Budget Summaries

Budget 2014

15 October 2013

Last Updated (bold type): 7 November 2013

Please note that implementation dates for announced changes have been indicated below where available. Not all changes take immediate effect.

Personal Taxation
• No change in tax rates so no major changes in net pay. However, changes in medical insurance relief and one-parent family credits will affect some individuals.
• One-Parent Family Tax Credit – replaced by Single Person Tax Credit from 1st January 2014. Of same value but now only available to one ‘principal carer’.
• Tax relief on private medical insurance limited to first €1,000 per adult subscription and €500 per child. Please note this threshold relates to the gross premium payable. Medical insurance is usually quoted net of tax relief at 20%. The portion of the gross premium above €1,000 will not qualify for tax relief. Where renewals have already been issued/paid a balancing statement will need to be issued by the insurer.
• Start your own business tax exemption available to long-term unemployed (at least 15 months). Income tax exemption of up to €40,000 per annum for the first two years.
• PRSI on all income of PAYE workers from 2014.

Business Taxation
• No change in corporate tax rate.
• Lower rate of employer PRSI was due to revert to 8.5% in 2014. This was funded by the pension levy which has not been abolished (see stamp duty below). There has been no announcement on reverting to the 8.5% PRSI rate. The increase to 8.5% employer’s PRSI from 1st January 2014 was confirmed in the Social Welfare Bill.

Relevant Contracts Tax
• No changes to note

Indirect Taxes
• No change in the 9% VAT rate for the tourism industry.
• Increase in cash receipts threshold for VAT to €2 million from 1 May 2014.
• Farmer’s flat rate addition increased to 5% from 1 January 2014.
• VAT Anti-Fraud Measures introduced such as reversal of input credit on invoices which are not paid within six months of supply.

Stamp duty
• Pension fund levy increased to 0.75% in 2014.
• Bank levy to raise €150 million.

Carbon Tax
• No changes to note

Capital Taxes
• Property purchase incentive extended to the end of 2014 (exemption from capital gains tax for properties purchased and held for seven years).

(Local) Property Tax
• No changes to note

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• Bereavement allowance of €850 has been abolished.
• Jobseekers allowance for those under 25 cut to €100, and new rate of €144 for those reaching age 25 in 2014.
• Free GP care for under 5s (i.e. GP only medical card).
• Air travel tax abolished (“reduced to zero”). This tax was introduced in 2011 and costed around €3 per flight.
• DIRT rate increased to 41% in 2014.
• No change in motor tax, no change in duty on petrol/motor diesel
• Prescription charge increased to €2.50 per item.
• Excise duty increases from midnight 15 October 2013: standard measure +10c, 75cl bottle of wine +50c, pack of 20 cigarettes +10c
• Telephone allowance to be abolished in 2014.
• Maternity and adoptive benefit to be standardised at €230 for new claimants in 2014.
• Illness benefit waiting period increased from 3 to 6 days.
• Home renovation incentive will allow taxpayers to claim relief at 13.5% on improvements to their principal private residence. This is designed to encourage the employment of tax compliant contractors. Spend bracket €5,000 – €30,000. Further details on this scheme is now available on the Revenue website here.
• Income threshold on over 70s medical cards has been reduced to €900 to week for a couple and €500 for a single person.

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2014	Budget 2013
Capital Gains Tax Rate		33%	33%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		33%	33%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	41%	41%
DIRT Tax
		41% (41% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	33% (36% – where payments made less frequently than annually)
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,650	€1,650
	Married Couple	€3,300	€3,300
	PAYE Credit	€1,650	€1,650
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€32,800	€32,800
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€36,80	€36,800
	Married -one income earner	€41,800	€41,800
	Married – two income earners	€65,600	€65,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €10,036	Exempt	Exempt
	€ 0 – €10,036	2%	2%
	€10,037 – €16,016	4%	4%
	>€16,016	7%	7%
	Self-employed > €100,000	10%	10%
	Age >70/medical card holders with income < €60,000 – Max rate	4%	4%
	Age >70, income > €100,000 – Max rate	7%	7%

Whilst every care has been taken in the production of this budget summary, neither Royal Canal Financial Control Services nor Ronan Duffy and Co. can be held responsible for any action taken or deferred, resulting from any errors contained therein. For a more comprehensive summary please refer to the government press release.

