Posts

Revenue's Continued Removal Of Paper Transactions

Revenue’s Continued Removal Of Paper Transactions…

/in

PAYE the Price for Digital Life…

In recent years, Revenue have begun to modernise their systems across the board and move to a largely paperless mode of working, including a full revamp of the PAYE system. This revamp of outdated systems is ongoing. Most recently, Revenue issued new guidance and information in April of this year regarding the introduction of a new electronic system of professional services withholding tax (ePSWT). With the recent updates to other Revenue systems, this new update is a welcome change and somewhat overdue to get all systems in line and ensure that no individual system is outdated and move further into a paperless system.

It is proposed that this new system will be introduced on July 1st, 2021 and will act as the final removal of the paper F45 form. This new solution will have far reaching effects for both employers and employees and will naturally require a period of adjustment. The paper F45 form will be replaced with new electronic ‘Payment Notifications’ on Revenue’s Online Services system (ROS). There will be ongoing updates and information available to view via the Revenue site so we would advise keeping up to date with all new updates. Revenue will add a new link to the ROS main screen entitled “Manage Professional Services Withholding Tax” which will link through to the new system. It is important to note that when inputting a payment notification, the tax registration number of the company in question will be required.

From the new “Manage Professional Services Withholding Tax” link, the next steps will differ based on your respective needs and whether or not you are registered for PSWT. Accountable individuals who have been registered will click into the “Payment Notifications” section, where they will then be permitted to input individual payment notifications and search previous payment notifications among other uses which we will discuss here.

Search Payment Notifications:

The search facility under the “Payment Notifications” will also offer the ability to amend or cancel payment notifications as well as generating acknowledgements for payment notifications submitted, which will be a handy tool for your files going forward.

Batch Payment Notifications:

Batch uploads can be completed by uploading a CSV file of payment notifications, which will greatly streamline this process.

Amend Payment Notifications:

One key feature of this system will be the ability to self-correct the record up until such a point as the F35 has been fully filed. Before this point, certain fields of the PN can be amended, and the accountable person will also have the ability to delete an existing payment notification or add a new one.

Payment Acknowledgements:

Accountable persons will be able to generate a payment notification acknowledgement PDF for all payment notifications. These acknowledgements can be given to as a tax record.

All accountable persons will be required to file an annual return detailing all payments during that tax year, the filing deadline will be Feb 23rd. This is intended to streamline the entire process from the current paper-based system and make it easier to process a refund once the paper F45 form is finally removed. The changes to this process will be as follows:

Old Process:
File a paper F45.
Deduct 20% from a specified person.
Give paper F45 to a specified person.
Remit the 20% to Revenue on a monthly basis as part of the F30 return.

New Process:
Make a Payment Notification on the ROS system as specified above.
Deduct 20% from a specified person.
Remit the 20% to Revenue on a monthly basis as part of the F30 return.

Something which is important to note as we make the change over to this new system is that as the change is happening mid-year there will be additional requirements for 2021, most notably there is a requirement that the F35 continue to be filed, but without the need for the schedule of payments after August 2021. There will also be a requirement for an additional F35. The traditional F35 will be required to be submitted by 23rd August 2021 for the period January to June 2021 including the usual schedule of payments. The F35 for the period July to December will be due by 23rd February 2021 and will not require any schedule of payments as we move into a more digital system.

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.

Bank Holiday Payment Entitlements

/in

Time Marches On

March is always a strange month, whilst January can seem endless and February spins by before you’ve even adjusted to writing the New Year on your documents, March somehow signals that more time has passed in the current year than we could have realised. One bonus that comes along with March for those of us working away on our fair green Isle is that it offers us our first little break in the year in the guise of parades and fairs celebrating our patron saint.

One thing to be aware of however is that occasionally, as was the case this year, the Public Holiday may not fall on the traditional Monday associated with a Bank Holiday. In this scenario there are a number of ways to tackle the change and we thought it prudent to give information on who may be entitled to Bank Holiday payment.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is not an automatic entitlement to the Monday following the 17th of March off, but it does usually suit business operations to proceed in this manner.

The entitlement for full-time employees is as follows:

  • A paid day off either on the public holiday, or the following Monday for those who work Mon-Fri when the public holiday falls outside of the standard.
  • An additional day of annual leave
  • An additional day’s pay in this pay round.
  • A paid day off within a month of the Public Holiday.

It is also not always widely known that the employee is entitled to ask which options apply to their circumstance 21 days before the Public Holiday, and should the employer fail to respond within 14 days of the holiday, the employee then becomes automatically entitled to take the Public Holiday as a paid day off. It is advised to communicate this to your employees well in advance in order to avoid confusion on either side.

The entitlement for part-time employees is as follows:

  • Employees who have not worked at least 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks prior to the Public Holiday to not meet the minimum requirement to avail of their Public Holiday entitlements.

The payment options for a Public Holiday are as follows:

  • If the employee works on the Public Holiday they are entitled to payment for that day worked, as well as an additional day’s pay equivalent to the last day worked prior to the holiday.
  • If an employee normally works the day that the Public Holiday falls on they are entitled to the day off and their normal day’s pay.
  • If an employee does not normally work on the day the Public Holiday falls and is not required to work on this date, they are entitled to one-fifth of their normal wage.
  • Employees on sickness and maternity leave will also have entitlement as though they worked on this day.

We hope that you all enjoyed the first Public Holiday of the year and that this information will be of use for those still to come. Should you have any queries or concerns on any business or financial matters, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at EcovisDCA, where we are always happy to help.

– – –

~ DCA PARTNERS, DECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY

Revenue will no longer add charges for payments via Credit Cards

/in

Re-Charging your Wallet

The convenience that comes with our current modern lives of being able to pay for and receive items immediately digitally as well as dealing with many or our transactions in a virtual manner does of course have its downsides. Whilst modern life has us all connected to each other at all times via our phones this does cause a new innate lack of face to face conversation and whilst being able to pay online using our cards is convenient, there is also the downside of so many hidden charges being applied to our accounts that we may not have accounted for in our budgeting.

There was good news in this regard earlier this month as it was announced that as of April 5th 2018, Revenue would no longer be adding charges for payments via credit card, whether these cards are personal, business or international. This will bring Ireland in line with new EU Rules enforced early this year which banned any surcharges on payment of tax liability. This charge could add as much as 2% onto the tax bill of those paying online. Revenue’s previous 1.1% charge was as a result of service provider charges, which will now be abolished for these payments.

Revenue have stated that this is in line with their focus on making it easier and more convenient for customers to do business online, which can only be a positive step in our busy digital modern lives, and one which we think will be of great benefit to all. Revenue have already taken steps to make online transactions easier with the upgrading of their MyAccount online service which takes the headache out of a great many tax issues and allows people to do most of their transactions from the comfort of their homes or offices, so we welcome any further changes that will ensure our clients and friends have clearer minds and fuller pockets at the end of the day.

Should you require any help, advice or guidance on any financial or business matters, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at EcovisDCA, where we will be happy to support you in getting your business to the next level.

– – –

~ DCA PARTNERS, DECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY