Revenue has issued a press release confirming that text messages claiming to come from them and which seek personal information from taxpayers are a scam. Revenue confirmed that they never request personal email through text, email or pop-up windows. Revenue advises that any emails or text messages which appear to be from Revenue and are suspected to be fraudulent or a scam should be deleted. Taxpayers should contact their local Revenue office to verify the status of any expected tax refunds. Individuals who have responded to these fraudulent emails or text messages and provided personal information are advised to contact their bank or credit card company immediately.

The annual Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) employer return for 2024 must be submitted to Revenue on or before 23 February 2025. The return should include details of all employees who availed of SARP relief for the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. Details on the filing of the return through Revenue’s online eSARP portal are available on Revenue’s SARP webpage.

The OECD Economic Survey of Ireland 2025 was launched last week at an event hosted by the Institute of International and European Affairs. The report notes that the domestic economy in Ireland remains robust primarily due to strong labour market performance. However, it notes that caution needs to be exercised when addressing spending pressures arising from an ageing population, infrastructure deficits, climate change and housing shortages. The key messages from the survey are as follows: Fiscal restraint is called for in the near term. At the same time, enhancing the fiscal framework, increasing spending efficiency and improving the medium-term resilience of tax revenues will be key to ensuring long-run fiscal sustainability. Preserving Ireland’s cost competitiveness requires a reduction in labour and skills shortages, lower legal costs and easing of the administrative burdens on businesses. Speedier implementation of plans and pricing emissions more uniformly across sectors is central to achieving Ireland’s ambitious climate targets. Policies to increase housing density, improve land use and development, raise productivity and lower costs in the construction sector are needed in order to boost housing supply. Commenting on the survey findings, Minister for Finance, Pascal Donohoe  said: “Our economy is in good shape and this gives us the resources and the bandwidth to address many issues. But continued economic success is not a given. The world is changing; the global economy is changing; our own economy is changing. It is incumbent upon us all – but especially those in the public sector – to prepare for these changes.”

Last September at the Labour Party Conference the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that a consultation would be launched on electronic invoicing (e-invoicing). This consultation has now been launched and will run for 12 weeks until 7 May 2025. The Institute will be responding to this and will be engaging with members on this important issue. In the meantime, members can also email tax@charteredaccountants.ie with their views. The launch of this consultation was accompanied by a Press Release. The consultation process is accepting written responses by email or alternatively an online form can be completed. Anyone wishing to join the round table events on this consultation should email einvoicingengagement@hmrc.gov.uk. Chartered Accountants Ireland has already highlighted the significance of this change to HMRC. Ireland has been consulting on the modernisation of its VAT regime including e-invoicing which the Institute responded to in January this year highlighting the challenges that SME businesses in particular will face. In a broader context, should this proposal proceed in the UK, the timetable for its introduction will need to be very carefully considered as many SMEs are facing significant change in other areas of the UK tax system in the future; the payrolling of benefits in kind from April 2026 and the mandation of Making Tax Digital for income tax from the same date to name but two.

HMRC’s MTD user research programme are looking for some help and the MTD software choices page has also been updated to add an additional software provider for 2024/25 bringing the total currently available to 16. HMRC is seeking the following types of volunteers to assist with MTD user research: Those who report partnership income, and Those who report foreign income (overseas pensions, dividend income, social security benefits and royalties etc). Volunteers will be interviewed to understand key behaviours, needs and difficulties. They will also be involved in conducting usability testing on a prototype for redesigned journeys within Self-Assessment. If you would like more information on taking part, please email tax@charteredaccountants.ie in the first instance and we will put you in touch with HMRC’s MTD team.

