EVERY YEAR THE Budget is an exercise in balance and there is always winners and losers.
Here’s who got something and who will feel like they lost.
Older people
The old-age pension will increase by €5 a week from March.
Hotels and restaurants
Noonan announced that the 9% VAT rate would be retained, quelling fears that it might be upped.
Fishermen and farmers
Fishermen are to be given an income tax credit and farmers will get low-cost loans and a increase in Glas allocations.
The €1,270 annual credit will shelter income of up to €6,350, which is the equivalent value of the seafarers exemption.
The Glas allocation will increase to €211m.
First-time buyers
If you’re buying a new-build home that costs under €600,000 (!) you will receive a tax rebate.
The scheme will provide a rebate of income tax. It will be calculated on what has been paid over the previous four tax years, up to a maximum of 5% of the purchase price, of a new home up to a value of €400,000.
However, if you’re buying a second-hand home:
Social welfare recipients
All weekly social welfare payments will increase by €5 a week, including the carer’s allowance, disability allowance and jobseeker’s benefit and allowance.
Landlords
Noonan announced that interest deductibility, which was restricted to 75% in 2009, will restored to 100%.
He also said that the income ceiling on the rent-a-room scheme would go up to €14,000. Noonan says this will allow homeowners to rent out additional rooms at current average prices while remaining within the scope of the scheme.
It means that a person with spare rooms could rent them for up to €14,000 a year, tax free.
However, the Irish Property Owners’ Association says they aren’t happy with it.
“If the Minister was serious about solving the Housing Crisis, he would have returned the 100% Mortgage Interest Relief, allowance of Property Tax against income and incentify the restoration of Property in need of renovation.”
Sheep
Yes, sheep.
In Paschal Donohoe’s speech, he outlined a €25 million animal welfare scheme for sheep to support Ireland’s “vitally important sheep sector”.
Minimum wage workers
The minimum wage is set to be increased by 10 cent to €9.25 an hour and today contained no more increases. Labour’s Ged Nash called that increase a “slap in the face”.
“The government has failed to meet its own commitments to raise the minimum wage to €10.50,” said Senator Nash.
“At this rate of increase, as announced by Minister Noonan today, it will take almost 13 years to reach the target this administration set itself in the Programme for Government just last May.”
Motorists
While there was no increase in petrol prices, there was no attempts to bring them down.
Nor were there any changes to motor tax, but there was €319 million announced for regional and local roads and three major PPP projects: Gort to Tuam, Gorey to Enniscorthy and the New Ross By-Pass.
Smokers
The old reliable – cigarettes will go up by 50 cent as of midnight.
Tenants
No rent certainty, no incentive to pass on reliefs to tenants and no major schemes to increase house building. Threshold called the Budget a “missed opportunity”.
“We have seen many supports for landlords introduced in Budget 2017 but any tax relief for landlords should be matched with rent certainty for tenants.”
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