IPASS Newsletter – December 2024

Thank You & Seasons Greetings 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and customers for your support during what has been a busy year for the payroll profession. We will continue to do all we can to support our students and members in 2025, which we expect will be another busy year in the world of payroll! 

This is our last Newsletter for 2024.  We will be closing for the Christmas holidays on Friday 20 December and re-opening on Thursday 2 January 2025. 

We wish you a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year.  

Membership Renewal 

We are pleased to announce that the IPASS Membership Area on our website will be open for renewals from the week commencing 6 January 2025. As Ireland’s leading provider of payroll and VAT training, IPASS has always been committed to delivering exceptional value to our members.  

Our new and improved Membership Area is designed to enhance your experience, providing easier access to resources and member benefits.  

This upgrade reflects our ongoing dedication to supporting payroll professionals across Ireland.  

We look forward to welcoming you back and continuing to serve you in 2025. 

Public Holiday Entitlements for Christmas Period 

An employee is entitled to one of the following public holiday benefits as determined by his employer: 

• A paid day off on the day of the public holiday, or 

• A paid day off within a month of the public holiday, or 

• An additional day of annual leave, or 

• An additional day’s pay. 

A full-time employee has an automatic entitlement to a public holiday benefit, while a part-time employee must have worked at least 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks to be entitled to a public holiday benefit. A part-time employee who does not meet this qualifying condition has no entitlement to a public holiday benefit. 

Christmas Day (25 December) and St. Stephen’s Day (26 December) fall on a Wednesday and Thursday respectively and New Year’s Day (1 January) falls on a Wednesday.  

Where a person works on a public holiday, they are entitled to be paid for the hours worked on that day, plus they are entitled to one of the public holiday benefits as outlined above, other than a paid day off on the day.  

If the business closes on Christmas Day, St. Stephen’s Day and/or New Year’s Day and the employee is scheduled to work on any of these days, the employee is generally entitled to a paid day off on that day.  

Employees who are not scheduled to work on Christmas Day, St. Stephen’s Day and/or New Year’s Day, have a 1/5^th entitlement in respect of each of these public holidays, being 1/5^th of their normal working week. This may be given in the form of an additional payment of 1/5^th of their normal weekly pay, paid time off within a month, or as additional annual leave.  

If an employment ceases during the 7 day period immediately before the public holiday and the employee worked during the previous 4 weeks, the employee is entitled to receive a public holiday benefit (an additional day’s pay) in respect of that public holiday.   

If an employee is on temporary lay-off, they are entitled to a public holiday benefit if the public holiday falls within the first 13 weeks of lay-off. 

The daily rate of pay for a public holiday is calculated using one of the following methods: 

1. Where the employee’s rate of pay does not vary:    

• The normal daily rate shall be the sum (including any regular bonus or allowance but excluding pay for overtime) that is paid in respect of the normal daily working hours last worked by him before the public holiday commences.  

2. Where the employee’s rate of pay varies: 

• The normal daily rate of pay is the average daily pay (excluding pay for overtime) calculated over: 

• The period of 13 weeks ending immediately before that public holiday, or 

• If no time was worked by the employee during that period, the period of 13 weeks ending on the day that was last worked by the employee before that public holiday. 

Revenue 

Revenue Opening Arrangements 

Revenue will generally provide normal service over the Christmas and New Year holiday period with the exception of 25 and 26 December, and 1 January 2025.  

Public offices will be closed from 25 December 2024 to 1 January 2025 inclusive. The ROS helpdesk will operate as normal except that it will only be closed on the public holidays and will only be open from 9am to 1pm on 24 and 31 December 2024.  

Bulk issue of RPNs for 2025 

The bulk issue of RPNs for 2025 was released by Revenue on 5 December 2024. Employers are reminded that a 2025 RPN should not be used in a 2024 payroll, and vice versa.  

SPC Marker on RPN 

Individuals who turned 66 on or after the 1 January 2024 can claim their State Pension Contributory (SPC) at any age between 66 and 70. Employees will remain on PRSI Class A up to the age of 70, or until they are awarded their SPC, if earlier. Class J will then apply to any employment income earned after that date.  

PRSI Class S contributors (e.g. self-employed, office holders and certain company directors, councillors, income from an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF)) remain on Class S up to the age of 70, or until they are awarded their SPC, if earlier. Class M will apply to that source of income after that date.  

For 2025 and subsequent years, a new field has been added to the RPN to indicate if an employee has been awarded the SPC, which will assist employers in determining the correct PRSI class for the employee. The field will be set to True if the employee is in receipt of their SPC, otherwise it will default to False. 

eBrief No: 323/24 

This eBrief confirms the following Tax and Duty Manuals (TDMs) have been updated: 

• Guidelines for VAT Registration has been updated to include information for applicants with VAT registration subsequently applying for Postponed Accounting via ROS. 

eBrief No. 321/24 General Rule as to Deduction of Expenses in Employment 

This eBrief confirms that the TDM – General Rule as to Deduction of Expenses in Employment – has been updated as follows: 

• A new paragraph 3 – Claiming Employment Expenses (other than FRE allowances) – has been added to provide guidance on how to make a claim for employment expenses in respect of actual vouched expenses incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the duties of their employment, that are outside of the Flat Rate Expense (FRE) allowance regime. 

