The Irish Times view on influencers and tax: adapting old rules to a new era
The decision by the Revenue Commissioners
to issue guidance
on VAT to social media influencers - following advice last month to the same group on tax on their income - is the latest evidence of this. The tax rules were drawn up in an era when income was earned as cash – from an employer or in pursuit of a trade. Its architects would not have considered somebody being gifted a few nights in a posh resort, or the use of a car for a year, in return for advertising the services of the donor.
Properly accounting for this is important in terms of a key goal of the system – fairness. Those who see money deducted each month under PAYE need to see the system applied fairly elsewhere, as do small retailers faithfully filing their VAT returns.
Tax rules can be applied to the world of social influencers, usually in a fairly straightforward fashion, albeit that non-cash transactions can involve some complications. But the basic structures of the tax system can adapt. And there is no excuse for full-time influencers or those using their fame to earn additional income, not to be compliant.
READ MORE
In other areas, however, the taxation system is showing its age. In corporation tax, in particular, the complexity of international trade is a world away from when the system of taxing companies was drawn up. Fairness is an issue here, too, as it is the biggest players who have more options to cut their tax bills.
An OECD agreement which was due to set a minimum level of tax for these giant corporations now looks like it is being picked apart. As this story plays out, there will be important issues for Ireland, which has attracted investment for many years by charging multinationals at a relatively low rate. Ireland can lay down its own income tax rules for the modern era, but when it comes to big multinationals it is an international game.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
The future of pocket money? NestiFi lets families invest together for kids
Traditional banking has – eventually – adopted innovations such as digital-only accounts and smartphone payments. However, some elements of the financial infrastructure are still firmly stuck in the past, as anyone who has tried to gift money to a child in forms other than cash or vouchers will have discovered. Having run across this problem himself, Niall Dennehy began mulling over a possible solution. He applied his background in banking, telecoms and digital payments, and in June this year launched NestiFi, an AI -powered investment platform allowing parents, grandparents, relatives and friends to invest in a child's future as a group. To start the process, a designated adult downloads the free app and sets up an account for the child. This provides access to a personalised link they can share with family and friends who want to contribute to the child's nest egg. The person overseeing the account then chooses from a range of low-fee index funds and invests the money. Performance expectations are based on a 7.2 per cent average annual return, which Dennehy says is the approximate historical average (adjusted for inflation) of the S&P 500 over the past 30 years. NestiFi does not need a banking licence as it does not hold any client money. Investments are made through licensed/regulated intermediaries such as brokers, credit unions and brokerage-as-a-service providers. 'NestiFi rethinks investing through the lens of family and collaboration,' he says, adding that it is designed to support families in several different ways, whether that's to save for college fees, give gifts of digital assets or introduce children to the concept of financial literacy. [ Ireland 'actively hindering its citizens from building wealth and securing their future' Opens in new window ] 'The platform supports traditional investments such as stocks and ETFs as well as blockchain-powered assets like stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets,' Dennehy says. 'Our AI adviser 'Sebastian' provides personalised financial guidance for each user, and children can earn rewards by completing interactive lessons. For example, if they spend X number of hours learning on the app, they'll get a voucher for the same amount of time for Disney Plus.' NestiFi is not Dennehy's first innovation rodeo. A graduate of the University of Galway, where he studied IT, Dennehy has been involved with multiple start-ups as founder/co-founder, including digital payments infrastructure company, Aid:Tech, which was the overall winner of The Irish Times Innovation Awards in 2018. NestiFi is his latest venture, and the company currently employs four people. 'I've spent the last decade building technology at the intersection of trust, transparency and financial inclusion, and it struck me that families have no modern tools with which to build wealth together because most investment apps are built for individuals, not families,' Dennehy says. 