Tax Code.

Thursday, 4 November 2004

Questions (130)

Joan Burton

Question:

127 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Finance the number of taxpayers paying tax at the higher rate in 2004; the percentage of taxpayers this represents; and the equivalent figures for each of the previous four years. [27634/04]

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Written answers

Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen)

It is assumed that what the Deputy requires is the number of higher rate taxpayers as a percentage of all income earners on the tax record. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the information requested by the Deputy is as provided in the following table.

Distribution of income earners by higher tax rate, 2000-01 to 2004.

Tax Year	No	Higher Rate
		%
2000/01	540,000	30.6
2001†	535,000	29.9
2002*	487,000	26.7
2003*	555,000	29.8
2004*	614,000	32.6

† Short tax "year" from 6 April 2001 to 31 December 2001.

* Provisional and subject to revision.

It should be noted that a married couple who has elected or has been deemed to have elected for joint assessment is counted as one tax unit. The numbers of income earners above have been rounded to the nearest thousand as appropriate.