Contact: Andrew McLindon
Wilson Hartnell Public Relations
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Contact: Irene O'Gorman
Deloitte
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+353 1 4178566

97 per cent of Irish chief executives believe that the Minister for Finance should use the forthcoming budget to introduce an incentive to encourage individuals to reinvest the proceeds of their SSIAs as they mature, according to a Deloitte survey.

The survey of 107 CEOs, which was carried out last month, also found that 79 per cent would favour the introduction of tax breaks for parents who use childcare, while 77 per cent believe that there should be an increase in the stamp duty thresholds in Budget 2006 in order to encourage people to trade up in housing and free more houses up for first-time buyers.

On the question of encouraging Irish companies to invest in R&D, 80 per cent of business leaders said that the Minister for Finance should remove the incremental nature of the current R&D tax break and bring Ireland's tax regime in line with the 'best in class' systems.

The vast majority of CEOs (81 per cent) believe that the Minister for Finance should obtain EU approval for the continuation of tax incentives for infrastructural projects, while 71 per cent called on the Minister to cut the cost of new vehicles in order to reduce motoring costs for industry and bring our tax policies in this area in line with our EU partners.

To encourage pension take-up among the self-employed, 81 per cent of respondents said that individuals working for themselves should be able to fund their pensions based on actuarial valuations similar to employer funded pension schemes, with no limit on the amount of income which can qualify for pension purposes.

Just over 60 per cent of Irish CEOs also support a reduction in employer's PRSI as a way to encourage businesses to take on more staff.

Commenting on the survey results, Pat Cullen, National Tax Partner, Deloitte, said: "This survey underlines the support for a replacement product to attract funds from maturing SSIAs. The pension rules for the self employed also need to recognise that many self employed cannot provide for their pensions until their later working years and the current rules make it very difficult for them to make adequate pension provision".

ENDS