Cowen welcomes €1.3m income tax package
A €1.3m income tax package and a range of business supports which come into effect this week, have been warmly welcomed by local Fianna Fail TD. Barry Cowen.
The measures will see a single person earning the average annual salary of €47,000 getting an increase in take home pay of €780 in 2024, while a couple earning €100,000 between them will see an increase in take home pay of €1,560 this year.
Among the changes which come into effect this week are:
* Changes to main tax credit, USC rates and Standard Rate Cut-off point will help 2 million income tax payers
* Rent Tax credit increased to €750 from January 1st
* Enhancements to Research & Development tax credit, Employment Investment Incentive, Start-up Capital Incentive and Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs (SURE) schemes come in to effect
The €1.3m package of measures, which was announced in last October’s Budget will benefit over 2 million income tax payers.
Barry Cowen outlined how the main tax credits (personal, employee and earned income) will all increase by €100 from €1,775 to €1,875, and noted the increases to the Home Carer Tax Credit, Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit and Incapacitated Child Tax Credit.
“The Standard Rate Cut-Off Point will increase by €2,000 from €40,000 to €42,000 for single persons, with commensurate increases for married couples and civil partners” said Deputy Cowen. He also pointed out that the first USC rate cut in five years will see the 4.5% rate reduced to 4%, and in line wth the increase in the National Minimum Wage to €12.70 (also taking effect this week) the second USC rate band (2 per cent rate) will increase to €25,760. This will ensure that full-time workers earning the national minimum wage will remain outside the top rates of USC.
“As part of Budget 2024, FF Finance Minister Michael McGrath was pleased to be able to further enhance the Rent Tax Credit for 2024, increasing the maximum level by 50% to €750 and I strongly urge all eligible taxpayers to register for the credit using the Revenue MyAccount for 2022 and 2023. It will also possible to claim the credit in realtime for 2024 early in the New Year.”
Deputy Cowen also highlighted a number of enterprise tax measures which are coming into effect.
“A key theme of Budget 2024 was to enhance a number of tax incentives for enterprise in Ireland. A number of these come in to effect from January 1 including enhancements to the Employment Investment Incentive (EII), Start-up Capital Incentive (SCI) and Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs (SURE) schemes. The Research and Development tax credit also increases to 30% in respect of 2024 expenditure which will help businesses of all sizes to invest in their future productivity.