Budget 2023 must deal with both business and social imperatives, according to Chartered Accountants Ireland, in a holistic approach to support individuals and ensure that Ireland is an attractive place to live and work.

And the Law Society is calling for tax measures to improve housing and accommodation supply in Ireland, along with measures to tackle climate change and keep Ireland competitive.

CAI Leinster Society chair Ann-Marie Costello said: “In its pre-Budget submission and commentary over the summer, the institute stressed that addressing business needs in isolation won’t help our economy to weather this turbulence and remain competitive.

“Talent is the engine of economic growth, so in tandem with targeted measures to assist business, this budget needs to address infrastructural and personal finance issues so that people can survive and succeed in Ireland.”

In addition to the challenges of inflation and rising energy costs, among the biggest challenges facing businesses are people-related, both attracting them and managing them, according to Costello.

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She added: “Ireland’s investment policy has traditionally been focused on taxation from the employer’s perspective. However, in 2022 this focus needs to be widened.

"In recent weeks, this society pointed to continued strong earnings prospects for chartered accountants working across Leinster, including for newly qualified members.

"In spite of this, accounting has been listed on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s Critical Skills Occupations List since 2016. This is all the more reason that employee needs must be placed at the very core of a successful business environment.”

Solicitors' suggestions

Meanwhile, Law Society taxation committee chair John Cuddigan said innovative measures to preserve existing housing supply as well as creating new housing supply should be central to any fiscal policy.
 
“The measures recommended include broadening the scope of the Help to Buy scheme for home ownership to include refurbishments of existing properties that exist in many town centres in Ireland and extending the ‘living city initiative’ to larger towns to reinvigorate the core areas.

“We also propose measures to encourage the retention of landlords offering properties at sub-market rents in the rental market, as well as offering security to tenants in the private rental sector.
 
“The society has also recommended key measures to tackle climate change, including introducing incentives to retrofit housing stock, and introduce CGT relief to encourage renovations of older properties in the rental sector to drive behaviour change.

“Tax incentives have the power to change behaviours, and Ireland now has an opportunity to position itself as a leader countering climate change. This government needs to take hold of this opportunity to maximise public and climate benefit.”

The society’s main recommendations are:

• Extend the Help to Buy scheme by a further 12 months to the end of 2023. Department of Finance should consider extending the application of the Help to Buy scheme to renovation of previously occupied residential property
• Extend the qualifying period for the living city initiative scheme by a further three years and to larger towns, to encourage renewal of town centres and recycling of existing housing stock
• Consider income tax relief for landlords who let properties at rents at or below 75% of market rents.

The society suggests a ten-year tax relief to retrofit the existing housing stock at a rate of 5% of the cost, and relief from CGT on a sale following the retrofit as long as that occurs at least ten years after completion.

The full budget submission by the society can be found here.

Photo: Ann-Marie Costello with public spending minister Michael McGrath. (Pic: Iain White)