Crowleys DFK is delighted to launch an overview video of the Firm’s Foreign Direct Investment service offering.
Edward Murphy, Partner and Head of Foreign Direct Investment and Siobhán O’Hea, Partner, Tax Services provide an insight into how Crowleys DFK can help foreign owned companies to set up operations in Ireland.
For more information on our Foreign Direct Investment service offering, please contact Edward Murphy.
Crowleys DFK are currently running a series of CPD accredited VAT on Property briefings for solicitors in Cork and Dublin. The purpose of the seminars, presented by Tax Partner Siobhán O’Hea, is to raise awareness of common VAT pitfalls on property transactions.
VAT on property can be a complicated area but it is vital to thoroughly investigate the potential VAT impact before embarking on any property transaction, Siobhán advises.
“We are seeing problems crop up in many different situations. For example, more people have got involved in letting property in recent years and this is an area where VAT issues can often arise. While lettings are exempt from VAT, landlords can opt to tax the letting and charge 23% VAT on the rent. This can be advantageous if the landlord wants to claim repayment of VAT incurred on the acquisition or development of the property, however it is important to be aware that there are restrictions. For example, you cannot opt to tax the letting if the property is occupied for residential purposes or occupied by the landlord or a person connected with the landlord.
“On sales of commercial property, liability to VAT depends on whether the property is considered ‘new’. There are Revenue rules governing the definition of ‘new’ for property VAT purposes. Generally, the supply of older properties is exempt from VAT however, in some circumstances, the vendor and purchaser may jointly opt to have the transaction subject to VAT.
“Where property is supplied in connection with an agreement to develop the property, these transactions are always taxable.
“In our experience, there are VAT pitfalls in many every day property transactions and these can prove very costly for clients. This is why Crowleys DFK are running these seminars for solicitors. It’s an opportunity to raise awareness and to help ensure common mistakes are avoided,” Siobhán concluded.
For further information on Crowleys DFK VAT briefings, please get in touch.
Talk to us
Siobhán O’Hea
Partner, Tax Services
siobhán.ohea@crowleysdfk.ie
Choosing an appropriate location for a company’s registered office arises under the Companies Act 2014. It is the duty of each director and secretary of a company to ensure the requirements are complied with.
The location must be disclosed publicly on the Companies Registration Office (CRO) website.
It must be an actual physical location within the State. A post office box number is not sufficient.
Company statutory registers must be kept at a Company’s registered office and members of the public can inspect registers at that location. Documents may be delivered by hand to the registered office.
It is the address to which all legal notices, including correspondence from the CRO and at times the Revenue Commissioners, may be sent.
Any document will be validly served on a company by leaving it at, or sending it by post to the registered office of the company.
Crowleys DFK’s Corporate Compliance team have been providing a professional registered office facility for a number of years through offices located in Cork and Dublin.
For further information please contact Emma Dunne, Manager of our Corporate Compliance Department.
President Trump signed into law H.R. 1, originally known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”, on 22 December 2017, resulting in the most significant U.S. tax reform in over 30 years.
The key business measures in the U.S. tax reform package are:
(a) any company where the shares are owned (directly, indirectly or constructively) 50.01%+ by US shareholders, or
(b) where 10% of the shares are owned by a US corporate shareholder.
Any business with U.S. connections should consider what exposure to U.S. tax (if any) may exist in light of the above changes.
Should you require any further details on the above, please contact Edward Murphy, Head of Tax Services.
With effect from 1 January 2019, employers will be required to notify Revenue with details of the amount of the emoluments and the tax due for each employee on/ before the payment date on a real time basis. This means that each time an employee receives a payment or benefit from their employer, the PAYE due and remitted to Revenue must be 100% accurate.
This real time reporting (RTR) process abolishes the requirement to file P30’s, P35’s, P45’s, P46’s and employers will no longer have to produce P60’s at the end of each tax year.
A Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) will replace the current Tax Deduction Card (P2C) and from the 1 January 2019 all employers will be required to:
At the end of each month, employers will receive a statement from Revenue with payroll submission totals. Employers must either:
The statement issued by Revenue will be deemed to be the return if no amendments or corrections are made before the return due date i.e. 14 days after the end of the month (23 days for ROS users who file and pay online).
The legislation governing the new regime, provides that a failure by an employer to correctly operate PAYE on a payment/ benefit to an employee, may result in the employer being liable for the payment of income tax on a grossed up basis. In addition, the existing €4,000 penalty for non-operation of PAYE may be enforced more readily.
