Irish Ministers Hint At Personal Income Tax Cuts

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

27 May 2014

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said that his Government's next two Budgets will prioritize income tax relief for working families.

Kenny made the pledge while on the campaign trail for the local and European elections. Speaking at a Fine Gael press conference, he said that the Coalition had "worked hard to stabilize the economy, the public finances, and the banking system, to get the economy growing again, and, most importantly, to create jobs." Ministers have also honored their promises "not to increase income taxes," he said.

Kenny's comments echo those of Finance Minister Michael Noonan, speaking recently to RTE's News at One: "One of our priorities should be not to put additional impositions, particularly on the low and middle income people; and secondly, to be very aware of vulnerable people in society who can't take any more in terms of tax and charges."

"Our objective is, when we have the wherewithal, to reduce personal taxes – and it would be going counter to our policy if we didn't act on it," Noonan added.

Of particular concern is a scheduled increase in the Universal Social Charge (USC) in January 2015. Some taxpayers will face a rate hike from four to seven percent. Noonan said that he is "very conscious" of the issues surrounding the USC, but cannot make budget announcements at such an early stage in the year.

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