(Left to right) Ann O'Dea, CEO and editor-at-large, Silicon Republic; Michael Culligan of the Halo Business Angel Network; Niamh Bushnell, Dublin's Commissioner for Start-ups; and Michael McGivern, tax partner at RSM Farrell Grant Sparks
This morning, the Irish Internet Association (IIA) held its third annual post-Budget briefing session to review the Irish Budget 2015 in the specific context of the ICT sector.
Michael McGivern, tax partner at RSM Farrell Grant Sparks, kicked off the morning with an in-depth overview of the key points in yesterday’s Budget speech, before joining Dublin’s Commissioner for Start-ups Niamh Bushnell, and Michael Culligan of the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) for a panel discussion mediated by Silicon Republic CEO Ann O’Dea.
While he cautioned delegates that the real detail would be in the Finance Bill next week, McGivern detailed the end of the so-called ‘double Irish’ when it came to corporation tax, which will be phased out gradually up to 2020.
While we will have to wait until next year for the detail, and 2016 for its implementation, McGivern felt there was much to be hoped for in the promised ‘Knowledge Development Box’ – an initiative that is likely to mirror the ‘Patent Box’ in the UK – and urged all those in the room to be a part of the promised consultation process that will take place before it is finalised. All agreed this could be of benefit to both the multinational and domestic high-tech companies.
He also welcomed the improvements to the research and development tax credit and intangible asset regime – the former could see the controversial ‘R&D base year’ phased out from as early as 1 January 2015 – a welcome boost for those companies established before 2003.
The proposed changes to the Special Assignee Relief Program (SARP) and the Foreign Earnings Deduction (FED), were likely to be very welcome in the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector, but could also benefit Irish companies looking to expand overseas, he said.
You can download Michael McGivern’s slide deck here in PDF format.
A panel discussion followed McGivern’s presentation. You can watch some of the panel discussions below, in which the panelists tackled Budget 2015’s implications for investors, the lack of movement on Capital Gains Tax, and the promised reform of the current Seed Capital scheme, which is to be renamed SURE (Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs):
