Author: Practicenet

European equities edged higher in early trading on Wednesday after steep declines in the previous session, with energy shares gaining following a bounce back in crude oil prices. The STOXX Europe Oil and Gas index rose 1.2pc, the top sectoral gainer, after crude prices jumped on hopes for an agreement among exporters to freeze output. […]

Finance Minister Michael Noonan will reduce the difference between the Universal Social Charge paid by entrepreneurs and PAYE workers in the next Budget, as well as lowering the overall rate of USC paid by everyone, the Sunday Independent understands. Under the current regime, self-employed people pay 3pc more in USC on earnings over €100,000 than […]

Almost one-in-three earners will end up paying no income tax or Universal Social Charge after the Budget. But higher income earners will still be hit with some of the highest taxes in Europe. That’s the assessment from the Irish Tax Institute, based on what it expects in next month’s Budget. As the economy surges ahead […]

The Coalition has no plans to offer any incentives to first- time buyers in the forthcoming budget. And there are also no plans by Fine Gael or the Labour Party to include sweeteners for young people struggling to get on the property ladder in their election manifestos. The news will come as a huge disappointment […]

BANK of Ireland customers have been targeted in an email scam looking for their bank details. The scam email claims that during account maintenance, the bank detected an error in the account holders information. In the email, complete with Bank of Ireland logo, the customer is then asked to confirm their bank account details. The […]

One third of Irish households will be generating their own electricity within 10 years, the ESB’s chief executive has predicted. Pat O’Doherty said that the company is witnessing a dramatic rise in the number of customers investing in new technologies to reduce their reliance on the national grid. However he warned that this shift to […]

Microsoft Ireland has been named as the largest exporting company on the island, pushing Google off the top spot, a report has found. The value of exports from the top five exporting companies surged almost a quarter compared with the same period last year. Microsoft’s export turnover surged 21pc from €15bn in 2014 to €18.2bn […]

The Coalition has no plans to offer any incentives to first- time buyers in the forthcoming budget. And there are also no plans by Fine Gael or the Labour Party to include sweeteners for young people struggling to get on the property ladder in their election manifestos. The news will come as a huge disappointment […]

Companies would save €1bn per year in administrative costs if the European Union adopts a common approach to corporate taxation, EU Economic and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has claimed. The former French finance minister has posted an article to his online blog calling for a mandatory EU common consolidated corporate tax base, a plan that […]

Pat O’Doherty says ESB will survive to take advantage of new market opportunities Electricity bills will come under upward pressure because of the investment needed to transform the way we consume power, according to ESB chief executive Pat O’Doherty. O’Doherty told the Sunday Independent that the single biggest policy challenge in the sector is to […]