Understand the Tax measures of Budget 2025 which relate to property transactions, at a glance.
Today, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, announced the details of Budget 2025.
As anticipated, Budget 2025 introduced several tax measures in relation to property.
This article will focus on the property related tax measures introduced by Budget 2025, under Income Tax/Personal Tax, Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), Stamp Duty, Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT).
A new 6% rate of Stamp Duty has been introduced on residential properties from 2nd October 2024.
The stamp duty rates for residential properties will now be as follows:
The existing stamp duty rates will continue to apply to instruments executed before 1st January 2025 on foot of a binding contract in place before 2nd October 2024.
For full information on Budget 2025, please click https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/e8315-budget-2025/
Please be aware that the information contained in this article is of a general nature. It is not intended to address specific circumstances in relation to any individual or entity. All reasonable efforts have been made by Accounts Advice Centre to provide accurate and up-to-date information, however, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate on the date it is received or that it will continue to remain so. This information should not be acted upon without full and comprehensive, specialist professional tax advice.
In the United Kingdom, the tax year commences on 6th April and ends on the following 5th April.
HMRC have published a set of criteria which outlines the taxpayer’s requirements in order to accurately and correctly complete a self-assessment tax return. For further information please click link: https://www.gov.uk/log-in-file-self-assessment-tax-return
You are required to file a self-assessment form if you are a self-employed individual or if you receive untaxed income, for example, from rental properties. In other words, the self-assessment system applies to any individual whose income is not automatically taxed at source. To check if you need to file a self-assessment tax return please click: https://www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-tax-return
For the 2023/24 tax year, taxpayers in receipt of PAYE earnings of up to £150,000 are no longer required to file a self-assessment tax return, provided, of course, that they do not meet any of the other self-assessment criteria outlined by HMRC.
The self-assessment deadline is 31st January 2025 for online submissions, however, if you submitted a paper tax return, the deadline was 31st October 2024. Please keep in mind that the tax is still due by 31st January 2025.
Online Tax Returns must be filed and all outstanding tax paid on or before 31st January following the end of the tax year.
In other words:
Failing to file your tax return or pay your taxes by the appropriate date can result in penalties. Missing the 31st January deadline comes can result in significant penalties even if no tax is owed. For full details, please click: https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/penalties
In summary, missing any of the Self-Assessment deadlines can result in penalties and interest. A delay in filing your Tax Return by a single day can result in a £100 fine, even if you don’t actually owe any tax.
You can register for self-assessment through the HMRC website before the deadline of 5th October. For further information, please click: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment
Please be aware that the information contained in this article is of a general nature. It is not intended to address specific circumstances in relation to any individual or entity. All reasonable efforts have been made by Accounts Advice Centre to provide accurate and up-to-date information, however, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate on the date it is received or that it will continue to remain so. This information should not be acted upon without full and comprehensive, specialist professional tax advice.
The Income Tax Return filing deadline is 31st October 2024.
That deadline date is extended to 14th November 2024 provided you file both (a) your Income Tax Return and (b) your Income Tax Balance due for 2023 plus your 2024 Preliminary Tax.
When preparing your 2023 Income Tax Return, here are some Tax Reliefs you may not have considered before:
You could be entitled to the Childminder’s Tax Relief if:
No tax will be payable on the childminding earnings received, provided the amount is not more than €15,000 per annum.
As you cannot deduct any expenses, there is no requirement to maintain and keep detailed accounts.
If another person provides childcare services with you in your home, the €15,000 income limit is divided between you.
Despite the fact that you may have no Income Tax liability, you are obliged to file a Form 11 Tax Return by 31st October 2024 or 14th November 2024, whichever is relevant to you.
If, however, the childminding income exceeds the €15,000 annual threshold, the total amount will be taxed as normal under the self-assessment rules.
For further details, please click: https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-07/07-01-29.pdf
The Rent Tax Credit was introduced in Budget 2023 which is available for the tax years 2022 to 2025 inclusive.
In Budget 2024, the Rent Tax Credit was increased by €250.
When completing your 2023 Form 11 Tax Return the rent tax credit is worth a maximum of €500 per year from 2023 for a single individual and €1,000 for a married couple.
The rent tax credit is calculated as 20% of the rent paid in the year and is capped at €500 for a single person or €1,000 for a couple who are jointly assessed to tax.
When calculating your 2024 Preliminary Tax liability, the rent tax credit increases to €750 for a single individual and €1,500 for a married couple.
Please be aware that the claim must relate to rental payments which both (a) fell due and (b) were actually paid during the tax year of assessment.
This tax credit will only be available to taxpayers who are not in receipt of any other housing supports.
For further details, please click: https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/land-and-property/rent-credit/index.aspx
Relief is available for fees between €317 and €1,270 paid in respect of Information Technology and Foreign Language courses which are on Revenue’s list of approved Courses.
To check the eligibility of your course, please click the following links:
These courses must be at least two years in duration and must not be a postgraduate course. Instead postgraduate courses in foreign languages or information technology may qualify for tuition fees relief. For further details, please click the following link: https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/education/tuition-fees-paid-for-third-level-education/index.aspx
This relief applies to fees if you are the student or if you have paid fees on behalf of another person.
For complete information, please click: https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/education/foreign-language-and-it-courses/index.aspx
Please be aware that the information contained in this article is of a general nature. It is not intended to address specific circumstances in relation to any individual or entity. All reasonable efforts have been made by Accounts Advice Centre to provide accurate and up-to-date information, however, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate on the date it is received or that it will continue to remain so. This information should not be acted upon without full and comprehensive, specialist professional tax advice.