Budget 2013

5 December 2012

Personal Taxation
• 4% USC cap for those aged > 70 years or medical card holders has been abolished where income is greater than €60,000.
• Employee PRSI: Removal of weekly PRSI allowance from full rate and modified rate PRSI contributors (€127).
• Self employed PRSI: Increase in minimum contribution from €253 to €500 annually.
• PRSI on Unearned Income: To apply to PAYE workers from 2014 onwards.

Business Taxation
• Committed to 12.5% corporation tax rate.
• 3 Year Relief for Start-Up Companies: Relief is extended to allow unused relief from 1st 3 years to be carried forward for use in subsequent years (subject to maximum relief in relation to employers’ PRSI).
• Close company surcharge de minus limit has been increased from €635 to €2,000.

Relevant Contracts Tax
• No changes to note

Indirect Taxes
• VAT cash receipts threshold increased from €1 million to €1.25 million from 1 May 2013.
• Motor tax increases – From 1 January 2013 higher rates apply for all categories with the exception of electric vehicles, and CO2 band A0.

Stamp duty
• No changes to note

Carbon Tax
• Extended to solid fuels – rate of €10 per tonne from 1 May 2013, and €20 per tonne from 1 May 2014.

Capital Taxes from 5 December 2012 (midnight)
• Rate increased from 30% to 33% from midnight.

(Local) Property Tax
• Collection will commence on 1 July 2013, with a half year charge in 2013.
• Rate of 0.18% of market value for properties up to €1 million, rate of 0.25% to any excess value over €1m. Charges calculated at the midpoint of property bands of €50,000 increments.
• Three year exemption for first time buyers, or those buying new or previously unoccupied houses.
• Non principal private residence charge will cease on 31 December 2013.
• Deferral of property tax in some cases subject to 4% interest charge.
• Non payment may result in deduction at source (PAYE workers) or refusal of a tax clearance certificate (self employed).

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• Maternity benefit will be taxable from 1 July 2013, but not liable to universal social charge
• BIK on preferential home loans decreased from 5% to 4%, other loans rate increased from 12.5% to 13.5%.
• Tobacco excise increased by 10c on pack of 20, 50c per 25kg pouch of roll-your-own from midnight 5 December 2012.
• Licenced road hauliers diesel excise rebate will apply from 1 July 2013.
• DIRT rate increased from 30% to 33% from payments received from 1 January 2013.
• Respite Care Grant decreased from €1,700 to €1,375 per annum.
• Dual car registration for 2013 – prefix 131 for 1st 6 months, and 132 for 2nd 6 months. The objective is to create a two period sales peak each year to help stabilise the industry.
• Medical cards will be replaced with GP Only cards for those aged > 70 and with income of €600 – €700 for a single person, or €1,200 – €1,400 for a married couple.
• Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) increased from €132 to €144 per month, with the prescription charge for medical card holders increased to €1.50.
• Child benefit rate to be reduced by €10 per month.
• Duration of Jobseekers payment to be reduced by 3 months.
• Extension of the Credit Review Office to provide more assistance to the SME sector.
• Simplification of charitable donations so charity now gets tax relief on all donations at blended rate of 30%.

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2013	Budget 2012
Capital Gains Tax Rate		33%	30%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		33%	30%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	41%	41%
DIRT Tax
		33% (36% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	30% (33% – where payments made less frequently than annually)
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,650	€1,650
	Married Couple	€3,300	€3,300
	PAYE Credit	€1,650	€1,650
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€32,800	€32,800
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€36,800	€36,800
	Married -one income earner	€41,800	€41,800
	Married – two income earners	€65,600	€65,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €10,036	Exempt	Exempt
	€ 0 – €10,036	2%	2%
	€10,037 – €16,016	4%	4%
	>€16,016	7%	7%

Budget 2012

6 December 2011

Personal Taxation
• No changes in Income Tax rates, bands or credits.
• Universal social charge exemption increased from €4,004 to €10,036, and the move to a cumulative system will allow adjustments for under/over payments during the year.

