The Winter Taxation Essentials 2026 - Series 3
Registering for part 3 of The Winter Taxation Essentials Series at CPD Fest 2026 couldn’t be more straightforward. We have three packages for you to choose from – 8 hours, 16 hours and 24 hours of CPD – allowing you to customise the event to your own specific needs. Once purchased, pick ‘n’ mix the topics of most interest and relevance to you from any of the sessions running across the week of CPD Fest 2026.
CPD Fest Packages:
The 12 Gifts Of CPD Fest
Over the coming weeks we are going to give you advance access to hugely valuable extracts from the note packs The CPD Fest & The Essential Advisors’ Mix.
With The 12 Gifts of CPD Fest you will get guides, financial statements, checklists, tools, tax papers, letters of engagement and reports all the way up to and including the kitchen sink!
Registration for The 12 Gifts Of CPD Fest is free, quick and straight forward and you can do so here:
Event Details:
Session 1: Understanding Irish Stamp Duty and Its Application to Business and Family Transactions
Time: 09:00 – 10:40
Speaker: Niall Hanton – OmniPro
Niall Hanton will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- The territorial scope of stamp duty,
- The rates of stamp duty,
- Assessing the charge to stamp duty – when and what it can apply to for business sale transactions,
- Overview of some key stamp duty reliefs,
- Stamp Duty and corporate group transactions,
- Stamp Duty and leases,
- Stamp Duty and property transactions,
- Key stamp duty administration points.
Course Level: Intermediate
Session 2: Business Restructuring - December 2026
Time: 11:00 – 12:40
Speaker: Aengus Burns – Burns Advisory
This webinar focuses primarily on insolvent or near insolvent businesses that require restructuring with their creditors. It outlines and describes approaches and mechanisms available to businesses that are facing cashflow difficulties, onerous contracts and creditor pressure. All regular features of doing business regardless of economic boom or bust. Advisors will be better able to guide their clients in dealing with financial challenges by applying logical approaches and using available tools outlined in the webinar.
Aengus Burns will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- Informal business restructuring
- Liquidation as a base scenario for negotiation
- Examinership and SCARP
- Restructuring businesses out of Receivership and Liquidation
- Personal Insolvency options for sole traders
By attending this session you will learn to approach business distress in a measured, knowledgeable manner useful to all stakeholders.
This session will be of particular interest to business advisors, business owners, company directors and business management.
Session 3: Structuring a Family Business - Key Tax Issues 2026
Time: 13:40 – 15:20
Speaker: Michael O’Scathaill – Crowe
Starting a new business is an exciting but challenging time; there are many issues for the aspiring business owner to consider. One issue that merits careful consideration at the outset is how to structure the ownership of the business and, in doing so, a long-term view should be taken, up to an including an eventual disposal. At the simplest level, a key decision will be whether, or when to incorporate the business and, while the main pros and cons of incorporation are well known to most advisers, this session will take a longer-term view, considering more advanced structures that may be of benefit down the line and whether now is the correct time to implement them. Furthermore, it will consider more complex scenarios such as those encompassing multiple businesses and property assets and will also look ahead to the eventual disposal of the business and how this might be structured including, where relevant, how a corporate restructuring may facilitate a more efficient disposal. On attending this course, attendees should have a good overview of the main tax issues, treatments and reliefs as well as the commercial factors to be taken into account when devising these structures.
Michael O’Scathaill will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- Start-up Business: To incorporate or not.
- Corporate Structures: Key factors in setting them up and structuring shareholder investments.
- Advanced Structures: Use of personal holding companies, hybrid structures and structuring to maximise claim for key tax reliefs.
- Group Structures: The tax implications and benefits.
- Other Issues: Structuring ownership of business premises and an overview of corporate restructurings
By attending this session, you will get a strong understanding of the major tax and commercial issues relevant to the decision to incorporate your business as opposed to a sole trader or partnership structure. You will then get an overview of some more advanced corporate structures, including those encompassing personal holding companies and the pros and cons of such structures. In addition to discussing the ongoing tax treatment of such structures, consideration will also be given to how they may ultimately facilitate a tax-efficient disposal of the business and allow for key vendor tax reliefs to be accessed. Finally, you will then get an overview of the main types of corporate restructurings, the circumstances in which they may be relevant and how they may help you achieve your commercial goals in a tax-efficient manner.
The session will be of particular interest to professionals in the tax, corporate finance and business advisory sectors who advise clients on how best to structure their business affairs in a tax-efficient and commercially advantageous manner and on how best to structure a disposal and ultimate exit from the business.
Course Level: Advanced
Session 4: Getting RCT Right: Practical Compliance and Common Pitfalls
Time: 15:40 – 17:20
Speaker: Janette Maxwell – Grant Thornton
This webinar is designed for accountants who advise on all manner of property transactions, where RCT is often overlooked. It will provide practical guidance on RCT including its application, its interaction with VAT and potential exclusions available. The course will also describe common mistakes seen in practice and comment on ways to mitigate penalties.
