asked the Minister for Finance the average payment of income tax per annum of each PAYE worker in each of the years 1982, 1983, 1984 and to date in 1985.
Written Answers - Income Tax Statistics.
14.
The average payment of income tax of each PAYE worker in 1982 was £1,672. The corresponding figures for 1983 and 1984, which are provisional, are £1,913 and £2,276, respectively. The average tax payment for each year is obtained by dividing the net receipt of PAYE tax in each calendar year by the number of taxpaying units effectively liable to tax in the income tax year in which the calendar year ends; for example, the 1982 net receipt is divided by the number of such units liable to tax in 1982-83. Working wives other than those treated as single persons are not counted separately.
Information on the number of tax paying units effectively liable to income tax under PAYE is available only in respect of a full income tax year and is not ascertainable until the relevant end-of-year returns from employers have been received and processed. Accordingly, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the average tax payment to date in 1985.
15.
asked the Minister for Finance the yield of income tax from the PAYE sector for each of the years 1982 to 1984, inclusive, and the estimated yield for 1985; and if he is satisfied that in accordance with the National Plan, Building on Reality 1985-87, the overall tax burden on income taxpayers will not increase.
The yield of income tax from the PAYE sector for the years 1982, 1983 and 1984 was, respectively, £1,269.4 million, £1,423.4 million and £1,682.3 million. The budget estimate for 1985 was £1,860 million. The outturn for the year is likely to be marginally short of the budget estimate. As incomes rise, tax receipts also increase. The commitment in the national plan, Building on Reality, that the overall income tax burden on taxpayers would not increase was fully honoured in the 1985 budget. Every taxpayer benefited from the changes which were introduced in the budget. On a global basis the 1985 cost of the income tax changes was £58 million which is somewhat more than the cost of a 6 per cent indexation of bands and allowances. Future changes in taxation are, of course, matters for consideration in the context of the forthcoming budget.