Business Taxation
• Corporation tax exemption for new companies extended to 2014
• Employer’s relief from PRSI on pension contributions made by employees reduced to Nil from 1 January 2012 (currently 50% relief applies)
• No change in the Corporation Tax rate

Relevant Contracts Tax
• No changes to note

Indirect Taxes
• Standard VAT rate increased from 21% to 23% from 1 January 2012, in his speech Mr Noonan, said that this was the front loading of the increases in VAT from the EU/IMF deal and said that there will be no more increases in VAT in the life time of this government.
• Open farms can avail of tourism rate of 9% from 1 January 2012
• Increase in excise duty on cigarettes by 25c; no increase in alcohol excise duty, however legislation due on low cost selling

• Motor tax increases – average increase of 7.5% for cars taxed by engine capacity. But increases of over 50% for those taxed under the CO2 model (e.g. Class A increase of €56 to €160). This adjustment is required to reflect the increase in cars eligible for the lower CO2 model rates (17.69% of cars taxed in 2011 to date qualify, but they only account for 9.46% of the total motor tax income).

Stamp duty
• Abolition of multiple rates for non-residential stamp duty. For such instruments executed after 6 December 2011 a rate of 2% will apply.

Carbon Tax
• Increase of €5 to €20 per tonne on fossil fuels.

This equates to 1.4 cent per litre on petrol, and 1.6 cent per litre on diesel, this will take effect from midnight of the budget.

For a typical domestic oil fill of 1,000 litres of kerosene, the cost has increased by €14.40, and for natural gas €14.46 per kilowatt hour. Carbon tax increases on heating fuel will only take effect from 1st May 2012.

Capital Taxes from 6 December 2011 (midnight)
• Rate of capital acquisitions tax increased from 25% to 30%. Group A threshold to be reduced to €250,000.
• Rate of capital gains tax increased from 25% to 30%.
• New capital gains tax exemption for properties bought until the end of 2013, once property is held for at least seven years.

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• For items of public expenditure including health and social welfare, please see our Budget 2012 – Public Expenditure Measures page.
• Removal of the 36 day tax exemption for illness benefit.
• Mortgage interest relief to increase to 30% for first time buyers who bought at the height of the boom in the the period 2004 – 2008. A 25% rate applies for first time buyers in 2012, with a 15% rate for non-first-time buyers
• Household charge of €100 to be introduced in 2012, pending the development of a full property tax from 2014. Waiver for those on mortgage supplement and unfinished estates.
• DIRT rate increase by 3% for interest received on or after 1 January 2012

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2012	Budget 2011
Capital Gains Tax Rate		30%	25%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		30%	25%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	41%	41%
DIRT Tax
		30%(33% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	27%/(30% where payments made less frequently than annually)
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,650	€1,650
	Married Couple	€3,300	€3,300
	PAYE Credit	€1,650	€1,650
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€32,800	€32,800
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€36,800	€36,800
	Married -one income earner	€41,800	€41,800
	Married – two income earners	€65,600	€65,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €4,004		Exempt
	< €10,036	Exempt
	€ 0 – €10,036	2%	2%
	€10,037 – €16,016	4%	4%
	>€16,016	7%	7%

…

Budget 2012 – Public Expenditure Measures

5th December 2011

Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform, Brendan Howlin addressed the Dail today in relation to the expenditure budget for 2012.

The main points are as follows:

• Target deficit of 8.6% of GDP in 2012
• Public service pay bill to fall by €400m in 2012, with a 12% staff reduction
• No reduction in weekly rates of social welfare payments
• Basic child allowance rate to be maintained. Over the next two years however, they will standardise the rate payable per child, by reducing the allowance for additional children.
• Fuel allowance period to be reduced from 32 to 26 weeks.
• Employer’s redundancy rebate to be decreased by 60% to 15%
• Increase in the monthly threshold under the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) from €120 to €132
• Increase in €250 of the student contribution to third level fees
• Job seeker benefit to be assessed on a 5 day week were recepient is a part-time worker (currently based on 6 day week)

Budget 2012 continues with Minister Michael Noonan’s speech tomorrow at 3pm.

VAT Rate Change – Reduced Rate of 9%

18th May 2011

The Revenue Commissioners have included on their website a useful guide to the impending VAT rate change, including goods and services which will remain at the 13.5% rate.

