asked the Minister for Finance if employees in Government offices are subject to PAYE; and, if not, why.
Written Answer. - Civil Servants Income Tax System.
114.
Employees of Government Departments are not subject to PAYE. On the introduction of PAYE, State employees were excluded from its scope since, under statutory arrangements of long standing, tax was already deductible from their emoluments.
I might add that, in the case of industrial State employees, new arrangements were recently introduced aimed at a more even basis of deduction throughout the year. Each employee is being supplied early in the financial year with a statement of his taxable earnings in the previous year and ready reckoners are available from which they can estimate their tax liability. Each employee is asked to indicate in writing either that (a) he does not wish to have any provisional tax deductions made or (b) he wishes to have provisional weekly tax deductions made at a specified rate pending final assessment by the Revenue Commissioners, when the necessary adjustments will be made in the deductions. It is pointed out to each employee opting out of the scheme that the full tax liability for any one year must be collected within that year and that, where less than the full proportionate deductions are requested by him in the early part of the year, deductions for the balance of the year will be comparatively heavy.