Latest news with #DepartmentofFinance
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Government urged to end to tax barriers of moving companies into employee ownership
IPSA has long argued the current tax structures represent an obstacle for business owners seeking to move their company to employee ownership through Employee Ownership Trusts (EOT). The group has called for Ireland to replicate the EOT model in the UK, where there has been significant uptake through a generous relief on Capital Gains Tax (CGT). The group recently met with officials at the Department of Finance and is calling for targeted reforms to reduce the 'tax obstacles' for EOTs in Budget 2026. It hopes reforms will incentivise succession planning through broader use of the trusts and, ultimately, protect jobs at companies that could otherwise be dismantled after a sale. Marie Flynn, chairperson of IPSA, said gaining political engagement on EOTs was a priority for the organisation. 'It is crucial for convincing the Government to follow the advice of the 2024 Indecon Review to reform the taxation of EOTs in Ireland so that business owners and employees can benefit from an economic model that has proven popular and successful in the UK, US, Australia and Canada.' Flynn said that when owners look to exit their business, sale options typically include trade buyers, private equity firms or the next generation in the family. A third-party sale usually attracts CGT of 33pc. However, with EOTs, there are question marks over whether selling shares to such a trust would just attract CGT. Due to what Flynn called 'unhelpful anti-avoidance legislation', the tax bill when someone sells to an EOT in Ireland could hit as high as 55pc. Flynn added that EOTs are considered 'discretionary trusts' and attract a tax that kicks in when the person who sold their shares to it dies. This means a 6pc tax charge is placed on the trust, with a 1pc levy applied yearly. IPSA wants the Government to remove these tax obstacles through a mix of Revenue guidance and an exemption from the discretionary trust tax regime for EOTs. IPSA calculates that this would result in no revenue loss from 'levelling the playing field.' IPSA's plan also includes the Government implementing a recommendation in the 2024 Indecon review to reform the taxation of Irish EOTs in line with their treatment in the UK. Business owners in the UK have relief from CGT on selling a controlling, or 100pc, stake to an EOT. ADVERTISEMENT Flynn said there was massive potential for EOTs in Ireland. She believed several hundred companies could become employee-owned over the next number of years should the Government support it. An EOT is a trust that enables a company to become owned by its employees. It can be set up by a company's existing owners as part of their exit or succession planning strategy. Founders starting a new business can also set one up if they wish to be employee-owned. IPSA argues that EOTs would benefit Ireland as their wider use would help secure workers' jobs and ensure a company remains in its community. It argues that sales to a competitor can often result in businesses being dismantled or relocated, with an accompanying loss of jobs.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ottawa posts $43.2-billion budget deficit for April-to-March period
Canada's federal budget had a deficit of $43.2 billion for the April-to-March period of the 2024-25 fiscal year, $7.7 billion less than the deficit for the same period the previous year, according to an initial report by the Department of Finance. Before net actuarial losses, the budgetary deficit was $39.1 billion, compared to $43.4 billion the prior year. For just the month of March 2025, the federal government posted a budgetary deficit of $23.9 billion, compared to $33.6 billion in March 2024. The deficit before net actuarial losses and gains was $23.5 billion, compared to $33.0 billion in the same period of 2023-24. Revenues increased by $5.9 billion or 15.2 per cent in March, mostly due to higher corporate income tax revenue. Revenues totalled $45 billion for the month, up 15.2 per cent from the previous year. The report said tax revenues were up by $5.6 billion or 19.1 per cent compared to March 2024, largely due to higher corporate income tax revenue. It said the results in March 2025 reflect a substantial increase in customs import duties from countermeasures in response to U.S. tariffs. Program expenses excluding net actuarial losses were down 4.7 per cent to $64.2 billion compared to March of last year. Election promises add up to a lot of red ink — but reality could be even worse Canada needs a full federal budget now to show where taxpayers' money is going Major transfers to persons, which consist of elderly benefits, EI benefits, COVID-19 income support for workers and children's benefits were up $1.5 billion or 14.0 per cent, the report said. • Email: dpaglinawan@
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Authorium Selected by California for GenAI-Enabled Legislative Analysis
SACRAMENTO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / May 28, 2025 / Today, Authorium, the cloud-based technology company that delivers its eponymous end-to-end platform for government administrative operations,announced that they have been selected to implement a GenAI-enabled solution to efficiently and accurately develop legislative bill analyses utilizing existing documents and other publicly available information for the California Department of Finance. "GenAI has great potential to enhance our ability to deliver high-quality analysis to California policymakers. We look forward to piloting this technology to enhance our efficiency, accuracy, and capacity," said Christian Beltran, Deputy Director of Legislation at the California Department of Finance. This award supports the State's commitment of Gov. Gavin Newsom's Executive Order N-12-23 which recognizes GenAI's "potential to catalyze innovation and the rapid development of a wide range of benefits for Californians and the California economy." "We are honored to be selected by the California Department of Finance to increase efficiency and effectiveness in critical legislative and policy efforts," said Jay Nath and Kamran Saddique, Co-CEOs of Authorium. "As a public benefit corporation, we remain fully focused on enabling government teams to modernize operational and administrative processes through our no-code platform." Currently, Department of Finance (DOF) team members comb through volumes of legislative material, including over 1,000 legislative bills and proposals