One in four SMEs is losing employees due to housing crisis, says accountancy body
A quarter of SMEs have lost employees or prospective recruits due to the lack of affordable housing, an umbrella group for the accountancy industry has said.
The Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies Ireland (CCAB-I) has called for a targeted tax intervention' to rectify the housing 'market failure'.
In a pre-budget submission to the Department of Finance, the committee pointed to Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) forecasts that there would be no significant increase in housing supply this year and next.
Cróna Clohisey, director of members and advocacy at Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI), said Budget 2026 'should include tax measures to stimulate the development' of apartments, student accommodation, and independent living facilities.
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She said the measures needed to be 'targeted, time-limited and regularly reviewed to ensure that they are cost-effective and do not repeat the mistakes of the past'.
Ms Clohisey welcomed the chance to discuss the issue with the Government.
CCAB-I has also urged the Government to reduce red tape for businesses.
A recent CAI survey showed 57 per cent of SMEs cited regulatory compliance as the area they most needed help with from the Government.
To do this, it suggested the Government introduce a single pay-and-file date for capital gains tax aligned with the annual income tax return. The body said the measure would 'alleviate the administrative burden of what is a low-yielding tax'.
It has also urged the Government to commit not to increase the rate of employers' PRSI for the next four years in light of what it said was substantially higher employment costs, which Ms Clohisey said 'would go some way in trying to stem increasing labour costs'.
Increases across all classes of PRSI are planned up to 2028, and the CCAB-I has called for 'consideration' of a reduction in the rate of employers' PRSI on minimum wage workers by 1.5 per cent to aid businesses with the impending start of pension auto enrolment.
CCAB-I, an industry forum comprising the CAI, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, also called for the replacement of real-time reporting of small benefits and expenses with monthly or quarterly returns, which would 'ease administrative burdens'.
It also wants businesses to be allowed to provide staff with reasonable levels of hospitality while working without having to apply a benefit-in-kind tax charge.
The accountancy body also appealed for a change to the research and development tax credit regime for SMEs to allow for the use of third parties to carry out R&D under the scheme.
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