10% Capital Gains Tax for start-ups as FG plans 93,000 new start-up jobs

An Taoiseach & Fine Gael Leader, Enda Kenny TD, and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, were today (Friday) in micksgarage.com in Park West, Dublin to outline the party’s plan to help create 93,000 new jobs from start-up companies as part of the Fine Gael Long Term Economic Plan.

The Taoiseach said the plan would make Ireland an international centre for start-ups through a co-ordinated range of measures including cutting Capital Gains Tax:

“We have ambitious and credible plans to make Ireland an international start-up hub because start-ups are vital in a small open economy like ours. They are the lifeblood of communities. Our small businesses and our young businesses are the heartbeat of the local and the national economy.

“Two thirds of jobs created in an economy are in companies less than five years old. In a small, open economy like Ireland’s, a vibrant start-up community, in all sectors, is of vital importance. Ireland has no shortage of talented and successful entrepreneurs but, compared to international competitors, we have an average level of new company start-ups. Our ambition is to make Ireland an international centre for start-ups. We have clear and careful ways to do this and stake Ireland’s place. We will cut the rate of Capital Gains Tax to 10% on gains arising from next year and held for five years up to a maximum liability of €10 million. We need to incentivise people to take the leap to create their own job and jobs for other people.”

Minister Bruton said:

“In Ireland, we have great entrepreneurs but we want to see more of them. They are the real heroes of the economy – taking risks, creating businesses and jobs that we all benefit from. Our plan will increase the numbers of start-ups by 25% by 2020, or 3,000 more start-ups per year. We also want to increase the survival rate of those start-ups by 25% a year, and improve the capacity of those survivors to grow to scale and expand in to larger scale exporters by 25%.

“Under the Future Jobs Investment Fund we will provide additional capital funding and we will help support more High Potential Start-ups through Enterprise Ireland and the LEO network. We will also continue to support improved access to finance for start-ups through the Credit Guarantee Scheme and the Micro Finance Fund.

“We know broadband is absolutely critical for rural start-ups and, within the next Dáil term, Fine Gael guarantees the delivery of next-generation broadband to every household and business in the country. No town, village or parish will be left behind under the National Broadband Plan, which will ensure that 85% of premises in Ireland will have access to high speed broadband by 2018, with 100% access by 2020.”

The Fine Gael plan will:

· Help make Ireland an international centre for start-ups by cutting the rate of Capital Gains Tax to 10% on gains arising on chargeable business assets acquired from January 1, 2017 and held for 5 years up to a maximum liability of €10 million.
· Use the Regional Action Plan for Jobs structures to provide additional capital funding to help foster start-up communities and clusters around the country through the Future Jobs Investment Fund.
· Provide funding through Enterprise Ireland and the LEO network to help support more High Potential Start-ups, more Competitive Feasibility calls and to continue to fund the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition.
· Continue to support improved access to finance for start-ups through the continued backing of the Credit Guarantee Scheme and the Micro Finance Fund established under this Government. We will also actively pursue more non-bank related sources of funding for start-ups to bring us closer in line with other international countries with strong start-up cultures.
· Be delivered and overseen through the Action Plan for Jobs process, and the Department of Education & Skills are committed to developing an Entrepreneurship Policy Statement which will drive entrepreneurship guidelines for schools.