Pension guidance
Revenue has published updated pension guidance relating to employer contributions, providing clarification on ‘special’ contributions, contribution refunds and the minimum contribution requirements under the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme.
Small self-administered pension schemes
The derogation for one-member arrangement pension schemes ended on 21 April 2026. Such schemes now have to appoint a risk and internal audit function, and there are minimum experience and qualification requirements for scheme trustees, additional investment rules and risk-assessment requirements. This will render most one-member schemes uneconomic, and so they are likely to transfer to a master trust or similar. Find out more.
Incapacitated child tax credit
A tax credit of €3,800 per annum is available where an individual maintains, at their own expense, their child or an individual in their custody who is permanently incapacitated from maintaining themselves by reason of mental or physical infirmity. Read the revised revenue guidance. There is a requirement for the completion of a certified Form ICC2. There have been examples of Revenue disputing the level of incapacity; where accountants are not 100% comfortable with the client’s entitlement, they should include a specific warning and limit of liability in engagement letters.
Anti-money laundering
Accountancy Europe has issued a high-level factsheet on the 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The directive mostly comes into effect next year but the exact requirements will depend on its transcription into Irish law.
IFRS newsletter
The March newsletter from the IFRS Foundation includes illustrative examples on reporting uncertainties in financial statements and a new accounting model to reflect how financial institutions manage interest rate risk. The International Sustainability Standards Board is also featured, with articles looking at amendments to IFRS S2 and additional tools to assist in IFRS sustainability reporting.
EU law in Ireland
Details of how EU law is implemented in Ireland, the transposition of directives and a list of all 2026 pending transpositions is available.
Credit unions
The Central Bank of Ireland’s report, Financial Conditions of Credit Unions, 2025, provides a picture of a sector in good health and showing resilience in the face of systemic shocks and heightened volatility in recent years. The publication aims to inform credit union boards and management in carrying out their own strategic analysis and decision-making.
UK audit
The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued new guidance to help auditors to apply auditing standards in a more proportionate and efficient way for SMEs. The FRC is also planning to develop a technology sandbox to enable smaller audit firms to explore the use of AI in corporate reporting, and to establish a new professional bodies working group to promote more consistency in how audits of SMEs are supervised.
In addition, the FRC is introducing a change to its audit supervisory model, placing more emphasis on a firm’s systems of quality management. It has also published updated guidance on ‘comply or explain’ reporting by companies that choose to depart from the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code.
Fraud
The UK National Crime Agency’s latest SARs in Action e-zine discusses how company impersonation fraud and payment diversion fraud in property sales work. Examples of company impersonation fraud include using professional service firm addresses as a registered office for suspect companies without permission, and faking audit reports and filing these with financial statements at Companies House.
Fraudsters are also known to use the logos and names of accountants on investment prospectuses to give the impression that the firm had provided assurance about the claims made about the projected returns and/or existence of the assets backing the ‘investment product’. One specific case is discussed where the fraudsters set up an internet domain that allowed them to create both a website and email addresses that used a variation of the name, and the real logo, of a large accounting firm.
Artificial intelligence
The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors has published Artificial Intelligence and Internal Audit: Opportunities, Risks and Future Directions. The paper includes an overview of representative use cases and demonstrates the practical application of AI by internal audit professionals. The publication also looks at managing issues such as hallucinations, variability, and output reliability and assurance.
The FRC has also issued guidance on audit firm adoption of emerging AI technologies.