Revenue has confirmed that the extended ROS Pay and File deadline is Wednesday, 17th November 2021. This applies to ROS return filing and payment for self-assessment Income Tax and Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT). For taxpayers who don’t use ROS to file their tax return and pay their tax bill, the deadline remains 31st October 2021.
For self assessment Income Taxpayers who file their 2020 Form 11 Tax Return and make the appropriate payment through the Revenue Online System in relation to (i) Preliminary Tax for 2021 and/or (ii) the balance of Income Tax due for 2020, the filing date has been extended to Wednesday, 17th November 2021.
This extended deadline will also apply to CAT returns and appropriate payments made through ROS for beneficiaries who receive gifts and/or inheritances with valuation dates in the year ended 31st August 2021.
To qualify for the extension, taxpayers must pay and file through the ROS system.
In situations where only one of these actions is completed through the Revenue Online System, the extension will not apply. As a result, both the submission of tax returns and relevant payments must be made on or before 31st October 2021.
The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed extended opening hours for the ROS Technical Helpdesk and Collector General’s Division in the days leading up to the ROS Pay and File deadline.
On 17th November (Pay & File Deadline) the phone lines of the ROS Technical Helpdesk will operate between 9am and midnight while those of the Collector General will operate from 9am until 8pm.
For further information, please click: https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/ebrief/2021/no-0882021.aspx
Please be aware that the information contained in this article is of a general nature. It is not intended to address specific circumstances in relation to any individual or entity. All reasonable efforts have been made by Accounts Advice Centre to provide accurate and up-to-date information, however, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate on the date it is received or that it will continue to remain so. This information should not be acted upon without full and comprehensive, specialist professional tax advice.
There have been two updates to SARP legislation in the most recent Finance Act. The Special Assignee Relief Programme is an Income Tax Relief aimed at employees who move to Ireland with their employer or with an associated company. By way of background, SARP was first introduced in 2012. Where certain qualifying criteria are met, the assignee or secondee is entitled to a 30% deduction from employment income over €75,000. Although this is an Income Tax Relief, the exemption does not extend to Universal Social Charge (USC) and PRSI. SARP be claimed for five consecutive years in two way: (a) through an individual’s annual self assessment Income Tax Return or (b) through the employer’s payroll.
Revenue’s guidance on Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) has been updated to take into account the recent changes introduced by Finance Act 2018:
A cap has been reintroduced on the amount of the employment income to which SARP relief can apply.
The upper income threshold of €1 million will apply to any relevant employee who first arrives in Ireland on or after 1st January 2019.
For the tax year 2020, the upper income threshold will apply to all relevant employees.
From 1st January 2019 the time limit for the submission of the form SARP 1A will be extended from within 30 days of the date the employee first arrives in Ireland to carry out his/her employment duties to 90 days.
For further information, please click on the following link:
Please be aware that the information contained in this article is of a general nature. It is not intended to address specific circumstances in relation to any individual or entity. All reasonable efforts have been made by Accounts Advice Centre to provide accurate and up-to-date information, however, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate on the date it is received or that it will continue to remain so. This information should not be acted upon without full and comprehensive, specialist professional tax advice.
If you are facing retirement or redundancy, it is important to understand the tax treatment of your severance package. The following attract beneficial tax treatment:
Statutory redundancy payments are tax exempt. They are based on two weeks’ pay for every year of service plus one additional week’s pay with maximum weekly earnings capped at €600 per week. Income in excess of €31,200 is ignored when calculating Statutory redundancy payments.
Lump sum payments paid by an employer on retirement or redundancy may be taxable.
All or part of the ex gratia termination payment may qualify for tax relief.
The termination payment tax reliefs are not available, however, to any payments made to an employee under the terms of their employment contract. In other words, any contractual payments made by the company to its employee are treated in the same way as a salary payment.
Only complete years are counted for purposes of the reliefs i.e. part of a year cannot be taken into account for the purposes of the calculation.
There are three types of tax reliefs available:
The tax free amount is calculated as follows:
(A × B) − C
15
where
A = the average remuneration for the last 36 months of service up to the date of termination. The value of any taxable benefits can be included in the figure for emoluments.
B = The number of complete years of service.
C = Any tax free lump sum received or receivable under the employer/occupational pension scheme.
There is a lifetime cap of €200,000 on the tax-free amount of a termination payment an employee is entitled to receive.
The amount of the termination payment in excess of the relevant exemption/relief is liable to Income Tax and Universal Social Charge at the employee’s marginal rates.
There is no employee and employer’s PRSI payable on a termination payment.
Before making any decision, please keep in mind that claiming either (i) the Increased Basic Exemption or (ii) the SCSB Relief can affect an employee’s ability to receive a tax-free lump sum from their employer pension scheme on retirement.
When you retire, you can opt to take a tax-free retirement lump sum which is capped at €200,000 under current legislation.
The amount between €200,001 and €500,000 is taxable at the standard rate of tax being 20%
Any amount over €500,000 is taxed under the Pay As You Earn system at the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate of 40%.
For further information on Termination Payments, please click: https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-05/05-05-19.pdf
Please be aware that the information contained in this article is of a general nature. It is not intended to address specific circumstances in relation to any individual or entity. All reasonable efforts have been made by Accounts Advice Centre to provide accurate and up-to-date information, however, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate on the date it is received or that it will continue to remain so. This information should not be acted upon without full and comprehensive, specialist professional tax advice.