News

The Living Wage rate is to remain unchanged at €12.30 per hour for the coming year, following fresh calculations. The change to the rate is determined by the fluctuation of living costs and taxation. It is calculated by the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG), which is made up of researchers and academics from St Vincent […]

Deutsche Bank plans to close one in five branches in its home market in Germany as it seeks to save costs and capitalise on the changing habits of customers during the coronavirus pandemic, an executive said.  Philipp Gossow, who oversees the retail banking business in Germany, told Reuters that the reduction to some 400 branches […]

Europe’s economic rebound is uncertain and uneven, requiring “very careful” assessment of incoming data, including the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said today.  “The uncertainty of the current environment requires a very careful assessment of the incoming information, including developments in the exchange rate,” Lagarde said in a speech […]

The number of people claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen by just 3,600 in the last week. In total, 206,341 people received the PUP today, with €61.3m due to be paid to them tomorrow. However, today’s numbers do not take account of the decision to impose more severe restrictions on Dublin last Friday. […]

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has undercut the main justification for US President Donald Trump’s trade war against China, saying that American tariffs on Chinese goods violate international rules. A panel of three WTO trade experts yesterday said the US broke global regulations when it imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018. Washington has imposed levies […]

Sterling got support today from data showing British shoppers kept increasing spending last month, taking sales further above their pre-Covid-19 levels, although the outlook for the pound remains bleak.  The currency was up against the euro at 0.916 today but down 0.2% against the dollar at $1.295. It fell to $1.2866 yesterday when the Bank of England said […]

There’s less than a month to go until Budget 2021, but already it’s shaping up to be unlike any other we’ve known in recent memory. Coming against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and what’s looking increasingly like no trade deal between the UK and the EU by year end, the government has two broad […]

So is this the big one? After years of courts cases and appeals and treaties and Austrian campaigners, are we finally on the brink of digital war between the EU and the US? Everyone agrees that the Irish data protection commissioner’s preliminary order to Facebook to stop transferring EU citizen data to the US brings […]

The global economic recovery from the crisis originated by the coronavirus pandemic may take as much as five years, the World Bank’s chief economist Carmen Reinhart said on Thursday. “There will probably be a quick rebound as all the restriction measures linked to lockdowns are lifted, but a full recovery will take as much as […]

Revenue has further extended the deadline for self-assessed income tax returns made online. The Pay and File deadline for submissions made via Revenue Online Service is now 10 December, as opposed to the previous date of 12 November. Revenue said Capital Acquisitions Tax returns relating to gifts or inheritances received in the year to the […]