New Irish budget package will boost R&D in small businesses
The Irish government has launched a €272 million budget package which Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Micheál Martin hopes will boost research and development (R&D) in the country's small businesses and further develop the spirit of entrepreneurship in Ireland. The reforms in the package were suggested in large part by the Small Business Forum which was set up by Mr Martin. Ireland has 250,000 small businesses, employing a total of 800,000 people. Measures outlined in the package include the extension to 2013 and the radical enhancement of the Business Expansion and Seed Capital Schemes. 'These changes will tackle the difficulties faced by small businesses in raising capital to pursue entrepreneurial risk taking,' commented the Minister. 'Fostering the growth of wealth creating enterprises is of central importance if Ireland's economic success is to be sustained in the long term.' The VAT registration threshold has been significantly elevated, reducing compliance costs and removing some 8,000 businesses from the VAT net. The small business threshold for paying preliminary corporation tax has been trebled, easing the administrative and accounting burden for the 97% of companies to which it will apply. The budget package also includes improvements to the R&D tax credit system estimated at €70 million a year. 'The increase from three to six years in the period of tax benefit for incremental R&D will not only enhance the value of the incentive but provide critical longer term certainty for both indigenous and FDI [foreign direct investment] companies making key strategic decisions to invest in R&D or locate R&D activities in Ireland,' commented Minister Martin. 'We are sending a clear signal to business that this government is supporting their efforts to develop new products and win new markets,' the Minister added.
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Ireland