Insights

It’s that time of year again. As income tax returns are filed, we keep seeing advertisements and notices telling us to top up our pensions and reduce our income tax liabilities. Yes, contributing to a pension is an effective way of reducing tax, but this is only one benefit of making a contribution.

Anti-Money Laundering legislation requires each EU Member State to establish a Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Trusts (CRBOT).

A PAYE Exclusion Order (PEO) issued by Revenue to an employer relieves the employer from the obligation to deduct tax at source under the PAYE system from emoluments paid to an employee.

The deadline for filing IREF returns for years ending July – December 2020 is on or before 30 July 2021. In June 2021, Revenue released an updated Form IREF which requires taxpayers to disclose additional information this year in comparison to prior years.

A family partnership is a term used to describe a partnership between members of a family, often parents and their children. It can be a useful vehicle for holding investment and/or trading assets for the benefit of a number of family members.

Certain Financial Institutions (‘FIs’) in Ireland are obliged to file both Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (‘FATCA’) and Common Reporting Standard (‘CRS’) reports by 30 June 2021 with Irish Revenue. Those with a reporting obligation, that is “Reporting Financial Institutions” (‘RFIs’) should compile and validate the reportable account information for inclusion on both the FATCA/CRS reports.

As required by the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), Finance Act 2019 introduced wide ranging anti-hybrid mismatch rules into Irish domestic tax legislation. These provisions apply in respect of all payments made or arising on or after 1 January 2020. These rules present some of the most complex tax provisions introduced in recent times introducing unique definitions, terminology and concepts not previously referenced under any other piece of Irish tax legislation.

During the COVID 19 pandemic, Irish employers may have facilitated some of their employees work remotely in a foreign jurisdiction. Remote working from a foreign tax jurisdiction may create Irish tax issues for both the Irish employer and the employee.

Irish transfer pricing rules apply to arrangements entered into between associated persons (companies) on or after 1 July 2010, involving the supply or acquisition of goods, services, money or intangible assets. Our transfer pricing guide provides an overview of the Irish Transfer Pricing rules.

Employers are obliged to submit a Form RSS1 in any year in which an option is granted, exercised, transferred or released to an employee. The RSS1 for 2020 should be completed and submitted online via Revenue Online Service (ROS) on or before 31 March 2021.

The Irish Investment Limited Partnership (ILP) structure is a regulated partnership structure that is authorised as either a Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund (QIAIF) or Retail Investor Alternative Investment Fund (RIAIF) that will appeal to global investments managers and promoters in particular for Private Equity, Private Credit, Real Estate, sustainable finance and infrastructure assets.

Subsidy payments by Revenue to employers under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and paid to employees are treated as part of the employees’ emoluments i.e. salary and wages, for tax purposes. The subsidy amount paid to employees via payroll was not subject to tax under the PAYE system however, the amount received by the employee is liable to income tax and Universal Social Charge (USC).