Irish Taxation Assignment Brief – University College Dublin

Assignment Brief 

How-To Guide

The Written Assessment represents 80% of the overall course grade.

Assignment Instructions

The Written Assessment should be written at the conclusion of the course, once all sessions have been completed. The submission date is approximately two weeks after the final session of the course; please check the LMS for the exact date.

The goal of the report is to apply your knowledge of course concepts, models and practices in your own context thought the completion of multiple real-life scenarios which will cover all the primary tax heads including income tax, capital gains tax, capital acquisitions tax, corporation tax and VAT with the overall overarching objective as being to clearly demonstrate the application of the course learning outcomes:

1. Demonstrate how the Irish Tax System operates including the main sources of tax legislation.
2. Develop technical capabilities to prepare tax computations and returns across a range of tax heads for both individuals and companies.
3. Identify and evaluate tax planning opportunities to minimise tax liabilities for both individuals and companies.

For this assignment you should clearly demonstrate your ability to:

• Identify and calculate the taxable incomes, associated benefit-in-kind calculations, commencement to trade provisions and other relevant tax deductions and personal credits.
• Demonstrate your knowledge and practical application of capital gains tax calculations, reliefs and exemptions.
• Demonstrate your understanding of capital acquisitions tax, the associated calculations, exemptions, and reliefs.
• Apply theoretical VAT computational rules in determining an individual’s liability to VAT while demonstrating general knowledge on VAT deductibility and place of supply rules.
• To analyse and interpret a set of circumstances to determine the optimum trading structure as being to trade as an individual or via a corporate structure.

Conclusion

• Summarise the key points covered.
• Reflect on the importance of accurately identifying and applying tax principles.

References

• List all sources used in APA/Harvard Referencing or your preferred citation style.

By following this structure, you can effectively demonstrate your ability to identify and apply critical elements in a taxation assignment.

Format

• Submit your document in Word format
• Include Title Page
• Word count guide: 3,000 – 3,500 words +/- 10% (Excluding reference list)
• Font Type: Calibri or Arial
• Font Size: 11
• Line Spacing: 1.5
• Page numbers: include at bottom of each page
• Referencing style: Harvard (preferable, or another you are familiar with, provided it is used consistently and correctly)

Suggested Lay-out:

Each case study should contain the following

1. Introduction – identify and introduce the change to be implemented, briefly explain the background and set context.
2. Body of the report – to include appropriate headings/subheading appropriate for each individual case study.
3. Conclusion
4. Overall References for the entire assignment.

CASE STUDY INSTRUCTIONS:

You are required to do Case Study 1 and choose one of the remaining two case studies outlined below for your written report and apply all relevant criteria outlined in this assessment brief to developing and analysing this case study.

CASE STUDY 1 – PETER & AVA (Mandatory):

Peter (aged 45) and Ava (aged 52) are both Irish residents, domiciled in Ireland and jointly assessed for tax purposes.

INCOME TAX

Peter is employed as a sales manager within a multinational company. Details of his income and other benefits from this employment for 2025 are as follows:

• Gross salary for the year €145,000, from which PAYE of €50,640 was deducted.
• The use of a new electric company car purchased on 1 May 2025 for €70,000 with Peter’s mileage being was 28,000km in this period, of which 20% are personal. Peter paid €100 to his employer as a contribution and paid all the fuel costs to his local garage amounting to €500 in the year.
• The company pays medical insurance on behalf of Peter and his family. The total premium paid to the medical insurance company on behalf of the family on 1 August 2025 was €3,200. This is net of tax relief of €1,000.
• Peter was given a total of €640 to cover working from home costs in 2025 (this represented a payment of €3.20 per day).
• Peter contributes 10% monthly from his salary to his pension fund. In addition to this, he paid an additional voluntary contribution of €35,000 to his pension on 20 February 2025.

Ava commenced to trade as a counsellor on 1 April 2023 and had tax adjusted profits from her business as follows:

• 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024                         €75,000
• 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025                         €95,000

In addition, the couple had the following sources of income during 2025:

1. Rental income from a residential apartment that the couple own jointly of

€27,000 per annum. The tenancy was registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and the following costs in incurred and paid during the year.

○ Maintenance costs of €2,400 and local property tax of €175 were paid for 2025.

○ Insurance of €1,800 was paid in connection to the property. ○ Mortgage interest paid for 2025 was €4,400.

2. Dividend income from shares that Ava owns in an Irish company of €5,000 was received on 2 February 2025 (final dividend for the financial year ended 31 December 2024).
3. Irish deposit interest from the couple’s savings account in 2025 was €900 (net of DIRT).

