THE GROUP representing Irish employers has called on the government not to levy further taxes on the public for the next two years, insisting that ordinary workers and households have reached the limit of what they can be asked to pay.
The call comes as IBEC holds its annual CEO conference in Dublin today, which will be attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.
IBEC chief executive Danny McCoy said Irish workers had already been taxed enough and that while previous increases were necessary in order to ease the strain on the public finances, no more could be managed.
“To reduce the negative impact on growth and job creation, the remaining economic adjustment should be made by reducing expenditure and growing the economy,” he said. “This requires the government to pursue pro-enterprise, pro-business policies.
“We need a tax system that rewards work, but recent budgets have seen the tax burden increase dramatically,” he said.
McCoy commented that changes to the personal tax system and the introduction of a universal social charge meant Ireland now had one of the highest marginal tax rates in the developed world.
“It is crucial that there is no increase in the cost of employment and that nothing is done to undermine the flexibility of the Irish labour market or the industrial relations environment,” he said.
Plans for the next Budget, which could be delivered in October under new EU procedures, include €2 billion in spending cuts and €1.1 billion in tax increases.
The 2015 Budget, meanwhile, is due to include €700 million in tax increases as part of a €2 billion adjustment.
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