Ireland needs better income tax relief to attract `hot skills

24
Irish Examiner
Friday, 5.06.2015
Money & Jobs
Any other business...
Ireland needs better income tax
relief to attract ‘hot skills’ workers
I
Jon Slattery and Ciara Whelan from TV3 Holiday Show, among
the speakers at the ‘Learn From The Best’ conference in Tralee.
Top tourism
event in Tralee
Leaders from a number of
thriving tourism enterprises will share their experiences in the Ballygarry House Hotel, Tralee, Co
Ker ry, next Thursday,
June 11. The talk is organised by Tralee Chamber
Alliance.
The ‘Learn From The
Best’ conference will appeal to those in tourism,
marketing, planning and
d eve l o p m e n t . “ C o u n t y
Council staff, Chambers of
Commerce,
tourism
groups, volunteers, hotel
and attraction managers
will all learn from this con-
ference,” say the conference organisers.
Speakers from Ireland’s
three top tourism towns —
Killarney, Kilkenny and
We s t p o r t — w i l l t a l k .
These include: David
McNulty, Tourism Development International; Jon
Slattery and Ciara Whelan, TV3 Holiday Show;
Raymond Keaney; Simon
Wa l l , We s t p o r t ; M i k e
Buckley, Killarney; and
Colin Ahern, of Destination Kilkenny.
Contact
Tralee
Chamber Alliance; Tel:
0667121472; info@tralee.ie
Tax self-employed
fairly, says Coghlan
Fairer income tax for the
self-employed and competitiveness are critical issues for small Irish firms,
says incoming ISME chairman, James Coghlan.
The CEO of International Sports Activities,
in Dublin, Mr Coghlan has
been named chairman of
the national council of the
Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association for
the next two years.
He has been ISME’s
vice-chairman for the past
two years.
“Ireland’s decreasing
Reducing cost based is vital
for SMEs, says James Coghlan.
cost competitiveness is a
huge concern for SMEs
and, just yesterday, the
IMD reported a further decrease in our ranking, to
16th place,” he says. “Our
open economy relies far
too heavily on exports, and
global competition, for us
to allow our competitiveness to be eroded. Government must act to address
this issue and reduce the
unsustainable cost base
that is crippling SMEs.
“In recent months,
ISME has been championing a campaign to end the
tax discrimination against
the self-employed and proprietary directors who
can, in some cases, pay up
to eight times more tax
than their PAYE counterparts on similar incomes.
Our message is simple:
those on the same income
should pay the same tax.
The Taoiseach has indicated that Government
will address this inherently unfair system in
the next budget, and ensuring that he keeps this
promise will be a priority
item on the ISME agenda,”
Mr Coghlan says.
Launching the second annual Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth
Conference to be held in Cork on July 10 are: Lt Cdr Anthony
Geraghty, officer commanding LE Samuel Beckett, Minister
Simon Coveney, Conor Healy, CEO Cork Chamber, and Kieran
Calnan, chairman of Bord Iascaigh Mhara.
RELAND could boost
its appeal as a location
for multinationals by
creating a more benevolent income-tax environment to draw in key ‘hot
skills’ workers.
Last year, the Government
decided to enhance the appeal of the Special Assignee
Relief Programme (SARP),
but many feel we have not
gone far enough. The main
changes would be the removal of existing income
thresholds and the requirement to have previously
worked overseas for the
same employer. The latter
requirement has been reduced from 12 months to six,
but some employers believe
it should be lifted altogether.
In 2012, just 12 people entered Ireland using SARP,
and 30 in 2013. Employers
want to bring in people with
skills that are just not available here, people whose arrival safeguards countless
lower-level roles. The money
in question indicates as
much. In 2012, 2013 and 2014,
SARP workers paid tax on
30% of income between
€75,000 (lower threshold) and
€500,000 (upper threshold).
From 2015, the taxable proportion is determined as 30%
of an employee’s income
over €75,000 (i.e. without any
upper threshold). Even this
level may be driving these
key workers to more taxfriendly environments, thus
also influencing the location
choices of major employers.
This was the core message
in PwC’s recent ‘Employee
Mobility and Employment
Tax Forum’ in Dublin.
