Business Today: Top earners and tax, Revenue’s view on gifts to family, and national service and 2FM

The top 7.7 per cent of earners in Ireland accounted for more than 54 per cent of the income tax paid to the State in 2021, according to a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office. Eoin Burke-Kennedy examines the numbers.

In her weekly personal finance feature, Fiona Reddan looks at Revenue’s interpretation of gifts and payments within families. Everything from paying for weddings and honeymoons to educations costs and gifts or loans. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.

In our personal finance Q&A, a reader who inherited a house 21 years ago, had it totally refurbished and has been claiming tax relief under the Countrywide Refurbishment Scheme, wonders if they will be liable for capital gains tax if they sell the property. Dominic Coyle offers a view.

Our media columnist Laura Slattery has taken inspiration from UK prime minister Rishi Sunak on his plan to reintroduce national service and suggests Ireland urgently needs its own version in which every young person is required to complete a mandatory stint as a presenter on 2FM.

In Me & My Money, Ken Mulkerrins, an executive with Kilsaran Group, tells Tony Clayton-Lea about his heart transplant in 2016 and how “there’s are an awful lot of things money can’t buy”.

Former PTSB chief Jeremy Masding has co-written a book on how to run a company but readers here will be disappointed to learn there are no direct references to his time at the helm of the bailed out Irish lender, writes Cantillon.

Cantillon also notices that Conor McGregor has emerged as an investor in Alta Global Group, a listed company that aims to develop a chain of MMA gyms and was co-founded by his coach John Kavanagh. Will the loss-making gym chain pack a punch with McGregor as a backer?

Employers plan either to limit future pay rises to offset the cost of auto-enrolment or pass the costs on to consumers in a move that will further impact efforts to reduce inflation, a new report has found. Dominic Coyle has the details.

Credit unions grew lending by 13.6 per cent in the past year with a significant increase in mortgages, new industry figures show. Colin Gleeson reports.

Restrictions on student visas are increasingly impractical especially in an era when employers are struggling to source staff, according to recruiter Excel. Dominic Coyle has the details.

Ryanair analysts have cut their price targets for the airline based on a softer outlook for summer air fares and rising operational costs. But the valuation remains unchallenging, writes Stocktake.

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