annually. Working together with Authorium, DOF aims to significantly reduce the manual workload associated with drafting bill analyses including: summarizing a bill,collecting fiscal information from impacted state entities, andparsing relevant data sets and sources for background and historical information. The California Department of Technology (CDT) will support the use, security, and maintenance of the GenAI tool. They will also provide oversight and guidance throughout the lifecycle of the project to ensure the system is used effectively and responsibly. "California is embracing emerging technologies and innovation to modernize how we serve the public. By exploring the use of Generative AI in legislative workflows, we're laying the foundation for smarter, faster, and more transparent government services," said Liana Bailey-Crimmins, State Chief Information Officer and Director of the California Department of Technology. The Department of Finance intends to scale insights across bill analyses to spotlight shared needs and statewide opportunities for more efficient and effective deployment of the State's budget resources. To expedite delivery and ensure stronger outcomes, Authorium's contract was awarded through a Request for Innovative Ideas (RFI²) solicitation, a procurement vehicle that seeks innovative ideas to solve a well-defined problem statement, then selects a solution provider based on their ability to demonstrate its effectiveness. The RFI² concept was first introduced in 2019 when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that created the new procurement method by asking for solutions to test in response to the wildfire challenges in California. The vision of this methodology is to leverage the innovative vendor, academic, scientific, and entrepreneurial communities to solve the State's most pressing challenges. Beyond the Department of Finance, Authorium's platform enables teams at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, CalRecycle, Department of Social Services and more in the Golden State, as well as agencies across the United States from Washington to Florida - to increase efficiency, effectiveness, visibility, and compliance. A recent study with the U.S. Air Force demonstrated that Authorium's platform was able to cut acquisition timelines by 20%. Authorium is hosted exclusively on AWS GovCloud, the leading regulated industry cloud solution that technology leaders trust to manage sensitive data, and is GovRAMP Authorized, SOC2 Type II, HIPAA compliant, and adheres to stringent federal and DoD security requirements. About AuthoriumAuthorium is a no-code, cloud-based platform exclusively for government administrative operations. Government teams rely on us to support budget and grant administration, contract lifecycle management, HR processes, procurement, and legislative analysis. As a public benefit corporation, we serve the government workers that serve their communities. Learn more at ### Contact Information Authorium Press Marketingmarketing@ SOURCE: Authorium press release
GMA Network
5 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
PEZA announces P1.39B dividend payout
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) announced Wednesday that it contributed P1.3 billion in dividends from its profits in 2024, noting its back-to-back billion-contribution to government coffers. 'As we turn 30, we are focused on future-proofing PEZA to ensure it remains a dynamic force for economic development and nation-building,' PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga said in a statement. PEZA noted that it has already contributed P3.68 billion to the government since the start of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's administration. The Department of Finance (DOF) earlier said the dividend remittances from the earnings of government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) have reached over P76 billion as of May 15, 2025. PEZA was also among the 13 state-owned firms that contributed at least P1 billion to state coffers. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News
Ottawa Citizen
6 days ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Today's letters: Federal budgets are more work than Carney's critics understand
Article content Article content I have been deeply involved in budget-making, in the Paul Martin years, both in fiscal policy in the Department of Finance and then in PCO. Work on late-February budgets started in November, if not earlier. Priorities needed to be set by whatever process (in our case, a Cabinet process). Then, ideas and initiatives were surveyed against them. These are most often collaborative across departments. Tax initiatives needed planning and analysis. Article content Article content There were, in my experience, rough budget drafts before Christmas, and then drafts turned around every couple of days or (even overnight in the end), for the last two months. Article content You need enough economic and fiscal data for the current year as a base for forecasts, and that comes out with a lag. Why do you think annual fiscal and economic updates are late in the autumn? And initiatives — especially big ones — need enough planning to have confidence in them policy policy-wise and cost-wise. Article content So it hasn't dropped in virtually a week after a single Cabinet meeting? Or even next month? Shame! Shame! Article content And I hope there are enough crystal balls for everyone, ones you don't want to share with Trump while you're negotiating with him. Article content You want a budget that's worth the paper it's written on. Article content L.J. Ridgeway, Ottawa Article content Re: No federal budget? That's outrageous, May 23. Article content Article content There is no more compelling argument for improved civics education in Canada than the letter to the editor entitled: 'No federal budget? That's outrageous.' If we do, in fact, get the government we deserve, we should be very worried. Article content Canadians do need to know where their money is spent. This is why the government has limited spending authority until Parliament comes back. The government is obliged to table its annual planned spending, which must be approved by Parliament. At the end of the year (and a bit), the actual spending is reported in the Public Accounts (which inevitably gets lots of media attention, though not always for the best reasons). In addition, the government does not disappear during an election: passports are issued, soldiers are deployed, medicines are approved, tariffs are raised and so on.
