TL;DR. In this post I go on a major rant against the Javascript/Babel/Webpack/Node development stack, and then talk about the problems I’m facing in my attempt to jettison that stack and instead make my javascript application run natively in web browsers. (Run javascript in a browser? Revolutionary, I know!)
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My Reaction to Budget 2015
Having led the #StartupIreland pre-budget submission (see here, here, here and here), I was extremely disappointed by Budget 2015. Not only did the government fail to introduce any of the low-cost high-impact measures we recommended, but it actually introduced further disincentives directly targeted at the self-employed.
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Posted in Enterprise, Ireland
Reforming R&D Tax Credits
In this fourth (and final) post in my series covering the budget recommendations that I coordinated at StartupIreland, I’m talking about our recommendations for the R&D tax credits. Startup companies are R&D wunderkind, but they are avoiding this tax break due to the cost and uncertainty of accessing it. This means that scaled up tech companies (e.g., international IDA clients) are benefiting from this tax break, whereas younger home-grown tech companies (Enterprise Ireland clients) are not. We should level this playing field.
Posted in Enterprise, Ireland
Employee Ownership Schemes in Ireland
In this third post in my series covering the budget recommendations that I coordinated at StartupIreland, I’m republishing our rundown on the current problems encountered by Irish startups that want to give their employees a stake in the success of the company.
Posted in Enterprise, Ireland
Looking to the UK – Entrepreneurial Incentives
In this second post in my series covering the budget recommendations that I coordinated at StartupIreland, I cover our recommendations to reform Ireland’s myriad of incentive schemes into a single coherent policy modelled after the United Kingdom’s successful SEIS scheme. In addition we recommend the introduction of UK-style Entrepreneur’s Relief on Capital Gains Tax.
Posted in Enterprise, Ireland