Janette Maxwell will cover the following topics during this webinar:
- Scope of RCT – Definition of ‘Construction Operations’ and “Principal Contractors”
- Online RCT regime (eRCT)
• Non-resident principal contractors - Review of common pitfalls and penalties for non-compliance
- Interaction with VAT
- Recent changes to Revenue Guidance dealing with RCT
Delegates will be able to avoid costly penalties for their clients by spotting when RCT should apply and managing RCT compliance obligations in a timely manner.
This webinar will be of interest to all accountants that deal with any type of property transaction.
Course Level: Intermediate
CPD Course speakers
Niall Hanton - OmniPro Tax and Legal
Niall brings a wealth of experience across various tax areas, including corporate restructuring, succession planning, business acquisitions and disposals, tax due diligence, and corporate and personal tax compliance. Niall comes from a top 6 firm which has undergone rapid market growth over the last number of years bringing a wealth of knowledge from that fast-paced environment.
Niall’s expertise extends to a wide range of industries, including retail, agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality, professional services, and more. Additionally, his background in tax, combined with experience providing accounting advise surrounding transactions, makes him a valuable asset to our team.
Aengus Burns - Grant Thornton Pensioneer Trustees Limited
Aengus joined Grant Thornton in 2002 and is a partner in the Financial Services Advisory team based in Galway and Dublin. He has extensive Restructuring, Insolvency and Corporate Finance experience. He heads up the Corporate Simplification team at Grant Thornton and is responsible for Members’ Voluntary Liquidations of Special Purpose Vehicles and Funds in particular. In addition, Aengus leads the Grant Thornton Pensioneer Trustee Services team which manages Self -Administered Pension Schemes on behalf of clients.
His Financial Services Advisory experience includes:
- managing solvent winding down operations of financial services companies;
- creating restructuring strategies for manufacturing and retail companies;
- acting as receiver over property assets and corporate entities;
- acting as examiner and liquidator to various companies;
- corporate finance advisory and transaction services; and
- pensioneer trustee services to private clients.
John Murphy – OmniPro Tax & Legal
As a Director of OmniPro Tax and Legal Limited, John relishes problem-solving to help accountants develop innovative client solutions and sharing his technical knowledge on tax, company law, financial reporting and auditing.
A Chartered Tax Adviser, he advises clients in practice on a range of issues from income tax, tax planning, restructuring to exit planning as well as advising on company law in relation to these and many other matters. In addition, he provides support on financial reporting, auditing and company law; conducts company valuations and advises on pre-sale restructuring. He is also an insolvency practitioner who acts as liquidator in members voluntary liquidations and is a Registered Auditor.
Prior to this John played a key role as a researcher and subject-matter expert in developing OmniPro information products such as the CompaniesAct2014.com and FRS102.com. As a speaker at OmniPro CPD events, he brings these industry-leading insights to accountants participating in our training programmes.
As a Chartered Accountant, John has over a decade’s Big 4 experience with EY and PwC, providing tax and audit services for a portfolio of clients, ranging in scale from SMEs to multinationals.
Lisa Cosgrave - Technical Advisor, OmniPro
Lisa is a key member of our tax technical support team, providing advice on all tax heads in response to queries submitted. In addition, she provides support within the tax department on company/business valuations, tax planning, restructuring and exit planning solutions for a range of clients, liquidations, and company secretarial issues. She also has experience in financial reporting and audit.
A Chartered Certified Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor, Lisa trained and worked in practice for six years prior to joining OmniPro, where she gained experience in financial reporting, tax compliance across all tax heads and audit. She has experience with a range of small and medium sized businesses assisting them with their financial reporting obligations and tax compliance across all areas.
Michael O’Scathaill – Crowe Ireland
Michael is a director in Crowe Ireland tax department. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the NUI and is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and an AITI Chartered Tax Advisor.
Michael manages a varied and interesting portfolio of corporate and personal tax clients from a range of sectors including food & beverage, retail, insurance, construction and waste management. He has a strong relationship with his clients and works closely with them to deliver a service that meets their commercial as well as their taxation requirements.
His advice covers a full range of tax-heads and includes advising on complex transactions and structures such as:
- Designing and implementing tax-efficient corporate structures and restructuring them where necessary
- Property transactions: advising on structures for holding property as well as complex VAT and CGT issues arising
- VAT planning to minimise VAT leakage and optimise cashflow
- International tax: advising clients in the areas of VAT on cross-border transactions, company residence and employee relocations
Michael also works closely with the firm’s Corporate Finance Department on matters such as:
- Buying and selling businesses: advising on the wide range of tax issues that arise and structuring the transaction as tax-efficiently as possible while also taking account of the client’s commercial requirements
- Raising finance: optimising tax relief on debt and also advising on availing of, and implementing tax-based finance schemes such as the Employment & Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS)
- Michael also speaks on tax matters to participants on Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme and at various seminars.