Employers should take the time now to review their employee data, payroll processes, policies and systems to ensure that they are ready to comply with their RTR requirements on 1 January 2019.
Should you require any further details on PAYE modernisation or real time reporting (RTR), please contact Anne Comber, Manager of Payroll Services.
What is a salary sacrifice arrangement?
The term salary sacrifice is generally understood to mean an arrangement between the employer and employee under which the employee forgoes the right to receive any part of his or her remuneration due under the term of his/her contract of employment and in return their employer provides a benefit of a corresponding amount to the employee.
Where an employee forgoes salary payable under an existing contract of employment in exchange for a benefit, the employee remains taxable on the “gross” income payable. The salary sacrificed will be an application of income earned by the employee, not an expense incurred by the employer.
Exceptions
However, there are Revenue approved salary sacrifice arrangements which are exempt from the tax treatment outlined above. These include the following scenarios where the employee’s gross salary is reduced in return for:
If you have any questions about salary sacrifice arrangements or other employee benefit queries, please contact us.
We welcome Revenue’s issuing of an eBrief on the tax treatment of cryptocurrency transactions.
For further information and details, please view Revenue eBrief No. 88/18.
Pictured (l-r): Tony Cooney (Crowleys DFK Partner), James O’Connor (Crowleys DFK Managing Partner) and Harry O’Sullivan (Moylan Mulcahy & Co Partner)
We are delighted to announce that the well-established Cork firm, Moylan Mulcahy & Co, will merge with Crowleys DFK, effective from 1 June 2018.
The merger will see us welcome Moylan Mulcahy & Co Partner Harry O’Sullivan, along with 5 members of staff, into the Crowleys DFK Cork offices at 5 Lapps Quay.
James O’Connor, Crowleys DFK Managing Partner, commented: “We are delighted with this merger. Moylan Mulcahy & Co has an excellent reputation, in particular in the services it offers to the SME sector. With a natural synergy, not just in terms of services and sectors but also in work practices and values, this provides a major growth opportunity for both firms”.
Harry O’Sullivan said: “This is an exciting time for us. This merger with such a highly-regarded firm is a great cultural fit as the team at Crowleys DFK share our core value of delivering high quality services to clients. We look forward to offering our clients the benefits of access to additional areas of expertise as well as access to the global reach of the DFK International network.”
James concluded, “The merger further cements our reputation as one of the country’s leading SME business advisors for both domestic and international businesses. We look forward to welcoming Harry and his colleagues to our full-service team.”
Pictured (l-r): Pamela Nodwell (Manager, Governance, Risk and Compliance), Edward Murphy (Partner, Head of Tax Services) and Carol Hartnett (Manager, Advisory Services)
Almost 20 years have passed since Carol Hartnett, Pamela Nodwell and Edward Murphy started training together at Crowleys DFK. After qualifying as Chartered Accountants, their subsequent careers took them in different directions but the trio reunited recently and now work together again supporting clients from Crowley DFK’s newly refurbished Cork and Dublin offices.
Carol Hartnett, Manager, Advisory Services
Carol Hartnett joined Crowleys DFK as a trainee accountant in July 1998, having previously completed a BSc in Accounting in UCC.
“During my training contract, I gained a very good overall grounding in business. I was given lots of responsibility and had lots of interaction with clients from a very early stage. This experience opened up multiple opportunities for me in my subsequent career,” Carol stated.
Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Carol sought to broaden her experience by working in industry. She left Crowleys DFK in 2002 and spent the next 15 years gaining experience and building her knowledge and expertise with multinational companies including PepsiCo, McAfee and Hewlett Packard Enterprises.
“When I first moved into industry, I worked as a general ledger accountant with responsibility for multiple entities within a European group structure. Then, in 2007, I moved into software revenue recognition where I was a manager for the next six years. I frequently travelled to the UK and California. It was a very fast-paced and dynamic environment,” Carol explained.
In March 2018, Carol returned to Crowleys DFK, taking up a position as manager in the firm’s Advisory Division. The work is project-based which means she supports different clients on a variety of issues. This diversity is what attracted her to the role.
“I am very happy to have re-joined Crowleys DFK as a manager in the advisory division. There is great satisfaction in working with clients to help them solve issues,” Carol said.
Carol is the second former team member to re-join Crowleys DFK in recent times. Pamela Nodwell, who trained with Edward and Carol, before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2002, has also recently rejoined the firm.