The webpage is located here.

Finance Bill 2011

7th February 2011
As the Finance Act has passed into law there are a few amendments/clarifications which we wish to make you aware of:

• Bringing forward of the income tax deadline to 30th September has been shelved as oppose to what was announced previously by the government in the budget speech and our posting below dated 21st January 2011
• A 10% rate of universal social charge will be levied on any income above €100,000 for the self-employed.
• Medical card holders or those aged over 70 will not be liable to the universal social charge at a rate higher than 4%.
• Rent tax credits have been reduced by 20% in 2011.

21st January 2011

The Finance Bill giving legal effect to the changes announced in Budget 2011 was published today.

In addition, the following items were also included/modified/further details given since Budget Day 2011:

Personal Taxation
• Rent relief will not be available for those who would not have been entitled to the relief in 2010.
• A ceiling of €40,000 is being introduced on the tax exempt income of artists.
• Restrictions on Section 23 relief will not be introduced until at least two months after the publication of an impact assessment of the proposed changes. This effectively defers the restrictions until 2012.
• Student Services charge of €1,500 being replaced by Student Contribution Charge of €2,000. In addition, first €2,000 per claim would be ineligible for tax relief (i.e. first child in full-time education not allowed tax relief).
• Private Medical Insurance Age Related Credit – Abolished for those under 60, for those over 60 relief increased to 65% of additional cost of healthcare.

Miscellaneous
• Income tax pay and file deadline brought forward to 30th September 2011 for the tax year 2010, with an additional 14 days for ROS filings. Personal pension contributions for relief on the 2010 return must also be made by these dates.

Whilst every care has been taken in the production of this summary, neither Royal Canal Financial Control Services nor Ronan Duffy and Co. can be held responsible for any action taken or deferred, resulting from any errors contained therein. For a more comprehensive summary please refer to the government press release.

Budget 2011

7 December 2010

Personal Taxation
• PRSI
– Abolition of the PRSI ceiling of €75,036
– Class S (Self-Employed) PRSI rate increased from 3% to 4%

• Reduction of 10% in tax credits
• Average rate of total tax now on average industrial wage has increased from 25% to 26% when the 10% decrease in tax credits is taken into account.

Business Taxation
• Corporation tax exemption extended to new start-up companies in 2011 but now linked to level of employer’s PRSI paid. subject to a maximum of €5,000 per employee. If the amount of qualifying employers’ PRSI is lower than the reduction in corporation tax liability otherwise applicable, relief will be based on the lower amount.

Relevant Contracts Tax
• Replacement of 35% RCT rate with two rates on a revenue neutral basis
– 20% for those registered for tax with an established compliance record.
– 35% rate for subcontractors not registered for tax.

• Replacement of monthly repayment system with an offset system.

Indirect Taxes
• DIRT increased from 25% to 27% for payments made annually or more frequently and 30% for payments made less frequently than annually.

• Travel tax cut to €3

Property Transaction Tax from 7 December 2010 (midnight)
• No announcement made on property value tax

• 1% on all property transactions (i.e. transfers) up to €1m and 2% above €1m to replace old stamp duty regime.

• Stamp duty
– Abolition of reliefs – first time buyer relief, exemption for new houses under 125 sq m in size, relief on new houses over 125 sq m in size, consanguinity relief for residential property transfers, exemption for residential property transfers valued under €127,000, site to child relief

Carbon Tax
• No changes noted here but increase in excise on petrol and diesel noted below.

Capital Acquisitions Tax from 7 December 2010 (midnight)
• Tax free thresholds being reduced by 20%

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• Abolishment of reliefs from 1 January 2011 unless otherwise stated.
– Rent Relief to be phased out over 8 years; the same timeline as previously announced for Mortgage Interest Relief.
– Abolition of tax relief for Trade Union Subscriptions.
– Abolishment of Tax exemption from BIK for Employer Provided Childcare.
– Abolishment of Tax relief for new shares purchased by employees.
– Abolishment of PRSI relief on employee contributions to occupational pensions, employer PRSI relief reduced by 50%

• Restriction of reliefs from 1 January 2011
– Restriction of the tax-free element of ex-gratia termination payments to €200,000 so that payments above this amount will be subject to tax at the marginal rate.
– Ceiling of €40,000 on the tax exempt earnings of artists.
– Introduction of a charge to PRSI on approved profit-sharing schemes, approved save-as-you-earn schemes, unapproved share option schemes, and on share awards.