In this week’s miscellaneous updates, the February 2025 Employer Bulletin has been published and HMRC has now published its revised interest rates for late and early payments. In a tongue in cheek Press Release ahead of Valentine’s Day, HMRC is encouraging anyone in love with their side hustle to check if you need to tell HMRC about your income from online platforms. The Public Accounts Committee has published a report on HMRC services and the National Audit Office reports on the cost of the tax system. The Charter for Budget Responsibility has been approved by Parliament and finally, the Institute of Fiscal Studies has published an article looking at how changes in UK Government revenues compare with other advanced economies. February 2025 Employer Bulletin The latest Employer Bulletin is highlighting a range of issues relevant to employers including the following which HMRC has asked us to specifically highlight: “Statutory Neonatal Care Leave and Pay The government intends to introduce a new statutory entitlement to Neonatal Care Leave and Pay from 6 April 2025. This will provide employed parents whose babies are admitted to neonatal care with a day-one employment right to take up to 12 weeks off work, depending on the length of time their baby is in neonatal care. Eligible parents will also be entitled to up to 12 weeks of statutory pay.   The Department for Business and Trade laid the regulations to implement this right in January 2025. Subject to Parliamentary agreement, the new entitlement will apply to babies born on or after 6 April 2025.   A summary of the entitlement is provided in the following sections. Full guidance will be available soon.   Eligibility This will be available to a broad range of ‘parents’, including adoptive parents, parents who are fostering to adopt and the intended parents in surrogacy arrangements.   Employed parents whose babies are admitted into neonatal care up to the age of 28 days, and who have a continuous stay of seven full days or more, will be entitled to leave as a new day-one employment right. Eligible parents will be able to take a minimum of one week, and a maximum of 12 weeks, depending on how long their baby is in neonatal care. This is on top of their other parental entitlements such as maternity, paternity and shared parental leave.   For eligible parents to also qualify for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, they must also meet continuity of service and minimum earnings tests. This means the eligible employee must have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks ending with the relevant week and earn on average at least £125 per week before tax from April 2025.   Notice and information requirements Leave and pay can be taken in 2 Tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. The notice and evidence requirements for each Tier are: Tier 1 - is a period when the child is still receiving neonatal care, and including one week after the care has ended.  Tier 2 - is the period outside the Tier 1 period and before the end of 68 weeks from the date of the child’s birth.  Neonatal Care Leave notice periods An employee will need to give notice to take Neonatal Care Leave (NCL). The length and format of notice for leave will vary depending on whether the employee intends to take leave in Tier 1 or Tier 2.   For leave taken in Tier 1, the employee will need to notify their employer before they would be due to start work on the first day of absence, or as soon as possible thereafter. The notice does not need to be in written form.      For leave taken in Tier 2, the employee will need to provide notice at least 15 days before the start of a period of one week leave. For a period of 2 or more weeks of leave, the employee will need to provide notice at least 28 days before the start of the leave. The notice must be in written form.   Neonatal Care Pay notice periods An employee must provide written notice for Tier 1 Neonatal Care Pay (NCP) within 28 days beginning with the first day of the week in which NCP is being claimed.   For Tier 2 NCP, an employee must give a notice at least 15 days in advance in order to claim pay for one week’s leave. Notice must be given at least 28 days in advance to claim pay for 2 or more weeks of leave.   Neonatal Care Leave and Neonatal Care Pay information requirements At the same time, to receive leave and or pay for leave taken in either Tier 1 or Tier 2, an employee must provide the following information to the employer:  the employee’s name the date of the child’s birth if applicable, the date of the child’s placement with the adopter or prospective adopter if applicable, the date of the child’s entry into Great Britain to live with the overseas adopter the date the child started to receive neonatal care, or each date if the child received neonatal care on 2 or more separate occasions if the child is no longer receiving neonatal care, the date that the care ended if it is the first time a notice is being given, a declaration that the employee meets the parental relationship criteria that they, the employee, has cared for or intend to care for the child during the week or weeks to which the notice relates The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 applies only to Great Britain. At the current time, no legislation to introduce Neonatal Care Leave and Pay has been introduced in Northern Ireland, therefore, the measure will not apply in Northern Ireland.   Further information is available at: Pay Regulations: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348268041/contents Leave Regulations: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348268034/contents GOV.UK Press release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parents-to-receive-day-one-right-to-neonatal-care-leave-and-pay.” Public Accounts Committee report on HMRC services Last month the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published its report ‘HMRC Customer Service and Accounts 2023-24’. The reports outlines HMRC’s performance in delivering customer service and draws six conclusions from its findings whilst also making six accompanying recommendations for improvement. A response is expected from the Government within two months.   National Audit Office report on the cost of the tax system The National Audit Office has published its report ‘The administrative cost of the tax system’. The report concludes, not surprisingly, that the cost to HMRC of running the tax system is increasing. In part this is due to rising complexity in the different tax regimes and taxpayer numbers, but it is also due to the additional cost of introducing and remediating digital systems and moving to a more highly-skilled workforce. HMRC does not measure the overall efficiency of its administration of the tax system, but there is evidence from different parts of the system that there is scope for increased efficiency and productivity. Although enhanced digitalisation has increased revenue, it does not seem to be reducing running costs. Customer service performance has also declined and efficiency targets have proved difficult to achieve without compromising services. Charter for Budget Responsibility Last month the House of Commons voted to approve the Charter for Budget Responsibility, the Government’s new fiscal and debt management policy. The accompanying press release sets outs that “through the Charter, fiscal and economic stability will be enhanced by confirming the Government’s intention to move to one major fiscal event per year” This seems to confirm that there will only be one major fiscal event every year in the autumn therefore major tax changes are unlikely to be announced at the Spring Statement on Wednesday 26 March 2025. Institute for Fiscal Studies article on Government revenues The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently published an article entitled ‘The UK’s near-record Government revenues are not uncommon internationally’. This considers how changes in UK Government revenues compare with that of other advanced economies, including the G7 and EU27. The article notes that although these are at record high levels, the UK has only recently begun to catch up with its peers in terms of average revenue as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.  

