New source of funding

With AIB now fully subscribed for the SCBI Ukranian Fund, and others fast running out of funds, securing funding is once again starting to get more difficult. One new offer is Enterprise Ireland’s Pre-Seed Start Fund. This scheme offers funding of €50 – €100,000 by way of a convertible loan note instrument and supports for early-stage companies, including 10 mentoring sessions. The scheme is designed to help start-ups reach the point of being able to attract more funds in the near future.

Some relevant points are:

• Ideally the company would have a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) or be live in Beta and have demonstrable customer validation.
• A validated customer proposition with market research conducted.
• A clear execution plan identifying key milestones to be achieved.
• Evidence of innovation, internationalisation potential and employment capacity.
• A team with experience, domain knowledge and a balance of skills.
• Early-stage companies in the Manufacturing & Internationally Traded services sectors.
• Be an existing or potential client of EI HPSU.
• Former Competitive Start Fund (CSF) investee companies may apply for a maximum of €50,000 if they are suitable.

Uses:

• The funds can be used to pay salaries, travel and consultancy fees.
• Costs of developing the business plan and progressing key technical,
  commercial and fundraising milestones.
• Help grow in global markets.
• Development of a market ready solution, product testing in market,
  build critical skill sets of the team.
• If you think your business may qualify for and benefit from the above
  please contact us.

Nursing home expenses

Many of our clients have parents who now require a nursing home. If this applies to you, please contact us and we will advise you how to evaluate the Fair Deal Scheme versus paying for the Nursing home from your parents or your own resources. It is possible to save €’000’s in tax by clever planning.

How long do I need to keep my Company and personal accounting records?

This is a question we get asked several times each month. The answer is 6 full accounting years. Therefore, if your year end is December you can now dispose of any files and records from 2017 and older.

How far can Revenue go back to investigate me?

Following on from ‘How long do I need to keep my records’ you can dispose of records after 6 years, but Revenue can go back as far as they like. Yet you are restricted to claiming unclaimed tax relief for only 4 years – very unfair.

Corporation Tax Returns

For those companies with a December year end (90% of our clients) the file and pay deadline is the 23rd September. Please ensure you get your accounting data to us as soon as possible if you have not already done so in order to avoid potential late filing penalties.

Are you over 66, and still earning a salary?

Directors and self-employed (sole traders) are insurable at PRSI Class S.
The rates of tax under Class S are as follows:

• Minimum annual contribution of €500 up until 30th September 2024, and €650 from
  1st October 2024 forward.
• On earnings up to €500 per week or €26,000 per annum it is 4%. This is Class SO.
• On earnings above €500 per week the rate remains at 4%, but the classification
  changes to S1.

However, once a person who is insurable at either of these class S categories, reaches
66 years of age, they switch to Class M and this rate is zero %.

This can lead to a significant reduction on personal tax.
For example, take a director earning €60,000 per annum, their tax would reduce by €2,400.

If you are over 66, and wish us to check what PRSI class you have been insured at,
please contact Evelyn or Karolina in the office. We have recently secured a significant refund for a new client who was referred to us, and we identified that he had been paying PRSI at the wrong rate.

Are you starting a new business and will do so through a limited company?

If you, or a friend/colleague are considering starting a new business, or indeed have started a new business in the last 4 years, and have now employed people, that is not service orientated, you may be able to avail of tax relief of up to €5,000 per employee. The relief is directly related to the amount of employers PRSI paid. If you have no employees, you cannot avail of it as there is no employers prsi payable on a director’s salary. The maximum that may be claimed is €60,000.

The tax relief is related to your corporation tax liability and is capped at €60,000.
Partial relief is available between €40 – €60,000.

Total allowable €12,000 – i.e. the €4,000 and €3,000 are fully claimable, but the third employee’s €6,000 is capped/ limited to €5,000

So if you happened to have made significant profits in 2023, say of €150,000 and Corporation tax was due of €18,750, you could claim tax relief of €12,000 against this.

This scheme may be availed of for 5 years if trading commenced after 1 January 2018, or for 3 years if trading commenced before 1st January 2018.

There are restrictions and exclusions some of which are:
A trade previously carried on by another person which the company has succeeds – e.g. if you were trading as a sole trader and switched to a limited company, or took over another person’s trade.

• Land development
• A service company
• An associated company

There are other conditions, but if you think there may be an opportunity for your company to avail of this relief, please do not hesitate to contact us.