• Increase in excise duty
– 4c added to litre of petrol, 2c added to litre of diesel.

• Car scrappage scheme extended to 30 June 2011.

• Annual earnings limit to be reduced from €150,000 to €115,000 for 2011. The €115,000 limit will also apply to 2011 contributions where relief is sought against 2010 income.

• Public services bosses pay capped at €250,000 for new contracts including President of the State.

• Once-off (due to harsh weather) €40 extra allowance for those entitled to fuel allowance.

• Minimum wage down by €1 to €7.65

• The student service charge to be replaced with a new flat higher education contribution of €2,000. This will be for only one child in a family at any one time.

• BES Scheme to change to a new scheme and firms can now apply for €10m up from €2m

• All bookmakers taking bets from Ireland to pay 1% for online bets, to be same as those who have betting shops here.

Social Protection payments
• No change in state pension payments. However, decrease of 4% on working age pension with the 2011 new pension rate to be 117% of that paid in 1997.

• Child benefit decrease per month of €10 per child for first two children, and €20 for third child.

• Maternity Benefit down €8 per week

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2011	Budget 2010
Capital Gains Tax Rate		25%	25%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate	Tax Free Allowance Reduced	25%	25%
Income Levy
	€0 – €75,036	See universal social charge	2%
	€75,037 – €174,979	See universal social charge	4%
	€174,980+	See universal social charge	6%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	41%	41%
DIRT Tax
		27%/30% – see above	25%
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,650	€1,830
	Married Couple	€3,300	€3,660
	PAYE Credit	€1,650	€1,830
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€32,800	€36,400
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€36,800	€,40,400
	Married -one income earner	€41,800	€45,400
	Married – two income earners	€65,600	€72,800
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	€75,036
Health Levy
	Lower Rate	See universal social charge	2.5%
	Higher Rate	See universal social charge	5%
	Threshold	See universal social charge	€500
Universal Social Charge
	< €4,004	0%	N/a
	€ 0 – €10,036	2%	N/a
	€10,037 – €16,016	4%	N/a
	>€16,016	7%	N/a

…

Budget 2011

7 December 2010

Personal Taxation
• PRSI
– Abolition of the PRSI ceiling of €75,036
– Class S (Self-Employed) PRSI rate increased from 3% to 4%

• Reduction of 10% in tax credits
• Average rate of total tax now on average industrial wage has increased from 25% to 26% when the 10% decrease in tax credits is taken into account.

• Replacement of monthly repayment system with an offset system.

Indirect Taxes
• DIRT increased from 25% to 27% for payments made annually or more frequently and 30% for payments made less frequently than annually.

• Travel tax cut to €3

Property Transaction Tax from 7 December 2010 (midnight)
• No announcement made on property value tax

• 1% on all property transactions (i.e. transfers) up to €1m and 2% above €1m to replace old stamp duty regime.

Carbon Tax
• No changes noted here but increase in excise on petrol and diesel noted below.

Capital Acquisitions Tax from 7 December 2010 (midnight)
• Tax free thresholds being reduced by 20%

• Increase in excise duty
– 4c added to litre of petrol, 2c added to litre of diesel.

• Car scrappage scheme extended to 30 June 2011.

• Annual earnings limit to be reduced from €150,000 to €115,000 for 2011. The €115,000 limit will also apply to 2011 contributions where relief is sought against 2010 income.

• Public services bosses pay capped at €250,000 for new contracts including President of the State.

• Once-off (due to harsh weather) €40 extra allowance for those entitled to fuel allowance.

• Minimum wage down by €1 to €7.65

• The student service charge to be replaced with a new flat higher education contribution of €2,000. This will be for only one child in a family at any one time.

• BES Scheme to change to a new scheme and firms can now apply for €10m up from €2m

• All bookmakers taking bets from Ireland to pay 1% for online bets, to be same as those who have betting shops here.

Social Protection payments
• No change in state pension payments. However, decrease of 4% on working age pension with the 2011 new pension rate to be 117% of that paid in 1997.

