The franchise sector is an important contributor to the Irish economy both in terms of the employment it creates and the wealth it generates. The growth in the franchise sector in Ireland looks set to increase through new franchisees setting up their own businesses, through existing indigenous businesses using the franchise model for expansion and through new non-Irish franchises entering the market due to our strong domestic economy.

Business Format Franchising is a business method in which the franchisor (developer) grants to the franchisee (investor) the right to run a business selling a product or providing a service under the franchisor’s business format and identified by the franchisor’s trademark or brand. This includes a format for the conduct of the business, a management system for operating the business and a shared trade identity.

Franchising is a comprehensive business relationship whose four essential elements ensure a better success rate than starting a non-franchised business. These are:

​The war in Ukraine has added greatly to inflationary pressures this year, with further very sharp increases in energy and other commodity prices. CPI rates reached 8.5% in the US and 8.1% in the Eurozone in May and hit double-digit levels in some economies. The Bank of England is forecasting that inflation in the UK will rise above 11% in the final quarter of this year. Growth, though, is clearly weakening, making central banks task more difficult as they will want to try and avoid pushing their economies into recession as they tighten policy.

An extension of the Debt Warehousing scheme will also now facilitate those eligible for the scheme to warehouse or ‘park’ certain tax liabilities (e.g. PAYE, VAT) arising in in the period from 1 January to 31 March 2022 (previously the cut-off was 31 December 2021).

As a result, the interest free period will now run from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

The businesses must already be eligible for warehousing and have a valid claim during the period from 1 January 2022 to 30 April 2022 for any of the following Government COVID-19 Support Schemes:

Budget 2022 looks more positive by contrast to Budget 2021, where we saw unprecedented levels of financial supports being provided to support the Irish economy because of COVID-19 and a no deal Brexit looming. This year is a testament to the changing economic landscape.

Budget 2022 is based on an economic atmosphere where we have seen strong GDP growth in 2021 and an improvement in public finances created by strong taxation receipts.

The key changes and developments on the tax measures announced are as follows:

On 1 July 2021, the VAT rules on cross-border-business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce activities changed. The rationale for these changes is to overcome barriers to cross-border online sales and address challenges arising from the VAT regimes for distance sales of goods and for the importation of low value consignments. It is envisaged that EU Businesses will be able to grow in a simplified, fairer environment within the European Digital Single Market.