Vol. 498 No. 6
46 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the number of taxpayers who will pay income tax at a rate of 46 per cent as a result of the changes announced in the budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28039/98]
Following, the changes announced in the 1999 budget, the number of taxpayers who will pay income tax at the higher rate for the 1999/2000 tax year is estimated to be of the order of 485,000. This represents a reduction of 17,000 on the numbers who would have been paying tax at the higher rate if no changes had been made in the budget.
Deputies should note that, because the main personal allowances and the PAYE allowance are now standard rated, they will no longer count towards the threshold at which taxpayers become liable to the higher rate of tax. In future, the standard rated personal allowances and PAYE allowances will be deducted after tax is calculated rather than before the tax calculation as was the case up to now.
