John McGuirk

Show some bloody imagination in the budget, will you? Focus on jobs instead of solely the public finances. Here’s two ideas to get you started.

1. Make employment tax-free to the employer

Why isn’t it possible to allow companies who hire new employees to offset the cost of the income tax on that employee’s salary against the corporate income tax the company pays on it’s profits for a period of five years? In other words, an employee earning approximately €60,000 who pays income deducted taxes of, say, €20,000, would have his or her taxes deducted from the company’s corporate tax bill. This would reduce the cost of that employee to the employer by €20,000, and inject more income into the economy, while reducing the welfare bill and increasing overall economic activity. The proportion deductable could then be reduced over a period of time as the economy grows, giving a further revenue boost to the state.

2. Cut VAT

We can have money spent on this side of the border, or we can keep subsidising the UK.  It’s very simple. A reduction in VAT to less that the level in Northern Ireland would immediately be a boost to the economy and create jobs in the retail sector.