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Budget 2023

27 September 2022

Last Updated: 27 September 2022

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

We will endeavour to update this with any major changes or announcements as we digest the budget this year.

Personal Taxation
• Minimum wage to increase on 1st January 2023 from €10.50 to €11.30 with PRSI and USC thresholds adjusted accordingly.
• New €500 rent tax credit for private tenants not in receipt of other State housing supports, to include for rent paid in 2022
• Vacant homes tax to be introduced in 2023 – if home is vacant for more than 30 days in 12 months, unless genuine reason will be 3 times the LPT for the home.
• 3rd rate of income tax likely to be implemented by Budget 2024

Energy Crisis Update & Supports
• Projection that there will be 4.5% inflation next year and that it is 8.5% inflation this year
• 9% VAT rate on light and heat extended to end of February 2023
• Credit on L&H for domestic of €600 that will be over 3 payments of €200 each with first one before Christmas
• Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme for energy costs over winter months – Managed by Revenue Commissioners – Need to register for scheme and return to be submitted. Will be self assessed with spot checks like the Covid Supports to send in back up. Operated by reviewing unit rate in 2022 versus same period last year (2021), if rate is greater than 50% then passed the test and support will be 40% of the increase. We await exact details of this and if you are client of ours we will be in touch with you on how it will all work and if you are entitled.
• A double Child Benefit payment (worth €140 per child) will be paid in November.
• Extra €500 for Working Family Payment and Carer Support Grant recipients in November.
• Weekly Fuel Allowance means limit for over 70s extended to €500 for single people, €1,000 for couples. Fuel allowance payment recipients to receive an extra lump sum of €400 before Christmas.
• College fees – once off reduction of €1,000
• Excise cuts for petrol, diesel and marked gas oil extended until end of February 2023
• Public transport fares reduction extended until the end of 2023

Business Taxation & Regulation
• Staff tax free voucher limit increased from €500 to €1,000, and can be given by up to 2 vouchers in one year and is said to be valid from 2022 tax year.

Relevant Contracts Tax and Construction Industry
• No changes noted

Indirect Taxes
• 0% VAT rate on newspapers from 1/01/2023
• Farmers flat rate reduced from 5.5% to 5.0%

Stamp duty
• No changes noted.

Climate Change
• Farmers reliefs pending EU review
• Accelerated capital allowances for farmers for modern slurry facilities
• EV Cars and supports, it is seen that these will continue as is but nothing mentioned just yet, we will update if we hear anything as the details come clearer from the budget.

Capital Taxes
• No changes noted

(Local) Property Tax (LPT)
• No changes noted

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• €0.50 increase on pack of 20 cigarettes and other tobacco products
• Once off double week to social welfare
• Fuel allowance €400 lump sum payment before Christmas
• Social welfare weekly rates increased by €12
• Free GP care for those aged 6 and 7 by the end of 2022
• Financial support for IVF treatment

Summary Statistics:

		Budget 2023	Budget 2022
Capital Gains Tax Rate		33%	33%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		33%	33%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	40%	40%
DIRT Tax
		39% (39% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	39% (39% – where payments made less frequently than annually)
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,775	€1,700
	Married Couple	€3,550	€3,400
	PAYE Credit	€1,775	€1,700
	Home Carer Credit	€1,700	€1,600
	Earned Income Tax Credit	€1,775	€1,700
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€40,000	€36,800
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€44,000	€40,800
	Married -one income earner	€49,000	€45,800
	Married – two income earners	€80,000	€73,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €13,000	Exempt	Exempt
	€ 0 – €12,012	0.5%	0.5%
	€12,013 – €22,920	2.0%
	€12,013 – €21,295		2.0%
	€22,921 – €70,044	4.50%
	€21,296 – €70,044		4.50%
	€70,044 – €100,000	8%	8%
	Self employed income > €100,000	11%	11%
	PAYE income in excess of €100,000	8%	8%
	Age >70/medical card holders with income < €60,000 – Max rate	2.0%	2.0%

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.

Sick Leave Act 2022 (Video Update)

Below is a video presented by our Payroll Manager Patrick Maguire regarding the incoming Sick Leave Act 2022, based on information to hand at 4th September, should we have any updates we will update this posting.

UPDATE: The Now commencement date is 1st January 2023. Any further updates we will update this post.

