Pat Rabbitte
Question:206 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Finance the average amount of income tax paid by PAYE workers, farmers and the self-employed for each of the past ten years. [20151/98]
Written Answers. - Tax Yield.
The information requested is included in the following table:
Average income tax payments 1978 to 1997 (estimated)
|
Year |
(a)PAYE |
(b)Farmers |
(c)Other Self- employed |
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
|
|
1987 |
2,904 |
593 |
2,631 |
|
1988(i) |
2,994 |
707 |
2,988 |
|
1989 |
3,122 |
804 |
2,505 |
|
1990 |
3,266 |
754 |
2,587 |
|
1991 |
3,541 |
601 |
2,562 |
|
1992 |
3,633 |
710 |
3,154 |
|
1993(ii) |
3,849 |
782 |
3,586 |
|
1994(iii) |
3,894 |
892 |
3,798 |
|
1995* |
4,049 |
932 |
3,707 |
|
1996* |
4,308 |
1,021 |
4,049 |
|
1997* |
4,649 |
1,097 |
4,748 |
* Provisional — subject to revisions.
(i) Excludes the effects of the 1988 tax amnesty;
(ii) and (iii) exclude yields from the 1993 tax amnesty in 1993 and 1994 respectively.
Notes on Table
(a)PAYE figures
(i) Income tax collected throught the PAYE mechanism 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.
(ii) 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 tax paying 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.
(a)Farming figures
(i) In calculating the figures in this column the estimated net receipt of income tax paid by full-time farmers has been divided by the number of full-time farming tax units assessed to tax for the year of assessment in which the calendar year ends, for example the 1987 receipt is divided by the number assesesd for the year 1987-88.
(ii) The figures for averages do not take into account the tax attributable to the farming profits of farmers who, or whose spouses, carry on another trade or profession. Farm tax represents a fraction of their overall tax liability and the emerging average farm tax payments could not be regarded as representative of the normal average tax yield from the farming sector.
(iii) Income tax on farming profits is collected with Schedule D tax generally and because of this it cannot be precisely distinguished. Accordingly, the figures shown for tax payments by farmers are estimated.
(c)Other Self-employed figures
(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).
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 one or other of them is 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 arrangement 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.