Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
405. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons, expressed as a percentage of the total workforce, who were in the highest income tax bracket in Ireland in each of the years 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17634/23]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that tax return data in relation to 2021, 2022 and 2023 are not yet available for analysis and publication. Instead, the Deputy may be aware of Revenue’s Ready Reckoner (Post Budget 2023), which is available on the Revenue website at:
www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/ready-reckoner.pdf
This sets out, on page 2, an estimated allocation of taxpayers to tax bands in the year 2023. These estimates are arrived at using Revenue’s micro-simulation tool Tax Modeller, which uses actual tax return data for 2019 and takes account of income and labour fluctuations in the interim. For the Deputy’s ease of reference the table is set out below.
Estimated Income Earner Taxpayer Units by Income Tax Rates in 2023
|
Year |
Exempt (standard rate liability covered by credits or age exemption limits) |
Standard Rate (including those whose liability at the higher rate is fully offset by credits) |
Higher Rate (not fully offset by credits) |
Total |
|
2023 |
1,220,400 (37%) |
1,411,500 (43%) |
643,500 (20%) |
3,275,400 |
As shown on page 2, an estimated 20 per cent of taxpayers (643,500 taxpayer units) pay tax at the higher rate of income tax. However, this figure must be viewed in the context of the accompanying note, which indicates that if a taxpayer’s nominal liability at 40 per cent is fully covered by their tax credits then they are represented in this table as being a standard rate income taxpayer.
