Budget 2005

Victor

Budget 2005 - 1 December 2004. I understand the estimates are being published this week.

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-207671363-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews-Features.asp
http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-390404363-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews-Features.asp

Any speculation?

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2004/1115/cowen.html

Cowen won't unveil all his plans this week
November 15, 2004 19:53

Finance Minister Brian Cowen has said the Book of Estimates, to be published on Thursday, will not contain the full picture of his infrastructural spending plans for 2005.

Mr Cowen said he will wait until the budget to unveil additional infrastructural spending.

This, he said, is because the uptake of public private partnership projects has been slow and he needs time to come up with new alternatives.

The Finance Minister also promised to adopt a generous approach to the issue of medical cards and spending on disabilities in the Book of Estimates.

He said the medical card issue is a priority for the Government.

He also said he will unveil new multi-annual limits for spending on disabilities in his budget on December 1.

Victor

The Estimates are included here (in error on the 2004 instead of 2005 page):

http://www.finance.gov.ie/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=-1&CatID=13&m=f

PoolDude

Any predictions ahead of tomorrow?

Danno

Fags - up 20-30c
Beer - up 10c/pint
Alcopops up 15c/bottle
Cider up 20c/pint
Petrol - up 3c
Diesel - up 1c

Income tax - up to 14k before tax
GAA - 50M grant
Social Welfare - up 8eur per week

Plastic bag tax up 5c
New 5c tax for ATM reciepts
Motor tax up 5%

Big annoucement to smoke screen - New Western Rail plan!


Thats my prediction!!!

GreeBo

Reduced Stamp Duty and €60 Single Person Tax Credits...Highlights

Mr E

So far...

Min wage workers to leave tax net
Stamp duty eliminated for first-time buyers of certain homes
Old age pension up €12, child benefit up 7%
€900m funding for 2006 special disability package

Scruff

is the increase in the tax credits announced per month or per year?

GreeBo

Full Budget Summary
Word Doc.

ixoy

Alcohol increased? Fupping great. So far nothing of any benefit to me. Brilliant. No votes from me FF.

[edit]Meh, teach me to read properly. No increase. Fair enuff. Still little good though.[/Edit]

mike65

That must be the quietest budget in years. No changes on any old reliables.

Mike.

GreeBo

ixoy wrote:

Alcohol increased? Fupping great. So far nothing of any benefit to me. Brilliant. No votes from me FF.

[edit]Meh, teach me to read properly. No increase. Fair enuff. Still little good though.[/Edit]

Stamp Duty, Tax Credits, Rent Relief?

EKRIUQ

He didn't put anything up except the farmer tax 4.5 to 4.8%
Nothing on Beer,Cigs,Petrol

I'll wait till next week to see if they put car tax up like they did last year

Dr. Dre

Once again the middle income group get nothing to write home about :mad:

I hope the welfare increases are in time for the christmas bonuses [/sarcasm] :mad:

GreeBo

Dr. Dre wrote:

Once again the middle income group get nothing to write home about :mad:

stamp duty is about all we get yep...

Dr. Dre wrote:

I hope the welfare increases are in time for the christmas bonuses [/sarcasm] :mad:

you get a chrimbo bonus? :eek:

glynf

Sweet F.a. for the self employed either.
Budget? Just a PR exercise by comrade bertie& co. tbh.

Victor

GreeBo wrote:

you get a chrimbo bonus? :eek:

Not quite. Some social welfare recipients (typically pensioners and those receiving unemployment payments, accounting for maybe a third-half of recipients) receive an extra few days (sometimes a weeks) payment in December.

GreeBo

Victor wrote:

Not quite. Some social welfare recipients (typically pensioners and those receiving unemployment payments, accounting for maybe a third-half of recipients) receive an extra few days (sometimes a weeks) payment in December.

well thats allright then!
actually its probably not, but a topic for a different thread methinks.

WexCan

Oh thank GOD cigs are staying the same.

Borzoi

Anybody seen a tax calculator for this yet?