Forum delegates heard findings from PwC’s report,
‘Moving People With Purpose’, which showed that
89% of global firms plan to
increase their number of internationally mobile
workers in the coming two
years. “The changes to SARP
are a welcome step in the
right direction, but more is
needed,” said Jean Coleman,
PwC director for employee
mobility and HR services.
“We’d like to see the sixmonth restriction removed,
Bob Hoffman, CEO Sales Institute, Nicola De Beer, chief operating officer, FMI Ltd, and David Smith, country director, Diageo.
Training holds key to selling in
‘new’ recovering economy
Jean Coleman, director, PwC employee mobility and HR services; Fiona Flood, head of economic
migration policy and employment permits, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; and Aoife
Kilmurray, manager, PwC employee mobility and HR services, at the PwC Employee Mobility Forum.
and the complete removal of
the income-tax caps. The tax
relief should also cover bonuses, share awards, and
other benefits to the employee. Some companies who
bring in workers under
SARP promise to keep the
employee on the same net
amount as if they had never
left their previous country.
“The UK has done more to
reduce the cost to the employer of bringing in ‘hot
skills’ workers. In other jurisdictions, companies find it
easier to bring in key business units. Our department
of finance is listening to industries who want to bring
in these key people. We’re
still looking at ways that we
can make it more attractive
to these key people. There is
an opportunity here for Ireland, but I am not sure the
political will is there to make
it work.”
Employers are increasingly aware of the role employee mobility will play in
how their company will
evolve. Companies are expanding and moving location
for a myriad of reasons, and
their ability to move key staff
is central to these choices.
Key technology skills are
the most easily understood
example, but the same is true
across an array of skills and
sectors. Our current tax regime falls short for those employers seeking to attract
‘hot skills’ into Ireland.
Meanwhile, PwC’s mobility
forum also advised employers that they needed to
review how they looked at
mobility. Most companies
seem to be ad hoc in their approach. Almost a third (31%)
don’t know how many of
their employees work internationally. Just 8% of firms
can quantify the costs of
their mobility programmes,
with Ireland at 16%. Just 9%
of global firms measure the
return on investment from
mobility; 8% for Ireland. Employees are not only willing
to move countries, they now
expect this to be part of the
experience.
Delivering on this expectation is becoming increasingly important for global
companies. Companies also
need to devote more thought
to how they manage the
costs, and develop mobility
policies that retain top talent.
Mary O’Hara, employee
mobility and HR services
partner, PwC Ireland, said:
“Apart from Government
initiatives, we believe that
companies also need to take
a fresh, systematic look at
what needs to be done in relation to their own mobility
policies and practices, and
prioritise accordingly.
“The front-runners are
going to be in a stronger position to attract talent and
move quickly to capitalise on
market opportunities. Their
mobility teams are also
going to be able to make a
stronger contribution to
business development and
success, which will enhance
their role, and influence,
within the organisation.
“Measuring and reporting
on the return on investment
the organisation gets from
mobility will drive continuous improvement, and help
the business make sure its
global talent workforce is
truly fit for the future.”
Skilled, trained sales staff will enhance a company’s
ability to capitalise on the upturn in the economy,
says Bob Hoffman, CEO of The Sales Institute.
More than 400 of Ireland’s leading commercial and
sales people attended The Sales Institute’s recent 20th
anniversary ‘National Sales Leadership Conference’ at
The O’Reilly Hall, UCD, Dublin. They were updated on
the changing digital patterns of consumers; on maximising customer engagement through channel alignment;
and on the sales leadership qualities needed to be effective in the new economy.
“With the economy in rebound and future prospects
looking much brighter, it’s vital that Irish business
seizes the opportunity to build one of the best commercial sales forces in the world,” said Bob Hoffman. “The
Sales Institute is all about training and development of
commercial leaders — giving our members an added
edge in people talent development that creates leaders,
building sales and driving market growth.”
Sponsored by Topaz Energy, the event was chaired by
entrepreneur Bobby Kerr, of Dragon’s Den.
