ARTICLE
19 January 2017

Ireland – Finance Act 2016 And Offshore Accounts

M
Matheson

Contributor

Established in 1825 in Dublin, Ireland and with offices in Cork, London, New York, Palo Alto and San Francisco, more than 700 people work across Matheson’s six offices, including 96 partners and tax principals and over 470 legal and tax professionals. Matheson services the legal needs of internationally focused companies and financial institutions doing business in and from Ireland. Our clients include over half of the world’s 50 largest banks, 6 of the world’s 10 largest asset managers, 7 of the top 10 global technology brands and we have advised the majority of the Fortune 100.
In his Budget speech on 11 October 2016, the Minister for Finance announced a comprehensive programme of targeted intervention against offshore tax evasion.
Ireland Wealth Management
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In his Budget speech on 11 October 2016, the Minister for Finance announced a comprehensive programme of targeted intervention against offshore tax evasion. Positive action is required ahead of 1 May 2017 for those with undeclared income and gains from offshore assets.

Finance Act 2016, which includes legislative changes required to implement some of the budget measures announced, was signed into law by the President on 25 December 2016.

The legislative amendments come as increased data relating to offshore accounts is set to become available to the Irish Revenue Commissioners ("Revenue") as a result of Ireland's implementation, as an early adopter, of the OECD's Common Reporting Standard ("CRS"). The first exchange of reported information under CRS, which will see details of offshore accounts held by Irish resident customers being passed to Revenue, is scheduled to commence in September 2017.

Finance Act 2016

The changes effected in Finance Act 2016 include:

(i) The denial of the opportunity, from 1 May 2017 to make a "qualifying disclosure" in relation to any offshore matters, defined to extend to matters that "indirectly" relate to offshore matters.

(ii) The limiting of circumstances where a "qualifying disclosure" can be made in relation to onshore matters to instances of carelessness, but not deliberate default, by a taxpayer where the taxpayer also has an outstanding liability to tax relating directly or indirectly to offshore matters.

The benefits of making a qualifying disclosure include mitigation of penalties, non-publication as a tax defaulter, and protection from criminal prosecution in relation to the tax default.

Additional Measures Announced in the Budget Speech

In his Budget speech the Minister for Finance also announced that there would be increased personnel and improved information technology infrastructure available to Revenue to analyse data received and confront non-compliance.

Opportunity for Disclosure

With the 1 May 2017 deadline set in law and the first compliance date for CRS fast approaching, now is the time for recalcitrant taxpayers to seek legal advice and address these issues.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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