THERE WAS SOMETHING for everyone in today’s Budget. Just not always something good.
Here are a few of the groups who gained and lost today:
WINNING: First-time homebuyers
First-time buyers will get a refund on DIRT (Deposit Interest Retention Tax) worth up to 20% of the purchase price.
The new regime starts tonight and will stay in place until the end of 2017.
LOSING: These guys…
Despite Bono’s recent remarks, Michael Noonan announced the death of the “Double Irish” tax loophole, which multinationals like Facebook and Google have availed of.
The 12.5% corporation tax, though – that’s staying.
WINNING: Hipsters
…and anyone who enjoys discovering a glass of craft beer from time to time.
A special tax relief of 50% now applies to microbreweries producing up to 30,000 hectolitres of the good stuff per year.
However…
LOSING: Smokers
…they will be paying more for rolling tobacco, will has gone up by 20 cents on a 25g pack.
And if you smoke conventional cigarettes, you better nip down to the shops tonight. As of tomorrow, a premium pack of 20 (Marlbro Lights, for example) will cost you €10.
That’s a massive rise of 40 cents, easily the biggest single hike in recent history, and it makes Ireland the first country in the Eurozone the break the mythic €10 barrier for a pack of smokes.
A silver lining? At least you won’t have to wait for the change out of your tenner any more.
WINNING: Fans of Irish film
With the new Irish film tax credit scheme coming into force in January, Noonan said today he’d keep an eye on how it’s going, and think about an increase to the €50 million cap on eligible expenditure.
Basically, we should see more great Irish movies being made here.
LOSING: The bigger earners
Relatively speaking, all things considered, Ireland’s higher earners were hit by the Budget today.
While the lower rates of the Universal Social Charge (USC) were reduced, the government brought in a new 8% USC rate for those on more than €70,000 a year, and a new 11% rate for self-employed people earning above €100,000.
WINNING: Children
Child benefit is up by €5 to €135 per month per child, starting from January, with a possible further increase of €5 next year.
The Department of Education got a budget of €8.5 billion (the first increase since 2008) and there will be an extra 1,700 teaching posts.
LOSING: Entrepreneurs
Businesses had expected Employers’ PRSI for Class A workers to be cut, but it was left as is this afternoon.
Retail Excellence Ireland, for one, has said this will stifle hiring and jobs growth.
Entrepreneurs are also likely to be put out by a failure to afford social welfare benefits to the self-employed, who are now also liable to pay the new 11% USC rate.
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