• Child benefit decrease per month of €10 per child for first two children, and €20 for third child.

• Maternity Benefit down €8 per week

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2011	Budget 2010
Capital Gains Tax Rate		25%	25%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate	Tax Free Allowance Reduced	25%	25%
Income Levy
	€0 – €75,036	See universal social charge	2%
	€75,037 – €174,979	See universal social charge	4%
	€174,980+	See universal social charge	6%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	41%	41%
DIRT Tax
		27%/30% – see above	25%
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,650	€1,830
	Married Couple	€3,300	€3,660
	PAYE Credit	€1,650	€1,830
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€32,800	€36,400
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€36,800	€,40,400
	Married -one income earner	€41,800	€45,400
	Married – two income earners	€65,600	€72,800
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	€75,036
Health Levy
	Lower Rate	See universal social charge	2.5%
	Higher Rate	See universal social charge	5%
	Threshold	See universal social charge	€500
Universal Social Charge
	< €4,004	0%	N/a
	€ 0 – €10,036	2%	N/a
	€10,037 – €16,016	4%	N/a
	>€16,016	7%	N/a

…

National Recovery Plan, 2011 – 2014

24 November 2010

Today the government published its National Recovery Four Year Plan, designed to bring the public finances back into order and attempt to support economic development. This is a blue print for the fiscal policies of the government along with economic areas and strategic policies to be adopted to drive the economy forward.

From a tax point of view, the following highlights should be noted:

Income Tax
• With a view to grossing an additional €1.9 billion in revenue, 65% of the overall adjustment will be delivered in 2011.
• Universal social service charge (the combining of the different levies and PRSI charges) first mentioned in Budget 2010 will be implemented in Budget 2011.
• Employer’s PRSI Exemption Scheme to be extended until the end of 2011.
• Pension contribution reform to include eliminating PRSI and Health Levy relief, reducing the personal contribution cap from €150,000 to €115,000 and phasing in of income tax relief on pension contributions limited to the standard rate from 2014.

Property Site Value Tax
• Interim fixed “household charge” of €100 per annum in 2012
• Full value-based addition to be introduced in 2013 (average charge estimated at €200 per annum).

Carbon Tax
• Price of Carbon to be doubled over four years from €15 to €30 per tonne.

Capital Taxes
• Structures and thresholds of capital gains tax and capital acquisitions tax to be reformed, taking account of the falling market values of assets and different types of asset categories.

VAT
• Standard rate of VAT to be 22% from 2013, and 23% from 2014.

Corporation Tax
• No change to the 12.5% rate.

As regards a strategy for improving competitive, growth and employment, the main talking point is the reduction in the minimum wage by €1 to €7.65.

Further details on all aspects of the government’s National Recovery Plan are available on the government website here.

Finance Bill 2010

04/02/2010 The Minister for Finance today announced the details of the Finance Bill 2010, which gives effect to some of the measures announced in last December’s Budget. The bill will become law by 9th April 2010.

Some of the main measures enacted as detailed in our budget summary are as follows:

Carbon Tax: Non-transport fuels (i.e. heating fuels) will be levied from 1 May 2010. Non-oil fuels (coal/peat) subject to ministerial order.

Car Scrappage Scheme: No changes from budget. VRT exemption for electric vehicles until 31 December 2012.

Exemption from Corporation Tax for 3 years: Extended to companies which commence trading in 2010.

The minister also outlined some new measures in his speech which are included in the bill:

– VAT regime to be extended to public bodies following an EU ruling – this will have implications for services provided by local authorities which would previously held an exempt status, but the service would otherwise be liable to VAT, e.g. refuge charges.

-Tax relief on service charges to be abolished with the last year to be claimed being 2010 (claimed on 2011 return).

-Abolishment of long-term carer policies and capital allowances for childcare facilities

-Charitable donations relief to be given to charities resident in other EEA/EFTA states in line with European treaties and case law.

-Rent a room relief not available to company directors/employees where the the rent arises from the occasional use of the room by a client.

-Quarterly filing of small liability RCT returns proposed

For further details on any of the above or on the more technical aspects of the bill please see the Revenue website. If you would like clarification on any issue, please do not hesitate to contact us.