General Information

On Tuesday, 24 March the Government announced new measures to provide financial support to workers affected by the Covid-19 crisis. As part of these measures, Revenue will operate a Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. The scheme, enables employees, whose employers are affected by the pandemic, to receive significant supports directly from their employer through the payroll system. The scheme is expected to last 12 weeks from 26 March 2020.

The information that follows is based on the terms of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020 (As initiated) which was recently published.

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme will be available to employers who keep employees on the payroll throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning employers can retain links with employees for when business picks up after the crisis. Additionally, the operation of the scheme will reduce the burden on the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) which is dealing with the other Covid-19 related payments.

Employers are encouraged to facilitate employees by operating the scheme, by retaining employees on their books and by making best efforts to maintain a significant, or 100% income, for the period of the scheme.

Key Features of the scheme
●Replaces the previous COVID-19 Refund Scheme.
●Initially, and from this Thursday (26 March 2020), the subsidy scheme will refund employers up to a maximum of €410 per each qualifying employee.
●However, employers should pay no more than the normal weekly net pay of the employee.
●The subsidy scheme applies both to employers who top up employees’ wages and those that aren’t in a position to do so.
●Employers make this special support payment to their employees through their normal payroll process.
●Employers will then be reimbursed for amounts paid to employees and notified to Revenue via the payroll process.
●The reimbursement will, in general, be made within two working days after receipt of the payroll submission.
●In April, the scheme will move to a subsidy payment based on 70% of the normal net weekly pay for each employee up to a maximum of €410*.
●Income tax and USC will not be applied to the subsidy payment through the payroll.
●Employee PRSI will not apply to the subsidy or any top up payment by the employer.
●Employer’s PRSI will not apply to the subsidy and will be reduced from 11.05% to 0.5% on the top up payment.

* (details on this will be made available by Revenue in due course)

Who does the scheme apply to?

The Scheme is available to employers from all sectors (excluding the public service and non-commercial semi-state sector) whose business activities are being adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is open to employers who retain staff on payroll; some of the staff may be temporarily not working or some may be on reduced hours and/or reduced pay. Provided the employer meets the conditions set out below and subject to the levels of pay to the employees the employer may be eligible for the scheme for some or all of its employees.

To qualify for the scheme, employers must:
●be experiencing significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19
●be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, a minimum of a 25% decline in turnover
●be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully and
●retain their employees on the payroll.

The Scheme is confined to employees who were on the employer’s payroll as at 29 February 2020, and for whom a payroll submission has already been made to Revenue in the period from 1 February 2020 to 15 March 2020.

After the scheme has expired, the names of all employers operating the scheme will be published on Revenue’s website.

Registering for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

Any employer, already registered with Revenue for the purposes of the Employer COVID-19 Refund Scheme, is not required to take any further action. The employer may make payroll submissions from 26 March 2020 under the subsidy scheme arrangements on the same basis as they were doing for the Employer Refund Scheme, and €410 will be refunded in respect of each eligible employee per week.

Employers, or their agents, wishing to register for the scheme can apply to Revenue by carrying out the following steps:
●Log on to ROS myEnquiries and select the category ‘Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy’.
●Read the “Covid-19: Temporary Wage Subsidy Self-Declaration” and press the ‘Submit’ button.
●Ensure bank account details on Revenue record are correct. These can be checked in ROS and in ‘Manage bank accounts’, ‘Manage EFT’, enter the refund bank account that the refund is to be made to.

Operating the scheme from Thursday 26 March 2020

As outlined above,in April the scheme will move to a subsidy payment based on each employee’s normal net weekly pay (see further information below). In the interim, the subsidy scheme will initially refund employers up to a maximum of €410 per each qualifying employee regardless of the employee’s income. However, for administrative purposes and to allow for future reconciliation of subsidy payments made, employers should enter the following details when running their payroll:
●Set PRSI Class to J9.
●Enter a non-taxable amount equal to 70% of the employee’s net weekly pay to: ◦ a maximum of €410 per week where the average net weekly pay is less than or equal to €586
or
◦a maximum of €350 per week where the average net weekly pay is greater than €586 and less than or equal to €960.

●If an employer is not making any top up payment to the employee, they should include a pay amount of €0.01 in Gross Pay.
●If an employer is making a top up payment to the employee, they should include this amount in the Gross Pay.
●It is important that employers do not include the Temporary Wage Subsidy payment in Gross Pay.
●The total net pay (temporary wage subsidy and additional pay) must not exceed previous normal pay.
●The payroll submission must include pay frequency and period number.

Income tax, USC, LPT, if applicable, and PRSI are not deducted from the Temporary Wage Subsidy. However, the Subsidy will be liable to Income Tax and USC on review at the end of the year.

In many cases the payment of the Temporary Wage Subsidy and any additional income paid by the employer will result in the refund of Income Tax or USC already paid by the employee. Any Income Tax and USC refunds that arise as a result of the application of tax credits and rate bands can be repaid by the employer and Revenue will also refund this amount to the employer.

Employers must not operate this scheme for any employee who is making a claim for duplicate support (e.g. Pandemic Unemployment Payment) from the DEASP. Where an employee previously laid off has been re-hired, the employee will qualify for the Subsidy scheme if their DEASP claim is ceased.

Based on the information provided in payroll submissions and adherence to the maximum limits, described above, Revenue will credit employers with the Temporary Wage Subsidy paid to each employee.

Penalties will apply to any abuse of the Subsidy scheme by self-declaring incorrectly, not providing funds to employees or non-adherence to Revenue, and any other relevant, guidelines.

Subsidy payment based on each employee’s income

From no later than 20 April 2020, the operation of the scheme will ensure that the Subsidy paid to employers will be based on each individual employee’s average net weekly pay, subject to the maximum weekly tax-free amounts. Further information on how these arrangements will work will issue shortly.

Guidance/Information

For general issues relating to the scheme, employers should contact Revenue’s National Employer Helpdesk via the myEnquiries system, providing details of the query and a direct dial contact number.

Employers should make sure to select ‘Employer’s PAYE’ and then ‘Employer’s PAYE General Enquiry’ when submitting the query through myEnquiries in ROS.

The Registrar of Companies has decided that all annual returns due to be filed by any Company now and up to 30th June 2020 will be deemed to have been filed on time if all elements of the annual return are completed and filed by that date. This will enable businesses and their financial advisers to focus on the more immediate financial challenges facing them at this time. The situation will be kept under review and the date of 30th of June may be extended depending on the situation as it develops.

If you are due to complete your annual return filing at any time up to 30th June your annual return will be deemed to have been filed on time if you capture the B1 form, upload your financial statements, pay the fee and submit it online and then deliver the signature page as normal to the CRO by that date. You may also complete the filing as normal using Revenue Online Services (ROS) signatures instead of a signature page.

On 13th March 2020, having regard to the measures announced by An Taoiseach to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19, Revenue outlined some key advice and actions taken to assist small and medium enterprise (SME)* businesses experiencing cashflow and trading difficulties arising from the impacts of the virus.

Revenue issued key advice earlier this week to businesses experiencing tax payment difficulties, and appreciates that such difficulties can cause worries for businesses in terms of their ability to keep an otherwise good tax compliance record on track. It is important that businesses know that Revenue has a long history of working very successfully with taxpayers to resolve their tax payments difficulties.

Revenue has provided the following updated advice which will further assist businesses that are experiencing trading difficulties caused by the impacts of COVID-19.

Information for SMEs  

• Tax Returns: businesses experiencing temporary cash flow difficulties should continue to send in tax returns on time.
• Application of Interest: the application of interest on late payments is suspended for      January/February VAT and both February and March PAYE (Employers) liabilities.
• Debt Enforcement: All debt enforcement activity is suspended until further notice.
• Tax Clearance: current tax clearance status will remain in place for all businesses over the      coming months.

Information for Subcontractors

• RCT (Relevant Contract Tax): the RCT rate review scheduled to take place in March 2020 is suspended. This process assesses the current compliance position of each subcontractor in the eRCT system and determines their correct RCT deduction rate, i.e. 0%, 20% or 35%. As this process may result in a subcontractor’s RCT rate increasing due to changes in their compliance      position, the review is suspended.
• Subcontractors and agents are reminded that RCT rate reviews can be self-managed in ROS. Subcontractors can check if their rate should be lower and can then ‘self-review’ to get that lower deduction rate.

Information on importing goods

• Customs: critical pharmaceutical products and medicines will be given a Customs ‘green routing’ to facilitate uninterrupted importation and supply.

Businesses, other than SMEs, who are experiencing temporary cash flow or trading difficulties should contact the Collector-General’s office on (01) 7383663. Alternatively, these businesses can engage directly with their branch contacts in Revenue’s Large Corporates Division or Medium Enterprises Division.  

Revenue will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation regarding COVID-19 and will issue further updated guidance for businesses when required and particularly in good time before the March/April VAT returns, and other future returns are due.

Consolidated solicitors accounts regulations came into force on 1 December 2014. There are no fundamental changes to the existing regulations.

On 7 November 2014 the Council of the Law Society approved the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2014. The regulations come into operation on the 1 December 2014. Previously, regulations relating to solicitors’ accounting records were set out in the following five statutory instruments:

• Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2001
• Solicitors (Interest on Clients’ Moneys) Regulations 2004
• Solicitor Accounts (Amendment) Regulations 2005
• Solicitors Accounts (Amendment) Regulations 2006
• Solicitors Accounts (Amendment) Regulations 2013

The Law Society has introduced one statutory instrument to deal with all the solicitors’ accounts regulations. There are no fundamental changes to provisions of the existing solicitor’s accounts regulations.

• Definitions – Some additional definitions and amendments to existing definitions have been introduced to include the definition of “matter”,” client ledger account”, “controlled trust ledger account”, “deposit account”, “non-controlled trust ledger account”, “insolvency arrangement ledger account”, “office account” and “office side of the client ledger account”.

• Personal Insolvency Act 2012 – Where there is a conflict in the terms of the provisions of the Personal Insolvency Act and the Solicitors Accounts Regulations, the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 takes precedence.

• Interest on client moneys – The regulations on interest on client moneys are now contained as one regulation within the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2014. The regulation has been re-drafted. There is no change to solicitors’ obligations in relation to interest on client moneys.

• Balancing statements – The regulations have been changed to require solicitors to include information in relation to control trusts and insolvency arrangement accounts in the balancing statements that they are required to prepare.

• Controlled & Non-Controlled trusts – It is a breach of the regulations for a debit balance to arise on a controlled trust ledger account and for a solicitor to discharge personal or office expenditure from a controlled trust account.

• Insolvency arrangements – It is a breach of the regulations for a debit balance to arise on an insolvency arrangement ledger account and for a solicitor to discharge personal or office expenditure from an insolvency arrangement account.
  • Solicitors are specifically required to maintain a record of lodgements to insolvency arrangement accounts. The bank account register must include a record of all insolvency arrangement accounts. Solicitors are also required to obtain returned paid cheques and copies of bank drafts in relation to insolvency arrangement accounts.

• Reporting accountants – All reporting accountants must be approved by the Law Society.
  • The reporting accountant is required to check the extraction of balances on controlled trust ledger accounts and insolvency arrangement ledger accounts.
  • The layout of the reporting accountant’s report has been amended to specifically require information in relation to controlled trusts and insolvency arrangements.
  • With regard to interest on client moneys, a provision under the Solicitors (Interest on Clients’ Moneys) Regulations 2004 under which the reporting accountants were not required to carry out examinations as to whether a solicitor had complied with those regulations is excluded.
  • The reporting accountant is not required to extend his or her examination to enquiries concerning the solicitor’s compliance with the provisions of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 and the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (Accounts and Related Matters) Regulations 2013.

• Transitional arrangements – The Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2001 to 2013 remain in full force in respect of any accounting period that has commenced before 1 December 2014 until such time as the solicitor has duly complied with those regulations as regards the furnishing to the Law Society of a reporting accountant’s report for such accounting period.

OMB, Chartered Accountants specialise in assisting Solicitor practices in implementing practical steps and adhering to structured checklists to ensure compliance with all aspects of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2014. This can be done on a continuing basis for existing clients or as a one off assignment for non-clients.

Introduction

In practice, two scenarios will generally arise –

1. the employer does not reimburse an employee in respect of the cost of the business journey; or
2. the employer reimburses an employee in respect of the cost of the business journey.

As regards (a), an employee may claim a tax deduction in respect of travel expenses necessarily incurred in performing the duties of his/her employment by submitting a claim to his/her Revenue office. Claims for these expenses should be made after the 31st of December of the year in which they were incurred. Please contact CAG Chartered Accountants for further details.

As regards (b), this leaflet sets out the circumstances under which such reimbursement may be made free of tax.

Normal place of work

The “normal place of work” is the place where the employee normally performs the duties of his/her employment. In most cases, this should not give rise to difficulty.

The employer’s business premises will be regarded as the normal place of work for an employee where:

• travel is an integral part of the job involving daily appointments with customers; or
• the duties of the employment are performed at the various premises of the employer’s customers but substantive duties are also performed at the employer’s business premises.

An employee’s home would not be regarded as the normal place of work unless there is an objective requirement that the duties of the office or employment must be performed at home. It is not sufficient for an employee merely to carry out some of the duties at home.

Usually, the employer will provide the facilities necessary for the work to be performed at the business premises. Even where an employee has to do some work at home or to keep some equipment at home, the place where he/she resides is a matter of personal choice and it would not be regarded as a place of work.

Business Journeys

A business journey is one in which an employee travels from one place of work to another place of work in the performance of the duties of his/her employment but will generally involve a temporary absence from the normal place of work.

Journeys between an employee’s home and place of work (and vice versa) are not business journeys and any reimbursement of motoring expenses (including taxi fares) in respect of the cost of such journeys is taxable.

Travel between Ireland and Overseas

Where an individual employed in the State is obliged to travel to a foreign location to temporarily perform the duties of his/her employment there, both the outward and the return journey home may be regarded as a business journey.

Business Travel involving travel directly to/from home

Where an employee proceeds on a business journey directly from home to a temporary place of work (rather than commencing that business journey from his/her normal place of work) or returns home directly, the business kilometres should be calculated by reference to the lesser of –

• the distance between home and the temporary place of work; or
• the distance between the normal place of work and the temporary place of work.

Reimbursement of travel expenses

Where employees use their private cars, motorcycles or bicycles for business purposes, and the employees incur the total cost of such usage (e.g. insurance, tax, running costs, etc.), then the reimbursement in respect of the cost of business use can be made free of tax by the employer by reference to either –

• flat-rate kilometric allowances (see A below); or
• actual costs incurred (see B below).

(A) Reimbursement by way of Flat-Rate kilometric allowances

Kilometric allowances are calculated using a standard costs system to determine the motoring/bicycle expenses which may be paid free of tax by employers in respect of travel expenses incurred by employees on allowable business journeys. The system applies where the car, motorcycle or bicycle is owned by the employee and all motoring/bicycle expenses are met by the employee.

There are two types of flat-rate allowance schemes which are acceptable for tax purposes. In both cases, a satisfactory recording and internal control system must be operated by the employer – see paragraph headed “Records to be kept – Audit of Records”.

Scheme 1

• Where the employee bears the cost of the relevant travelling expenses, this Scheme provides that the reimbursement of such expenses in accordance with the prevailing schedule of Civil Service kilometric rates may be made free of tax.
  The schedule of rates based on the current relevant Civil Service kilometric rates are set out hereunder.

Scheme 2

• Where the employee bears the cost of the relevant travelling expenses, this Scheme provides that the reimbursement of such expenses in accordance with the schedule of rates, which do not exceed the prevailing schedule of Civil Service rates, may be made free of tax.

Either reimbursement Scheme may be applied without specific Revenue approval.

(B) Reimbursement by reference to actual costs incurred

Where motoring / bicycle expenses are reimbursed by employers to employees on the basis of actual costs incurred, then the amount so reimbursed will generally not exceed the amount which would be payable in respect of the allowable business trips under the prevailing schedule of Civil Service rates.

Where an employee’s actual motoring/bicycle expenses are reimbursed free of tax by an employer, the question of an income tax claim by the employee in respect of those expenses does not arise.

Records to be kept – Audit of Records

As regards the reimbursement of expenses based on an acceptable flat rate allowance the employer must retain a record of all of the following-

• the name and address of the employee;
• the date of the journey;
• the reason for the journey;
• the distance (km) involved;
• the starting point, destination and finishing point of the journey; and
• the basis for the reimbursement of the travel expenses (e.g. temporary absence from an individual’s normal place of work).

As regards the reimbursement of actual expenses vouched by receipts, the employer must retain such receipts, together with details of the travel and subsistence.

The period of retention of records is 6 years after the end of the tax year to which the records refer.

If an employer has doubts about the adequacy of records maintained, the local Revenue office can be consulted.

The Civil Service rates

The Civil Service kilometric rates for cars, motorcycles and bicycles for individuals who are obliged to use their car, motorcycle or bicycle in the performance of the duties of their employment, are as follows:

Rates for Motor cars

Rates for Motorcycles

Rates for Bicycles

Rates per Kilometre (1 mile = 1.609 kilometres)

For any more information on this topic, contact OMB, Chartered Accountants

Minister for Finance Commences Living City Initiative

We have provided below a quick tax synopsis of the Living Citing Initiative.

The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D, accompanied by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government launched the Living City Initiative on the 05th of May 2015. It applies to “special regeneration areas” (SRAs) in the cities of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford. Details of these SRAs are available on the websites of the respective local authorities.

The purpose of the Living City incentive is to create life back into the center of these cities by providing tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of certain buildings where conditions are satisfied. The scheme applies to expenditure incurred within 5 years from the date the scheme comes into effect, so the final cut-off date is 4 May 2020.