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 also available as is the latest Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs team. Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications Report a problem using the Customs Declaration Service, Transit newsletters — HMRC updates, Data Element 2/3: Documents and Other Reference Codes (Union) of the Customs Declaration Service, Manage your Trader Goods Profile, UK Trade Tariff: duty suspensions and autonomous tariff quotas, Trade with the UK as a business based in the EU, Check how to move goods through ports that use the Goods Vehicle Movement Service, Create a goods movement reference, 9. Transport Internationaux Routiers, 6. Simplifications, 11. Specimen Management System, 8. Contraventions and Civil Penalties , 1. Introduction, 2. Status of goods - Transit Manual Part II refers, 3. Guarantees (Transit Manual Part III refers), Transit Manual Supplement, Data Element 2/3 Documents and Other Reference Codes (National) of the Customs Declaration Service, Use the New Computerised Transit System, Customs Declaration Completion Requirements for The Northern Ireland Protocol, Notices made under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, and Notices under The Customs Transit Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.

The OECD is to publish a consolidated report on Amount B later this week. As part of the two pillar solution agreed by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS, Amount B provides for a simplified and streamlined approach to the application of the arm’s length principle to in-country baseline marketing and distribution activities, with a particular focus on the needs of low-capacity countries. This consolidated report will include all publications on Amount B by the Inclusive Framework in 2024.

In Irish news, the first Fiscal Monitor for 2025 has been published and we bring you details of an information campaign launched by Revenue for PAYE taxpayers. In UK news, senior HMRC representatives from the Making Tax Digital (MTD) team attended last week’s Practice News and HMRC is advising that ongoing industrial action by some of its staff has now been extended to 14 March 2025. In International news, the European Commission outlines its priorities on tax matters. Ireland 1. The Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have published the Fiscal Monitor for January 2025 which confirms an Exchequer surplus of €3.6 billion in January. 2. As part of a PAYE information campaign, Revenue has published statistics relating to 2024 tax return filings and are encouraging all PAYE taxpayers to finalise their tax position.    UK 3. The first Practice News webinar of 2025 was attended by senior HMRC representatives from the MTD team who spoke about how to get ready for MTD for income tax. 4.  HMRC is advising that industrial action by some of its staff which may impact specific helplines has now been extended to 14 March 2025. International 5. Read about the European Commission’s priorities on tax matters. 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 updated the Tax and Duty Manual Company Charge to Income Tax on Loans to Participators. The updated manual includes a new introductory paragraph, further details on the operation of the provisions, and some additional examples.

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual VAT and Employer Income Tax/PRSI/USC/LPT – Direct Debit guidelines to reflect the ongoing direct debit modernisation project. Under phase one of this project, from January 2025, employers can no longer avail of a fixed direct debit option to pay their taxes. Liabilities can be settled instead by variable direct debit.

Revenue has published a new Tax and Duty Manual Split Year Residence which provides guidance on split year residence. The guidance reflects amendments to the claim rules introduced in Finance Act 2024. The new guide outlines split year treatment, its benefits and the relevant qualifying conditions. The changes introduced by Finance Act 2024 allow individuals to self-assess their eligibility for split year residence and claim the relief in their income tax Return for the relevant year.  These changes are referred to as the ‘Finance Act 2024 scheme (out of year claims)’. The manual provides guidance on claiming relief under this scheme and under ‘The Finance Act 1994 scheme (in-year claims)’. Illustrative examples of both schemes are included in the manual.