Warning of Retail Closures: Urgent Government Action Needed to Cut VAT Rates

• Retailers warn of mass closures without lower VAT rates
• Retail Excellence Ireland survey shows nearly half of members unable to cope with rising operating costs
• Factors contributing to rising costs include minimum wage increase, statutory sick pay, high interest rates, tax debt, and supply chain issues
• Retailers need significant financial support, specifically on VAT, to avoid mass closures
• New EU rules requiring firms to pay invoices within 30 days also a concern
• 83% of retailers have made changes to operating model due to increasing costs
• Retailers believe current economic policies will disrupt their business in the coming year
• Irish Hairdressers Federation also calls for urgent government action to support the sector
• Hairdressers face difficulties with minimum wage increase and paid sick leave entitlement
• Issues with repayment of warehousing scheme, energy costs, stock items, and insurance costs
• Hairdressers need increased support for hiring trainees and tackling the shadow economy
• Government announces interest rate on tax debt frozen since pandemic cut to 0%
• Revenue Commissioners to take flexible approach to repayments
• Ibec to host round table meeting to discuss impact of labor costs and business competitiveness.

Source: rte.ie

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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