The most vulnerable part of Irish society a.k.a. the overtaxed working middle class with kids

[Steve]

Уже давно не секрет что наиболее незащищённой и наиболее дискриминируемой частью ирландского общества являются работающие представители среднего класса, прежде всего те кто работает в частном секторе и в семьях с двума работающими.

Вот нашёл кое-какие цифры на эту тему:

The economy has very limited ability to generate the additional taxes needed to achieve the ?3.5 billion in fiscal consolidation agreed with the troika for December’s budget, says the Irish Tax Institute in its pre-budget submission.

"Imposing new and additional taxes on taxpayers cannot be done without consequences," says institute president Martin Phelan.

"Those contributing to the tax system have less disposable income than in 2008 and will have less again following any further tax increases. Such increases will really be an element of replacing one tax with another."

In 2008 there were 2.1m workers in the country contributing ?13.5bn in income taxes and the universal social charge whereas now there is 1.8m workers generating ?15.3bn in income taxes and the universal social charge even though there has also been a reduction in salary levels. Moreover, in 2007 only 29% of the overall tax take came from income tax and the universal social charge . Last year 42% of the tax mix came from income tax and the charge.

The institute argued against further increases in the charge because this levy is based on gross salary which means it has a bigger impact on take home pay than a hike in income tax because the latter is cushioned by a series of reliefs.

Ireland has now the 10th highest marginal rate on wages out of 34 OECD countries. If the charge was increased by 3% in the budget then that would bring the Irish marginal rate into the top five among OECD countries.

"Ireland has the most progressive tax system in the EU. Any further increase would start to seriously impact on our competitiveness and our ability to attract jobs in a fiercely competitive market," says Mr Phelan.

Furthermore, the top tax rate kicks in at ?32k in Ireland compared with ?258k in Germany and ?304k in the US.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/busines...ty-214557.html