Up until 5th April when the Government abolished the 10% tax credit on dividends in favour of a new £5,000 allowance, it was easy to earn £37,000 a year without paying tax. However, you typically needed to own your own…
What I want out of #NewryHour
In the past couple of years, the local business communities in Ireland have ramped up their engagement with other businesses on Twitter. There are numerous hashtags for numerous locations around the country where, for one hour a week, businesses get…
Boaty McBoatface is too good an opportunity to pass on
It’s official. Boaty McBoatface has topped the polls in a public vote to name the new £200m artic explorer. However, after receiving almost 125,000 votes, it appears as if the Natural Environment Research Agency (NERC) and the government will pass…
Newry Market being put to good use
A few years ago I wrote a piece about how I felt we could help save the Cathedral and Creamery Quarters in Newry. Among the suggestions I had were making the most of Newry Market. I still maintain this is…
Minimum wage increase on 1st April will cost employers almost £1,200 extra per employee
From the 1st April, the National Minimum Wage for employees aged 25 or over increases from £6.70 per hour (the current rate for all employees aged 21 or over) to £7.20 per hour to fall in line with the Living Wage.…
Tax breaks for employees
.Over the past couple of years, you have no doubt seen companies advertising that they will reclaim tax for you if you had to pay for uniforms for work, or spent money travelling for work. There’s nothing wrong with what…
Tax return submitted? Time to start planning for next year’s.
So another 31st January deadline has been and passed. Your tax return is filed and the whole subject of tax can be ignored for another year. Well, not quite. There are quite a few changes to Income Tax being introduced…
The case for a Reduced Rate of VAT for Hospitality & Tourism
In the 41 years since VAT was introduced, it has gone from gone from raising £1.5bn per annum to over £100bn. In 1973, upon its introduction, it was set at 10% and now stands at double that. As the name…
How can we save the Cathedral & Creamery Quarters?
Since the onset of the recession, high streets across the country have struggled to keep tenants. From the loss of “the big guys” such as Woolworths, JJB Sports, Game and HMV to name but a few, to the high turnover…
Changes to taxation of savings income can benefit owner-managed businesses
From the 6th April 2015, individuals deriving their income from interest on savings will notice a marked reduction in the amount of tax they are likely to suffer on this income. The Chancellor announced in his Budget 2014 speech back…