The Tax Saver Commuter Tickets from Luas (www.taxsavertickets.luas.ie) offer tax savings for both employers and employees. The benefits include: Up to 52% travel cost savings for staff Up to 10.75% savings for employers on PRSI No more queues for Luas tickets Journeys are cheaper with prepaid tickets than with cash How it works: The cost of the Tax Saver Commuter Ticket is deducted from the employee’s salary before taxation. The corresponding amount paid by the employer to provide a monthly or annual Luas pass will be regarded as an expense incurred by the employer for the purposes […]
Tag Archives: tax
Business Expansion Scheme (BES)
Guest blog by Kieran Kennelly, Parfrey Murphy. The BES was introduced to allow individuals a tax deduction for the cost of investing in certain Irish companies. The purpose of the relief is to encourage investment and to create or maintain employment in such companies. It is well documented that Irish business are currently facing major difficulties in raising finance from banks. Given the current circumstances Irish companies would be extremely well advised to consider the BES as an alternative method of raising finance for the purposes of creating or maintaining employment, enlarging capacity, increasing sales, engaging […]
Capital Gains Tax Retirement Relief
Anyone who is planning their retirement has numerous considerations on their mind – can a family member take over the business, when can I afford to retire, how will I occupy my time after retirement? The tax considerations can be well down the list of priorities. Yet, tax planning for retirement needs to take place well in advance of the final decision to retire. Provided certain conditions are met, it is possible to dispose of your business assets and pay zero Capital Gains Tax using CGT retirement relief. As you know, Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is […]
Tax Savings for SMEs
Despite the difficult economic environment, there are still some tax reliefs to be found. The following are a selection of tax reliefs and exemptions for companies which have been introduced to stimulate the economy and encourage a greener environment, as well as some existing reliefs for trading losses. Research & Development The R&D tax credit is available for companies carrying on R&D activities in the European Economic Area (EEA) in a relevant period. From 1 January 2009 the R&D tax credit has increased from 20% to 25% of the qualifying R&D expenditure spend. The definition of […]
New CAT pay and file dates
The 2010 Finance Act has introduced a fixed pay and file date for CAT (gift tax and inheritance tax) of 31 October. Previously, if a CAT return and payment was due, in respect of a gift or inheritance, the return had to be filed and the payment made, within 4 months of the valuation date. For all gifts and inheritances with a valuation date between 1 January and 31 August – the CAT return must be filed by 31 October of that year and any resulting CAT liability must be paid by that date. Where the […]
VAT Invoices
Whether you print VAT invoices straight from your accounting package or manually write them in a duplicate book, here is a reminder of what needs to be included and when they should be issued. VAT invoices must be issued within 15 days of the end of the month in which goods or services were supplied. VAT invoices should also be issued for payments received in advance. VAT invoices should contain the following: A sequential number that uniquely identified the invoice Invoice date Name, address and VAT registration of the trader issuing the invoice Name and address of […]
VAT Registration
When you are starting your own business, whether as a sole trader, partnership or a company, you need to determine if you are obliged to register for VAT and what VAT rate should be applied to your sales. Once registered VAT charged on sales needs to be paid to the Revenue Commissioners (after deducting VAT on purchases and expenses) on a timely basis. Who needs to register? The main reason for registering for VAT is that the business engages in the supply of taxable goods or services within Ireland. A business whose turnover, in any twelve […]
Extended Deadline for Disclosing RCT Errors
The Revenue Commissioners have extended the deadline to 15 April 2010 for making a disclosure in relation to the RCT Return for 2009. If a principal contractor discovers that payments were made gross to any subcontractor who had a valid C2 but not a revevant payments card, then a qualifying disclosure should be made before 15 April to avail of a fixed penalty of €3,000 rather than the normal interest and penalties, which could be substantial. The fixed penalty of €3,000 will apply to each instance of the failure to deduct RCT. It only applies where […]
Mandatory e-Filing of Tax Returns
As you may be aware, from 1 January 2010, the Revenue have extended the mandatory online filing requirements to include “large companies.” Initially “large companies” were to be identified as those not qualifying for audit exemption. However, the Revenue have now clarified that the mandatory online filing requirements are for companies with: Turnover greater than €7.3m and Number of employees greater than 50 Therefore, companies meeting these conditions must pay and file all tax returns online including VAT, PAYE/PRSI and Corporation Tax. PDF