Factsheets

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.

Firms that are in scope of the AIFMD, UCITS and MiFID regimes need to become familiar with the changes that are applicable to their business activity and analyse how they will comply with the new obligations. Firms will need to review and update their existing business plan, systems and policies to incorporate the concept of sustainability into their daily operations.

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.

The financial reporting frameworks applicable in Ireland generally require the adoption of the going concern basis of accounting in financial statements, except in circumstances where management intends to liquidate the Company or to cease trading, or has no realistic alternative to liquidation or cessation of operations.

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.

On 27 April 2021, the Central Bank of Ireland published its feedback statement in respect of consultation paper 131 “Regulations for pre-emptive recovery planning for (re)insurers)” (“CP 131”). As a result of CP 131, the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Recovery Plan Requirements for Insurers) Regulations 2021 commenced on 19 April 2021 and (re)insurers are now required to

European regulatory authorities have introduced new legislation, referred to as the Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (‘IFR’) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (‘IFD’), which aims to establish a tailored prudential framework for investment firms. For most investment firms, they were required to comply with the Captial Requirements Regulation (CRR), which was originally designed for large and complex banks and trading institutions.

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.

DORA is a draft regulation published by the European Commission in September 2020 and forms part of the European Commission’s wider Digital Finance Strategy to support the development of digital finance while mitigating associated risks

The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a revised Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (NIS 2 Directive).

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.