THE Small Firms' Association is calling for a clampdown on social welfare fraud, with the monies saved going to fund changes in the taxation system.
SFA chairwoman, Ms Lorraine Sweeney, in a pre Budget submission, will tell the Oireachtas Select Committee on Finance and General Affairs today that her association wants a reduced level of corporation tax, reduced taxation of the lower paid and a reduction in the cost of PRSI to employers.
It also wants the ending of the "anomaly" whereby a salaried director of his or her own business is not eligible for the £800 PAYE allowance available to that director's employees at a cost of £17.8 million in a full year.
The SFA wants the small business rate of corporation tax reduced to 27 per cent on the first £100,000 of profits. The current rate is 30 per cent on the first £50,000 profits and the change would cost £19 million in a full year, according to the association.
Corporation tax had a direct effect in reducing investment in small companies and on their ability to create new jobs, it said.
The SFA is also seeking the reintroduction of income tax relief for persons receiving dividends from a company eligible for the 10 per cent rate of Corporation tax. The scheme sought would cost the Exchequer £3 million in a full year.
Legislation providing for automatic interest payments where State agencies fail to pay their bills within agreed credit terms is being called for by the association.
It also seeks the establishment of a Revenue Commissioners/ Small Business Users Council to carry out an impact assessment of compliance regulations.
The SFA is concerned about the "heavy costs" of complying with demands for information from the Revenue Commissioners. Such demands should be on a "need to know" basis rather than being automatic, it believes.
