New IRS Rules

In Search of Hope – by Sam Gannon

Seconded to the parish of Tililngdon, the Reverend Dolores has been presented with a challenge.

She’s living in an antiquated house and she’s cold. Furthermore, her new Bishop, Bishop Alice does not approve of ‘showgirls in dog collars.’

Determined to prove the Bishop wrong, she sets about warming her house – who cares if it smells of horse! There is the crochet club, jumble sale, and soup run to organise. And this year, the church bells will ring, no matter what threats are made. Even more so, the newly formed choir will spread a little joy this Christmas, even though they can’t sing – yet! And with a little help from Phil, her bassist, this year could be full of magic.

However, she has a fight on her hands as the townies out in Knob Hill – she must stop calling it that, are trying to stop her from ringing her bells. When Krystal with a K decides to do some volunteer work, Dolores sets out to see just how committed she really is.

Up to her ears in granny squares and squawking choristers, Dolores is revving up for Christmas, yet a deeper darker secret is beginning to emerge!

A secret that could blow the whole parish apart and put Dolores in danger.

(available from Amazon)

The Council of Ministers has approved the decree-law that eliminates the obligation to report, in the IRS declaration, income not subject to IRS, such as meal allowances, and those subject to withholding taxes, such as interest.

The approved diploma, in addition to eliminating the carry-forward of those types of income, also clarifies “which assets held in countries, territories or regions with a more favourable tax regime must be declared, in order to ensure legal certainty and the effective operationalisation of this commitment.” States the Council of Ministers.

At issue is the elimination of an amendment to the IRS Code, introduced by the State Budget for 2024 (OE2024), determining that in the annual IRS return “income subject to non-included withholding taxes and income not subject to IRS, when greater than 500 euros, as well as assets held in countries, territories or regions with a more favourable tax regime, had to be declared.”

Among the income not subject to IRS are, for example, meal allowance or subsistence allowances, while interest and other capital income are part of the range of those subject to withholding taxes.

In a statement issued at the end of January, the Minister of Finance stressed that income subject to withholding taxes (a category that includes interest on deposits, for example) “is already known to the Tax Authority (AT),” referring to the existence of “several constraints for the application of the rule in question,” namely with regard to the “identification and quantification of the income to be considered.”

An official source from the Ministry of Finance had also already mentioned that the obligation to declare income, provided for in the State Budget 2024, reduced the number of taxpayers who can benefit from the automatic IRS, raising doubts about the exemption from filing a declaration for taxpayers with income from work or pensions of less than 8,500 euros per year.”

The changes to the now approved law apply to IRS returns for the year 2024 (whose delivery starts on the 1st of April this year and onwards).

Samantha Gannon

info at madeira-weekly.com

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