Proinsias De Rossa
Question:61 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline, in respect of each of the past five years, the average amount of income tax paid by (a) PAYE workers (b) farmers and (c) self-employed.
Written Answers. - Income Tax Statistics.
Following is the information requested:
|
Year |
Average tax payment made by |
||
|
(a) |
(b) |
(c) |
|
|
PAYE |
Farmers |
Other self-employed |
|
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
|
|
1987 |
2,904 |
585 |
2,829 |
|
1988 |
3,096 (i) 2,994 (ii) |
1,215652 |
5,1003,383 |
|
1989 |
3,127 + |
768+ |
2,598+ |
|
1990 |
3,292 + |
682+ |
2,585+ |
|
1991 |
3,565 + |
537+ |
2,642+ |
+ Provisional — subject to revision.
(i)Includes the effects of the tax amnesty in 1988.
(ii)Excludes the effects of the tax amnesty.
Notes on Table
Column (a)
(i) 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, e.g. the 1987 net receipt is divided by the number liable to tax in 1987-88.
(ii) The figures in column (a) of the table are based on income tax collected through the PAYE mechanism which covers more than income tax on ordinary wages and salaries. It includes tax paid by directors of close companies who are akin to the self-employed as well as tax on "other income" of employees such as rent and other investment income. It also includes the tax paid under PAYE on the income from employment of farmers and other self-employed individuals.
Column (b)
(i) In calculating the figures in this column the estimated net receipt from farm taxation in each calendar year has been divided by the number of farming tax units which were formally assessed for tax on their farming profits in the year of assessment in which the calendar year ends, e.g. the 1988 receipt is divided by the number assessed for the year 1988-89, irrespective of whether tax was actually payable in all cases.
(ii) Full-time farmers and farmers who, or whose spouses, carry on another trade or profession have been included in the calculations in respect of tax paid on their farming profits.
(iii) Income tax on farming profits is collected with Schedule D tax generally and the figures shown for tax payments by farmers are, to some extent, estimated.
Column (c)
(i) The figures contained in this column are obtained by dividing the estimated net receipt of income tax in each calendar year from tax units whose main source of income is from self-employment, other than full-time farming, by the estimated number of those units assessed to tax in the year of assessment in which the calendar year ends as explained in note (i) for column (b).
(ii) Some of the increases in the average tax payments made by other self-employed in 1988 are due to the introduction of the withholding tax on professional fees in 1987 and the combined effects of the tax amnesty, the introduction of the self-assessment system and a full year payment of the withholding tax in 1988.
The 1989 yield was first to reflect a full year's credit for withholding tax paid in the previous year.
General Notes
(i) A married couple who have elected or have been deemed to have elected to have the income of both spouses assessed on the husband are counted as one tax unit.
(ii) Some figures in the columns differ from those given previously. This is due to more accurate information becoming available in the meantime.
(iii) Receipts of deposit interest retention tax and tax deducted by building societies under the former composite rate arrangements are not included in the calculations. Basic data are not available which would enable the amounts of these taxes referable to interest paid or credited to particular classes of taxpayers to be ascertained.
(iv) The yield from farmers and other self-employed was reduced by the once-off effect of deferring payment of the balances of 1990-91 tax from 1991 to 1992. Ordinarily these balances, amounting to about £30 million, would have been paid in 1991 but were deferred to 1992 as a transitional effect of introducing the Current Year Basis of assessment for self-employed persons in 1990. The yield from farmers in 1991 was further reduced because of a decrease in farming profits.