Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) has declared that the doubling of the PRSI rate for low paid workers from 4.25% to 8.50% in last year’s Budget is stifling employment and job creation.
At the launch of its Budget 2015 submission last week, chief executive of REI, David Fitzsimons, said that the Government’s job activation programmes are just not working.
He said, “How can these activation measures work when at the same time the Government doubles the employers PRSI rate for low-paid workers? It is the equivalent of having some really great promotions on in-store and not opening the shop doors. If the Government is serious about job activation, the rate must be reduced back to 4.25%.”
The REI’s submission calls for the government to retain the 9% VAT rate, which it said has positively impacted job retention and creation in labour intensive sectors. Additionally REI requests that no further excise increases should be applied to alcohol and tobacco products. The report said, “Any increase will lead to a diminution of taxation collected due to the resultant increase in black market and cross-border demand.”
REI has also called for a reduction of consumer taxes, including the higher VAT rate to 21%, reminding that there are 275,000 people employed in the Irish Retail Industry, making it Ireland’s largest private sector employer. “Irish retailers paid salaries of €8.8 billion in 2012. These salaries were paid in every town and village in the country," the report says. "There are 44,000 retail businesses in Ireland. Most operate in small towns and villages. They are central to our societal infrastructure.”
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
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