'I felt the time had come to replace siloed banking apps and old-school custodial accounts with a next-gen platform that would bring together traditional investing, blockchain assets and family-based financial literacy in one seamless experience,' he adds. Dennehy says the company's initial target market will be the US, where an $84 trillion (€75.5 trillion) intergenerational wealth transfer is already under way. Europe will follow, including Ireland, where Dennehy says a substantial wealth transfer will also take place over the next 20 years. Families are a key market for NestiFi, but so are credit unions, financial advisers, financial institutions and fintechs interested in offering NestiFi as a value-added service to their clients. Investment in the business to date is running at about €250,000, and the company is currently raising a seed round of €1.5 million. A private beta launch is slated for the third quarter, with a full roll-out in the US to follow later this year. NestiFi's revenue will come from transaction fees and signing up channel partners. NestiFi is taking part in the AI Ecosystem Accelerator Programme run jointly by NovaUCD and CeADAR – Ireland's centre for AI – while completing regulatory compliance in the US and guiding a pilot group of families through a test run of the app. 'The Tam (total addressable market) is huge, and while we face competition, I think we can differentiate ourselves through the ease of our user interface and the fact that this side of the market is underserved by technology,' Dennehy says. The biggest challenge Dennehy has faced in setting up NestiFi has been navigating regulatory complexity while trying to move fast. 'We're building something that touches custody, tokenised assets and AI, all in a space where compliance really matters, especially when kids and families are involved. Trying to innovate responsibly without getting stuck in red tape has been the real balancing act,' he says. As a serial entrepreneur, Dennehy knows his way around the start-up ecosystem. However, he says that clearer guidance and faster turnaround times within the grants system would make a massive difference to how fast a company can develop. 'Often, the paperwork is intense, and the decision timelines are too slow. If there were more founder-first grant supports with less admin and more mentorship built in, I think we'd see even more global-scale companies emerge from Ireland,' he says. 'Too often, start-ups are forced to chase funding instead of focusing on customers and product. There is a lot of goodwill and some excellent people in the ecosystem, but I think there's still a gap between ambition and execution. [ Google, CeADAR to partner on deal to support AI in Irish business Opens in new window ] 'What I'd truly love to see would be a founder-led innovation hub, something agile with fast access to capital, technical expertise, and hands-on support for international expansion. We need to move away from treating grants as red-tape-heavy lifelines and instead use them as strategic fuel to help early-stage teams build, test and scale faster,' Dennehy says. Are you aware of a recent innovation or innovator we should feature in this column? Email us at innovation@
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Corporation tax take defies tariff fears even as Apple bows to Trump
Corporation taxes jumped fourfold in July compared to the same month last year even as the Government grows increasingly concerned about the multinational companies driving those revenues. Meanwhile, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy, VAT receipts proved more modest than expected raising concerns about consumer spending. Apple agreed to spend another $100 billion on expanding its US manufacturing footprint as US President Donald Trump said he would impose a 100 per cent tariff on imports that include semiconductors, though would exempt companies moving production back to the United States. It comes as the 15 per cent tariff on US imports from the European Union kick in today. Meanwhile, as President Trump returns to the notion of supertariffs of the pharma sector, Eoin Burke-Kennedy examines what the latest pharma threats mean for Ireland? The future of accessories retailer Claire's is uncertain after the parent of the 20 Irish stores filed again for bankruptcy protection in the US. Conor Pope writes that restructuring firm Interpath which was tasked with finding a buyer for the European operation struggled to find a financial backer. READ MORE Sticking with retail, Hammerson's Irish boss, Connor Owens , who is credited with revitalising the group's Irish operations, has been headhunted by the new US owners of the Blanchardstown Centre to run its business here. Barry O'Halloran reports. A factory worker whose employer forced him to retire at 65 despite his contract having no such stipulation has been awarded €18,000 by the Labour Court. The Irish are buying back into foreign holidays as Central Bank data shows that credit and debit card users spent more on hotels abroad than in Ireland in June for the first time since 2022. Ian Curran has the details. Tourism Ireland spent over €2.4 million on a campaign to attract environmentally conscious visitors who were looking for a 'slower paced, more immersive holiday' and, according to early data it has been a success. Ken Foxe reports. In her Net Results column, Ciara O'Brien looks at the belated rise of femtech , noting that there is clearly money to be made catering to a group that comprises 51 per cent of the population and 48 per cent of the workforce. Meanwhile, Emmet Ryan looks at Big Tech's focus on partnering with major sporting events and wonders whether it will transform how we watch sports? Conscious of the limitations of Ireland's online banking offering, Niall Dennehy applied his background in banking, telecoms and digital payments to develop NestFi , an app that allows an extended family and friends invest in the future of a child. Finally, in our Inside Business podcast this week, host Ciarán Hancock talks to Siobhán Maguire about Revenue's recent wake-up call to influencers about how those freebies on which they build their brand are, in fact, taxable. If you'd like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