GreeBo

Tax Calculator

Borzoi

GreeBo wrote:

Tax Calculator

top man have a bananna

GreeBo

Borzoi wrote:

top man have a bananna

Hmmm you are far too happy, you obviously havent worked out your new tax yet! :eek:

Horeb

http://www.esatclear.ie/~grabe/TaxCalc/TaxCalc.html

This is being updated to 2005 in the next day or 2.

Very handy to compare previous years

Borzoi

GreeBo wrote:

Hmmm you are far too happy, you obviously havent worked out your new tax yet! :eek:

It's more with this hand, but I'll have to wait and see how much the other hand takes back!

Peace

GreeBo wrote:

Tax Calculator

nice on Greebo, handy tool that.

Tazz T

I thought it was a very fair budget. I'm a middle income earner but I think taking those on the minimum wage out of the tax net was the right hing to do. It's just a pity the mega-rich who don't earn tax are still out of it. Perhaps next year will see them paying their bit to pay for free medical care for all children and tax-free childcare.

Good to see that you only have to pay the credit card levy once now if you swap providers. We can all become 'rate tarts' now. Anyone know when all these changes come into effect because I'm ready to get rid of MBNA and pcik up Tescos credit card at 0% for six months.

shoegirl

Its debatable. Part of the reason why so many more children live in poverty over 10 years ago is because while adult rates for social welfare have risen, the child dependent rates remain frozen at the 1993 level. This means that a single person on social welfare gets a proportionately larger increase than a lone parent with one child. Hardly "equitable." Nothing with regard to childcare, but, this hurts rich and poor women equally.

With regard to tax the stamp duty will largely benefit those wealthy enough to be able to afford 317k houses - hardly poor folks.

The rent relief was long overdue and will help a lot of the people who won't be able to purchase a house - but it is really pitiful when you consider the level of subsidy that mortgage relief is.

However the income tax relief is quite strongly skewed towards higher earners as any reduction in the amount of tax paid at 42% will benefit ONLY people earning more than 28500 and ONLY fully benefit those on 30k or GREATER. Those on less than 28k will not benefit from it. The tax bands may be unfair, but it is equally unfair to give a larger tax cut to those who have more. So somebody on 30k gets a tax cut of about 500 while somebody on 25k gets a tax cut of 290. Now the former is 1.667% of the persons income while the latter is only 1.116%. So the better off earner on 30k is definitely getting more out of this budget.

Childrens allowance - a very regressive payment - should not be paid to anybody on more than 75k a year - I really don't see while the chattering classes need this as much as lone parents on less than 175 a week. Coupled with the absence of an increase in the child dependent allowance, this means that the child of the rich gets exactly the same actual increase as the child of the poor.

12 months until something is done about the scandal of tax reliefs for the ultra-wealthy? Sounds to me like nothing more than a 12 month warning to give the friends and patrons of FF 12 months to find different ways to cut tax on their incomes....

GreeBo

shoegirl wrote:

With regard to tax the stamp duty will largely benefit those wealthy enough to be able to afford 317k houses - hardly poor folks.

they are not exactly flush either. Have you seen the sort of house 317 will get you in Dublin City?

shoegirl wrote:

So somebody on 30k gets a tax cut of about 500 while somebody on 25k gets a tax cut of 290. Now the former is 1.667% of the persons income while the latter is only 1.116%. So the better off earner on 30k is definitely getting more out of this budget.

Isnt that what happens when you use percentages?

shoegirl wrote:

12 months until something is done about the scandal of tax reliefs for the ultra-wealthy? Sounds to me like nothing more than a 12 month warning to give the friends and patrons of FF 12 months to find different ways to cut tax on their incomes....

This is shambolic. Millionaires, Stud farmers and Artists not paying income tax? Rubbish.
If the only way you can get people to become artists is by giving them extra cash then those people are not in it for the art.
Shít, I'd slap some paint on a canvas tonight if I thought some tourist would buy it off me on Merrion square tomorrow.

Victor

shoegirl wrote:

Childrens allowance - a very regressive payment - should not be paid to anybody on more than 75k a year - I really don't see while the chattering classes need this as much as lone parents on less than 175 a week. Coupled with the absence of an increase in the child dependent allowance, this means that the child of the rich gets exactly the same actual increase as the child of the poor.

You're right, but it's actually a lot more progressive than the tax fee allowances they partially replaced.