Certified Sick Leave – Employee Entitlements

Annual Leave

Employees can build up annual leave entitlement while they are off sick, as long as they have a medical certificate. If they are on long-term sick leave and cannot take annual leave due to illness, they can carry it over for up to 15 months after the end of the year it was earned.
Example: Annual leave for 2020 (assuming the annual leave year is the calendar year) can be carried over until 31st March 2022.
Strictly speaking, the employee shouldn’t be on annual leave in the middle of sick leave so HR advice may be needed if an annual leave payment is requested in such circumstances.

Public Holidays

Employees are entitled to public holidays for the first 26 weeks of certified illness (52 weeks for workplace accidents).

Budget 2022

12 October 2021

Last Updated: 12 October 2021

Personal Taxation (from 1st January 2022)
• Personal Tax, Employee & Earned Income Tax Credits all increase by €50 to €1,700, see table below.
• Standard Rate cut off increase of €1,500 for all earners, see table below.
• USC Bands have also changed in the 2% band to account for increase in minimum wage from 1st January 2022, see table below.
• Work from home allowance now giving 30% relief on light & heat (previously 10%) and broadband costs still allowed at 30%, vouched expenses.
• Minimum wage to increase from €10.20 to €10.50 with PRSI and USC thresholds adjusted accordingly.
• Employers PRSI threshold for higher rate increase from €398 to €410.

Covid Supports
• Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) extended until 30 April 2022, with rates to lower to €151.50 and €203 caps only. A flat rate of €100 per eligible employee will apply for March and April 2022, with no employer PRSI relief.

• Commercial rates waiver extended until end of 2021.

• Directors’ income tax returns with liabilities relating to directors’ remuneration – liabilities can be warehoused.

• PUP payment is to remain in place until end of Feb 2022

Business Taxation & Regulation
• Relief for start-up companies to be extended for five years.

Relevant Contracts Tax and Construction Industry
• No changes noted

Indirect Taxes
• Farmers flat rate addition decreased from 5.6% to 5.5%.

• Reduced VAT rate of 9% for hospitality will remain in place until end of August 2022

Stamp duty
• No changes noted.

Carbon Tax
• Increase of €7.50 per tonne applies from today for auto fuels and from 1 May 2022 for all other fuels. Petrol will increase by €1.28 for 60 litres, and diesel by €1.48

Capital Taxes
• No changes noted

(Local) Property Tax (LPT)
• REMINDER TO FILE: While there were no changes announced in the budget, we like to remind you that your return for the years 2022 – 2025 is due to be submitted to Revenue by 7th November 2021. While we do not take responsibility for submitting this return as the tax payer is best placed to value their property, if you are experiencing difficulty using the LPT system please feel free to contact us.

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• Tobacco increase of 50c on pack of 20
• New Youth Travel Card will provide 50% discount on fares for those aged 18 – 23
• €5 weekly increase in main welfare payments
• DPS (Drugs payment scheme) threshold decreased to €100 per month.
• Carer’s allowance weekly earnings limit increased to €350 (single person) and €750 (couples).
• Parent’s Benefit extended by 2 weeks to 7 weeks from July 2022
• Free GP care extended to children aged six and seven years
• Help to Buy scheme is been extended in its current “enhanced” form for 2022, this is to allow other measures to be put in place e.g. Shared Equity Scheme over the next year or so.

Climate & Environmental Measures – (Electric Vehicles)
• €200 tax disregard for those who can sell electricity back to the grid
• VRT Tax, from January 2022 a revised vehicle registration tax table is being introduced. The 20 band table will
remain with an uplift in rates beginning with a 1% increase for vehicles that fall between bands 9-12;
2% for bands 13-15; and then a 4% increase for bands 16-20 .
• The €5,000 relief for Battery Electric vehicles is being extended to end 2023.
• The BIK exemption for battery electric vehicles will be extended out to 2025 with a tapering effect on the vehicle value. This measure will take effect from 2023. For BIK purposes, the original market value of an electric vehicle will be reduced by €35,000 for 2023; €20,000 for 2024; and €10,000 for 2025.

