PIMEC believes that the new measures the Government has implemented to support the SMEs during these difficult times are on the right track, but they need to go one step further. Explaining and assessing the following points:
- Corporate income tax: PIMEC has always stated its desire to eliminate the €120,000 limit in order for businesses to be taxed at a reduced rate corresponding to the first round of Corporate Income Tax, which is set at 25%. That the limit to be taxed at this rate has been extended to €300,000 is good news for the employers’ organisation. However, PIMEC’s specific proposal was for self-employed workers and micro-sized enterprises to be taxed at a fixed rate of encumbrance of Corporate Income Tax set at 20%.
- Extending the concept “small-sized enterprise”: PIMEC believes this is a good measure, as this concept is extended and goes from including enterprises with a turnover of up to 8M € to include enterprises which turnover up to 10M €. Aside from being beneficial for many enterprises, 40,000 according to the Government’s estimate, this figure will be in-line with the 10M € turnover which the EU has set for this type of SME. The employers' organisation also requests that, in order to reach a turnover which is under 10M €, different enterprises within the same family unit are not taken into account.
- Free depreciation of Corporate Income Tax until 2015. PIMEC believes this is a good measure, although we still need to read the small print and the limits.
- Reducing the terms and costs for creating enterprises: We still need to know more about this measure, although it seems to be interesting. At PIMEC we are constantly demanding measures which incentivise new entrepreneurs.
Although PIMEC considers these measures to be positive, they should have been implemented beforehand. On previous occasions, which for all purposes are gathered in the PIMEC Proposals for 2010 regional elections, PIMEC had stated the need to promote entrepreneurs and their businesses by means of lower tax payments for SMEs within the areas of competence of the State.
