On 17th October 2019, the Department of Finance published the Finance Bill 2019. The Bill sets out the measures outlined on Budget day and also introduces a number of new measures.
We have summarised below the main measures announced.
Budget Day measures announced:
• Increases in the Home Carer and Earned Income tax credits.
• Increase in the CAT Group A threshold, which broadly applies to transfers between parents and their children, from €320k to €335k (with effect from 9 October 2019).
• Increase in the R&D tax credit from 25% to 30%.
• Implementation of carbon tax increases
• Extension of Foreign Earnings Deduction (FED) and Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) to the end of 2022.
• Changes to the Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP) to encourage take up of the incentive, including allowing companies operating within group structures to qualify, and extending the incentive to allow part-time/flexible workers to qualify.
• Extension of the Living City Initiative to the end of 2022.
• Changes to the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII), to allow for full income tax relief (40%) in the year of investment, and an increase in the investment limit from €150k to €250k.
• Extension of the CGT relief for farm restructuring to the end of 2022
• Significant expansion to Ireland’s transfer pricing regime.
• The introduction of ATAD Anti-Hybrid Rules.
• Increase of stamp Duty rate applicable to non-residential property.
• Extension of the Help-to-Buy scheme to 2021.
Measures introduced in the Finance Bill 2019:
• Application of 13.5% VAT rate to certain food supplements from 1 January 2020, excluding foods for specific groups, vitamins and minerals such as folic acid licensed as medicines by the HPRA, and fortified foods.
• Reduction in the CO2 emissions level limit for a “qualifying vehicle” (i.e. a passenger vehicle qualifying for partial VAT recovery when used in a business) for vehicles first registered after 1 January 2021.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us.
