Put money back in people’s pockets in the Budget – English

Putting money back in people’s pockets must be a Budget priority as it was confirmed half of all full time PAYE workers are paying tax at the highest rate, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Damien English said despite being repeatedly denied from Opposition parties, Revenue has clearly recognised that 1,077,500 taxpayer units will pay at the 40% income tax rate in 2024[1].

Set alongside the CSO labour force survey, this means just over half of the 2.08 million full time workers are in the top bracket for PAYE.

Deputy English said, “People are working hard, getting pay rises, doing overtime, getting promoted and ultimately being punished by the taxation system through no fault of their own.

“Fine Gael want to ease their burden and reward work. We aren’t talking about millionaires here; we’re talking about people who earn anything over €40,000 a year,” the Meath TD said.

Ahead of the pending October 10^th Budget, Deputy English, Fine Gael’s Dáil Finance spokesperson, said rewarding work and innovation, supporting enterprise, and backing business are a key part of Fine Gael’s identity.

“We hear it regularly from people across the country, whether it is at the ploughing in Laois or in the shops this week. They need a package that rewards work and allows people to keep more of their hard-earned money, because people pay too much income tax and USC,” Deputy English said.

“Opposition parties such as Sinn Féin are totally against the Programme for Government commitment that with rising incomes and a healthy economy, ‘credits and tax bands will be index linked to earnings’.

“Why are they against proposals such as allowing people benefit from an increase in personal tax credits or increasing the figure at which the top 40pc band rate kicks into hard earned wages?

“Why are some parties in the Dáil so intent on penalising a nurse who works an extra shift, a mechanic who services an extra car or someone who gets a promotion? It baffles me,” Deputy English said.

[1] https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/ready-reckoner.pdf