BUSINESS REACTION:THE FINANCE BILL is focused on collecting tax rather than boosting economic growth or confidence, one accountancy body said yesterday.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) said the bill sets out the legal mechanism needed to increase the hit on workers’ wages.
Its director of taxation, Brian Keegan, pointed out that workers have yet to feel the impact of the doubling of the income levy to 2 per cent for the majority of people, as it only came into force on May 1st.
“Overall, this Finance Bill is about collecting additional taxes – aside from the intellectual property relief, there’s few if any measures to stimulate economic growth or confidence,” he said.
The Small Firms’ Association (SFA) said that a new measure proposing to cut interest charges on late business tax payments was “too little, too late”.
Director Patricia Callan said that the Revenue Commissioners are continuing to take their share “bang on time” while public bodies such as county councils and the Health Services Executive take up to three months to pay their suppliers.
“The fact that they continue to levy excessive interest penalties on late payments of between 8 per cent and 10 per cent, even following the amendment by the Minister in the Finance Bill, is punitive,” she said.
The Irish Taxation Institute (ITI) echoed Ms Callan’s argument and said that the interest rates are still too high when compared with those charged in other neighbouring jurisdictions, such as Britain.
The SFA pointed out that the comparable rates in Britain are between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent. ITI chief executive, Mark Redmond, said the cut in interest charges would help businesses struggling to stay on top of tax payments.
