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Who speaks for the tax paying workers?
I will probably do a Pre Budget Submission based on my
earlier post.
It will be a personal submission, but maybe I will make it "on behalf of all taxpayers and workers"
Brendan
Back to the main topic, I think you'll be laughed at.
gnf_ireland in post no 1 of this thread, highlighted the issue of the squeezed middle particularly as discussed in a document on 'Perspectives on Ireland’s personal tax system' from the Irish Tax Institute. However, these concerns are not officially addressed at a policy level in Ireland.
Issues on personal income tax levels in Ireland have already been identified and IMHO analysed and discussed more cogently than in this thread by e.g. the Revenue Commissioners, the Tax Strategy Group of the Department of Finance, etc. The government's own Income Tax Reform Plan
http://www.finance.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Income-Tax-Reform-Plan.pdf recognises that entry to income tax is at a high income level and that entry to the higher rate is at a relatively low level. Unfortunately the 'reform' part of the plan, which incidentally concludes that “
Ireland has a comparatively low tax burden on labour, particularly at low and middle income levels”, is largely concerned with faffing about on the periphery with earned income credit; the home carers credit and extending mortgage interest relief, than delivering real tax reform.
The National Risk Assessment Strategy 2017
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Publications/Publications_2017/National%20Risk%20Assessment%202017%20-%20Overview%20of%20Strategic%20Risks.pdf says “In Ireland, taxation and social transfer policies have been effective in offsetting market income inequality. In 2015, transfers reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate from 34.9% to 16.9%, representing a poverty reduction effect of 52%, and currently Ireland is the best performing EU Member State in this regard. Similarly, the ratio of total income received by the top income quintile compared to the bottom income quintile stood at 4.7 in 2015 down from 5.1 in 2012 at the height of the economic downturn. In recent years there has been some improvement in measures of poverty and inequality, with the Gini coefficient for disposable income falling below the EU average in 2015. However, measures of consistent poverty remain above the targets set for 2020.” So there you have it. Taxation policy is, inter alia, to 'offset market income inequality'. So it was a bit of a waste of time to study, get that qualification, work hard and produce marketable goods and services, because somebody else, and not you and your family, will benefit from your hard work and effort, but you will at least know that you live is an less unequal society. And that is why an Irish taxpayer on 55 grand pays more that in other wealthier countries, because it is public policy that he/she should do so.
Furthermore the Fiscal Advisory Council's pre-budget submission
http://www.fiscalcouncil.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Pre-Budget-2018-Statement.pdf does not address the issue of personal taxation or the concerns of the Irish Tax Institute, presumably because they do not regard them as important or real, but notes that “there is more scope for government expenditure to expand in line with the economy’s sustainable pace of growth, while gradually reducing debt levels.” So public policy would appear to be firmly set on increasing government expenditure, when it can get away with it, with issues concerning personal income tax payers not addressed in the FAC's report.
Additionally, the government's recent Economic Statement
http://www.budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2018/Documents/SES/20170712-SES-final-version.pdf identifies 0.22 billion net for 'new taxation measures'. I think this means possible tax reductions, but the report goes on to say “Any additional expenditure measures and tax reduction proposals will require additional discretionary measures unless compensating expenditure reductions are identified. The forthcoming Tax Strategy Group papers will set out potential options for revenue increases and reductions.”
http://www.finance.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/170712-Summer-Economic-Statement-2017.pdf. So it would appear that additional taxation has not been ruled out and tax reduction will come only where expenditure cuts are identified. And this by a strategy group that concludes that Ireland has a low tax burden on labour. This is not the same as saying for example, "we will, as a matter of policy, 'address the concerns of the squeezed middle' or change personal taxation in Ireland along the lines of the medium to long term approach proposed by the Irish Tax Institute".
