Seán Ardagh
Question:182 Mr. Ardagh asked the Minister for Finance the percentage, actual amount and average amount of the total income tax take contributed by PAYE payers, farmers and other self employed for 2001 and 2002. [14069/03]
Written Answers. - Tax Yield.
I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners as follows.
Figures of the net receipt of income tax from the PAYE, farming and other self-employed sectors in each of the years 2001 and 2002 are set out as follows:
Net Receipt of Income Tax 2001 and 2002
|
2001 |
2002 |
|||||
|
Tax Head |
€m |
% |
€m |
% |
||
|
PAYE |
7,280.2 |
81.0 |
6,725.4 |
77.5 |
||
|
Farmers* |
106.6 |
1.2 |
126.2 |
1.5 |
||
|
Other self-employed* |
1,605.8 |
17.8 |
1,820.0 |
21.0 |
||
|
Total |
8,992.6 |
100.0 |
8,671.6 |
100.0 |
*These figures include yields from underlying tax liabilities on bogus non-resident accounts.
These figures do not take account of receipts of deposit interest retention tax and dividend withholding tax for which a breakdown between particular classes of taxpayers cannot be ascertained. Also not reflected in these figures are repayments of tax other than tax paid under PAYE or by the self-employed such as, for example, repayments made to foreign residents of tax deducted at source under various arrangements. Payments of withholding tax on professional fees are included in the yield from the other self-employed.
The amounts paid by each sector must be seen in the context of the relative numbers of taxpayers in the PAYE and self-employed, including farming, sectors. Income tax collected through 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.
The figures for tax yields attributed to other self-employed include tax paid on income from trades and professions other than farming, together with tax paid on other income such as rent and other investment income.
Figures of average tax payments in each category in 2001 and 2002 are estimated as follows:
|
PAYE |
Farmers |
Other Self-Employed |
||||
|
(a) |
(b) |
(c) |
(d) |
|||
|
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
|||
|
2001 |
6,887 |
4,545 |
1,165 |
8,706 |
||
|
2002 |
6,430 |
4,124 |
1,359 |
9,436 |
Figures for these years are provisional and subject to revision.
Notes on these average tax payments follow.
(i) The figures at (a) and (b) are PAYE figures. The average tax payment for each year at (a) 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 2002 net receipt is divided by the number liable to tax in 2002. This number excludes income earners on the PAYE tax record who are exempt from tax.
(ii) The average tax payment for each year in column (b) is obtained by dividing the net receipt of PAYE tax in each calendar year by the total number of income earners on the PAYE tax record including those who are exempt from tax.
(i) In calculating (c), the farming figures, 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 2002 receipt is divided by the number assessed for the year 2002. These numbers exclude cases who are not required to file annual tax returns and whose position is reviewed periodically because their incomes are clearly too low to attract a tax liability on an individual basis.
(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.
(i) The figures for (d), other self-employed figures, are obtained by dividing the estimated net receipt of income tax in each calendar year, subject to certain technical adjustments, 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 farming figures.
These numbers exclude cases who are not required to file annual tax returns and whose position is reviewed periodically because their incomes are clearly too low to attract a tax liability on an individual basis.
The following general notes apply.
(i) A married couple who has elected or has been deemed to have elected for joint assessment is counted as one tax unit.
(ii) Receipts of deposit interest retention tax and dividend withholding tax 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.