regulatory Simplification Unit has been set up to support faster delivery of critical infrastructure projects. It comes after the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce found that the pre-planning stage for major infrastructure projects is taking too long.  As part of a roundtable event on the NDP, that the Institute held with members last year, the issue of bottlenecks in the planning of infrastructure projects was discussed. It is encouraging to see items from the Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan implemented in the first quarter of 2026 – this prioritisation reflects urgency, which is extremely welcome.   The new Regulatory Simplification Unit will: Conduct a risk-based review of the current regulatory landscape. This will involve analysing and mapping existing processes and conducting workshops with the bodies involved in consenting, permitting and licensing to identify and remove bottlenecks.  Identify opportunities to enhance cooperation and streamline processes for more effective delivery of the National Development Plan; and  Focus on simplifying and improving the complex consenting, permitting and licensing systems across critical infrastructure sectors that support housing delivery – energy, transport and water infrastructure.  The establishment of the Unit marks the commencement of Action 9 of the Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan, which aims to support the simplification of overlapping and unduly complex regulatory frameworks.