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(l-r) Partners: Peter Roberts, Vivian Nathan, Gerard Hughes, Brendan Kean  We are pleased to announce the appointment of Gerard Hughes as a new partner in our Insolvency & Advisory Services. Gerard Hughes brings a wealth of experience and expertise, enhancing the firm's capabilities in providing comprehensive solutions to businesses facing financial challenges. "We are delighted to welcome Gerard Hughes to our Insolvency & Advisory Services team," said Vivian Nathan, Managing Partner, Roberts Nathan. "Gerard's deep understanding of the insolvency landscape and his commitment to delivering exceptional results align perfectly with our firm's values and client-centric approach. His expertise will further strengthen our ability to support businesses in navigating financial complexities and charting a path towards sustainable growth." With over 15 years of experience in the field of insolvency and restructuring, Gerard Hughes has established himself as a trusted advisor in helping businesses navigate complex financial situations.  Gerard will work closely with clients to provide tailored solutions in insolvency, restructuring, and financial advisory services. His addition to the team reinforces Roberts Nathan's commitment to delivering comprehensive and reliable business advice to clients, enabling them to make informed decisions during challenging times.

Congratulations to Leann Landers for being nominated for the "Apprentice of the Year award" with The Generation Apprenticeship Apprentice of the Year programme. All of us in Roberts Nathan are so proud of you! A fantastic event, MC'd by Dermot Bannon, was held last night at The Mansion House, Dublin for the awards ceremony. Leann and her manager, Susan Lennon, were delighted to attend. It was great to see Simon Harris, who launched the programme along with the National Apprenticeship Office, in attendance and he delivered an excellent speech to the 187 nominees who were present last night with their friends and families.   [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.robertsnathan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RN_-_Leanne.mp4" autoplay="true"][/video]

Congratulations to Aidan Scollard on his recent award with BITA, "Irish Business Leadership Award 2022". Aidan works extensively with growth-focused Irish and UK business owners to maximise cross-borders structures, supports and trade. Pictured below are Aidan Scollard, Diane Birch, Executive Director, and Paul Whitnell, President BITA.

Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath have delivered Budget 2023 which the Minister for Finance specifically referred to as a “cost of living” Budget. The Minister referred to the difficult balancing act faced by the Government to help ease the burden of the rising costs of living on the public while also not driving up inflation which is currently at 8.5%. In this regard, the measures introduced were weighted strongly towards individuals’ financial position rather than towards businesses and corporates. Some of the main changes introduced to help for individuals include:

• Each PAYE worker/sole trader in the higher tax band will see tax savings in 2023 of over €800 over the course of the year with the following measures:
  • increase of the standard rate band to €40,000,
  • increase of personal, employee and earned income tax credits by €75 each, and
  • increase in the 2% USC rate threshold by €1,625.
• A tax credit for those who are renting of €500 per annum including for the year 2022.
• Electricity credits of €600 of which €200 will be paid in December 2022 with the remainder early in the new year.
• There were a number of increases for social welfare recipients including:
  • Social welfare payments to be increased by €12 per week;
  • One off double week payment to social welfare recipients in October in addition to the Christmas bonus in December;
  • One off payment of €200 for those in receipt of the Living Alone Allowance;
  • One off payment of €500 to those on Disabililty Allowance, Invalidity Pension and Blind Pension;
  • One off payment of €500 to those on Carer’s Support Grant.
• Parents will benefit greatly in this budget with the following items being introduced
  • A 25% weekly reduction for those availing of the National Childcare Scheme
  • A once off double payment of child benefit to all qualifying households
  • Free school books to be provided for primary school children.

While the above are welcome measures for individuals feeling the strain of increased fuel and living costs, SME’s are also in danger of seeing increasing overheads reducing profits and having a major impact on their survival. The lack of measures to ease this burden will have caused great concern to business owners, many of whom have just got back to normal trading following the Covid pandemic. Many of these businesses will also have debt warehousing balances to begin paying off from 1 January 2023 and this will put further financial pressure on their cash flow next year. The main support introduced for businesses is the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme. The scheme will compare the average unit price for the relevant bill period in 2022 to the corresponding period in 2021 and any increase of more than 50% will entitle the business to support calculated as 40% of the increase. A monthly cap of €10,000 per trade will apply. However, the scheme will need to be approved by the EU Commission in advance of payments being made. For businesses carrying on R&D functions, the Government has committed to enhancing the current R&D credits to make amendments to the payable element of R&D to align with other EU countries. We would hope this would see the refund of credits not used arising in year one rather than being spread over 3 years. The Knowledge Development Box regime has been extended a further 4 years to allow an effective corporation tax rate of 6.25% for businesses making a qualifying KDB claim. As noted above, employees will have some additional income in their take home pay due to the individual taxation measures, but to help businesses reward key employees the KEEP scheme has been extended to 2025. The KEEP scheme is an important consideration for SMEs who may wish to reward key staff with a share in the business, however, the administration and compliance of running the scheme has been known to be quite onerous and we would hope to see some tweaks to legislation in the Finance Bill next month to further encourage uptake in this scheme. The once off tax-free gift employers can provide to employees has also been increased from €500 to €1,000 with two vouchers now being allowed instead of one. Finally, the Special Assignee Relief Programme will continue until 2025 and the qualifying income has increased to €100,000 to encourage inbound expertise. These business measures, along with the continued commitment to both the 12.5% corporation tax rate and working closely with the EU and OECD on international changes, are aimed at keeping Ireland competitive and safeguarding Ireland’s attractiveness as a destination for talent and foreign direct investment. However, the lack of substantial support for SMEs given the rising overhead costs is a worrying result of the Budget announcements.  The implementation of the new TBESS once it gets EC approval will be of major interest to all business owners as this is the only significant financial saving for businesses arising from the announcements. Some may argue that business owners did benefit from significant supports during Covid but the cost-of-living crisis that we are facing could be every bit as detrimental to the future of many Irish SMEs if sufficient support is not provided. We would hope that the application of the TBESS is made seamless and practical to ensure at least this support is fully utilised by businesses in need. We await the publication of the Finance Bill on 20 October to see if any further measures are introduced.

2022 is a special year for us all in Roberts Nathan as it marks our 25-year anniversary since the firm was formed. It was great to get a few days away with the Roberts Nathan team to celebrate. It's been a wonderful journey so far now with 55 on the team in Dublin and Cork and growing. Thanks to Colm O'Regan, Willie Hyland and Midland Escape and The Heritage Hotel who helped make the event a great success. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.robertsnathan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Roberts_Nathan_Staff_Event_Sept_2022-2-1.mp4" autoplay="true"][/video]

On Wednesday Rishi Sunak announced the UK budget and Irish interest was immediately drawn to the confirmation that the Corporation Tax rate would increase from 19% to 25% from April 2023 for companies with profits of at least £250k.  This can only be seen as a positive for Ireland where our continued commitment to the 12.5% Corporation Tax rate would make it an ideal location from UK businesses looking to relocate operations to the EU. Ireland’s Corporation Tax code is built on transparency and substance and we have advised many businesses on the requirements to establishing in Ireland from a direct tax, indirect tax and commercial perspective.