Pay and file
The extension date for the filing of the ROS 2021 Form 11 and the payment of taxes is Wednesday 16 November. The extension is available to taxpayers who pay and file through ROS only. The normal filing date continues to be Monday 31 October.
Paid sick leave
The Sick Leave Act 2022 gives employees a right to sick pay for up to three consecutive or non-consecutive days a year of 70% of their normal pay, subject to a daily limit of €110. The employee becomes entitled to sick pay after 13 weeks' continuous service. To become entitled, the employee needs to provide a doctor’s certificate.
Registering for VAT and self-assessment does not necessarily make a person self-employed.
Employment status
Revenue has updated the code of practice for determining if a person is self-employed or an employee. The guide identifies the characteristics of being employed or self-employed and clarifies that, for example, registering for VAT and self-assessment does not necessarily make a person self-employed.
Competition Act 2022
The Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 has been passed, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1, otherwise known as the ECN+ Directive, into Irish law. Breaches of competition law can now be enforced through actions taken by competition authorities, with maximum fines of up to €10m or 10% of total worldwide turnover, whichever is greater.
A letter of professional clearance assists the incoming accountant in forming their opinion on accepting the client or not
Professional clearance
Where a business changes from one professional accounting adviser to another, it is a requirement for an incoming accountant or auditor to send a letter of professional clearance.
However, there is a common misconception that this is somehow seeking permission to act from the previous accountant. The letter merely seeks disclosure of information to assist the incoming accountant in forming their opinion on accepting the client or not.
Where the outgoing accountant does not reply to the request, the incoming accountant sends a seven-day notice letter to the effect that, if the outgoing accountant has not replied within seven days, then they will assume that there are not matters to be disclosed.
If the outgoing accountant mentions undischarged fees, the incoming accounting should encourage their new client to pay those fees, but they are not obliged to force them or decline to act while the fee is outstanding. The incoming practice may commence to act while there is a fee outstanding to the old practice, but clearly it would be advisable to seek payment in advance from a new client who has already defaulted on fees.
Where the outgoing accountant has reported the client because of a suspicion of money laundering, that fact may not be mentioned in the response to a request for professional clearance, as to do so would be a tipping-off offence. Most responses to a professional clearance letter will therefore commence with the phrase 'Insofar as law and professional requirements allow us to do so, we confirm that there are no professional reasons…' It is up to the incoming accountant to do their own due diligence on new clients.
The incoming auditor has a legal right of access to view the working paper of the previous auditor
Where the outgoing accountant attempts to exercise a lien over books and records or refuses to release them until paid, they would be advised to contact their professional body.
In summary, a lien cannot be exercised over any books and records required by a client to discharge their tax liabilities, or any records required by the directors for a company to show a true and fair view. There are a very limited number of documents that an accountant can therefore exercise a lien over.
Where the client is an audit client, the incoming auditor has a legal right of access to view the working paper of the previous auditor. Advisory services have an industry-wide agreed guidance document on how this process works.
Note that Section 1515 of the Companies Act 2014 states that 'diverging opinions on accounting treatments or audit procedures cannot constitute the basis for the passing of any resolution [to change auditors]'. An incoming auditor would need to keep this in mind if such a matter was mentioned in a professional clearance letter.
