Tag Archives: VAT

Local Ireland, the association representing 32 weekly paid-for newspapers around the country, has welcomed today’s decision by the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to remove VAT on newspapers. President of Local Ireland Declan McGuire said: “This is a very important move for news publishers. “Zero per cent VAT will allow local newspapers around Ireland to invest in journalism and in the transition to new digital business models. “News publishers have faced a series of major challenges over recent years, most recently the huge increases in the cost of newsprint. This move will help support jobs in the industry and sustain the quality of our service to readers. “We very much appreciate this endorsement by Government for the valuable role we play in our communities and the public service content we provide. “I would like to thank the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and all the Ministers, TDs and Senators from across the political spectrum who have …

THE decision by Government to extend the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector is a positive boost for businesses coming into the summer season, according to Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway. Senator Martin Conway has also called on Government to examine the possibility of making the 9% VAT rate permanent to help the tourism and hospitality sector, particularly after the challenges brought by the pandemic. Senator Conway said, “The decision by Cabinet will help businesses in the hospitality sector which have started to recover following two years of upheaval caused by Covid, and now against the backdrop of a devastating war in Europe. “I know that my colleague, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, is committed to supporting businesses and to growing our economy, and I thank him for the measure he announced today. “Some tourism and hospitality businesses are encountering massive challenges with staff shortages as they try to prepare ahead for the busy summer period and retrain new staff …

The Government must protect jobs in the Mid-West from the worst impacts of Brexit, Ennis Councillor Johnny Flynn has stressed. “The UK withdrawal from Europe places Irish jobs at risk; we have already seen due to the fall in value of sterling that there is a significant drop in tourists from UK. With tourism responsible for one of seven jobs in Clare I am concerned of the impact that that any plans to increase the VAT rate from 9% on tourism spend might have in Ennis and Clare.” Clare and Ennis was very badly affected by the economic collapse in 2008 with huge increase in people signing on due to job losses. By 2012 there were 10,493 people unemployed in Clare, that figure is now 6075. The number of people signing on the Live Register in Ennis district alone has dropped by 2028 from 5859 to 3389 since 2012, Mr Flynn has learned.This news comes as the CSO revealed the …

AN Ennis building contractor who was “ill prepared” to be in charge of a company employing hundreds of people, has escaped jail but been fined €10,000, having committed “significant Revenue fraud of €2.594 million”. Patrick Mahony, 49, with an address at Craglea, Woodstock was sentenced at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday, having pleaded guilty to five charges out of a total of 16 under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. The accused was a former director of Boxform Limited, now in liquidation, a company that had a turnover in excess of €8m at its peak and employed up to 350 people nationwide. The outstanding tax liability across the 16 charges, the court outlined, came to €2,594,446. The five charges are that Mahony, as a director of Boxform Limited, “knowingly or wilfully” delivered incorrect VAT returns to the Collector General in connection with the VAT periods of January/February 2006, November/December 2006 and November/December 2007. He also admitted to failing to file …

Payment of VAT on graves in newly developed graveyards is an unfair imposition on hard pressed communities, Clare Independent TD Dr Michael Harty maintains. The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has told Deputy Harty that while the provision of services by an undertaker is exempt from VAT, the exemption does not extend to the supply of graves. However, the minister, in a written reply to a parliamentary question, said the supply of a grave in a graveyard that is more than five years old is also exempt from VAT but the supply of a grave in a newly developed graveyard is liable to a VAT rate of 13.5%. Minister Noonan added that the operator of a newly developed graveyard is entitled to VAT deductibility on their development costs as well as ongoing maintenance costs during the period where VAT is applied to the supply of graves. “I don’t understand,” said Dr. Harty, “ why graveyards over five years old are …

Clare is poised to benefit from the upsurge in tourism activity, with 2015 set to become a bumper year for the industry. That’s according to chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs Pat Breen. The Clare deputy pointed out that the tourism sector in Clare has experienced growth thanks to the revival of Shannon Airport, the abolition of the Air Travel Tax and the retention of the reduced VAT on tourism services. “Our tourism industry is experiencing rapid growth and according to Bord Fáilte, the number of visitors will grow again next year with 2015  set to become a bumper year for tourism with record levels of revenue expected and the creation of a further 8,000 jobs in the industry,” he outlined. Deputy Breen said the promotion of The Wild Atlantic Way has been a major success with the opening of the lighthouse in Loop Head helping to drive tourists back into West Clare. “The Loop Head Peninsula received …

The Restaurant Association of Ireland has kick-started a campaign to highlight how critical it is that the reduced VAT rate of 9% is kept in place for 2014 and beyond, in order for the Irish economy to remain competitive. The nine-day campaign began on September 9 and getting behind it is Ennis bar and restaurant The Cloister, run by husband and wife Dermot and Noreen Fetton. The couple are in their first year of business at this premises and are hugely concerned that the forthcoming budget could see a VAT hike, something that would make trading extremely difficult for them going forward. In embarking on the campaign to maintain the current VAT rate, The Cloister has lobbied Deputy Timmy Dooley for support. Mrs Fetton said the reason they got behind the campaign  is to stave off any further increase in overheads in their sector and to ensure jobs are retained and a quality service is maintained, while remaining competitive. “We …