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New Statutory Sick Pay Scheme

New Statutory Sick Pay Scheme

There have been a number of changes to working life in recent years, and that’s without factoring in the upheavals of the last number of years. Everything from the usual PAYE system, to the removal of the P45 system points us in the direction of a seismic change in the way we do business these days.

Some of these changes may not have a noticeable effect on the day-to-day working life of an employee, but there are some which will be immediately noticed and likely leaned upon. Among these, is the newly introduced sick pay scheme.

Since January 1st, 2023, employees will now have a right to 3 days’ sick pay per year as the legal minimum “Statutory Sick Pay Scheme”. Before January 1st, employees had no legal right to be paid by their employer while on sick leave from work. Any allotted sick leave payments were fully at the discretion of the employer and dependent on what was listed in your employment contract.

This new Statutory Sick Pay Scheme allows for 70% of your normal pay to be paid to you up to a maximum of €110 per day and the employer will be legally required to pay no less than this amount, but they may have their own sick leave payment schemes which allows a greater amount. The scheme is set to increase steadily over the course of 4 years culminating with 10 days of statutory sick pay being allocated to each employee in 2026:

  • 2023 – 3 days covered
  • 2024 – 5 days covered
  • 2025 – 7 days covered
  • 2026 – 10 days covered

To avail of this scheme, the employee must be working at least 13 weeks, and be certified as unable to work by their GP from day 1 of your sick leave. Your annual leave will continue to be built up as normal during this time.

We provide best-in-class accounting, bookkeeping and taxation services in Dublin 2. We are a firm of highly qualified chartered accountants, business advisors and tax consultants with over 20 years of experience.

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Revenue Irish Tax Firm

Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) 

Subsidies received by employers:

The TWSS subsidies received by employers from Revenue are revenue receipts by their nature and accordingly will be treated as a reduction in the wages / salaries related expenditure line item for the accounting period concerned.  The subsidies received reduced the expenditure incurred by employers and therefore these subsidies will reduce the amount of wages and salaries allowable as an expense for tax deduction purposes.

Clawback of PAYE from employees :

The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) payments by Revenue to employers are treated as part of the employee’s emoluments – ie salary and wages for tax purposes.

The subsidies were not taxed in real-time via the PAYE system however and the amounts received in 2020 by the employees are chargeable to income tax and USC.

The amount of income tax and USC will be reflected on each employee’s preliminary end of year statement for 2020 which is accessible via the PAYE My Account facility for each employee since 15th January 2021.

The employee’s must then complete an income tax return to receive their final statement of liability which will provide the final over or underpayment for the year.

Employees have the option to pay any underpayment in full via My Account or they have the default option of discharging any underpayment arising due to the TWSS subsidies over a four year period commencing in 2022 via a reduction in the annual tax credit entitlement.

As an example – Employee A has a €2,500 income tax underpayment for 2020 This can be discharged as follows;

(1) Employee can make payment of the €2,500 via My Account

or

(2) Revenue will reduce the employees’ tax credits by €625 for the years 2022 to 2025 thereby recouping the underpayment via the PAYE system

Revenue has confirmed that employers may discharge the income tax liabilities of employees without a benefit in kind charge being levied by Revenue. Employers can pay the employee’s liability in one of two ways;

(a) Payment direct to the employee who then must pay the liability

(b) Amend the final payroll submission for 2020 to include additional income tax paid and USC paid that equals the liability shown on the employee’s end of year statement.

The employer will then need to pay the additional amounts that are notified by Revenue in a revised monthly PAYE statement.

For more information visit Revenue.ie or feel free to contact us

Pandemic Unemployment Payment

Restart Grant / Restart Grant Plus

Payments received by entities:

The Minister for Finance confirmed that Revenue will treat the taxation of these grants differently depending on the purposes for which the grant was used.

Where the grant is used to defray expenditure which is revenue in nature like utility bills or insurance costs then it will be taken into account when calculating the amounts chargeable to income tax or corporation tax.

In essence such grants are taxable income and for accounting purposes the grant receipts will be credited against the expenses incurred thereby leaving the net expense reflected in the accounts which is then allowable as a deduction for income tax or corporation tax purposes.

For example – Insurance premium annual cost paid by company A in the sum of €5,000. Company A uses the proceeds of the grant of €2,500 to part finance the premium payment. A net cost of €2,500 will be reflected in the accounts and allowable as a deduction against profits for tax purposes which reflects the economic reality that the company had a net cash outflow in relation to the premium of €2,500.

Entities should keep a log of the expenditure which they have discharged from the grant receipts which can then be used by the agents to make the appropriate credit entries against the expenditure to arrive at the tax deductible net figures.

