Thank you to Amicus: Search and Recruitment for Sponsoring this episode. To find your next Finance or Accounting Role, head to https://amicus.ie/ and tell them that we sent you!

In this week’s episode, I’m having a proper look through the June 2025 Examiner’s Report for the Advanced Tax exam. I know it might sound a bit dry, but honestly, I love these — they tell you exactly what the examiner was thinking, what went well, and where people fell down. It’s a bit like getting a peek behind the curtain before your own sitting.

We go question by question, talking through the examiner’s main points, from ethics and reconstructions to capital taxes, CAT reliefs, residency and consortiums. I’ll flag the areas that caught people out, like missing recommendations, not knowing all the conditions for reliefs or forgetting to show commercial sense. There are some handy little reminders too, about using your skepticism mark and spotting when something doesn’t quite add up.

If you want to know what separates a pass from a strong result, this one’s worth your coffee break.

Resources Mentioned in the Episode

• ACCA ATX IRL Examiner's Report for June 2025
• ACCA ATX Examiner's Reports Portal
• "Ep040 Ethics"

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Thank you for listening to Study For Tax in your Coffee Break! If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to leave a rating and review on your Podcast platform and share it with others to let them know you enjoyed the podcast.

To improve your study for the ACCA ATX Exams this year, head to Paula Byrne's website to purchase the ACCA ATX IRL Revision Book for Exams in 2025 and Tax Conditions - the Spoken Word for audio-based revision.

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for editing and production of this episode. If you'd like him to edit your podcast, send an email to business@mbpod.com or head to https://www.mbpod.com/.

Thank you to Amicus: Search and Recruitment for Sponsoring this episode. To find your next Finance or Accounting Role, head to https://amicus.ie/ and tell them that we sent you!

In this episode, I’m tackling one of the examiner’s favourite topics: Pensions. While you won’t see them coming up as a full 20-mark question, they appear often enough and can carry a sizeable number of marks. That means they’re well worth your time to understand.

I walk you through the examinable areas around both pension investment and withdrawal, explaining the tax treatment, the limits you need to remember, and the pitfalls to watch for in exam questions.

Main Topics Discussed:

• The difference between personal pensions and occupational pensions – and why it matters in exam questions.
• How tax relief works on personal contributions, including the age-related percentage table and the €115,000 cap.
• Why employer contributions to occupational pensions are so tax efficient – and how this could influence the incorporation decision for high earners.
• What happens on pension withdrawal: lump sums, ARFs, and annuities, plus how they’re taxed.
• How to spot the pension type you’re being asked about and where to find the key tables in your tax tables booklet.

If you’re preparing for ATX, pensions are a topic you really can’t afford to ignore. I’ll help you cut through the detail so you can answer with confidence on exam day.

Thank you for listening to Study For Tax in your Coffee Break! If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to leave a rating and review on your Podcast platform and share it with others to let them know you enjoyed the podcast.

To improve your study for the ACCA ATX Exams this year, head to Paula Byrne's website to purchase the ACCA ATX IRL Revision Book for Exams in 2025 and Tax Conditions - the Spoken Word for audio-based revision.

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for editing and production of this episode. If you'd like him to edit your podcast, send an email to business@mbpod.com or head to https://www.mbpod.com/.

Thank you to Amicus: Search and Recruitment for Sponsoring this episode. To find your next Finance or Accounting Role, head to https://amicus.ie/ and tell them that we sent you!

This is a replay of a previous episode in the feed. We will be back to normal broadcast next in September 2025.

In this episode, Paula talks about the different tax considerations related to Share Buybacks for companies, and the reliefs available when a company deftly manages whether CGT or Income Tax is required in each scenario.

Topics Covered:

Overview of Share Buyback

• General explanation of share buyback.
• Context in exams - a case study where a company buys back shares.

Income Tax vs. Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Treatment

• Default treatment as an income tax event under schedule F.
• Preferable treatment as a CGT event and why (lower tax rate at 33%, CGT reliefs).

Conditions for CGT Treatment

• The company must be a trading company or a holding company of a subsidiary.
• Shares must be in an unquoted company.
• Shares must have been held for five years by an Irish resident individual.
• Redemption must be for the benefit of trade.
• Substantial reduction in the shareholder's interest (25% reduction, shares 30% or less post-redemption).

Examiner's Indicators

• Recognizing share buyback questions in exam cases (e.g., shareholders not getting along, detrimental to the company).

Tax Reliefs for Qualifying Shareholders

• Entrepreneurial relief and retirement relief.
• Potential to pay no tax on share buyback.

Treatment for Non-Qualifying Shareholders

• Taxed under schedule F.
• Tax calculation: agreed buyback price minus nominal value of shares.
• Rate of tax at marginal rate.
• Withholding tax at 25% by the company.

Special Considerations

• Distinction from close company transactions.
• Capital loss for those taxed under income tax.

Company's Perspective on Share Buyback

• Potential stamp duty liability.
• No stamp duty if shares are converted to redeemable preference shares first.

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Thank you for listening to Study For Tax in your Coffee Break! If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to leave a rating and review on your Podcast platform and share it with others to let them know you enjoyed the podcast.

If you'd like to purchase the books from which the content of this podcast is made, head to https://paulabyrne.ie/tax-books/.

Thank you to Matthew Bliss for editing and production of this episode. If you'd like him to edit your podcast, send an email to business@mbpod.com or head to https://www.mbpod.com/.