We all need to consume less if we are to save our environment from catastrophe
The focus on solving the triple crises of climate change , biodiversity loss and pollution is often on how to reduce harmful emissions by reaching targets for agriculture, transport and energy use. According to the latest Environmental Protection Agency report , Ireland will only achieve a reduction of 23 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 instead of the national target of 51 per cent with current measures. But what if we broadened our focus and added other ways to dealing with these crises? What if we took a sharper look at consumption patterns and resource use as a way of holding on to existing value rather than just focusing on reducing emissions from what is already used and sometimes even wasted? Experts in organisations such as the Ellen Macarthur Foundation have long argued that energy efficiency and switching to renewable energies will only address 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. How we design, make and use products, materials and food is the other 45 per cent of the solution. If you take this wider view of sustainability , there are things we can all do more of to reduce pollution, waste and emissions too. So rather than praising yourself for being a good recycler, consider how you can reuse stuff, repair stuff and rent stuff rather than always opting to buy new stuff. READ MORE This third strand of global efforts to living more sustainably often goes under the radar. And although repair cafes, tool and toy libraries and online vintage clothes marketplaces have become more popular, it's the scaling up of these efforts across manufacturing and food production that will really have the most impact. For this to happen, businesses need to embrace the somewhat misunderstood concept of circularity – where resources and materials are kept in circulation for as long as possible at their highest value, creating closed and open loops of production. The European Commission is desperately trying to build momentum around the circular economy, albeit with the new stamp of competitiveness highlighted. During EU Green Week 2025 in Brussels, policymakers reiterated how geopolitical tensions are jeopardising global supply chains for rare and critical earth materials essential for the digitalisation of production processes across healthcare, construction, food and manufacturing. So, for Europe to remain competitive, businesses must find ways to source some of these materials from products already in circulation here. As one Brussels policymaker put it, Europe might not have the raw materials but we are world leaders in recycling. The European Commission now wants member states to source 25 per of rare and critical metals from so-called urban mining – aka taking them out of old cars, electronic and electrical items to reuse as secondary materials for new products. [ The life of microplastic: how fragments move through plants, insects, animals – and you Opens in new window ] But it's not all about rare and critical raw materials. It's also about finding new uses for byproducts in food production that go to waste (think the once neglected whey which is now central to many protein products). It's about taking out valuable construction materials like steel from building sites for reuse in other sites. And it's about creating new products like insulation panels from recycled textiles. Circular economy entrepreneurs are excited about the prospects of building a new strand to business where people, profit and planet can work in harmony but they are also cognisant that financial incentives and regulations which promote a market for secondary materials are urgently needed. The backdrop to all of this is the European Circular Economy Act – expected to be introduced in the second half of 2026 when Ireland holds the European presidency. This Act needs to include financial incentives (eg lower VAT on products with recycled content, recertification schemes for reused materials) to help companies take risks to create new uses for things they would have previously thrown out. Promoting a marketplace for second-hand building materials and building more durable products which can be repaired, reused, refurbished and remanufactured has to be the way forward if we want to live within planetary boundaries. The elephant in the room is cheap imports of virgin materials from outside the EU. To create a level playing field for 'ecopreneurs' in Europe, some form of tariffs will have to be imposed on these cheap imports so that recycled plastics and recycled textile plants in places like the Netherlands and Sweden can survive or even thrive. Turning trash to treasure has never been more important if we want to continue to have the products we need whilst not polluting our planet and helping reduce harmful emissions at the same time. Sylvia Thompson was one of 30 journalists from EU member states to attend EU Green Week 2025 in Brussels in June