Where the grant is used to defray capital expenditure like acquiring plant and machinery for use in the business, then the entity will be entitled to claim capital allowances on the expenditure incurred net of the grant received.

For example – Machine A acquired for €5,000 and proceeds of the grant of €2,500 were used to part finance same.

Capital allowances can be claimed on the net cost of €2,500 at 12.5% per annum.

Revenue have confirmed the above treatment will apply for both the restart grant and restart grant plus

Revenue's Tax Bill

Revenue’s Tax Bill

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 emergency, we have spoken many times about the various supports made available to both employers and employees to help weather the storm. Two of the main supports that was put in place by the government are the ongoing Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). The scheme has seen a number of changes since its inception last year, but this month saw many recipients left confused and concerned.

Over 630,000 taxpayers who were in receipt of either scheme will have received their preliminary end of year statements and found themselves facing a tax bill from Revenue. Any individual who was in receipt of either scheme must pay particular attention to their end of year statement as it is likely that there may be an underpayment of tax listed. While Revenue have long stated that this will be the case, this has still come as a shock for many recipients.

These bills have arrived because neither the TWSS nor the PUP schemes were taxed at the source through the PAYE system from March to August 2020. As a result, the employee is seen to have underpaid income tax and USC for 2020. Although tax was not paid during this period, recipients will still be deemed to have made their PRSI contributions, so neither scheme should affect social welfare entitlements.

The scheme which replaced the TWSS in September 2020, the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), is now taxed through the PAYE system, so no further hefty tax bills should be seen as a result of this scheme.

The brighter news for those who find themselves with a somewhat unexpected tax bill following these schemes is that the bill is not required to be immediately paid, nor required to be paid in a lump sum at all if this is not something the employee can manage. Revenue have said that they will collect the full, or remaining bill interest-free by reducing tax credits over the course of a four-year period, beginning in January 2022, so there will be no need for immediate action.

It is recommended that you complete your online tax return via MyAccount to ensure that all information is correct and that your outstanding bill is also correct, this also allows employees to claim any tax credits or reliefs they may be due in order to reduce the overall bill (for example, the remote working credit is one which is often overlooked).

We hope that this information has been useful for you and as always, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at EcovisDCA where we remain open and ready to help. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

For more information visit revenue.ie

Euro Currency

Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) Update

The first week’s of 2021 may not have held all the solutions or change from 2020 that many had hoped, with many businesses once again closing after a brief opening for the Christmas period, so we wanted to take the time to remind you that we are here and happy to help with any business questions or queries you have. We will also continue to bring you the information to help your business and financial lives, across, what will be hopefully, a brighter 2021.

As we work our way through another lockdown, we find ourselves once again focusing in on the supports available to keep businesses alive during Level 5 restrictions, with the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) finding itself swooping in to save the day once more.

However, it is vital to highlight the changes to the EWSS since its inception and it’s important to keep yourself informed of the requirements and guidelines for eligibility, even if you are currently in receipt of the scheme. So it is important that you stay aware of what is required:

The Company must:

  • Have a Tax Clearance Cert for the duration of the scheme.
  • Have turnover projections and demonstrate that the business is expected to experience a 30% reduction in turnover between January 1st and June 30th 2021.
  • Show that this reduction in turnover is directly caused by Covid-19.
  • Show that this reduction is relative to the same period in 2019 if the company was in existence prior to this date.

Revenue’s in-depth guidelines can be viewed by CLICKING HERE

When calculating your projections for 2021, we strongly advise you to keep copies of both the projections and the actual turnover figures as they come in, in case Revenue requires them in the future. As always, it is better to be over than underprepared.

Should you have any concerns or queries about these or any other business and financial issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at EcovisDCA where we remain open and ready to help. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Revenue Irish Tax Firm

Important Tax Deadlines 2020

We are living and working through some challenging times at present with a need to adjust to a ‘new normal’ which can be as difficult in the business world as it is in our home lives. As always, we here at Ecovis DCA want to help our clients and friends stay up to date, and have compiled the current tax return deadline changes we believe you may need to be aware of.

In light of the current public health situation, any shift in deadlines may make all the difference to your company. In addition to the below, it is worth noting that the HMRC are currently readying for Brexit, if your company has dealings with the United Kingdom, it would be wise to stay up to date on any changes here. In these volatile times, any shift in deadlines can be a massive boost to companies.

Income Tax:

The Government have recently stated that income tax will remain unchanged in the coming Budget. The deadline for self-assessed customers filing online will be extended from November 12th to December 10th.*

Corporation Tax:

Revenue recently announced a 4-week extension of the online filing system for Pay and File customers. The new date for customers submitting their 2019 self-assessment online will be Thursday, December 10th. Those not paying online must still file by October 31st. In addition to this change, Revenue has confirmed that the deadline for Corporate Tax return surcharge suspension will remain September 23rd.

