Finance Act 2012 included an update on the rules surrounding the repayment of taxes outside a four year period. Previously claims for repayments of taxes outside a four year period, while not refundable by Revenue, would be available for offset against other tax liabilities. However Finance Act 2012 states that where a claim is lodged outside of the relevant time limit, offset against any other tax liabilities of the person is now prohibited. The only exception to this rule is in the event that Revenue applies to assess or recover tax in a period that is four years or more after the end of the year or period involved. In such a case, tax which cannot be repaid because of the application of the four year time limit but which relates to the same accounting period that is being assessed by Revenue retrospectively, will be available for offset against that liability. Taxpayers should ensure that any repayments of taxes due are claimed and received from Revenue within the relevant time limit.
The Revenue owes around 70% of PAYE workers hundreds of millions of euro and would like to pay up but very few individuals ever come forward to claim it, according to The Sunday Business Post.
Companies are being warned they should be prepared for both technical and financial audits if they claim tax credits for R&D expenditure, according to The Sunday Business Post.
Awareness of tax breaks and incentives available for start-up businesses can be the making or breaking of any new enterprise, writes accountant Anthony Casey of Noone Casey, sponsor of this news-round up, in The Sunday Business Post.
“It is good practice for start-ups to learn as much about the tax breaks and incentives they can avail of, as the tax charges they are liable to pay,” Casey advises.
The Revenue has refunded more than €1 billion to Ireland’s bailed-out banks and failed property developers over the past two years, according to The Sunday Times.
