ILCU Publishes Pre Budget 2025 Submission

Posted on: 23 Sep 2024

The ILCU has published its Pre Budget 2025 Submission focusing on three themes: Helping Credit Unions grow, Supporting Consumers and Helping Businesses Grow. The 20 measures proposed in the submission include establishing a national fraud database, increasing education grants and assistance, and removing the stamp duty on debit / atm cards.
 

Helping Credit Unions grow

1. Set CIRF and Stabilisation Fund at 0% for 2025 (no cost to exchequer)

2. Remove barriers to credit unions growing their mortgage and business lending loan books (no cost to exchequer)

3. Extend the bank levy in its current format (yields €200m)

Supporting Consumers

4. Introduce a PPSN check on the Central Credit Register to reduce fraud (administrative change)
5. Establish a National fraud database (will cost approximately €20 million)
6. Implement Recommendation 11.2 of the Retail Banking Review (November 2022) to introduce a lower fee e.g €1 for small loan enquiries below €2,000, on the Central Credit Register (will cost approximately €1.5 million)
7. Invest in primary education by raising the capitation grant to €250 per primary school pupil (will cost approximately €28 million)
8. Extend the free school-book scheme to senior cycle in secondary schools (will cost approximately €25 million)
9. Extend hot meals scheme to every school (approximate cost €20 million)
10. Introduce electronic conveyance to speed up and modernise and reduce friction in the switching mortgage process (suggested cost of €10 million)
11. Increase the small gift exemption from €3,000 to €12,000 (will cost approximately €10 million)
12. Abolish stamp duty on debit cards (cost €8 million)
13. Reduce standard rate of Deposit Interest Retention Tax from 33% to 29% (costs €7 million)
14. Increase the staffing of key government Departments to prepare for the forthcoming EU presidency in H2 2026 (€1.5 million)

Help Businesses Grow and Improve Access to Finance

15. Increase Entrepreneurial relief lifetime limit to €2million (will cost approximately €25 million)

16. Reduce the cost of doing business – increase the small benefit exemption to €2,000 per annum (will cost approximately €6 million)

17. Remove the 1% stamp duty on life assurance policies that are issued by not-for-profit cooperative insurance (will cost approximately €20 million)
18. Increase the annual capital gains tax exemption from €1,270 to €2,540 (will cost approximately €11 million)
19. CGT retirement relief thresholds introduced in Budget 2024 in Section 50 of Finance Act 2023 should be reversed as it will act as an obstacle transfer of shares in family-owned businesses (administrative change)
20. Establish an early-stage Social enterprise fund as advocated by Social Enterprise Ireland to help early-stage social enterprises with capacity building (cost approx. €3.14million)

Click here to view the full submission