I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that tax statistics are not recorded in such a manner as would enable the calculation of the proportion of the total public sector pay bill which returns to the Exchequer through direct and indirect taxation and social insurance. Where superannuation payments are concerned, the 1996 Revised Estimates provide for nearly £77 million as appropriations-in-aid to the Exchequer in 1996 in respect of superannuation and pensions contributions by public servants. However, this figure does not reflect the full level of contributions made by public servants, e.g. in the health sector, contributions are retained by the health boards.
The most recent OECD data on public sector employment as a percentage of total employment relates to 1994, and is set out in the following table. However, this data is not strictly comparable as definitions vary from state to state.
The table sets out the proportion of earnings paid in income tax and employees' social security contributions at the income level of an average production worker in each OECD country in 1994, the most recent year for which such data is available.
Headage payments and set-aside payments form part of a farmer's income for tax purposes. All other agricultural income also forms part of a farmer's income unless it is specifically exempted in the taxes Acts, e.g. the exemptions provided for in section 18 of the Finance Act, 1969, which deals with profits from the occupation of certain lands and exempts from income tax the profits arising from stallion stud fees and from the occupation of commercially managed woodlands.
Expenses in respect of the management of set-aside land are allowable as a deduction against the set-aside payments — management rules for set-aside land are published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
Withholding tax is not deducted from either headage payments or set-aside payments. However, tax clearance procedures are applied to the payment of certain payments, e.g. headage payments in excess of £500.