Summary Statistics:

		Budget 2022	Budget 2021
Capital Gains Tax Rate		33%	33%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		33%	33%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	40%	40%
DIRT Tax
		39% (39% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	39% (39% – where payments made less frequently than annually)
Tax Credits
	Single Person	€1,700	€1,650
	Married Couple	€3,400	€3,300
	PAYE Credit	€1,700	€1,650
	Home Carer Credit	€1,600	€1,600
	Earned Income Tax Credit	€1,700	€1,650
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€36,800	€35,300
Awaiting update	Single/widowed with dependent children	€39,300	€39,300
	Married -one income earner	€45,800	€44,300
	Married – two income earners	€73,600	€70,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €13,000	Exempt	Exempt
	€ 0 – €12,012	0.5%	0.5%
	€12,013 – €20,687		2.0%
	€12,013 – €21,295	2.0%
	€20,687 – €70,044		4.50%
	€21,296 – €70,044	4.50%
	€70,044 – €100,000	8%	8%
	Self employed income > €100,000	11%	11%
	PAYE income in excess of €100,000	8%	8%
	Age >70/medical card holders with income < €60,000 – Max rate	2.0%	2.0%

Covid 19 and Director Taxes

We would like to make you aware of the following issues which arise around directors’ taxes and Covid 19:

Employers paying employees’ 2020 tax liability
Revenue have given a concession whereby an employer can pay the temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) tax liability on behalf of an employee, where no benefit-in-kind tax implications arise for the employee. Directors can also avail of this concession.

However, the closing date for availing of the concession is 30th June 2021. Further details are available on Revenue’s website here.

Please also read the next sections as they are relevant to your 2020 income tax return. Our accountancy body is actively consulting with Revenue on the following matters. The default status is described below:

Spreading of tax due on TWSS and Pandemic Unemployment Payments (PUP) over 4 Years
Presently, Revenue is spreading the above liabilities for PAYE workers over 4 years, however there is no similar concession for directors that are required to file an income tax return. Consequently, directors will be assessed on the full liability on their 2020 income tax return, and will have to contact Revenue in cases of inability to pay.

Deduction for payroll taxes on director’s income tax return
In order to avoid abuse of the PAYE system by self-employed directors, they are only allowed to deduct income tax (PAYE) paid to Revenue on their income tax return, rather than income tax (PAYE) deducted on their payslip. Where there are taxes unpaid, Revenue will consider that it is the tax due on directors’ salaries which are last remitted by the employer to Revenue. This has implications for any companies availing of the Covid 19 debt warehousing scheme, as in these cases we will only be able to deduct PAYE paid on the director’s income tax return. This will create a temporary personal income tax liability, until the company remits to Revenue its 2020 payroll taxes in full.

Covid Level 5 Supports

24 October 2020

The following is a summary of the main supports available during the Level 5 restrictions of 22 October – 2 December 2020 :

Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS): To enter this scheme you need to project that your turnover for the period July – December 2020 will be down at least 30% on the same period in 2019. For the Level 5 restrictions, the subsidy will be paid weekly rather than monthly, and the rates of payment have increased. The EWSS is expected to be extended past its current end date of 31st March 2021.

Restart Grant Plus: To be eligible for this grant, you need to have demonstrated that your turnover for the period April – June 2020 is down at least 25% on the same period the previous year. The closing date for applications is 31st October 2020. If you have already received Restart Grant payments, you should not reapply for Restart Grant Plus.

Enterprise Support Grant: If you are not a commercial rates payer you may be entitled to up to €1,000 to restart your business. Further information is available here.

Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS): To be eligible for this scheme, your turnover for the period of restrictions must be no more than 25% of the turnover for a period equal to the same number of weeks in 2019 (or using 2020 turnover for a new business). Registration is expected in the coming weeks, with claims process commencing mid-November. The scheme will run from 13 October 2020 to 31 March 2021.

The relief will operate as a cash payment equal to 10% of the average weekly value of the 2019 business’s turnover up to €20,000 and 5% thereafter, subject to a maximum weekly payment of €5,000, for the same number of weeks as the restricted period (Levels 3, 4 and 5).

Other Industry Specific Grants: The RTE website maintains a list of supports available which can be accessed here.

Income Tax Non-Covid Debts: If you underpaid preliminary tax for 2019, this is regarded as a non-Covid debt which will qualify for the reduced rate of interest of 3% under instalment. Your return must be filed by 31st October to avoid a late filing surcharge, however you can apply for the reduced rate instalment arrangement up to 10th December.

Income Tax Covid Debts: If you are unable to pay the balance of your income tax liability after preliminary tax, this is considered to be Covid related debt so it may be warehoused for up to 12 months. Your return must be filed by 31st October to avoid a late filing surcharge as your liability is not being paid in full at the filing date.

