Surely it's time that some high earners are taxed the same as those on much less pay?

[Kevin Doyle]

What contraditiction? I pay different marginal rates across different ranges of my income. The total amount paid is an average of around 44% of my total income.

THe government takes €44 of every €100 I earn.

If there was a tax on stupidity Ireland would solve it budgetary problems in one swoop.

I see, you are one of those special cases too?

You say one thing, the Government and several economists say another, I'll stick with them and not some jumped self-appointed wannabe know all on an internet forum.

See ya now

[Eamonn76]

They should take this quiz:

A little quiz on Ireland’s income tax | Ronan Lyons

This is amazing. The top .5% are only paying 27.5% in income tax. We need to raise this to 40% ASAP. The Golden Circle are getting away with massive evasion but they keep lying about how they are paying 50% tax. This is scandalous. If FF were ever a party of ordinary people that is long gone.

[Jan]

Why are so many on here proccupied with a very small number of people? It stinks of begrudgery. While they should be paying their share, you will find that they are in the form of higher levies etc! Lets focus on the people who pay NO tax AND who benefit most from the €21bn social welfare cake. Why should they contribute hee haw?

[Tombo]

This is amazing. The top .5% are only paying 27.5% in income tax. We need to raise this to 40% ASAP. The Golden Circle are getting away with massive evasion but they keep lying about how they are paying 50% tax. This is scandalous. If FF were ever a party of ordinary people that is long gone.

I hope you are being facetious.

top .5% are paying 27.5% [SIZE="4"]OF TOTAL[/SIZE] income tax [SIZE="4"]COLLECTED[/SIZE]. A very different thing.

Even now I don't think some people here will get it. Try this.

If the 0.5% of top earners somehow shifted their employment overseas and out of Irish tax jurisdicition, 27.5% of the income tax recipts of Ireland would vanish.

That was about €3.6bn (of the total €13 in income tax receipts in 2008).

[Didimus]

You dipstick.

Did you even bother to llok at the number of cases involved - around 200.

That represents a group of select and priviliged individuals (including "artists" etc.) who get special treatment. They are not the norm.

You dipstick? Me Jane?
Anyway.
The actual number of cases was 439. It was a sample of high earning individuals who availed of the more than 50 tax breaks available to such individuals, and it seemed to me to suggest that the department was proud that this sample showed that their efforts to target this group in order to produce an income tax return of approx 20% had been succesful.
Of this 439, 253 paid between 15% - 20%, and 48 paid between 20% - 25%.
None paid more than this.

[Tombo]

You dipstick? Me Jane?
Anyway.
The actual number of cases was 439. It was a sample of high earning individuals who availed of the more than 50 tax breaks available to such individuals, and it seemed to me to suggest that the department was proud that this sample showed that their efforts to target this group in order to produce an income tax return of approx 20% had been succesful.
Of this 439, 253 paid between 15% - 20%, and 48 paid between 20% - 25%.
None paid more than this.

It was not a sample.

That is why you are a dipstick.

The 2006 and 2007 Finance Acts introduced, with effect from 1 January 2007, measures to limit the use of certain tax reliefs and exemptions by high-income
individuals. Such individuals, by means of the cumulative use of various tax incentive
reliefs, had in previous years substantially reduced their tax liabilities

Around 200 people were "such individuals"

[Tombo]

Why are so many on here proccupied with a very small number of people? It stinks of begrudgery. While they should be paying their share, you will find that they are in the form of higher levies etc! Lets focus on the people who pay NO tax AND who benefit most from the €21bn social welfare cake. Why should they contribute hee haw?

What is even more absurd is the thought that increase already fairly punitive marignal rates of income tax will do nothing more than screw even further to the wall people who already pay their own way as well as the way of many others.

I don't mind paying more tax than others on lower income.
I don't mind paying a higher proportion of my income in tax than those on lower incomes.

But when something approach 50% of all my income goes in income tax a limit has been reached already.

[lobby]

I hope you are being facetious.

top .5% are paying 27.5% [SIZE="4"]OF TOTAL[/SIZE] income tax [SIZE="4"]COLLECTED[/SIZE]. A very different thing.

Even now I don't think some people here will get it. Try this.

If the 0.5% of top earners somehow shifted their employment overseas and out of Irish tax jurisdicition, 27.5% of the income tax recipts of Ireland would vanish.

That was about €3.6bn (of the total €13 in income tax receipts in 2008).

No, actually he was correct. The top 0.5% pay on average 27.5% in income tax each, however, their total combined tax accounts for 18% of all income tax. Still quite a lot though.

[Didimus]

It was not a sample.

That is why you are a dipstick.

Didn't say it was a statistical sample.
My original post pointed to this report which showed how 439 high earners managed to restrict their income tax to below 25%, the majority being below 20%.
They did this by way of various tax allowances, including "artist" exemption.
Leaving out the 40 who fall into the latter category ( I'm presuming you are not an artist - but perhaps I'm wrong - one of the Angry Young Men perhaps), that leaves just under 400 individuals in the study that seemed to be doing better than you at minimising their income tax liabilities.
Which is why I suggested that you may need to get better advice.

[Eamonn76]

The rich have to contribute to the destruction caused by the bubble they created. Lets say it again. The top .5% are only paying a 27.5% rate of income tax. If FF are patriotic then they will raise the top rate of tax on the superrich to 70% until we get out of this budgetary crisis.