“Ireland has some particularly generous tax reliefs but when I meet new clients for the first time I get the impression that the best reliefs are the least used,” according to Dara Burke, tax director at McAvoy & Associates.
Speaking at a reception in the River Lee Hotel, Cork to launch McAvoy & Associates’ new publication, “21 Tax Tips for SMEs and their Shareholders”
Covering tax issues from the 10% Capital Gains tax rate that applies to disposals qualifying for Entrepreneur Relief to the relief available on stock options for key employees, the publication is designed to make SMEs and their directors aware that many are paying unnecessary amounts of tax.
She explained that she believed the reason for this was the undue priority that many businesses give to searching for tax breaks on income rather than focusing on ways of reducing tax on capital gains.
“Capital gains tax is charged at rates that vary between 0%, 10% and 33% whereas income is taxed at rates as high as 55%, so it makes more sense to plan to generate low-taxed gains as opposed to high-taxed income.
“Moreover, most successful entrepreneurs put their success down to having a relentless focus on improving the value of their businesses rather than in extracting large amounts of income.”
