Income tax in the order of €1 billion was expected from the self-employed in November. At the time of writing the Exchequer Statement for November were not yet published, however, the 2013 Estimates which issued at the beginning of the month suggest an income tax shortfall in 2012 in excess of €200 million. The bulk of this shortfall is attributable to lower than expected payments from the self-employed.

At the risk of over generalising, this type of shortfall translates to one in five Irish businesses not making enough money to pay income tax. By definition, November is the month when tax is collected from the Small and Medium Enterprise sector. This Institute has already pointed out on several occasions this year that increased taxes are stifling any prospect of growth in the indigenous sector, and thereby damaging job retention, let alone job creation. While we acknowledge that the introduction of a Property Tax is necessary to replace revenue foregone primarily from Stamp Duties within the property sector, it is evident that increasing taxes directly affects job growth. The Medium Term Economic Fiscal Statement published last month establishes that the 2011 Jobs Initiative did in actual fact stabilise job retention and creation in the Accommodation and Hospitality sector. This has been the only instance of significant tax relief targeted at any indigenous sector in recent years.