To mark World Menopause Day (Friday 18 October) this week, the Thrive Wellbeing Hub explores the often overlooked and turbulent time in a woman’s life and the effects menopause can have on our emotional wellbeing.   Menopause and the preceding years are a significant life transition for any woman, whether it is part of the natural aging process or on-set by illness or medical treatment. Changes in our hormones bring about many physical changes and while menopause isn’t a mental health condition it can indeed affect your mental health or can often make existing mental health conditions worse. As a result of menopause, you may experience feelings of anxiety, stress, or depression, and many menopausal symptoms are intrinsically linked to how we feel or affect how we feel about ourselves, these include; Anger and irritability Forgetfulness Poor concentration Low mood and feelings of sadness Anxiety Loss of confidence and self-esteem or loss of self Difficulty sleeping Weight fluctuations These symptoms are a result of changes in the body and can have a big impact on your life. While some aren’t considered menopause symptoms, many women experience these effects. However, if you know what to expect, and why you are experiencing these feelings, it can help you make an informed decision on what to do to manage your mental health during this time.   In 2021, the Athlone Institute of Technology carried out a study on the experiences and health behaviours of menopausal women in Ireland. Interestingly, a key finding from the report was that the majority (77%) of women felt they were unprepared for menopause. When asked where they received information from, family (3%) and friends (6%) were not common information sources, demonstrating how menopause and the experiences associated are not discussed among peers.   Historically menopause has often been overlooked, underestimated, and simply not talked about enough but it is a natural part of the aging process and something all women will go through which is half the Irish population. Therefore, menopause can also be an extremely isolating and frustrating time. Friends and family may not understand or relate to what you are going through or be able to support you in the way you need.  It is also a time in a woman’s life when other life stressors and major events are taking place such as working full time, in busy and stressful seniority positions, caring for children, dealing with ageing parents and navigating other life transitions. Alleviating the emotional toll of menopause The impact of the hormonal changes that take place in the lead-up to menopause can be stressful, unfamiliar, and confusing. While some women will require medical intervention, for many healthy and positive lifestyle habits can ease many of the symptoms, help protect your mental wellbeing and alleviate the emotional toll experienced at this turbulent time.   Be aware of the symptoms and associated emotions that may accompany menopause as it helps you explain mood changes you may be experiencing.   Monitor your mood and note any patterns. Are you feeling irritable because you had difficulty sleeping? Do feelings of anxiety correlate with stress levels, poor concentration or brain fog? If these symptoms become severe and interfere with your daily life and relationships, seek help. Incorporate good lifestyle habits such as increasing exercise, eating well, getting plenty of rest and adequate sleep, and engaging in relaxing activities to help control stress and reduce potential symptoms. Reach out to others. It is important to not struggle alone. As we have detailed, many don’t share their menopause experience with peers and family but creating an open dialogue around menopause is important for peer-to-peer information sharing and confirming you are not alone and that many others have gone or are going through the same. Seek out workplace supports. Many women report that their work performance and availability are affected by menopause issues which can contribute to already heightened stress and anxiety levels. Thankfully, it is now much more commonplace for companies to implement menopause policies due to the challenges women face as they cope with symptoms. For example, Chartered Accountants Ireland developed its own menopause policy aimed at supporting employees coping with challenges arising from the menopause.  As part of the policy, training was provided to tackle the discourse, flexible working arrangements were implemented as well as other accommodations such as welfare rooms, appropriate workplace equipment and occupational health provisions. And remember, it's temporary. The menopausal transition is just that a transition and it isn’t permanent. It is important to remember that the dip in mental wellness and unpleasant symptoms in this period of life won't last forever and will ease with time. If menopause is affecting you or a loved one’s emotional wellbeing, please remember the Thrive Wellbeing Hub is here to support you, whether that’s help devising a self-care plan, dispensing advice, or being the confidant and support system you need.  

