Your client is, for Irish Revenue purposes, classed as "Non-Resident, Ordinarily-Resident" for three years after moving to the UK - thereafter he becomes "Non-Resident, Non-Ordinarily-Resident" for Irish tax purposes
For the three years as "Non-Resident, Ordinarily-Resident" he is liable to:
1) Irish Income Tax on Worldwide income > €3,810
2) Irish Capital Gains Tax on Worldwide disposals
3) Capital Acquisitions Tax on: a) Irish assets, and, b) non-irish assets disposed of while being "Ordinarily-Resident" - non-Irish assets disposed of after becoming "Non-Resident" are subject to local taxes accordingly
While being "Ordinarily-Resident" he will get double tax relief as a credit for some UK taxes paid, to reduce some of the above Irish Taxes
Also, during the above three years he is UK resident for UK income tax purposes but as he is still domiciled in Ireland his primary tax jurisdiction remains as Ireland so it would seem that UK Capital Taxes should not apply other than on a remittance basis?
A company can only be struck off if it is clear of all liabilities and has a nil balance sheet
From your discovery in Companies House that the company has applied to be voluntarily wound up it sound as though the directors are preparing to place it into a voluntary liquidation and it is not guaranteed whether or not you will recoup any funds from that
You are legally entitled to receive formal Notice of Creditors Meeting which you can attend - at this meeting a Liquidator will be appointed by the directors but you can oppose their nomination and drop your own nominee in instead (subject to gaining sufficient suport and votes from other creditors & proxies)
The last thing I would dream of doing is publish a global price list for all services - half the time you take on a new client you get more than you bargained for (literally!) when you start the new assignment and find a mess of incomplete records - it also alerts your competitors to what you are charging, encourages tyre-kickers and can lock you in to big surpluses or big deficits on your WIP ledger
Regarding accounts prep, audits, etc, I always say to potential clients that likely cost will be between X and Y, based on experience and I then invite them to call in with their records for review or arrange for me to call out to them to review - if they don't take up my invitation, they are not serious about moving to me - if they are serious, I can then review the records and give an accurate quote that I will happily stand over; if I still make a loss on the job after that, then it's my problem - I also advise them that additional work outside the scope of the exercise being quoted for will be subject to a separate additional fee
The only thing I would think of publishing in terms of pricing would be for say, standard company secretarial work (eg, processing change of registered office or directors address, etc) - that is standard enough that you know how long it will take
I know a few local competitors of mine who had fixed prices published on their websites last year - they have all, without exception, now removed everything from their websites...
While the majority of our client communication and approval is now via email, scanning, & PDF, we still always issue two physical bound copies of the final approved accounts on closure of the file as a matter of course, regardless of whether or not it is for an audit, audit-exempt, or small sole trader accounts - It is nice to give the client something "tangible" at the end and it makes no difference to us whether or not the client bins them or saves them: at least they have something "traditional"
If they subesquently want a PDF copy for any reason, it only takes us a second to run them out and email across
The invoices raised by your client to the Irish customers should NOT include any VAT amounts, so in essence the gross and net amounts will be one and the same - the invoices should also state the customer's Irish VAT registration number
At this side of the pond, the Irish customer will be required to calculate Irish VAT at either 13.5% or 21% depending on the nature of the goods/service being received - they will be required to pay this over to the Irish Revenue Commissioners - they can then offset this sum against any output VAT they include in their next VAT Return
If your "friend" is a private PAYE individual, not registered for VAT in any EU jurisdiction, it is clear-cut: she is NOT entitled to reclaim any VAT charged by a business in the Irish Republic, under any circumstances
I am afraid the "advice" she received was miles off target (probably from the bar-stool expert!)
I would recommend CCH - bullet proof and has UK & RoI formats, etc - steer well clear of Sage, completely useless in Ireland and updates are not always sent through; when they are, they cause problems throughout your system
DRIVE from Relate Software is good (we have been using it for a number of years) - BUT, the support is not great and the package could be so much more than it is - loads of tiny annoying little glitches that just build up and let you down - there are lots of trial and errors too and it is easy to mess things up if you don't know your way around it - on balance I would not recomend it
We are in the process of moving from Relate to CCH - it is owned by the company that publishes all of the ASB & APB technical work
You should deregister in the UK - there is no need for the Irish company to return anything to HMRC - only when you set up a separate UK company should that then be registered for UK taxes - any losses incurred by the Irish branch will be used to offet against Irish profits
Not sure how you would be exporting if you are harvesting the crop in the Irish Republic and supplying to farmers there? or maybe I have misunderstood the mechanism of the transaction? Anyway, try having a look at www.revenue.ie first, and see what you can find by searching that - the Irish Revenue Commissioners store a huge amount of tax briefings and legislative / technical references there on all tax areas, and, Irish VAT is particularly complicated especially when you start getting into the realm of intra-EU transactions - there is a lot of VAT-related material there
Please feel free to contact me regarding your query - we can assist with all requirements and advise on the company formation, accounts & ongoing company secretarial work, taxation etc - there may be an opportunity to avail of a 3-year irish corporation tax holiday for the company if trade commences this year, which would open the doors to effective tax planning, subject to transfer pricing rules
My answers
Irish Residency
It is actually quite straightforward
Your client is, for Irish Revenue purposes, classed as "Non-Resident, Ordinarily-Resident" for three years after moving to the UK - thereafter he becomes "Non-Resident, Non-Ordinarily-Resident" for Irish tax purposes
For the three years as "Non-Resident, Ordinarily-Resident" he is liable to:
1) Irish Income Tax on Worldwide income > €3,810
2) Irish Capital Gains Tax on Worldwide disposals
3) Capital Acquisitions Tax on: a) Irish assets, and, b) non-irish assets disposed of while being "Ordinarily-Resident" - non-Irish assets disposed of after becoming "Non-Resident" are subject to local taxes accordingly
While being "Ordinarily-Resident" he will get double tax relief as a credit for some UK taxes paid, to reduce some of the above Irish Taxes
Also, during the above three years he is UK resident for UK income tax purposes but as he is still domiciled in Ireland his primary tax jurisdiction remains as Ireland so it would seem that UK Capital Taxes should not apply other than on a remittance basis?
