Northern Ireland hopes for corporate tax break

Officials in Northern Ireland are calling on the chancellor to introduce a corporate tax break for the region's businesses.

Solicitors in Northern Ireland could see a change in the corporate tax rules if the campaign persuades Gordon Brown to reduce the burden on businesses in the region when he unveils his Budget on Wednesday.

The DUP and Sinn Fein have been urging for the government to change the corporate tax rules for Northern Ireland so that the region can boost its economy by attracting greater investment.

However, Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain appears to have scotched any suggestion that Mr Brown will move to cut corporate tax levels in Northern Ireland, insisting that European Union law is an "insuperable obstacle" to cutting taxes in just one part of the UK.

But Bloomberg reports that Mr Hain went on to add: "The chancellor has offered an innovation fund, the details of which he will reveal next week, which I think will provide Northern Ireland with a much more competitive fiscal and financial climate."

Whether this will be enough to silence those calling for a change in the corporate tax regime for Northern Ireland remains to be seen.

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