For many workers the tax changes announced in Budget 2018 will only have a relatively small effect.
Somebody earning €18,000 gets an additional €6 weekly.
But much of that increase is due to the rise in the minimum wage paid by their employer instead of a cut in taxes.
Take the example of a person on €20,000. They will only get an additional €1 every week.
However, somebody on €35,000 annually gets an extra €5 weekly.
An individual on €75,000 will have an extra €6.
The self-employed will pay €200 less in tax because their tax credit rises – although it still lags behind that of PAYE workers.
The tax cuts and spending rises in the Budget are partly financed by a big hike in the stamp duty on commercial property transactions.
The State projects that it will collect an additional €376m from increasing that tax from 2% to 6%.
That step has given the Government a lot more room for manoeuvre in the Budget.
It has allowed a package which gives a little bit of money to almost everyone while at the same time balancing the books.
How will Budget 2018 measures affect people's take home pay? pic.twitter.com/hcSoJFPKae
— RTÉ Business (@RTEbusiness) October 10, 2017
However, the risk is that if the commercial property market flags next year, the Government will not collect as much as forecast.
There was probably a reasonable argument for hiking commercial stamp duty considering it had been cut from 9% to 2% over recent years to stimulate investment in the sector following the crash.
The other significant hike was in the vacant site levy.
This is a tax designed to stop the hoarding of property which could be used for housing. It is increasing from 3% to 7%.
However, the legislation has a big loophole. If the site is in negative equity, the tax will not apply. Many sites are in negative equity – that perhaps explains why there have been so few complaints about the increase in the tax.
Comment via twitter @davidmurphyRTE
