Grant Thornton

Lobbying Organisation Grant Thornton

Date published 18 Jan, 2021

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Taxation

Period 1 Sep, 2020 to 31 Dec, 2020

Specific Details Letters by Peter Vale (Partner, Grant Thornton) as Chair of CCAB-I Tax Committee to Minister of Finance and senior Revenue Commissioners officials, re: (3) Finance Bill 2020 re: Covid Restrictions Support Scheme, transfer pricing exclusions, withdrawal of payment of interest on tax refunds, and (4) statistical returns (VAT Return of Trading Details, Form 46G) re: tax debt warehousing schemes. Activity not directly on behalf of Grant Thornton or client(s) of Grant Thornton.

Intended results Intended result to provide guidance on and to Influence developments re: (3) proposing amending conditions of Covid Restrictions Support Scheme, re-evaluation of transfer pricing exclusion changes (further discussions with CCAB-1), and alignment of interest rates paid / levied re: successful / unsuccessful appeals, and (4) proposing taxpayers with outstanding statistical returns not denied access to debt warehousing schemes if other compliance requirements met within specified timescales.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Peter Vale (Partner, Grant Thornton)

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Letter (1)

02/11/2020 letter by Peter Vale (Partner, Grant Thornton) as Chair of CCAB-I Tax Committee to Paschal Donohoe (Minister of Finance, Department of Finance) on matters arising out of the Finance Bill 2020 re: the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), transfer pricing exclusions, withdrawal of the payment of interest on tax refunds due to taxpayers. Letter proposed amending conditions of the CRSS, re-evaluation of changes re: the transfer pricing exclusions in context of further discussions involving CCAB-1, and a fair balanced alignment of the associated interest rates paid and levied re: successful and unsuccessful appeals. Letter not directly on behalf of Grant Thornton or client(s) of Grant Thornton.

Letter (1)

20/11/2020 letter by Peter Vale (Partner, Grant Thornton) as Chair of CCAB-I Tax Committee to Joe Howley (Collector-General, Revenue Commissioners) suggesting leniency for taxpayers re: outstanding statistical returns such as the VAT Return of Trading Details and third party returns such as Form 46G re: tax debt warehousing schemes. The letter proposes that taxpayers with such returns still outstanding are not denied access to debt warehousing schemes if all other compliance requirements are met within the specified timescales. Letter not directly on behalf of Grant Thornton or client(s) of Grant Thornton.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Paschal Donohoe Minister (Department of Finance)

Joe Howley Assistant Secretaries or Equivalent Grades (The Office of the Revenue Commissioners)