The Business Owners GuildPowered by The Alternative Board Ireland

Business Owner Voice

A stronger voice for business owners

The Business Owners Guild is intended not only to help business owners learn from one another, but also to bring practical owner experience into discussions that affect the environment in which businesses operate.

Through the experience behind The Alternative Board, we aim to identify practical issues facing owner-managed businesses, develop evidence-led proposals and bring those ideas into constructive policy discussions.

Featured submission

Owned Here, Grown Here

Five tax measures to strengthen Irish-owned businesses

A submission by TAB Ireland to Government — 28 September 2026

TAB Ireland, which powers The Business Owners Guild, has made a submission to the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure, the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners proposing practical tax changes designed to support investment, ownership and succession in Irish businesses.

Drawing on more than 13 years working closely with Irish owner-managed businesses, the submission focuses on situations where the tax system can make it harder for owners to reinvest, manage a downturn or transfer a viable business to the next generation.

The proposals are intended to strengthen Ireland’s base of locally owned businesses while recognising the need for fairness, Exchequer protection and appropriate safeguards.

The proposals

Five tax measures

  1. Measure 1: Make it easier to reinvest profits

    Productive Reinvestment Reserve

    Allow qualifying service companies to place profits into a capped Productive Reinvestment Reserve without triggering the service-company surcharge, provided the money is used for genuine business investment.

    The proposal would allow up to €500,000 over a five-year period to be allocated to qualifying investment, with a four-year period to use the funds and clawback where the relief is misused.

  2. Measure 2: Give business owners a fairer route to buying a family home

    Founder Home Deferral

    Allow a qualifying owner-manager, once in a lifetime, to use up to €150,000 from their company towards the purchase of their principal private residence, with the tax liability calculated but deferred.

    The deferred tax would be secured against the property and would carry interest, so the proposal is intended as a timing measure rather than a tax-free extraction of funds.

  3. Measure 3: Make business succession easier to finance

    Succession Instalment Election

    Allow vendors selling a qualifying trading business on deferred terms to pay Capital Gains Tax as the sale proceeds are actually received.

    The proposal would allow payments over a period of up to seven years, with interest, rather than requiring the vendor to prove financial hardship before obtaining instalment treatment.

  4. Measure 4: Encourage investment in productivity and technology

    SME Annual Investment Allowance

    Introduce 100% first-year tax relief on up to €500,000 per year of qualifying productive investment.

    This would cover qualifying plant, machinery and capital software, including automation and AI investment.

  5. Measure 5: Help viable businesses through difficult trading periods

    Three-Year Loss Carry-Back

    Allow companies to carry qualifying trading losses back against profits from the previous three years rather than just one.

    The proposal suggests a cap of up to €1 million of trading losses per year, with appropriate anti-avoidance safeguards.

Our approach

The proposals are designed around four principles:

  • defer tax rather than simply forgive it;
  • charge interest where appropriate;
  • claw relief back where it is misused;
  • avoid nationality-based preferences.

TAB Ireland has not claimed that every proposal is costless or that economic benefits should simply be assumed.

The submission asks Government to examine where carefully designed changes could make it easier to invest in, sustain and transfer viable Irish-owned businesses while protecting the interests of the Exchequer.

What we are asking Government to consider

TAB Ireland has asked Government to:

  • consider the Succession Instalment Election and Three-Year Loss Carry-Back for Finance Bill 2026;
  • refer the Productive Reinvestment Reserve, Founder Home Deferral and SME Annual Investment Allowance for costing ahead of Budget 2028;
  • meet a panel of Irish business owners, convened by TAB Ireland, to test the proposals against real business decisions.

Practical administrative improvements

The submission also identifies four areas where clearer Revenue guidance could help business owners without requiring new legislation.

Succession
Clearer consolidated guidance showing how CGT, CAT, Entrepreneur Relief, retirement relief and business relief interact in common family and management succession situations.
R&D Tax Credit
Practical evidence templates and examples for smaller businesses making genuine R&D claims.
KEEP
Worked valuation examples and greater clarity on when a private-company valuation needs to be refreshed.
VAT Bad-Debt Relief
A short practical checklist showing the reasonable recovery steps expected before claiming relief on genuinely bad debts.
Read the full submission

Submitted by TAB Ireland on 28 September 2026.

The Business Owners Guild is powered by The Alternative Board.

Over time, findings from Guild business-owner surveys will form part of the evidence we bring to policy discussions.

Register your interest