Hope this helps
Object
A company can only be struck off if it is clear of all liabilities and has a nil balance sheet
From your discovery in Companies House that the company has applied to be voluntarily wound up it sound as though the directors are preparing to place it into a voluntary liquidation and it is not guaranteed whether or not you will recoup any funds from that
You are legally entitled to receive formal Notice of Creditors Meeting which you can attend - at this meeting a Liquidator will be appointed by the directors but you can oppose their nomination and drop your own nominee in instead (subject to gaining sufficient suport and votes from other creditors & proxies)
Hope this helps
Publishing Fixed Fees
The last thing I would dream of doing is publish a global price list for all services - half the time you take on a new client you get more than you bargained for (literally!) when you start the new assignment and find a mess of incomplete records - it also alerts your competitors to what you are charging, encourages tyre-kickers and can lock you in to big surpluses or big deficits on your WIP ledger
Regarding accounts prep, audits, etc, I always say to potential clients that likely cost will be between X and Y, based on experience and I then invite them to call in with their records for review or arrange for me to call out to them to review - if they don't take up my invitation, they are not serious about moving to me - if they are serious, I can then review the records and give an accurate quote that I will happily stand over; if I still make a loss on the job after that, then it's my problem - I also advise them that additional work outside the scope of the exercise being quoted for will be subject to a separate additional fee
The only thing I would think of publishing in terms of pricing would be for say, standard company secretarial work (eg, processing change of registered office or directors address, etc) - that is standard enough that you know how long it will take
I know a few local competitors of mine who had fixed prices published on their websites last year - they have all, without exception, now removed everything from their websites...
Bound Accounts or PDF?
While the majority of our client communication and approval is now via email, scanning, & PDF, we still always issue two physical bound copies of the final approved accounts on closure of the file as a matter of course, regardless of whether or not it is for an audit, audit-exempt, or small sole trader accounts - It is nice to give the client something "tangible" at the end and it makes no difference to us whether or not the client bins them or saves them: at least they have something "traditional"
If they subesquently want a PDF copy for any reason, it only takes us a second to run them out and email across
Invoice details
The invoices raised by your client to the Irish customers should NOT include any VAT amounts, so in essence the gross and net amounts will be one and the same - the invoices should also state the customer's Irish VAT registration number
At this side of the pond, the Irish customer will be required to calculate Irish VAT at either 13.5% or 21% depending on the nature of the goods/service being received - they will be required to pay this over to the Irish Revenue Commissioners - they can then offset this sum against any output VAT they include in their next VAT Return
EU VAT Reclaim
If your "friend" is a private PAYE individual, not registered for VAT in any EU jurisdiction, it is clear-cut: she is NOT entitled to reclaim any VAT charged by a business in the Irish Republic, under any circumstances
I am afraid the "advice" she received was miles off target (probably from the bar-stool expert!)
Sorry
RoI Practice Management
I would recommend CCH - bullet proof and has UK & RoI formats, etc - steer well clear of Sage, completely useless in Ireland and updates are not always sent through; when they are, they cause problems throughout your system
DRIVE from Relate Software is good (we have been using it for a number of years) - BUT, the support is not great and the package could be so much more than it is - loads of tiny annoying little glitches that just build up and let you down - there are lots of trial and errors too and it is easy to mess things up if you don't know your way around it - on balance I would not recomend it
We are in the process of moving from Relate to CCH - it is owned by the company that publishes all of the ASB & APB technical work
UK Branch of Irish company
You should deregister in the UK - there is no need for the Irish company to return anything to HMRC - only when you set up a separate UK company should that then be registered for UK taxes - any losses incurred by the Irish branch will be used to offet against Irish profits
Point of Supply
Not sure how you would be exporting if you are harvesting the crop in the Irish Republic and supplying to farmers there? or maybe I have misunderstood the mechanism of the transaction? Anyway, try having a look at www.revenue.ie first, and see what you can find by searching that - the Irish Revenue Commissioners store a huge amount of tax briefings and legislative / technical references there on all tax areas, and, Irish VAT is particularly complicated especially when you start getting into the realm of intra-EU transactions - there is a lot of VAT-related material there
If that still doesn't help, come back to me
Best wishes
Andrew Bonehill, Hanley Morgan Cooper, Dublin
Formation of Irish Company
Please feel free to contact me regarding your query - we can assist with all requirements and advise on the company formation, accounts & ongoing company secretarial work, taxation etc - there may be an opportunity to avail of a 3-year irish corporation tax holiday for the company if trade commences this year, which would open the doors to effective tax planning, subject to transfer pricing rules
Kind Regards
Andrew Bonehill, FCCA
Hanley Morgan Cooper: 353 1 821 0300
www.hanleymorgancooper.ie