Cork City to dine al fresco
As part of the Cork Midsummer Festival, businesses and
restaurants in Cork have organised ‘Our Table’, an outdoor, three-course banquet for 400 people.
The banquet will take place on Oliver Plunkett Street,
from 6.30pm to 9pm on Sunday, June 14, with 12 top restaurants participating. Tickets are €45, plus a booking
fee.
This clever idea is the initiative of Cork City Centre
Forum, a Cork Chamber group made up of retailers and
business owners from across the city, as well as Cork
City Council, An Garda Síochána, and Cork Business
Association (CBA). Its aim is to identify and advance
new and innovative opportunities to drive footfall and
business in the city centre.
Alpha Wealth appointees
Catherine O’Sullivan.
Clare Maxwell.
Lorna Rumley.
Financial services company,
Alpha Wealth, has made a
number of key appointments
in its Cork office.
Catherine O’Sullivan has
been appointed financial advisor; Clare Maxwell has
been named senior financial
services administrator;
while Lorna Rumley takes
on a new marketing co-ordinator and business development role.
C a t h e r i n e O ’ S u l l i va n
joined Alpha Wealth in February, 2015. She is a graduate
of the Cork College of Commerce (financial management diploma, 2008).
She has a strong background
in accounts, administration
and customer service, working for large financial com-
panies, such as Fexco and
SWS Energy.
Catherine has also worked
abroad and this experience
has been valuable.
She provides advice to
people in all types of professions, from the self-employed to PAYE workers and
company directors, with respect to protection, retirement planning and savings.
Clare Maxwell has worked
in Alpha Wealth since May,
2015. She has 16 years’ financial services experience,
having worked in both the
UK and Ireland.
She will support the financial advisory team and fulfil
all aspects of the administrative functions to ensure
clients receive a first-class
service. Clare has completed
a number of the qualified financial advisor modules
(both in the UK and Ireland)
and is working to soon complete the remaining modules.
Lorna Rumley is a graduate from UCC, with a degree
in international business/
trade/commerce and Italian,
having majored in marketing.
She has experience in hospitality, retail, advertising and
promotional work.
Lorna has responsibility
for all aspects of marketing,
social media and advertising
for Alpha Wealth, bringing
creative experience to the financial services industry.
She will develop the brand
throughout Ireland.
David Bagnall has been appointed to the board of retail
and wholesale company, BWG
Foods, and as chief operating
officer of its property division,
Triode Newhill Management
Services. He will manage the
franchised retail and property
estate across the Spar, Mace
and Eurospar retail brands. He
has been with BWG for the past
18 years.
John O’Driscoll has been appointed head of global communications in the business
division of telecomms group,
BT Ireland. He was director of
sales and marketing at G4S Secure Solutions Group Ireland.
He also worked at eircom for 12
years. He holds a masters in
strategic sales management
from UCD Smurfit and a diploma in mentoring.
Simon Collins has been appointed business development
manager with information security service provider, Ward
Solutions. He has 15 years’ experience in sales, IT solutions
and security solutions and services. Previously, he was account manager in Datapac. He
holds a diploma in management and an honours psychology BA.
Gonzalo Restrepo has joined
the board of paper-based
packaging products group,
Smurfit Kappa, as a non-executive director. He is the former
CEO of Almacenes Exito, a retail company in Latin America
and a subsidiary of the French
company, Casino Group. He
was CEO of Almacenes Exito,
from 1990 until he retired in
2013. During his tenure, the
Colombian group grew from
four stores, in 1990, to 500.
Gary Conroy has been appointed managing director of
financial services company,
Realex Payments. He joined
the company in 2005 and most
recently was chief operating officer and deputy CEO. The
company had 14 employees
when he joined; it now has 170.
It had 500 customers; it now
has 12,500. Mr Conroy is a
graduate of UCD Michael
Smurfit Graduate Business
School.
Shane Doyle has been
promoted to strategic partner
at MCCP.
Mr Doyle joined the planning
agency five years ago, from
McCann, and previously he
worked at Ogilvy & Mather.
Mr Doyle currently heads up
the strategy for Heineken,
Rabo, Tourism Ireland, as well
as leading insight training and
innovation planning across a
number of local and international clients.