• Paragraph 5 – Continuous Professional Development (CPD) – has been updated to explain the circumstances where a course is regarded as relevant to the business of an employer for the purpose of deciding whether the cost of such courses is regarded as a taxable benefit when paid for or reimbursed by an employer. 

• The guidance in paragraph 6 pertaining to the deductibility of typical expenses has been expanded upon to provide greater clarity. 

• A new paragraph 7 – Flat Rate Expense (“FRE”) allowances – has been included in the manual. This paragraph provides detailed guidance on how to make a claim for an FRE allowance, including how to claim the increase in the FRE allowance available for eight employment categories – effective from 1 January 2023. 

Revenue has also published an updated list of FRE allowances. The FRE allowances for some categories (certain healthcare occupations and veterinary nurses) have been increased and backdated to 2023. Where applicable, individuals will have to file an Income Tax Return (or an amended Income Tax Return) to claim a higher FRE allowance for 2024 and 2023.       

eBrief No. 312/24 Help to Buy (HTB) manual updated  

The HTB TDM has been updated as follows: 

• To reflect the extension of HTB to 31 December 2029. 

• In the footnote to paragraph 5 to confirm that amendment to the definition of a  Qualifying Residence includes a newly constructed property purchased by a Local Authority for onward sale to a purchaser under the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme is eligible for HTB, as introduced by Finance Act 2024.  

eBrief No: 308/24 Part 15 Tax Credits Finance Act 2024 Updates 

This eBrief confirms that the following TDMs have been updated to take account of the changes introduced by Finance Act 2024: 

• Sea-Going Naval Personal Tax Credit has been extended to the end of the 2029 year of assessment. 

• Incapacitated Child Tax Credit increases by €300 from €3,500 to €3,800 from 1 January 2025. 

• Employee (PAYE) Tax Credit increases by €125 from €1,875 to €2,000 from 1 January 2025.  

• Earned Income Tax Credit increases by €125 from €1,875 to €2,000 from 1 January 2025.  

Department of Social Protection 

Annual Statistics Report 2023 

The Department published its 2023 Annual Statistics Report  on 6 December 2024. Some interesting statistics from the report are as follows (note PRSI data is only available up until the end of 2022 as self-employed tax returns were not filed until late 2024):  

• There were 3.395 million PRSI contributors in 2022, an increase of 5% from 2021.  

• In 2022, 53% of PRSI contributors were male while 47% were female.  

• PRSI Class A accounts for approximately 67% of contributors, Class M accounts for 12%, Class S accounts for 10% and Class J accounts for 7%. This count includes people who made at least 1 contribution at that class in 2022, hence some individuals may be counted more than once if they paid more than 1 PRSI class.  

• Approximately 67% of the population were beneficiaries of social protection payments in 2023. Approximately 24% of beneficiaries were aged 66 or older, while 36% were under 18 years of age.  

• Maternity Benefit was paid to 19,818 people in 2023, while Paternity Benefit was paid to 342, Parent’s Benefit was paid to 4,256, and Adoptive Benefit was paid to 10 recipients.  

• Illness Benefit was paid to 56,650 recipients. 

• A total of 270,935 PPSNs were issued in 2023, a decrease of 11.6% compared to 2022.    

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment 

Statutory Sick Leave  

As of 18 December 2024, no regulation has been published by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to increase statutory sick leave (SSL) in 2025. As it stands at the date of publication, SSL will remain as 5 days in 2025 and there is no change to the calculation of statutory sick pay (SSP) which will continue to be calculated as 70% of an employee’s daily rate of pay subject to a maximum of €110.  

Deferral of Increases to Minimum Annual Remuneration for Employment Permits 

Proposed increases to Minimum Annual Remuneration (MAR) for employment permits will not take place in January 2025, pending the outcome of a review. 

The MAR is the lowest annual salary for which an employment permit can issue. This was increased in January 2024 in conjunction with a roadmap that outlined further increases up to 2026. In recognition of the increased costs of doing business that have arisen since 2024, and to ensure that all future increases are implemented in a manner that provides stability for employers and permit holders, the department is undertaking a review of the roadmap of future increases.  

As part of this review, the department invites feedback from employers, employer representatives, employee representatives and other interested stakeholders on the proposed roadmap. Submissions can be made until 10 January 2025. 

The previously deferred increase to €30,000 for Health Care Assistants, Home Carers and Care Workers is outside the scope of the review and will proceed as planned in January 2025.  

National Minimum Wage 

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) increases from €12.70 to €13.50 per hour in respect of hours worked on or after 1 January 2025, with proportionate increases for those under 20 years of age.  

The rates for board and lodgings (which can be taken into account when calculating the NMW for an employee) are as follows from 1 January 2025:  

• €1.21 per hour worked for board only, and  

• €31.89 per week (7 days) or €4.55 per day for lodgings only. 

Reminders for January