Kinsale Business Christmas Lunch 2017 with the Lord Mayor Cllr Tony Fitzgerald Key messages from leading economist Jim Power : "The past year has been another good one for the Irish economy. The international background has been as good as we have seen in a decade, notwithstanding the uncertainty created by Brexit and Trump. Outlook for 2018 good. Global economy getting steadily better; and domestic momentum very solid as we turn towards the new year. The domestic agenda will be dominated by Brexit, the lack of housing supply and the quality and quantity of public services. Strong political leadership and prudent economic and financial management will be need to steer the economy through these uncertainties. Controlling all of the costs facing the business sector and credit availability for the SME sector are essential priorities. The outlook for the South West looks good with tourism likely to have another good year and the SME sector set to benefit from the ongoing improvement in consumer demand and generally stronger domestic demand. Brexit and associated sterling weakness will challenge the agri-food sector."

Looking forward to our end of year Kinsale Business Christmas Lunch with leading Economist Jim Power on " Threats and Opportunities in 2018 - Implications for Kinsale & Cork. Our guest of honour is The Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Tony Fitzgerald.

Kinsale Business Watch Great to have a presentation from Sgt Ian O Callaghan of Cork SW Crime Prevention with Garda John Lawton and Sgt Pat Ryan of Kinsale Gardai this morning at Blue Haven. Interesting presentation of security and crime prevention in the town and great to see people from retail , hospitality, Chamber of Tourism & Business ,Kinsale Vintners and local stakeholders attend. Good collaboration. Forms are available from our offices if you would like to partake in this initiative. 021/4774500

Start-ups ,SMEs and entrepreneurs will be interested in this new publication which is an easy to follow guide on the steps involved in starting your own business. Fitzgerald & Partners who just recently launched their successful “Doing Business in Kinsale 2017/18” guide at Blue Haven, Kinsale have followed on with this innovative online guide which is also available in hard copy from their offices or to download on www.fitzgeraldandpartners.com Our team enjoy working in a business advisory capacity with entrepreneurs and also with educators in the area promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship and hopefully this useful tool we have developed over the years which may help people embarking on that journey. We enjoy working in collaboration with other key employers, stakeholders in the area promoting business, enterprise and tourism.

Our Management Team are delighted to be recognised in this Cork Business Awards 2017 thanks to all involved.

Our new easy to follow guide will be available shortly suited for those in start up, SME or entrepreneur sector. Please visit www.fitzgeraldandpartners.com for more details.

www.doingbusinessinkinsale.com

Our business advisory team at Fitzgerald & Partners are delighted to be nominated for The Cork Business Awards 2017 - Cork Accountancy Firm of the Year. Cork's Biggest Business Awards Event.

www.fitzgeraldandpartners.com

Doing Business in Kinsale 2017/18 " Promoting enterprise in Kinsale" will be launched this month thanks to all involved in this project.

Budget 2018 We will have a budget summary available to email to our clients on budget day. What the predictions so far ? Budget 2018 Our top 52% rate of tax is a problem in a Brexit context inhibiting our ability to attract key talent in to Ireland. The Government have an opportunity when merging the USC and PRSI to deal with that issue. However, it is more likely the Minister will look after the standard rate cut off points and make a small change there. We are expecting an increase in the Old Age pension and we are also expecting an extension of mortgage interest relief in to 2018. CPA Ireland is urging the minister to support SMEs in the battle for talent in the form of a new share based remuneration scheme for SMEs which would be an invaluable tool for growing irish businesses.• The potential merging of USC and PRSI into a single social insurance payment is the main employment tax topic in advance of the 2018 Budget • A further increase in the earned income tax credit is expected. The Government is committed to matching this to the PAYE credit of €1,650 by 2018 • The inheritance tax threshold from parent to child is likely to increase towards the target level of €500,000 • Few surprises are expected as the employment tax changes have been well signposted • Employment tax changes we already know about • There were a number of measures signposted in the 2017 Budget, which we expect to be implemented in the 2018 Budget. • These include further increases in the Earned Income Credit and the Parent/Child threshold for Capital Acquisitions Tax. • Other potential employment tax changes • Other options available to the Government include increasing the standard rate band by €1,000. This would result in annual savings of €200 per taxpayer and would cost the exchequer an estimated €200 million. • Supporting entrepreneurship in Irish business is a priority • We believe the path forward is clear in terms of promoting entrepreneurship and we should support both entrepreneurial exit and succession. Entrepreneur Relief in the UK provides for a 10% Capital Gains Tax rate on gains up to Stg £10 million and the criteria to qualify are less onerous than ours. Although last year’s Budget saw our rate drop from 20% to 10% We would encourage Minister Donohoe to finish the job by increasing the threshold from €1 million to nearer €10 million.

Delighted to be nominated for this event The Cork Business Awards 2017