In his Budget 2019 speech to the Dáil this week, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, T.D., announced his intention to bring forward a priority package of measures in the Finance Bill to address certain issues with EII and SURE and to increase its efficiency and effectiveness.
Having taken account of the recommendations contained in the recent review carried out by Indecon Economic Consultants, the Minister intends to:
- amend the application procedure (EII and (SURE) to a largely self-certification model as is the norm for such schemes. This will address the most significant problem with the current design of the scheme relating to delays in the application process; (under the proposed new arrangements, companies may ask Revenue to confirm that they met the requirements for General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) compliance);
- provide for a specific investor eligibility regime for investment in very small enterprises;
- include a consolidated and updated version of the current text of Part 16 (EII and SURE) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 in Finance Bill 2018 along with certain technical and operational enhancements to the schemes; and
- extend the EII and SURE sunset clause to three years from now (end 2021).
This is a priority package to address the main shortcomings identified with the scheme. It is intended that other issues will be addressed in a subsequent Finance Bill so as to ensure that the relief is focussed on those enterprises that need it most and that the rates and quantum of relief are appropriately calibrated.
Further details will be provided upon the publication of the Finance Bill.
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