Refurbed closes €54m funding, struggling artists and art for taxes sake

Online refurbished technology marketplace Refurbed has closed a $57 million (€54 million) fundraising round as it seeks to grow its business. The company, which has operated in Ireland since 2021, also said it expected to reach profitability here later this year. Ciara O’Brien has the details.

It may have been a relatively minor amendment in this year’s budget, but the decision to increase the amount the State will accept as part of the heritage donation scheme is a sign that a growing number of people are looking to gift works of art or literary importance – in return for tax relief, writes Fiona Reddan.

We’ve all heard the one about audio streaming platforms paying music artists tiny fractions of a cent for each play of their tracks, but this glum ballad is now being remixed into something even more downbeat. The hot new industry trend is not paying next to nothing. It’s paying nothing at all, writes Laura Slattery in her weekly column. Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming service, is poised to adjust its royalty model in the quarter of 2024 so that a new minimum annual threshold for streams will apply before a track becomes eligible for royalties.

Dominic Coyle in Q&A answers this from a reader: I’m currently renting a property, the owner of which is in a nursing home under the Fair Deal scheme (as far as I’m aware) and in receipt of the state pension. My question is whether I am eligible to claim the renters tax credit and if, in doing so, there will be an impact on the homeowner’s pension payments. Due to the nature of the arrangement, the lease is not registered with the RTB, but I understand this was not a requirement previously.

Sleep and rest are not the same and failure to address both can increase risk of burnout

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Extend EV grant to second-hand purchases, says PwC

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Card data suggests it’s not all doom and gloom in the hospitality sector

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Latest euro zone inflation figures suggest ECB will move slowly on rates

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Out-of-home advertising agency Micromedia has applied to Dublin City Council to operate five partially solar-powered digital billboards across the capital. Micromedia founder Dave Smith said the company had held “positive conversations” with the council about converting a number of “outdated” billboard sites to digital ones in a sustainable manner. Laura Slattery reports

Stocktake wonders if US stocks are in a bull or a bear market? If it’s a bull market, then recent weakness – the S&P 500 fell 10 per cent after three consecutive monthly declines – provides an obvious buying opportunity. If it’s a bear market, last week’s market rebound will be fleeting. He also wonders if it is possible that top-heavy markets are perfectly normal?

The latest live register, published yesterday, showing there were some 3,300 less claimants in October, corresponding to a 1.8 per cent fall, poses something of a head-scratcher. It clashes with last week’s unemployment numbers, which showed headline unemployment in the Irish economy rising for a third consecutive month in October. Cantillon wonders why.

Our resident sage also ponders why markets move in mysterious ways. Kingspan said on Monday it expected to post its highest ever annual profit in 2023, yet its shares fell the most in seven months and notes that Ryanair’s average fare for the six months rose by 24 per cent to €58, while in the second quarter the rise was 26 per cent to €65.

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