He enjoys meeting entrepreneurs, learning about their activities and helping them to make the tax system work for their business.
Janette Maxwell - Grant Thornton
Janette joined Grant Thornton in 2010 and is a director in the Indirect Tax team, specialising in VAT and RCT. She is a solicitor and tax advisor. Her areas of expertise include property transactions, cross border trade and vendor/purchaser due diligence as part of restructuring of businesses. Janette provides regular training to finance departments of clients and keeps them abreast of Irish and EU VAT developments.
James Bradley - James Bradley & Co
James is a qualified accountant and tax consultant. He is the principle of his own tax consultancy practice in Cork and deals with clients from all economy sectors and provides professional tax advice under all tax heads to his clients.
James has been lecturing for the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Taxation in Tax for more than ten years and has also set tax exams for both Institutes.
James has also been providing continual professional development courses for the Institute of Certified Public Accountants / The Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Taxation in Tax for 10 years also.
Declan McEvoy - Declan McEvoy Tax
An AITI Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) and Member of STEP-society of trust and estate practitioners, Declan McEvoy was Head of Tax with the Largest Agri Accounts Firm and Stood down at End of 2022.
Declan is taking some time out but keeping in touch by imparting his knowledge to fellow professionals with Technical updates.
Declan has extensive experience and expertise in personal and corporate tax planning, estate and succession planning, tax-based investment and financial structuring for family and farm businesses.
A leading authority on farm taxation, Declan was co-author of ‘Farming in a Limited Company – is it right for you?’
Declan is also an Irish Tax Institute Registered Tax Consultant and frequently speaks at national seminars and client workshops for professional bodies, farm organisations, banks, farm groups.
Yvonne Clarke - RBK
Yvonne is MCIPD Accredited, with an MSc in HRM Leadership and she is also a Certified Workplace Mediator (The Mediators’ Institute of Ireland). Yvonne has a personal and practical approach and is experienced in working collaboratively with clients managing multiple, disparate activities, projects and transformation programmes ensuring people strategies are aligned with Business Strategic direction and Business Needs.
With over 22 years’ experience in all areas of Human Resource Management, she has worked in business areas such as Logistics, Manufacturing / Recycling, Not-For-Profit/Charity, Health and Social Care, Education and Corporate Functions such as Finance, IT, Quality & Corporate Governance and Strategic Planning & Development.
Patrick Keegan - RBK
Patrick is a Certified Financial Planner™ with an MSc in Financial Services. He is also a Specialist Investment Advisor, Retirement Planning Advisor, and Qualified Financial Advisor. Patrick’s focus is on helping clients achieve financial independence. His expertise includes retirement planning, pension drawdown and review, protection planning, and investment strategy. He also works with corporate clients on pension and risk scheme design, corporate investments, business protection, and shareholder succession planning.
Mary Byrne - RBK
Mary is a Payroll Specialist with more than 17 years’ experience. She is a qualified Payroll Technician and holds a Diploma in Payroll Management with IPASS. At RBK, Mary manages payroll for more than 350 clients, delivering weekly, fortnightly, and monthly payroll services for businesses of all sizes. She also handles a wide range of client enquiries concerning social welfare and taxation matters on behalf of a broad range of businesses and their employees.
Daragh O’Shaughnessy - O’Shaughnessy Tax
Daragh has provided expert tax advice to a diverse range of Personal and corporate clients, from sole trades to High Net Worth investors and SMEs to Multinationals for 15 years.
Daragh’s CPD lectures and articles view tax issues from a practical perspective that can put to immediate use in attendees’ day-to-day business, as well as using technical analysis for a deeper understanding of the issues.
Brendan Allen - Landlords Tax Returns
Brendan is a Chartered Tax Adviser, Chartered Certified Accountant, and a Certified Public Accountant
He specialises in property related taxes and is the principal at Allen & Co a practice based in Tullow Co Carlow
Brendan has lectured on taxation and accountancy matters in Ireland and abroad.
Brendan was served as President of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland in 2007/2008.
Brendan was Chair Irish region of Taxation Institute in the UK
Brendan was Chair of British regional society in UK
Brendan served on CCAB -I company Law Committee
Brendan served on the Taxation committee of the CPA
Brendan represented the IPOA at housing committee in Dail Eireann along with other members of the committee.
Rose Tierney – Tierney Tax Consultancy
Rose Tierney is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser in both the UK & Ireland. She previously worked as a director with a Big Four firm in Dublin and prior to that several years were spent in London advising businesses on tax planning and transactions.
In 2004, Rose established an independent Tax Practice, Tierney Tax Consultancy and has since then been advising clients in the SME sector and their accountants and solicitors on various aspects of Irish and UK taxation.
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