Budget 2022 guide

Budget 2022 guide – key areas for retailers and SME’s. The much-discussed Budget for 2022 has been announced, and it has generally been viewed as a favourable budget for businesses and workers, as many continue to struggle with the ongoing impact of a global pandemic.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, TD and Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment says: “Budget 2022 is good for business and good for workers. It will secure our economic recovery and help businesses that are still struggling.”

As with previous budgets, some businesses and individuals will be impacted more than others, and there is a lot of information to pore over to get to the bits that are relevant to you.

We have gone through all the details to select the important elements that may impact your retail SME, at a glance.

Full budget details are available at Budget 2022

Key areas

Corporation tax

• SMEs are to remain at the 12.5% corporation tax rate (15% will only apply to those with an annual turnover of over €750 million), in line with the recent OECD tax agreement.

Tobacco Products Tax

• Tax on tobacco products increased from 13 October 2021. A packet of 20 cigarettes increased by €0.50, with pro-rata increases on other tobacco products.

Employees

• The minimum wage will be increased from €10.20 to €10.50 per hour from 01^st January 2022.
• The weekly income threshold for the higher rate of employers PRSI will increase from €398 to €410, to ensure that there is no incentive to reduce the working hours for a full-time employee on the increased minimum wage (from 1^st January 2022).
• Income tax rates will stay the same (at 20% and 40%), but there will be increases to tax credits and changes to the income tax bands. Personal tax credits, employee tax credits and earned income credits will each increase by €50.
• The standard rate tax band (the amount you can earn before you start to pay the higher rate of tax) will be increased by €1,500, to €36,800.
• The Universal social charge 2% band ceiling will increase €21,295, so that the salary of a full-time worker on the minimum wage will remain outside the higher rates of USC.
• Income tax relief will be available on expenses for days spent working from home at 30% for electricity, heating, and internet.
• The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) has been extended until April 2022. The scheme allows businesses experiencing a reduction in turnover of more than 30% due to the pandemic can apply to be subsidised on their staffing costs.

There will be no change to EWSS for the months of October and November. The changes from December are:

– A two-rate structure of €151.50 and €203.00 will apply for December, January, and February.

– A flat rate subsidy of €100 will apply for March and April. The reduced rate of Employers’ PRSI will no longer apply for these two months.

– The scheme will close to new employers from 1 January 2022

New business

• Corporation tax relief for small start-up companies has been extended to 2026, with a 5-year qualification window.

Businesses impacted by COVID-19

• In total, €898 million has been allocated to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in 2022. €17 million is additional funding to ensure Covid19 related supports remain available. With carried-over funds, a total of €100 million will be available for Covid19 measures in 2022.
• The waiver of commercial rates due to local authorities has been extended to include quarter 4, until the end of 2021.
• An extra €15 million will be provided for the Covid Credit Guarantee Scheme, which provides low-cost loans for businesses negatively affected by COVID-19.

Future

• An additional €10 million has been allocated to the Climate Transition Fund, to help businesses decarbonise and prepare for the future.
• An additional €1.2 million has been allocated to Intertrade Ireland to respond to the increased complexity of cross-border trade post-Brexit.
• Funding has also been earmarked for a new service to improve supply chain issues for businesses operating on both sides of the border.

Carbon tax

• Carbon tax has been increased by €7.50 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, from €33.50 to €41.00. This increase was applied from midnight on 12^th October 2021 for auto fuels and from 1^st May 2022 for all other fuels.

Figures are taken from www.thejournal.ie  

VAT

• The reduced VAT rate of 9% for the hospitality and tourism sectors will continue until the end of August 2022.

Other

• Parent’s leave and Parent’s Benefits will be extended from 5 weeks to 7 weeks from July 2022.
• The Wage Subsidy Scheme for people with disabilities will increase by €1 per hour (equivalent to 60% of the National Minimum Wage) from 01^st January 2022.
• Additional places have been added to the Community Employment and Tús employment programmes for 2022.

If you want to know more, an expanded breakdown of Budget 2022 is available. This covers other areas of Budget 2022 that do not only affect retailers.

Who are we?

Retail Solutions is a market-leading EPOS provider with over 25 years of business experience. Our leading sectors are convenience stores, supermarkets, forecourts, and pharmacies.

We are dedicated to providing your store with the most up-to-date and reliable point of sale hardware, along with software management tools to help you manage your business effectively.

To find out more about what we do, get in touch to chat with one of our knowledgeable consultants:

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About the author:

Susan McGuire has been with Retail Solutions for over 6 years, and during that time has had roles within the areas of Maintenance, Finance, & Marketing. You can follow her on LinkedIn!