Budget 2021

13 October 2020

Last Updated: 13 October 2020

Personal Taxation (from 1st January 2021)
• Dependent relative tax credit increased from €70 to €245

• USC 2% threshold adjusted for minimum wage increase (€10.20 instead of €10.10 from 1st January 2021).

• PRSI threshold has also been adjusted in respect of the minimum wage increase, from €10.10 to €10.20. (from 1st January 2021)

• No other changes to Income Tax, USC and PRSI rates with the exception of the above two changes.

Covid
• Commercial Rates for 2019 are waived for the rest of 2020.

For businesses there is a new Covid Restrictions Support Scheme, where grants will be paid to those affected by restrictions imposed from Levels 3 – 5 of the Living with Covid strategy. We wait more details on this but would need to be either closed or severely affected by Covid19 restrictions.

• Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) expected to be extended past March 2021.

Business Taxation & Regulation
• Earned income tax credit increased by €150 to now equal the Employee Tax Credit of €1,650

Relevant Contracts Tax and Construction Industry
• No changes noted

Indirect Taxes
• Temporary reduction in VAT rate for Tourism and Hospitality items from 13.5% to 9% until December 2021

• Increase in farms flat rate addition from 5.4% to 5.6%

Stamp duty
• Consanguinity relief extended until December 2023

Carbon Tax
• Increase in rate by €7.50 to €33.50 per tonne. Household fuels will not be affected until next May. But cost of fuel from Midnight 13th October 2020 will be in effect 2.5 cent per litre on petrol and diesel from midnight tonight.

Capital Taxes
• No changes noted

(Local) Property Tax (LPT)
• No changes noted

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• 50c on pack of 20 cigarettes.

• Illness benefit will now be paid after 3 days instead of 6 days.

• Christmas bonus to be paid to those in receipt of Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) for more than 4 months

• Self employed can earn up to €480 per month without losing their PUP payment.

• Illness benefit will now be available after three days out of work instead of the current six days.

• VRT to change based on emissions

• Motor Tax band from 1st January 2021 to change to a 3rd band to be inline with emissions testing. Also noted in the speech was the changes to the cars taxed under the CO2 emissions to create a level playing field.

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2021	Budget 2020
Capital Gains Tax Rate		33%	33%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		33%	33%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	40%	40%
DIRT Tax
		39% (39% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	39% (39% – 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
	Home Carer Credit	€1,600	€1,500
	Earned Income Tax Credit	€1,650	€1,500
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€35,300	€35,300
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€39,300	€39,300
	Married -one income earner	€44,300	€44,300
	Married – two income earners	€70,600	€70,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €13,000	Exempt	Exempt
	€ 0 – €12,012	0.5%	0.5%
	€12,013 – €19,874		2.0%
	€12,013 – €20,687	2.0%
	€19,874 – €70,044		4.50%
	€20,687 – €70,044	4.50%
	€70,044 – €100,000	8%	8%
	Self employed income > €100,000	11%	11%
	PAYE income in excess of €100,000	8%	8%
	Age >70/medical card holders with income < €60,000 – Max rate	2.0%	2.0%

Revenue Warehousing of Debt

Last Updated: 21st May 2020

Revenue have suspended debt collection (i.e. enforcement) of the following tax payments in 2020:

1) VAT’s for: January/February, March/April and May/June 2020
2) Payroll Tax returns: February through to June P30 Liabilities

In addition Revenue will warehouse the debt for a period of 12 months, being the above debt and any future debt while the business was unable to trade or was trading at a significantly reduced level, plus an additional two months of tax debt to allow the business get back some positive cash flow.

While we await the legislation to be published, “trading at a significantly reduced level” is likely to mean sales activity to be down by at least 15% – 25%.

Covid-19 tax debts will be ‘warehoused’ for a period of 12 months interest free, and if an additional instalment repayment agreement is required after this period has elapsed, interest will be charged at the lower rate of 3%.

Tax clearance will not be affected.

We will update this note when we have legalisation clarifying the matter.

Budget 2020

8 October 2019

Last Updated: 8 October 2019

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

Personal Taxation (from 1st January 2020)
• REMINDER: The proposal to increase the minimum wage to €10.10 per hour from January 2020 is only being brought to Cabinet this week, and does not form part of the Budget day announcement.

•Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT) to increase from 20% to 25% from 1st January 2020. DWT is considered a payment on account with Revenue, where the 25% tax rate is now a more accurate average amount due when USC etc. is considered.

Brexit
• €1.2 billion package announced to respond to Brexit. Key areas: Agriculture, Enterprise, Tourism, Social Protection.