In Irish news today, we have prepared our annual ‘At a Glance’ document outlining the various measures and changes contained in Finance Bill 2024 and Revenue has published updated guidance on the Help to Buy Scheme. In UK news, the 2023/24 paper self-assessment filing deadline is approaching at the end of this month and a new process for claiming relief for employment expenses began earlier this week. In International news, Member States have updated the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.   Ireland  1. Read our “At a glance” document for a brief overview of Finance Bill 2024. 2. Revenue has updated guidance on the Help to Buy scheme to clarify that a renovation or refurbishment of an old residential property does not qualify for the scheme.  UK  3. Read about the changes to the process for claiming relief for employment expenses which took effect from Monday 14 October. 4. The 2023/24 paper self-assessment filing deadline is approaching.  International  5. Member States have updated the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.  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. 

Revenue has advised us of forthcoming changes to how Revenue will engage with agents providing services to PAYE taxpayers. Revenue is ending the practice, generally known as the “A2” process, of making repayments of Income Tax and/or USC to the bank accounts of tax agents, rather than directly to taxpayers. This change is being made to ensure that all taxpayers receive any repayments due as promptly as possible and will bring these repayments In line with other repayments of taxes and duties.  It is intended to implement the change in two stages. Firstly, from 1 January 2025, agents will no longer be able to add new clients to the A2 process and any such new clients will receive their repayments directly from Revenue.  In the second stage, all repayments under the A2 process will cease from 31 December 2025. This will enable an orderly wind-down of existing arrangements during 2025. Please note that this change relates solely to how repayments made by Revenue are remitted.  It does not, in any way, represent a change to the option for PAYE taxpayers to engage the services of an agent to manage their tax affairs if they so choose. Revenue will include this matter on the agenda of the December meeting of the Tax Administration Liaison Committee. In addition, Revenue is proposing to establish a working group with appropriate representation from the agent community, including representatives from the Institute, to identify and address any such transitional issues collaboratively. An eBrief will issue inviting persons to register their interest in this group.

Member States recently updated the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. Antigua and Barbuda was removed from Annex I (list of non-cooperative jurisdictions) after being granted a supplementary review by the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. 

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on registration and filing for European cross-border payments reporting (CESOP). The guidance has been updated to describe enhanced ROS functionality for CESOP filers who wish to file nil reports in a filing period.

Revenue has updated the Stamp Duty Manual which provides guidance to the relevant financial institutions located in the State that come within its scope as to the application of the levy for the 2024 year. The updated manual clarifies that the rate of the levy to be applied for the year 2024 will remain at 0.112% as legislated for in Finance (No.2) Act 2023.

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on the Help to Buy scheme. The updated guidance clarifies that a renovation or refurbishment of an old residential property does not qualify for the Help to Buy scheme (paragraph 5.3).

31 October 2024 is the self-assessment paper filing deadline for 2023/24 to avoid penalties. Readers are reminded that if an online self-assessment return cannot be filed by virtue of one of the online filing exclusions or special cases (see GOV.UK for details as these regularly change) meaning the return must be filed on paper instead, then in those cases, the 2023/24 paper filing deadline is extended to 31 January 2025. A reasonable excuse claim should accompany such returns.

From Monday 14 October 2024, claims for relief for employment expenses should only be made by post using form P87. The claim must now also be backed up by supporting evidence which should also be sent by post. According to HMRC, this change in process is being made as a response to a “growing tax risk driven by ineligible claims for employment expenses”. HMRC says they “are working at pace to reinstate the digital process as soon as possible”. Guidance on the new evidence requirements has also been published. From Monday 14 October, HMRC requires the taxpayer claiming relief for employment expenses to use the P87 form and provide supporting evidence to prove eligibility before the claim will be any further progressed. Some examples of acceptable evidence include receipts and copies of mileage logs which should accompany the P87 in the post. The following publications provide more detail on this: HMRC issue briefing: Evidence required to claim PAYE (P87) employment expenses, Claim tax relief for your job expenses, and Claim tax relief for your job expenses by post.

