![](https://www.siliconrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/201310/leinster-house-photo-718x523.jpg)
Leinster House in Dublin
Individuals who have been unemployed for at least 15 months and who start their own unincorporated business are to receive a two-year exemption from income tax under a new Start Your Own Business scheme revealed in the Irish Government’s Budget 2014 today.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said in his budget speech that this scheme, in combination with the Home Renovation Initiative (HRI), will give unemployed construction workers the chance return to work.
Noonan also announced other measures to encourage start-ups, among them relief for those who reinvest the proceeds from the disposal of assets on which Capital Gains Tax had previous been paid.
In addition, the Employment and Investment Incentive will be changed to allow high earners to invest up to €150,000 a year into businesses.
The cash receipts basis threshold for VAT will also be increased to €2m from €1.25m on 1 May 2014, in an effort to help SMEs’ cash flow.