• Rainy Day Fund of €1.5bn created due to likelihood of a no deal Brexit.

Business Taxation & Regulation
• Earned income tax credit increased by €150

Relevant Contracts Tax and Construction Industry
• No changes noted

Indirect Taxes
• No changes noted

Stamp duty
• Non-residential property stamp duty rate increased from 6% to 7.5%. Transitional arrangements where the instruments are executed before 1 January 2020 where a binding contract existed prior to 8th October 2019.

Carbon Tax
• Increase in rate by €6 to €26 per tonne. Household fuels will not be affected until next May.

Capital Taxes
• Increase in the Group A inheritance tax threshold from €320,000 to €325,000

(Local) Property Tax (LPT)
• No changes noted

Miscellaneous Provisions & Announcements
• Excise duty on cigarettes increased by 50c on a pack of 20 cigarettes with a pro-rate increase on other tobacco products

•Monthly threshold for the Drugs Payment Scheme reduced by €10 per month.

• Medical card income threshold increased.

• Free GP care for children under eight, and free dental care for children under six.

• Additional €80m for the Housing Assistance Payment scheme.

• 100% Christmas Bonus in 2019.

• Limited increases in weekly social welfare payments: One Parent Family Payment + €15, Qualified Child Payment +€3 for children over 12, and +€2 for children under 12.

Summary Statistics

		Budget 2020	Budget 2019
Capital Gains Tax Rate		33%	33%

Capital Acquisitions Tax Rate		33%	33%
Income Tax Rates
	Lower	20%	20%
	Higher	40%	40%
DIRT Tax
		39% (39% – where payments made less frequently than annually)	39% (39% – 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
	Home Carer Credit	€1,600	€1,500
	Earned Income Tax Credit	€1,500	€1,350
Rate Bands
	Single/widowed	€35,300	€35,300
	Single/widowed with dependent children	€39,300	€39,300
	Married -one income earner	€44,300	€44,300
	Married – two income earners	€70,600	€70,600
PRSI
	Contribution Ceiling	No limit	No limit
Universal Social Charge
	< €13,000	Exempt	Exempt
	€ 0 – €12,012	0.5%	0.5%
	€12,013 – €19,874	2.0%	2.0%

	€19,874 – €70,044	4.50%	4.50%

	€70,044 – €100,000	8%	8%
	Self employed income > €100,000	11%	11%
	PAYE income in excess of €100,000	8%	8%
	Age >70/medical card holders with income < €60,000 – Max rate	2.0%	2.0%

PAYE Modernisation for Employees

From 1^st January 2019 you will be able to view your weekly income and deductions through your online account at www.revenue.ie/myaccount.

While Revenue are not forcing employees to use the online service (except those that are First Time Registrations with Revenue which is currently Revenue’s Practice), it should be noted that there will be no P60s issued for the 2019 tax year end. You will be able to receive equivalent P60 details directly from Revenue, or if you are not registered for a Revenue account, you will have to wait until you receive your Revenue end-of-year statement in the post.

Please note: P60s will be issued as normal in January 2019 for the 2018 tax year end.

No Change For Employees Except for Technical Amendments:

From your perspective as an employee, there will be no change at all to the normal payroll process, and you will receive your weekly payslip as you currently do.

There may be some technical amendments to our payroll processes which will become clearer when the new system is fully launched on 1st January 2019. We will update the below list as such situations arise:

We may be unable to make changes to a payslip where the pay details from that payslip has already been reported to Revenue
Your employer may need to submit the timesheet for processing earlier in the week to allow additional time for PAYE Modernisation
The payslip date will be the mechanism used to notify Revenue of the date of payment. Payment date is vitally important as employees cannot be paid until Revenue are notified. Therefore, we must ensure that timesheets being received are processed on a payslip date which has not yet occurred.
In relation to the above, where a company’s previous practice was to date the payslips the end of the work week, which was accepted practice up to now, this would result in an incorrect payment date being notified to Revenue. The payment date under PAYE Modernisation is simply the date the employee receives their payment. In order to rectify this we will follow the Revenue’s recommended procedure outlined on their website here. Afffected payrolls will not have a week 52 2018 payslip, but will have the benefit of the week 52 tax credits in the week 51 payslip. The payslips in 2019 will be dated the payment date. This re-alignment has no effect on the actual date the employment receives their weekly payment.

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PAYE Modernisation for Employers