Gift Tax:

Revenue has also announced that they will be extending the filing deadline for beneficiaries of gifts or inheritance for the year ending August 31st, 2020. This deadline has been shifted to December 10th for customers to make their CGT return, and as always this must be done via the Revenue Online System (ROS).

Local Property Tax:

For the third time, the reevaluation date for Local Property Tax has been deferred. The new date has been set as November 1st, 2021. This deferral is intended to bring forward legislation on the basis of fairness, bring new homes previously exempt into the system and to ensure that all monies collected in a given county will stay within that county.

Carbon Tax:

Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe has stated that he intends to repeat last year’s change to carbon tax and reinvest funds into areas that will assist with climate change.

*Please remember that these deadline extensions apply only to those filing online via ROS. If you are not filing online, your deadlines of October 31st will remain unchanged and failure to file on time may result in disciplinary action.

We hope that this information will be of use to you and that if these extensions are the wiggle room your company needs. As always, we here at Ecovis DCA are here for you. Should you require any assistance or guidance on any business or financial matters, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Limiting the Impact of Cybercrime

This new crisis of Covid-19 presents a number of unforeseen challenges to companies, with many needing to create a new standard for working remotely, or where this is not possible the requirement becomes to seek funding, reduce employee numbers/hours or close temporarily.

One of the more unexpected challenges of this time is the resurgence of cybercrime. Cyber criminals tend to utilize major news events as an opportunity to mount a criminal campaign and the Covid-19 crisis is no different. This campaign can take many forms. One of the most common at present being the false emails issued regarding a change of banking details, luring the receiver into issuing payments to the wrong account at what is already a deeply difficult time for companies.

Des Ryan, solutions director for Microsoft Ireland has explained this new resurgence is an attack of opportunity as cyber criminals tend to prey on events which may weaken the defences of a business, in this case the shift to remote working situations.

“Cyber criminals are opportunistic […] we are definitely seeing Covid-19 related attacks as attackers are just using this to find the weak link.”

It is also suggested that cyber criminals are merely adapting their usual tactics to profit from the current crisis. The current breed of cyber criminals is known for sending false emails detailing a change of bank details or requesting a change to Revolut (which would ensure that the funds are transferred with immediate effect). There have also been a number of fake charity accounts set up purporting to benefit the current Covid-19 crisis. These criminals are preying on companies who may not have been prepared to work remotely and have had to set up a temporary system quickly and without training and protection in place and targeting staff members who are now outside of their comfort zone and possibly distracted with their surroundings. Utilising personal laptops and phones etc. may also be a point of weakness as these will not be as secure as those in the workplace.

Many are already feeling the strain of this current atmosphere of anxiety and so it seems We are all protecting our staff health during this time, but how can we protect the digital health of our business at what is already an intense time?

  • Consider setting staff up with work laptops and phones where necessary. This will ensure that the devices are as protected for home use as they are within the office environment. Having equipment to hand that requires multi-step authentication will provide extra security.
  • Where possible, if a work laptop is not issued, staff should try to ensure that the computer is used only for their work during this time if they deal with sensitive information.
  • Online security training may be a good way for staff to utilize this possibly quieter time to upskill.
  • Remember and remind your staff of the basics of verifying the origin of an email or phonecall before dealing with any bank details. Often, false emails can be incredibly convincing until you hover over the email address and notice that it isn’t correct.
  • Ensure that all staff are aware of these targeted campaigns and are extra vigilant when dealing with any bank details or personal details.

We hope that this information will be of benefit to you and your company and that you and your staff are staying healthy and well in these difficult times. We are as always available should you require any advice or guidance on any business of financial matters.

Funding Reluctance from SMEs

As you will no doubt know by now, we are massive supporters of Irish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These small and often unsung heroes of the Irish business world form the backbone of Irish business and make up more than half of all Irish businesses. As such, we have long been supporters of these businesses and championed their successes. In recent months we have spoken about funding opportunities available to these forms of business as well as the ways in which they can be protected and encouraged to grow.

The term Brexit is one which has been utilised so much in recent months that it has almost lost all meaning entirely. Terms like “hard Brexit” strike fear into the hearts of many Irish businesses who have dealings with the UK, and the constant shifting of deadlines and back and forth makes it difficult for businesses to implement sufficient safeguards for their businesses.

Reports this week suggest that Irish SMEs are becoming somewhat reluctant to borrow at present which may show a level of wariness in the looming shadow of uncertainty that is Brexit at present. The Strategic Banking Corporation (SCBI) was started in 2014 in others to allow access to credit for SMEs and functioned by channelling credit through other avenues. This has often been a popular choice for SMEs seeking to fund their business activities, but in the last year we have seen a major slump in uptake on this funding which even an additional Brexit loan to the scheme couldn’t fix. Figures show that 2018 saw only approximately a third of the funding taken up as was accessed in 2017. This shows that in the current climate, Irish SMEs are becoming increasingly reluctant to take their chances on accessing funding.