Details of other expenditure for 2025 are as follows:

• Medical expenses €4,000, which included €1,000 for physiotherapy for Ava following a car accident during the year and routine dental work costing the family €120.
• The couple were reimbursed €1,200 by their medical insurance company.

Requirement:

Compute the income tax liability for both Peter and Ava for 2025.

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

Peter and Ava made the following disposals of assets during 2025:

• In May 2025, she sold an antique painting for €2,150 having purchased it in July 1999 for €1,400. She paid €2,000 in March 2001 for professional restoration and refurbishment work on the painting.
• In September 2025, Ava sold her home in Galway to her sister for €250,000. The market value of the house at the date of disposal was €320,000. Ava had acquired the house by way of inheritance from her uncle in September 1991 when the market value was €118,000. She lived in the house until September 2011, at which time she was transferred to the Dublin office by her employer. She moved back into the house in late August 2019 and remained living there until the date of sale.
• In July 2025, Peter sold 4 acres out of his 10-acre site for €50,000. The site had originally cost €30,000 in November 1997. The market value of the remaining 6 acres at the date of disposal was €40,000.
• In March 2025 Peter sold a painting for €12,800. Ava gifted the painting to Peter in June 2009 for their 10th wedding anniversary. The market value at that date was €6,800. Ava had bought the painting in June 2001 for €4,000 from an art dealer she met while on holiday in Rome.

Requirement:

Compute the Capital Gains Tax liability for both Peter and Ava for 2025.

Clearly explain, with the aid of examples, the reasoning and theoretical concepts to support your answer for each part referenced (i) to (iv).

CASE STUDY 2

Please note that Case Study 2 has two parts, Part A and Part B. If you choose to use this case study as part of your assessment, you will have to include Parts A and B (I & II). 

PART A – PAUL

On 1 April, 2025, Paul received a generous gift from his brother Bart of both agricultural and non-agricultural assets located in both Ireland and France as noted below:

• Farmland in Galway valued at €400,000
• Livestock in Galway valued at €70,000
• Farmland in France valued at €50,000
• Farm machinery valued at €25,000
• Investments held in various crypto currencies valued at €95,000

In consideration for the above gift, Paul paid €50,000 to his son Cathal (Bart’s nephew). Cathal had previously received a gift of €100,000 from his grandmother in 1990, a commercial property in Dublin from Paul in 1995 valued at €75,000, and a cash gift of €60,000 from his sister in 2021.

Paul is a full-time farmer, has all relevant farming qualifications and had the following assets on 1 April 2025:

• His Principal Private Residence in Mayo valued at €750,000, which had an outstanding loan of €400,000 at this date
• Investments in AIB valued at €50,000
• Cash in various bank accounts of €150,000

Paul had previously received a cash inheritance of €50,000 from his grandfather in 2021.

Requirement:

Calculate the Capital Acquisitions Tax due (if any) for both Paul and Cathal on the assumption that both individuals are Irish resident, ordinarily resident and Irish domiciled. All reliefs should be claimed and detailed reasoning and explanations are required to support your approach, assumptions, and calculations.

PART B (I)

Discuss, with the aid of an example, how an individual’s residency, ordinary residence and domicile position can result in a beneficiary’s charge to Irish Capital Acquisitions Tax. A detailed explanation should be provided to support your answer.

PART B (II)

Given the recent housing supply issues within the Irish property market and associated price increases, the transfer of residential property and home ownership has become a key priority for the next generation.

Requirement:

Discuss, with the aid of an example, the Capital Acquisitions Tax strategies / measures and reliefs which may be used to assist individuals and families specifically in relation to housing / accommodation issues in Ireland.  

CASE STUDY 3 – JESS:

Jess Burke is a well-established retailer of home furniture in Kildare and had the following sales and purchases for May / June 2025. Jess accounts for VAT on the cash receipts basis.

Sales                                            

Note 1: All sales are INCLUSIVE of VAT while all purchases are EXCLUSIVE of VAT.

Note 2: The client entertainment resulted in a 20% increase in sales.

Note 3: Jess received an invoice for the legal fees in June but did not pay the invoice until July 2025.

Requirement:

Calculate the VAT liability for Jess Burke for May/ June 2025.

Additional Guidance

Evidence of wider reading will greatly enhance your evaluation and analysis throughout.  Any quotes from external sources should be properly referenced. Choose a referencing style and use it consistently. Poor referencing may affect your grade, and lack of referencing makes the integrity of your entire assessment questionable. We recommend that you use the Harvard Referencing Style, which is well documented in the UCD Library pages: https://libguides.ucd.ie/harvardstyle.

How You Will Be Assessed

The following rubric describes how the essay will be assessed:

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