Revenue has introduced concessions for income tax & corporation tax for employees of Ukrainian employers required to work from Ireland because of the ongoing war in Ukraine for the 2022 tax year. Irish-based employees of Ukrainian employers will not be liable to Irish income tax & USC on Ukrainian employment income that is attributable to the performance of duties in Ireland. The Ukrainian employers will not be required to operate the PAYE system on such employment income. The concession relates solely to employment income that is paid to the Irish-based employees by their Ukrainian employer.

The concessionary treatment will apply for the tax year 2022 where:

• The employee would have performed his/her employment duties in Ukraine but for the war they are unable to, and
• The employee remains subject to Ukrainian income tax on his/her employment income

​The corporation tax concession will disregard the presence of employees, directors, service providers and agents who have come to Ireland because of the war. Revenue may request documentary evidence relating to the reallocation of the individual to Ireland, e.g. a record of the arrival dates to Ireland.

EII is a tax relief which encourages individuals to provide equity based finance to trading companies by allowing individuals to obtain Income Tax relief on investments for shares in certain qualifying companies. Since October 2019 the tax relief of up to 40% of the investment made is available in full in the year of investment.

An individual who has made a qualifying investment on or after 1 January 2020 can claim relief on investments up to a maximum of €250,000 per year of assessment. Please note that shares must be retained for at least 4 years. Alternatively, an individual who has made a qualifying investment on or after 1 January 2020 can claim relief on investments up to a maximum of €500,000 per year of assessment subject to the following:

•  An investor must ‘elect’ to retain those shares for a period of 7 years in order to claim the maximum relief. The election must be made at the time of the share issue.
  
• An investor cannot then ‘opt out’ of the election at a later date before the 7 years expired without suffering a clawback of the total relief initially claimed.

Where an investor invests an amount greater than the maximum amount allowed in a year, the excess over the maximum amount can be carried forward against future Income Tax liabilities. A Statement of Qualification (SOQ) must be issued by the qualifying company within 4 months after the end of the year in which shares are issued.

Finance Act 2021 extended this relief by a further 3 years to 31 December 2024.

• On 1 July 2021, the VAT rules on cross-border businessto-consumer (B2C) e-commerce activities changed. The rationale for these changes is to overcome barriers to cross-border online sales and address challenges arising from the VAT regimes for distance sales of goods and for the importation of low value consignments. It is envisaged that EU Businesses will be able to grow in a simplified, fairer environment within the European Digital Single Market.
• Online sellers, including online marketplaces can register in one EU Member State and this will be valid for the declaration and payment of VAT on all distance sales of goods and cross-border supplies of services to customers within the EU. Businesses should benefit from a reduction in red tape of up to 95% by registering with the new One Stop Shop (OSS).
• The existing thresholds for distance sales of goods within the EU will be abolished and eplaced by a new EU-wide threshold of €10,000. Below this €10,000 threshold, the supplies of TBE (telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic) services and distance sales of goods within the EU may remain subject to VAT in the Member State where the taxable person is established.
• The VAT exemption on importation of small consignments of a value up to €22 will be removed. This means all goods imported in the EU will now be subject to VAT. The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) has been created to simplify the declaration and payment of VAT. For consignments of €150 or less imported directly from Non-EU countries, businesses can now charge VAT at the point of sale instead of customers having to pay import VAT on delivery.
• For Non-EU based suppliers they must either register for IOSS through an EU established intermediary, or, should the country where they are established have a mutual assistance agreement with the EU, then they can register for IOSS directly.

 
If your business if affected by these changes – talk to us today

TWSS operated from 26 March to 31 August 2020.
Revenue are currently providing a reconciliation to all employers. It will ensure that there is an accurate reconciliation between the:

• subsidy amounts paid by Revenue to employers

and

• subsidy amounts that were properly payable to employers for relevant employees and paid to those employees.

Where Revenue has paid an employer a temporary wage subsidy in relation to a specified employee, and the employer did not pay that employee an additional amount equivalent to the temporary wage subsidy, or the employer was not entitled to receive a subsidy in respect of an employee, the employer is obliged to refund the subsidy.

The Stay and Spend Tax Credit is a new tax credit available for the years 2020 and 2021. You can claim the Stay and Spend credit for qualifying expenditure incurred between 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2021. This includes expenditure on either:

• holiday accommodation
  
• ‘eat in’ food and drink

The minimum spend is €25 per transaction. You must submit a copy of your receipt with the claim. A ‘qualifying service provider’ must provide the service. Qualifying service providers are those who have registered with Revenue to participate in the scheme. The maximum tax credit available under the scheme is €125 when you spend a total of €625. The maximum tax credit available for those under joint assessment is €250 when you spend a total of €1,250. The tax credit will used to reduce your IT liability. Any excess credit may then be off set against your liability to USC. You must have an IT or USC liability to offset against the credit to claim same.