There are two components to the tax relief namely Residential and Commercial.

Tax relief for residential properties

Owners of buildings built prior to 1915 within the Special Regeneration Areas can claim 100% tax relief on their refurbishment over ten years if they make it their private home. In essence, if the person lives in the property for 10 years, he/she is then entitled to a 10% reduction in their taxable income each year for ten years.

Tax relief for commercial properties

Renovations on buildings within the Special Regeneration Areas for retail and commercial use are also entitled to 100% relief over seven years. The benefit applies by way of capital allowances available as to 15% in years 1 to 6 and 10% in year 7 although there is an overall limit of €200,000. These buildings are not restricted to pre-1915.

The City Council for the above areas will provide assistance to those who wish to make an application under the scheme.

The above is a general commentary on the Living City Initiative.  The tax implications of specific cases will depend on individual circumstances. If you think the above might be relevant for you, specialist advice should be obtained.

OMB, Chartered Accountants has considerable experience in this area and we would be happy to discuss the various issues with you.

Startup Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE) is a tax relief incentive scheme.

If you are interested in starting your own company, you may be entitled to an income tax refund of up to 41% of the capital that you invest under SURE. Depending on the size of your investment you may be entitled to a refund of income tax paid over the 6 years prior to year in which you invest.

The following is a basic example of how refunds under SURE are calculated.

We have provided below a quick synopsis of the recent changes to Retirement Relief in Finance Act 2014.

Capital Gains Tax retirement relief applies normally where a person over the age of 55 years transfers qualifying assets which are part of a trade or a business or held by a family company carrying on a trade or business. This is a substantial relief and depending on the circumstances, you could avoid any Capital Gains Tax liability.

This relief can also apply to farmers in respect of the disposal of land etc. – including land that has been let in certain situations.

This beneficial relief has been amended in Finance Act 2014 to ensure Retirement Relief applies when transferring land to active farmers. For disposals to a child on or after 01 January 2015, land that was previously farmed for a minimum of 10 years and is subsequently let for up to 25 years may now qualify for retirement relief.

Since Finance (No2) Act 2013, farmers who let their land for periods less than 5 consecutive years and who eventually dispose of their land to a third party (other than a “child” of the disponer) were not allowed retirement relief. However any disposals made on or after 1 January 2015 by these categories of farmers now have a chance to benefit from CGT retirement relief, provided they fulfill the other conditions of the relief in S598 TCA 1997 and they either:

•           dispose of their land on or before 31 December 2016, or

•           lease their land on or before 31 December 2016 for minimum periods of 5 years (up to a maximum of 25 years) and ultimately dispose of the land.

The above is a general commentary on the changes in Finance Act 2014 to the rules of CGT Retirement Relief.  The tax implications of specific cases will depend on individual circumstances. If you think the above might be relevant for you, specialist advice should be obtained.

OMB, Chartered Accountants has considerable experience in this area and we would be happy to discuss the various issues with you.

We have provided below a quick synopsis of the recent changes in Finance Act 2014 to Business property Relief.

Under Chapter 2 (sections 90 to 102) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation 2003, relief is available on gifts and inheritances of business property, subject to certain conditions, in order to encourage the inter-generational transfer of businesses. The relief reduces the taxable value of certain gifts or inheritances by 90% and this is a substantial benefit for the recipient.  

It is often commercially desirable for shareholders in private trading companies to personally own the land or buildings and other assets used in the business of their company rather than transferring those assets to the company. In these circumstances, business property relief can also apply if immediately before the gift or inheritance, these assets were used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a business carried on by a company controlled by the disponer or by a partnership of which the disponer was then a partner.

This generous relief has been amended in Finance Act 2014 to take account of some difficulties in practice when assets are owned personally but used by a trading company.

In family-run trading companies, spouses or civil partners can each hold 50% of the share capital in the trading company. Without a modification to the existing legislation, business property relief might not apply to land, buildings, machinery or plant used by such a trading company, as neither spouse nor civil partner can control a majority of the votes and consequently neither of them controls the company.

Finance Act 2014 tackles this issue by permitting shareholdings held by spouses or civil partners to be aggregated in determining whether the disponer had control of the company. The above change takes effect from 23 October 2014.

The above is a general commentary on the recent changes in Finance Act 2014 to CAT Business Property Relief.  The tax implications of specific cases will depend on individual circumstances. If you think the above might be relevant for you, specialist advice should be obtained.

OMB, Chartered Accountants has considerable experience in this area and we would be happy to discuss the various issues with you.