ISME disappointed with Budget
Small firms association ISME said it was disappointed with the 2004 Budget saying it that it does little for Irish business and little to encourage Irish entrepreneurs.
According to the association, the budget will do nothing to encourage or reward risk taking and will not improve the overall position of Irish business.
The group argued that similar to previous budgets, the Minister has compounded the injustice to SMEs' by not extending the PAYE allowance to owner/managers.
While welcoming the decision to increase the tax credits to €1,040, which will primarily benefit the lower-paid meaning minimum wage earners only pay tax on 10% of their income, ISME was disappointed at the decision to increase the ceiling for employees' PRSI.
The association view this as "a step in the wrong direction".
The significant increase in petrol and diesel prices will have a negative influence on business transport costs, particularly when added to the increase in road tax in January 2004, it said.
The additional committed spending and concerted planning on infrastructure was welcomed, as it should help to remove key bottlenecks.
ISME welcomed the introduction of a tax credit to encourage Research & Development (R&D), but was disappointed that many small businesses are excluded as the benefit is restricted to companies who invest over €50,000.
The extension of the BES and Seed Capital Scheme were welcomed as "a positive step".
While disappointed that the "benchmarking fiasco" was allowed to continue, ISME said it was pleased that the Minister had restricted the level of Government expenditure to 5-7%, over the next few years.