Pamela Nodwell, Manager, Governance, Risk & Compliance
Pamela found that her pre-qualification training provided a solid foundation from which to further develop her experience and expertise as she progressed her career.
“During those early years with Crowleys DFK, I worked with a broad spectrum of clients across the public sector, financial services, retail and manufacturing. The experience I gained in accounts preparation, tax returns, audit and CRO filing has stood to me as my career progressed,” Pamela said.
Pamela subsequently moved overseas to gain international experience, spending five years in Bermuda before returning closer to home to take up roles in the Isle of Man and in Dublin. During this time, she gained extensive experience working with multinationals and developed particular expertise in governance, risk management and compliance.
With 15 years’ post-qualification experience under her belt and having held a number of senior management roles — primarily in the financial services industry — Pamela returned to Cork in July 2017, re-joining Crowleys DFK as a manager in the firm’s Governance, Risk & Compliance Division. She specialises in providing practical risk management, internal controls, compliance and process improvement solutions for clients in the financial services sector.
Pamela said, “It is great to be back and working in a division which Crowleys DFK has successfully developed in recent years”.
As well as serving clients, Pamela continues to focus on maintaining and developing her expertise. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Licentiate of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland, a member of the Institute of Bankers and the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association and she is currently studying for a Diploma in Risk Compliance and Internal Audit.
“Crowleys DFK has a great culture for fostering professional development, and the professional approach and focus on client satisfaction that existed in the firm when I joined in 1998 continues to be at the fore. This, coupled with the friendly and approachable culture and ability to attract highly talented and skilled people, contribute to the continuing growth and success of the Crowleys DFK.” Pamela added.
Edward Murphy, Partner & Head of Tax Services
When Edward Murphy joined Crowleys DFK as a trainee accountant in 1998, he little imagined that twenty years later he would be a Partner in the same firm. Like his fellow trainees, Carol Hartnett and Pamela Nodwell, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2002 but unlike his colleagues, Edward chose to continue his career and studies in practice and qualified as a Registered Tax Consultant of the Irish Taxation Institute in 2005.
“I always enjoyed the diversity of working in a practising firm. There is great satisfaction in developing a deep understanding of clients’ objectives and being able to provide commercially effective solutions,” Edward stated.
Having risen through the ranks, Edward was appointed a Partner in 2006 and, today, heads up the Crowleys DFK tax department, supporting multinationals and indigenous organisations. He is delighted that his former colleagues Pamela Nodwell and Carol Hartnett have rejoined the firm.
“It is great that Pamela and Carol are back on the team. They bring great expertise and experience with them which will strengthen the services we provide for our clients. Fifteen years ago, we couldn’t have imagined that our career paths would converge again. It’s wonderful to be reunited,” Edward said.
Career Success Attributed to Crowleys DFK Training
While their individual career paths took different routes, Edward, Carol and Pamela all attribute their career successes to the initial training and support they received at Crowleys DFK. The firm continues to offer excellent opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing and progressing a career in business. For further information, please visit our Careers page.
Since being established in Cork in 1975, Crowleys DFK has witnessed the rapid growth of the city. Known as Ireland’s second city, Cork is the second largest economic hub in the country, with more than 20 financial services firms, over 150 FDI companies and a very strong indigenous SME sector. With an ever-growing University and Institute of Technology, new routes from Cork Airport and many new developments under construction around the city, Cork’s growth levels are showing no signs of slowing down.
Like Cork, Crowleys DFK itself has grown significantly in recent years. Starting in business as a Sole Practitioner firm with 3 staff the firm today comprises of 6 Partners and over 70 staff with offices in Dublin and Cork.
The Cork office is located in Lapps Quay in the heart of the city and near the soon to be redeveloped Cork Docklands. Due to the firm’s growth the office space was unfortunately no longer meeting our current and long-term business growth needs. Not wishing to relocate and following on from the successful refurbishment of our Dublin office in College Green in 2016, it was decided that our Cork office would undergo a similar refurbishment.
In the summer of 2017, we began working with architect, Ellie Ross from GCA Architects and Designers and contractor, O’Sheas Builders. From inception to completion, we all worked in a very collaborative manner. As a result of this efficiency, our design goals were met within our tight 12-week building works deadline.
According to Colette Nagle, Advisory Partner and the project’s sponsor: “I am delighted to announce that the refurbishment is complete and we have moved back to our newly refurbished office. The open plan design facilitates a more collaborative and innovative environment for our employees, resulting in a happier and ultimately a more productive workplace.”