The SCBI themselves have said of the issues:

“The modest deployment in the nine months to end-December 2018 is a clear reflection of SMEs remaining reluctant to invest in an environment of increased uncertainty and risk as Brexit approaches.”

As things stand we remain almost none the wiser on how the Brexit issue will play out and as always, we advise having a plan in place and safeguarding your business as much as possible in advance. The current advice remains that old Irish refrain that fell from the lips of all parents at one point or another: “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” In this way, your business will be protected against all eventualities and in the best position possible to flourish in the face of challenge and adversity in the current uncertain climate.

Should you have any concerns or queries on any business or financial matters, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at EcovisDCA where we will be happy to help in any way possible.

 

 

Planning Your Best Exit Strategy

We have discussed in the past, the importance of having a long-term plan for your business, particularly for when you are no longer in a position to run the company yourself. The importance of an exit strategy or long-term plan can not be overstated for businesses of all sizes, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It is as always advisable to stay abreast of current issues and changes that may affect the long and short term plans you have in mind for your business and in this vein, there has been some cause for concern in recent days regarding ways that taxation could inhibit future planning.

A new report issued by PwC this week has stated that current tax rules which hit the transfer of family businesses are putting both jobs and companies at large in danger. These rules make options incredibly limited for business owners as they limit owners passing on their business to family members while they are living. Some anomalies to the system in this respect mean that the new business owner could find themselves incurring high tax costs that would potentially place additional pressures on the business and put it at risk.

PwC have given some suggestions on changes they would like implemented in the next budget to protect business owners and entrepreneurs in the event of passing their business on while still living. One such suggestion is the removal of the current cap of €3million on the value of business assets which can benefit from Retirement Relief. There is also calls for the Entrepreneurial Relief Capital Gains Tax threshold to be reduced to allow further relief to these businesses as well as increasing the lifetime limit applicable and reducing current restrictions which may exclude many. It has also been suggested that tax relief options could be made available.

Consultation with the Government for this process is ongoing and submissions will close on May 24th and there are hopes that there will be changes announced in the next Budget to combat this issue and make the family handover of businesses a smoother and more profitable process. The transition of a business is inevitably a stressful and concerning time, so any changes that can be of benefit and ensure the longevity of an existing healthy business should certainly be embraced.

Should you have any queries or concerns on any business or financial matters, please do not hesitate to contact us here at EcovisDCA where we are always happy to help you and your business.

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DCA PARTNERSDECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY

Revenue Irish Tax Firm

Revenue Commissioners New Debt Management System (DMS)

Onward, to the Future

The past number of months have been a time of increasing change for Irish businesses. From large scale changes to payroll systems to the clamping down of Revenue on all forms of tax evasion and tax fraud. These have been major changes to the ways in which Irish companies do business day-to-day and are hoped to be a solution to some long-term issues facing Irish business life, as it is hoped it will all lead to smoother business operations and less issues facing the Irish tax system.

The season of change continues onwards as it was recently announced that The Revenue Commissioners were set to release a new system for debt management, one which will be more technologically advanced than previous iterations and which will assist them in chasing down more unpaid tax, particularly in the sector of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises).

Revenue’s new system entitled DMS (Debt Management Services) was launched just recently and promises to utilise high-tech means to target and deal with a wider range of tax payer. Whilst this may seem like a frightening prospect for SMEs, it is in fact a positive step towards ensuring that all Irish businesses are compliant, and that smaller business need not suffer the consequences of the failures of their larger brethren. The system will be able to target businesses and individuals who may previously have been too expensive to identify and pursue.

A spokesperson for Revenue has stated of the new DMS system that it will:

“Deliver significant increased capacity to manage and support compliance and tackle non-compliance” and will “enable Revenue to review customers with lower turnarounds on a more regular basis”.

So, whilst this means that SME’s will of course naturally fall under the Revenue microscope more often than previous, it is a step in the right direction for the future of business in Ireland, as it is set to join the Payroll Modernisation system in making it easier and more transparent for businesses to submit documentation and queries as the spokes person went on to say:

“The new system is fully online, allowing documentation to be uploaded electronically. It gives customers greater flexibility to manage their payment schedule and make certain alterations to suit their circumstances.

We as always advise to ensure that all your documentation and tax files are in order well ahead of time to ensure that you do not face further issues going forward. Should you have any queries or concerns, our doors are always open here at EcovisDCA.

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DCA PARTNERSDECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY