If you are entitled to a refund for 2008, 2009 or 2010, you should contact the Department of Social Welfare to claim your refund. Details of how to apply for the refund can be found here.

You should note that there is a time limit on claiming a refund of the Heath Levy of four years. Therefore, you must apply for a refund of the Health Levy paid in 2008 by 31 December 2012. Any contributions paid prior to 1 January 2008 are outside the time limit for making a claim.

If you have any queries on the above please feel free to leave a comment.

Therefore, from 1 January 2012, a separate set of accounts is required to be filed in respect of each financial year of a company.  The effect is that each annual return received by the CRO is required to be accompanied by a set of accounts for a financial year ending not earlier than nine months before the effective date of the return.

It should be noted that the above has no impact on the existing requirements under the Companies Acts as to the minimum or maximum length of time that accounts can be prepared for.

1. Offer incentives to staff for energy saving ideas
2. Reduce the temperature setting on thermostats over the winter months and with air conditioning increase during the summer months.
3. Install time clocks to control lighting, air conditioning and heating systems.
4. Have staff power off computers when they leave their desks by using a specially installed off/on button.
5. Have staff turn off fluorescent lights when they leave a room for more than 15 minutes and incandescent lights if gone for more than 3 minutes.
6. Have employees turn off all equipment at the end of every day which will save power and extend equipment life.
7. Replace standard fluorescent and incandescent lights with high efficiency fluorescent lights which give the same light output but at significantly reduced cost.
8. Wherever possible reduce bulb wattage.
9. Bring lighting down to appropriate levels in south facing offices and lesser used rooms including storage and common areas.
10. Appoint a specialist to review your utility bills.

Please call me on 021-4310266 if you want assistance or a referral to a specialist who can help you reduce your costs.

• an experienced Audit Senior/Manager for our busy Cork practice. Big 4 experience and 2 years PQE is preferable. Previous responsibility for audit planning and leading audit teams is essential. Delivery of additional consultancy services also envisaged.
• a recently qualified accountant to provide accountancy services to a diverse client base

1. A new form B1 was introduced from 1 April. The old version will only be accepted until 1 October (inclusive). The new form can be found here. If you are filing using co sec software, ensure that it is up to date.

2. Documents filed with the CRO are available to everyone (for a fee) on the CRO website. To facilitate this it is necessary to scan the documents. Documents printed on high gloss paper and/or printed in colour are proving difficult to scan and are being returned. This could potentially result in a late return if the returns are not re-printed, signed by the relevant parties and re-filed with the CRO within a certain number of days.

3. In the past, the CRO have issued reminders of Annual Return deadline dates by post. From now on reminders will be issued by email only. The email address used will be the email address included on the last Annual Return. If you are unsure what your Annual Return Date is, you can check it here.

If you have any queries on the above, please feel free to leave a comment below.

VIES returns can be submitted either monthly or quarterly and must include details of all VAT registered customers in other Member States to whom you have supplied goods or services without charging Irish VAT.

Failure to file a VIES return can result in a penalty of €4,000.

If you are involved in Supply of Goods or Services to other Member States please register with VIMA as soon as possible. The relevant VIES registration form can be found here.

If you have any queries, please leave a comment or contact me on blog@parfreymurphy.ie

VAT cannot be reclaimed by the company on the cost of the bikes or associated equipment i.e. helmets, pumps, etc.

More information on the scheme can be found here.

Any queries? Please leave a comment or contact me on blog@parfreymurphy.ie.

It includes the following measures in relation to business and employment taxes:

• Abolition of employers PRSI on share based remuneration
• Temporarily halving the lower rate of employers PRSI for certain employees
• Amending the R&D tax credit regime to enhance flexibility in how companies account for the tax credit
• Temporarily reducing the 13.5% VAT rate to 9% in respect of tourism related services

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Employers PRSI

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Share based remuneration

The Finance Act 2011 introduced the application of employers PRSI on share based remuneration. This has now been abolished and is effective from 1 January 2011.

Employers who have already remitted the PRSI due from 1 January 2011 to date will now be entitled to a refund of same.

Please be aware however that the employee PRSI charge of 4% and the universal social charge of up to 7% will still be applied to share based remuneration..

Reduced Rate of Employers PRSI

The lower rate of employers PRSI of 8.5% which applies to earnings which do not exceed €356 a week will be halved to 4.25%. This amendment is effective from 1 July 2011 and will apply until 31 December 2013.

Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme

The above existing scheme which allows for an exemption from employer PRSI where a person who has been unemployed for at least 6 months is taken on in a new full time job is to continue until the end of this year.

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R & D Tax Credit

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The Minister intends to amend the current R&D tax credit legislation in the forthcoming Finance Bill to enhance flexibility for companies in how they account for the credit. He  did not however give any insight into the means by which this is to be achieved.

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VAT

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The Minister announced a reduction in the 13.5% VAT rate to 9% in respect of services relating to the tourism sector i.e. restaurant and catering services, hotel and holiday accommodation, and other services. The reduction is effective from 1 July 2011 and will expire at the end of 2013.

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The 9% rate will apply mainly to restaurant and catering services, hotel and holiday accommodation and various entertainment services such as admissions to cinemas, theatres, museums, fairgrounds, amusement parks and the use of sporting facilities. In addition, hairdressing and printed matter such as newspapers, maps and programmes will be charged at the new rate. Businesses will need to consider their IT systems, menus, price lists and other changes necessary to accommodate the new rate of VAT. Further details of the activities qualifying for the new rate will be contained in the Finance Bill.

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Pensions

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Pension Levy

The Minister announced that a levy of 0.6% will apply to the capital value of assets under management in pension funds established in the State. This will apply for four years from 2011 to 2014. The market value of same will be determined on 1 January 2011

Tax Relief on pension contributions

The Minister referred to the commitment to the EU/IMF to reduce income tax relief on pension contributions from next year. The recently published update to the Stability Programme mentioned a 33% rate of tax relief on pension contributions. The Minister committed to examining tax relief on pension contributions in the context of the results of the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure currently being undertaken by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

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As always, we will need to wait for the Finance Bill for the finer detail. If you have any queries please leave a comment or contact me on blog@parfreymurphy.ie.

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 of the Tax Acts.

According to Revenue Commissioner’s guidelines, the above is not available to self employed individuals.

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Q. Can a sole trader register a company name? If so, are accounts required to be sent to the Companies Office?

A. There has been quite a lot of confusion about this. A sole trader and a company are two separate types of legal entity.

A Sole Trader is someone who sets up in business on his/her own and registers for taxes with the Revenue Commissioners as a sole trader. A Sole Trader should register a business name with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) if the individual intends to carry on business under a name other than his/her own true name i.e. John Barry trading as ABC Style. A sole trader will never be required to file accounts with the CRO.

A company is made up of at least two Directors, a company secretary and at least one shareholder. The name of the company will feature the word “Limited”. It is registered in the CRO and is required to submit Financial Statements and a Form B1 annually to the CRO.

The confusion arises as the Companies Registration Office also have responsibility for registering business names for sole traders.

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Q. Can I, as a director, claim mileage and diesel expenses on a company car?

A. You have two main options:

1. You own the vehicle and pay for all the running costs out of your own pocket – diesel, motor tax, insurance, repairs. At the end of the month, you submit a mileage claim to the company for business mileage using the appropriate rates, e.g. 500 km @ €0.5907. (Note the rates are in kilometers although many people still call it “mileage”.)

2. The company owns the vehicle and pays for all the running costs – diesel, motor tax, insurance, repairs. The company can claim back VAT on these expenses as appropriate. In this case there is no mileage claim as the company pays for everything. Note that there may be a benefit in kind issue if the vehicle is used for personal use.

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Q. My VAT registered company will be suppling services to a charity. They  say they are not VAT exempt, so how much VAT do I invoice them and why would they not be VAT exempt?

A. Generally, you will need to invoice the charity the same as your other customers. The Revenue have brought out a leaflet on VAT on Charities which may be of interest.

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Q. I set up a company a number of years ago and it never traded. I sent the Annual Return form B1 to the Companies Registration Office but I got a letter back saying I need to submit audited accounts. Is this necessary? I just want to get rid of the company.

A. Companies are required to submit an annual return (Form B1) and Financial Statements to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) each year, whether or not they have traded. Most small companies do not need audited accounts and can also submit a shortened set of Financial Statements (abridged). The first annual return is required 6 months after the company is registered and Financial Statements don’t need to be attached. Thereafter an annual return and abridged Financial Statements need to be filed with the CRO each year. The CRO write to each company and lets them know what the deadline date is for submission. This is known as the annual return date. You get 28 days after the annual return date to submit the annual return and Financial Statements.

If you miss this deadline date, then late filing penalties are imposed and the company loses its entitlement to audit exemption. The Financial Statements must then be audited for the current year and the following year. This can be a costly mistake for small companies.

Once the annual return date is missed, you cannot apply for voluntary strike off (i.e. removing the company from the register) until the missing annual return and abridged Financial Statements have been filed. You will therefore need to appoint an auditor to audit the Financial Statements even though there are no/few transactions.

Note that companies limited by guarantee without a share capital (e.g. charities, community groups etc) must always submit audited Financial Statements and cannot abridge them.

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