Vol. 526 No. 5
71 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he has made provision in the Estimates to increase the rates, ceiling income, floor income or exemptions for the social insurance contribution of employers or of employees; and the existing conditions and the proposed new conditions in this regard. [27137/00]
In accordance with normal policy in the matter, the earnings ceilings for social insurance contribution purposes, which underpin the 2001 Estimates as recently published and which will come into operation on 6 April 2001, have been assumed to increase in line with the projected movement in earnings. Such increases are intended to protect the income to the social insurance fund.
The following table sets out the current position, 2000-01, and the 2001-02 annual earnings ceilings:
|
2000/2001 |
2001/2002 |
|
|
EmployersEmployeesSelf-Employed |
£36,600£26,500£26,500(or £215 p.a. minimum payment, whichever is the greatest). |
£39,000£28,250£28,250(or £215 p.a. minimum payment, whichever is the greatest). |
|
Employers |
8.5% when income is below £280 p.w.12% when income is over £280 p.w. up to the employer ceiling.The legislation which will establish the National Training Fund should be enacted before the end of the year and will introduce a new National Training Fund levy of 0.7% coinciding with a 0.7% reduction in employer social insurance rates. |
|
Employees |
4.5% on income up to the ceiling with a PRSI free allowance of £100 p.w. People earning less than £226 p.w. are exempt from paying PRSI. |
|
Self-Employed |
5% on income over £2,500 p.a. up to the ceiling. Annual PRSI allowance £1,040. |
72 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the index which he uses to update the threshold value for the capital exemption limit on probate tax; the threshold limits on capital acquisition tax for different categories of recipient; the upper income limit for defining a dependent relative in the probate tax; the upper limit on special savings accounts; the value in each case applying in the tax year 2000-01; and the prospective value after indexation for 2001-02. [27138/00]
The exemption limit currently applying for probate tax is £40,000, above which a fixed rate of 2% is payable. The limit was increased from £11,250 in the budget 2000 – the largest increase of its kind since the tax was introduced in 1993. Prior to this increase, the threshold was indexed annually in line with the consumer price index and will again be increased in line with this index from its current limit for estates passing where the death occurs after 31 December 2000. The new threshold amount will not be available until January 2001.
An additional exemption applies where a dwelling house passes to a dependent child or dependent relative. In such a case, the house is exempt from probate tax provided the dependent child or relative had been residing in the dwelling house at the death of the deceased and had an income not exceeding the specified amount applicable in the tax year prior to the date of death – for the tax year 1999-2000, the specified amount is £5,152; for the tax year 2000-01, the specified amount is £5,536. To qualify as a dependent child, the child must have been under the age of 18 years, or if over 18 years, in full time education. To qualify as a dependent relative, the person concerned must have been a relative of the deceased or of the wife or husband of the deceased, who was incapacitated by old age or infirmity from maintaining himself or herself or the widowed father or mother, whether or not he or she was so incapacitated, of the deceased or of the wife or husband of the deceased.
