The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) is in negotiations with the Department and Revenue Commissioners about obtaining equal tax treatment for bonds, putting plans to launch a bond market for SMEs on hold.
The move follows the failure of Budget 2015 to end the favourable treatment the tax system currently gives government bonds, despite the commitment of the Government’s 2014 ‘Action Plan for Jobs’, published in February, to working with ISE on the plan.
ISE Chief Executive Deirdre Somers told the Irish Independent, “There are some impediments, being honest, to launching a bond market absent of certain tax changes, but we're continuing to work with them.
“It's fiscal equalisation we're looking for, because nobody's going to invest in high-yield debt at a tax disadvantage.”
Meanwhile, the government does propose to abolish the 1% stamp duty on shares listed on the Enterprise Securities Market of the Irish Stock Exchange, which is designed to cater to smaller companies.
ISE's director of Strategy, Policy and Communications, Aileen O'Donoghue, told the Irish Independent that the ISE has recently brought together representatives from the Department of Finance, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Revenue Commissioners, the National Treasury Management Agency and stockbrokers to discuss how the bond market plan could be made to work.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Emily Horne
