TAX DEADLINES:THE GOVERNMENT has dropped its proposal to bring forward the pay and file tax deadline by one month, due to concerns over the potential cashflow difficulties it could create for taxpayers and businesses.
The Government had originally proposed that the deadline for self-assessed taxpayers be brought forward from October 31st to September 31st in a bid to reduce the over-concentration of tax receipts in the period from late October to mid-November. However, the Finance Bill is now being amended to restore the original deadline.
The Institute of Taxation welcomed this move and said it would be an “enormous relief” to taxpayers, who would have been unable to cope with the earlier deadline.
President of the Institute Andrew Cullen said the original proposal would have affected over half a million taxpayers, and would have placed huge cashflow pressure on Irish businesses.
President of the Irish Farmers’ Association John Bryan also welcomed the decision, saying that the earlier deadline would have caused serious difficulties for farmers and related businesses.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said yesterday that implementation of the proposal would have enhanced the accuracy of budget forecasting, while also helping to help facilitate an earlier budget.
However, he noted the “real concerns” that had been expressed in relation to cash flow difficulties and the potential burden that such a change would place on taxpayers and businesses.
The Department of Finance has confirmed that the Finance Bill will not address the tax implications of the recently-published Civil Partnership Bill, due to time constraints.