REVENUE MAY TAX GIFTS BY PARENTS TO THEIR CHILDREN - Revenue is clamping down on abuse of tax exemptions granted for payments made by parents to their children, says the Irish Times.
However, legal firm Arthur Cox says the change means adult children forced to return home out of economic necessity could be obliged to keep tabs on and return for tax the “notional cost” of renting their own room in their parents house, and even the value of food, light and heating. Items such as a contribution to wedding costs, or the care of children by grandparents, could also have a tax implication, said Arthur Cox solicitor Anne Corrigan. “There appear to be fundamental difficulties with this proposal and, if the specific exemptions are altered in the manner proposed, it is likely to lead to widespread dismay when its implications become known and fully understood,” she said. The Finance Bill proposes to amend a section of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidated Act. Section 82 of the Act states that money paid by a parent for “support, maintenance or education” of a child will not be considered as a gift or inheritance for tax purposes where it would be considered “normal expenditure” of a person in the parent’s circumstances and is “reasonable having regard to the financial circumstances” of the parent. A Revenue spokesman said it was felt the existing measure was “open to abuse and was being abused”.
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PROFITS RISE 43% AT BROWN BAG FILMS - The Dublin-based creators of global children's TV hits 'Doc McStuffins' and 'Henry Hugglemonster' enjoyed their most successful year ever as pre-tax profits at Brown Bag Films rose 43% to €1.63m last year. This year the studio is celebrating its 20th year in business and new figures show that revenues at the firm rose 6% to €18.35m last year, writes the Irish Independent. This contributed to pre-tax profits increasing by €494,813 to €1.63m. The cutting-edge animation studio has bagged numerous awards over the years. It received Oscar nominations for 'Give Up Yer Aul Sins' in 2002 and for 'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty' in 2010 along with three Emmy awards for 'Peter Rabbit' this year. Brown Bag's most recent production is 'Bing', a pre-school series for CBeebies that premiered last June.
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IRISH PROPERTY FIRM SELLS LONDON BLOCK FOR €261m - Irish property development company Green Property has sold a high-spec office block in central London for nearly €261m, says the Irish Examiner. The Dublin-based company - via its Kish Holdings subsidiary - yesterday announced its sale of the grade-A London office building 111 Buckingham Palace Road to international property investment firm Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) for £204.3m (€260.9m). Earlier this year, KWE boosted its Irish portfolio by shelling out €45m for two properties - including the Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links resort in north Dublin - previously owned by Nama and the IBRC. KWE is undertaking the London transaction by way of a share purchase and is funding the deal from its own cash resources. Green Property chief executive Pat Gunne said the company is selling the property at “a very exciting time” for the property market in the Victoria area of central London, which, he said, “is going through transformational change”.
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THOMAS PIKETTY'S 'CAPITAL' WINS FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR - 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century', an epic analysis of the roots and consequences of inequality, has been named the 2014 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year. The £30,000 prize was awarded to Thomas Piketty’s controversial economics bestseller following what Lionel Barber, FT editor and chairman of judges, said was a “vigourous debate” about “an incredibly strong field” of six shortlisted titles. The FT has in the past questioned some of the French economist’s research for Capital, but the book has provoked a fierce debate about growing inequality and the means to tackle it. “While not everyone agreed on the policy prescriptions, we recognised the quality of the scholarship,” Mr Barber said on behalf of the judges. He called it “a challenging, but ultimately important book”. Weighing the merits of the six finalists during an intense discussion on Tuesday, the seven judges praised Mr Piketty’s book, which runs to nearly 700 pages, for its depth of research, ambition and influence. “The issue of inequality touches everything, from CEO pay to political unrest,” one judge pointed out.