HMRC has recently been working on tidying up agent registrations and on 4 October 2024 emailed all agents asking them to provide details of their agent codes for self-assessment, VAT and corporation tax. Responses must be made by 8 November 2024 by completing the online form even if the agent/firm only has one code. We are aware that this email has caused some confusion with some believing it to be a scam/phishing attempt. The email is a legitimate email from HMRC and should not be ignored in order to ensure that an agent/firm’s continued access to online services for their clients is not interrupted or cancelled. This email has been sent to all agents who have signed up to receive HMRC agent emails and is not addressed to agent firms.  HMRC is conducting this exercise to identify codes which are no longer needed, or which are linked to entities that no longer exist due to mergers, takeovers or other changes. If this is the case, the correct legal entity will be required to obtain new authority from its clients.  Only one response is required for each legal entity. After 8 November 2024, HMRC will commence contacting firms who did not reply. It is important to note that failure to reply could lead to an agent code being cancelled by HMRC if there is no response. An agent code is the code that issued by HMRC when an agent firm first contacts them to obtain access to HMRC's self-assessment, corporation tax or VAT online services. It is used to enrol for the relevant service and may also need to be used in commercial filing software. The agent code is not the agent’s Government Gateway ID nor is it the Agent Services Account agent reference number.   Agents will have a different code for each service and may have several, for example for different branches of the same firm. Firms may also have codes to access other services; these are not to be provided as part of this exercise. For each code, you should identify if it is: still being used, not in use but is still needed, or no longer needed.   Once the response has been submitted, HMRC will send an acknowledgement which should be retained. Thereafter, HMRC will review the information submitted and make any updates necessary to its systems or it will contact the agent/firm if more information is required. 

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, we bring you news that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has overturned a European Commission decision that the UK’s controlled foreign company (CFC) rules were state aid. From this month HMRC has begun replacing some of its texts and SMS messages with what it refers to as “branded messages” and the latest issue of HMRC’s Public Service pensions Remedy newsletter has been published. Two new non-executive directors have also joined HMRC’s board, one of whom includes the former director of the Office of Tax Simplification, Bill Dodwell. And finally, HMRC has published more information ahead of the commencement of VAT being charged on private school fees from 1 January 2025. CJEU decision says UK CFC finance company rules were not state aid The CJEU recently ruled that the UK’s CFC rules were compatible with the internal market and set aside the judgment of the General Court, ordering the European Commission to pay the court costs for those involved in the appeal. The case centred around whether the UK’s finance company exemption on the taxation of the non-trade finance profits of CFCs was tantamount to artificial diversion of profits and constituted state aid. HMRC branded messages From October 2024 HMRC has begun to replace some of the texts and SMS messages it sends to taxpayers with what it refers to as  “branded messages”. These “branded messages” use some of the features of rich communications services, in order to “modernises and improves SMS messaging”. Although HMRC says that “branded message are more secure”, it continues to advise taxpayers to follow the published guidance on identifying suspicious contact. VAT on private school fees HMRC has published more information ahead of the commencement of VAT being charged on private school fees from 1 January 2025. This confirms that education providers will be able to register for VAT from 30 October 2024. More details are available in the following publications: Check if you must register for VAT if you receive private school fees, and Charging and reclaiming VAT on goods and services related to private school fees.

In this week’s post EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant in the post EU exit environment. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is available as is the latest Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs Team. HMRC has sent two attachments containing key information on the latest release for the Customs Declarations Service (CDS). Finally, last week it was announced by email that the new safety and security declarations for imports into Great Britain which were due to commence from the end of this month under the next stage of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) have been further delayed and will now commence from 31 January 2025. CDS latest release HMRC has asked us to share two attachments containing key elements of CDS release 4.6.0. The first attachment is an update on CDS release 4.6.0.  The second attachment is an annex which makes clear what codes traders should not be using. Delayed to introduction of safety and security declarations for imports HMRC has updated its guidance to reflect the decision to delay the new import requirements for goods from the EU (and other territories that did not have requirements before 1 January 2021) which were expected to be implemented from 31 October 2024 under the next phase of the BTOM. The waiver has now been extended until 31 January 2025. HMRC will publish further information in the coming weeks and will reach out to key stakeholders to start arranging more detailed engagement sessions, including support for readiness activity Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications Safety and security requirements on imports and exports, Making an entry summary declaration, Data Element 2/3: Document and Other Reference Codes: Licence Types — Imports and Exports of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), Reference Documents for The Customs (Tariff Quotas) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, Reference document for authorised use: eligible goods and authorised uses, Reference documents for The Customs (Reliefs from a Liability to Import Duty and Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, Flexible Accounting System for imports (Customs Notice 100), Appendix 2 C21e: Data Element 1/11: Additional Procedure Codes, and Method of payment (MOP) codes for Data Element 4/8 of the Customs Declaration Service.