Business costs are in the spotlight across the Sunday papers with the Business Post reporting the Government is “strongly considering” a delay to the introduction of the living wage this year.
The Coalition is committed to introducing a national living wage – 60 per cent of hourly median wages – by January 2026 through incremental increases in the minimum wage, as recommended by the Low Pay Commission.
But as small and medium-sized businesses continue sounding the alarm over elevated operating costs, the quantum of the wage increases is becoming a cause for concern in Government circles, the paper reports. With the minimum wage at €12.70, lower end wages could increase by an estimated €2.15 over the next two years. Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke has already said he would not “countenance” any increase above €1 next year.
Amid a number of high-profile small business closures, including two of celebrity chef Dylan McGrath’s Dublin restaurants last week, the Coalition may look at delaying the policy’s implementation, according to the report.
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VAT surprise for Irish Uber drivers
Also in the Business Post, taxi drivers who have signed up to ride-sharing app Uber could face difficulties renewing their licences over missed VAT payments.
Passenger transport is exempt from VAT but other, related activities – such as the provision of booking facilities through an app – are not. While other ride-sharing companies like FreeNow and Bolt collect VAT owed on these payments from drivers and discharge the tax liability on their behalf, Uber does not.
Unlike those companies, Uber, which has 6,000 drivers in the Republic, is not liable for Irish VAT because it is registered in the Netherlands, meaning the tax liability reverts back to the driver, the paper reports.
Jim Waldron, spokesman for the National Private Hire and Taxi Association (NPHTA), said his group’s members – who had always understood that their services were exempt from VAT – were “shocked” at the development. “Revenue has now been informed by taxi service platforms about who is using their services and commissions paid by drivers to use the platforms,” according to the report, and this data was being used to “cross-check taxpayer declarations”, a spokeswoman for the tax authority said.
McKillen had ‘informal’ contract with Sheikh
The Sunday Independent gives an update on the heated legal row between Paddy McKillen and a Qatari sheikh.
As reported previously, the relationship between the Belfast-born property magnate and former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani soured in 2022 after Mr McKillen was removed from the board of the luxury Maybourne Hotel Group.
Before that, the developer had worked on a number of projects on behalf of the Qataris for which he has gone to court seeking payment. In new US court filings, Mr McKillen claims his company worked on a new luxury hotel development in Paris “without a formal contract”. This “was customary based on the relationship between Mr McKillen and Jassim on previous projects”, the paper reports.
Renewables firms saw profits balloon in 2022
The Sunday Times carries a report on the fortunes of renewables companies during the recent energy crisis, when gas prices began to spiral following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Wind and solar companies watched as their net profits quadrupled in 2022 – the first year of the crisis – from €125 million to €509 million as demand for alternative sources of electricity generation boomed, the paper reports.
The figures are contained in a report published by the Single Electricity Market that reveals the sector generated revenues of €8.2 billion that year.
Pension reform deadline unrealistic
Chartered Accountants Ireland has become the latest industry group to question whether the Government can credibly deliver the new mandatory workplace pensions scheme – auto-enrolment – next year. A report in the Sunday Times says the accountancy industry group has called for the introduction to be put back to 2026.
It also wants a definite start date, which the Government has yet to give, as well as a pilot phase to allow employers and the staff affected to become familiar with the scheme and allow time to address teething issues.
Preparing for auto-enrolment was “not on the radar” for business at all, and wouldn’t be until a start date was announced, said Crona Clohisey, director of public affairs at the CAI.
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