Relevant Matter
Legislation
Public Policy Area
Finance
Period
1 Jan, 2023 to 30 Apr, 2023
Specific Details
Revenue Statement of Strategy 2023 to 2025
Intended results
To highlight the details of the IFA Submission to the preparation of Revenue Statement of Strategy 2023 to 2025
Efficient and Fair
- The service Revenue provide in Ireland highly efficient, the population in general trust that Revenue will strive to treat all fairly in relation to compliance with taxation laws. This fairness and perception of fairness must be central to Revenues Strategy both now and in the future.
Policy Input
Agriculture is changing rapidly in Ireland, some of new undertakings are different in many ways to what was “traditionally” seen as farming/agriculture. There is a need in all departments of the state to recognise the expanding definition of farming.
This applies also with Revenue and Revenue should strive to advise Government, from a taxation policy perspective, on ways that agriculture and farming is ever changing thus requiring the expansion of the definition of agriculture and farming so the tax treatments and reliefs that currently apply will also apply to what all of agriculture and farming may look like in the future, the definition of agriculture and farming is every evolving.
However, despite this evolution, farming remains a high capital, low margin business, for this reason the lifetime transfers of farms must continue to be encouraged through the taxation system. Reliefs around Capital taxes and Stamp duties must remain in place to encourage these transfers to a new generation. In many instances the young people taking over farms may bring vigour and new ideas with them which may help Irish agriculture become even more sustainable.
Technology
Revenue systems are extremely reliable and efficient, however, for some they can be an impediment to understanding their taxes and making some claims. An example of this is the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme. Many in agriculture utilise the services of an independent accountant/advisor to make their tax returns and do not have access to ROS themselves.
The application for this scheme requires it to be completed through ROS meaning the farmer must engage their accountant to complete the application. In some instances the claim is less than the cost of the application. Revenue should strive to ensure ease of access of all for such schemes, reducing administrative/financial hurdles. The system for unregistered farmers to claim VAT back (VAT 58) is an example of a means of simplifying the access for farmers who do not have ROS access.
Another issue that has been highlighted to us in IFA is the unavailability of a “save” function when completing returns such as the VAT 58, in some instances these return may require the uploading of many pieces of data which if not all done together will mean the need to start the whole process again.
Availability of information to all
Revenue publish detailed and worked examples on most taxes on the Revenue.ie website, however, for some of an old generation and/or from rural areas with poor connectivity access may be limited. This is a worry especially with new taxes or changes to existing taxes whereby some may not be aware of their liability if they do not receive written notification.
An example is the proposed new Residential Zoned Land Tax. For many this tax is poorly understood and individuals (farmers) do not realise they may be liable to it due to its complexities. Notifications of possibility of liabilities to this and need to review maps was advertised through social media and in some print media late last year, but there is still a large cohort of farmers who do not understand their possible liability.
There is a responsibility that they are informed about the possibility of a liability to such a tax and they ways they can appeal it (which may be too late now for many).
Conclusion
Revenue offers a very efficient service with an enormous amount of very useful information on the Revenue.ie website. Agriculture and farming, like many other sectors is ever changing and evolving and the application of taxes to these new ways of farming must reflect the current rules and laws of taxing farming if people are to be encouraged, as is stated Government policy, into new diversified means of farming.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Karol Kissane IFA Senior Policy Executive,
Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?)
No
Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign?
No
Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client?
No
Lobbying activity
The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.
Designated public officials lobbied
The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them.
As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.
Michael Gladney
Commissioner (The Office of the Revenue Commissioners)
Niall Cody
Chairman (The Office of the Revenue Commissioners)
Ruth Kennedy
Commissioner (The Office of the Revenue Commissioners)