There was very little in this budget. Almost nothing positive for businesses. This was a shame and we are still holding out for some changes to be introduced in the Finance Bill due out next Thursday. A point was made that the government doesn’t want to give the parties on the left ammunition on Budget Day and that’s why business taxes were ignored in the hope that they might sneak in some benefits in the Finance Bill. I think that’s wishful thinking. More probable is that anything that they sneak into the Finance Bill will be negative rather than positive. For instance, we expected an increase in stamp duty for apartment blocks, however that didn’t materialise. Could it still be brought in?

What we were hoping for was a reduction in the CGT rate. Ireland has the 3^rd highest rate in the OCED. We were expecting an improvement to Entrepreneurs Relief, this is where a person can sell their business and pay 10% CGT on the 1^st Million of proceeds and 33% thereafter. Surely this €1m rate needs to be lifted if we are going to be competitive with the UK (where a €10m limit is in place).

We expected an improvement to how the EII scheme operates. This scheme allows investors claim tax relief when investing in companies. In fairness the Minister did mention this and we await the Finance Bill for more information on this.

Finally, the inheritance tax threshold for a gift from a parent to a child has risen by €10,000 to €320,000. This is a paltry increase but was expected. The way property prices have increased this threshold really needs to catch up with reality.