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Tag: recession

€90 Million Microfinance Scheme Open For Business

Have you been refused credit by the banks for loans of up to €250,000?
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation this week announced that the Microfinance Scheme will be open for business from Monday 1st October.
Applications for businesses and sole traders across all sectors employing up to ten people who have been refused credit by the banks for loans of up to €250,000 will be accepted and processed. Criteria, guides and application forms can be found at County and City Enterprise Boards and at www.enterpriseboards.ie
Contact us at Noone Casey for advice on the Microfinance Scheme and how it can benefit you.

Report of Comptroller and Auditor General Published

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for 2011 has been published. In relation to tax and Revenue it includes a number of interesting points:
• Income tax receipts increased by a net €2.5 billion (bn) in 2011 when compared with 2010, reflecting the introduction of the Universal Social Charge (USC) and the reduction in tax bands and credits.
• Tax forecasting has been made more difficult with the emergence of significant corporation tax losses. The utilisation of losses in 2010 is estimated to have reduced potential corporation tax receipts by €2.75bn.
• A new debt analysis tool was introduced on a pilot basis in February to allow Revenue case workers prioritise the recovery of debt by reference to the age of the debt. It also allows them to determine the type and timing of interventions to maximise recovery.
• Total tax outstanding at the end of March 2012 was just under €2bn. The two largest categories of debt outstanding are income tax and VAT. Overall, about one third of the debt outstanding was under appeal.
• 3 economic sectors accounted for 59% of the total tax written off in 2011; construction, wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food services. The majority of these write offs arose due to liquidations and the trade ceasing with insufficient liquid assets
Thanks to the Institute of Tax for the above summary.

Opting Out of Commercial Leases

Since the enactment of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 any Commercial Tenant is entitled to opt out of his Statutory entitlement to a further Lease of between five and twenty years which automatically arises after leasing a Commercial Premises for five years or more.

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CAPPING PUBLIC SERVICE PENSIONS

A cap on retirement income would be preferable to any further reductions in tax relief on pension contributions, according to the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton. But the days of people in their 50s retiring on pensions of €150,000 are numbered because Ireland can no longer afford such largesse.

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BANKRUPTCY CHANGES ON THE WAY

People who cannot service their mortgage could declare insolvency and be released from bankruptcy  – including their mortgage deficits – within three years under new government proposals, according to the main story in The Sunday Business Post.

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BANKRUPTCY

It is indeed an ill wind that blows nobody any good. A proposed reform of the bankruptcy laws to bring them into line with Britain could mean good business if an expected 4,000 people a year declare themselves personally insolvent in Ireland, according to The Sunday Business Post.

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GOVERNMENT SPENDING CUTS

Thanks to Alan Shatter, the justice minister, we also know that the Government plans to take some money from its own pockets as well. In a heated government exchange last week the minister unexpectedly revealed he’s planning to shave 15.7%, or €340m, from his department’s budget over the next three years, according to the front page story in the Sunday Times.

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BANKRUPTCY

A group of lawyers preparing to mount a constitutional challenge to the bankruptcy laws are likely to base their arguments on the issue of proportionality, according to The Sunday Business Post.

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WHAT’S IN THE 2012 BUDGET!

As part of the EU/IMF deal, the Government will now be forced to raise income taxes despite giving commitments to the contrary in the Programme for Government, The Sunday Business Post reports in its main front-page article.

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WASTE CHARGES

Where there’s muck, there’s brass. And it would appear the government is intent in making more money from waste by raising charges for access to landfills, according to The Sunday Business Post.

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