What sacrifices would you and would you not be prepared to make to aid Recovery?

djpbarry

P. Breathnach wrote: »

…I never got into the habit of spending extravagantly: if I can't comfortably afford something, then I do without it, or wait until I can afford it.

As do I, but I’m not going to wait a little longer for the Irish version, unless of course it’s worthwhile for me to do so!

juuge

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I am sorry when people find themselves under financial pressure .

My whole life, so far, has been under financial pressure, but what really makes me angry is the fact that my lifestyle will deteriorate to keep the likes of little 'dick' Roche and little 'willie' O'Dea in a job.

ednwireland

i'm not prepared to make any sacrifices until the gov td's, ministers and senators match their pay to 2004 levels (or however far the income has fallen ) once they lead i'll take some pain until then they can F off

dan_d

As ednwireland said, I'll take cuts after it has been demonstrated that the people who creamed it for the last 10 years are taking a sufficient cut first. And that large cuts in the public sector wage billl have been FAIRLY introduced and implemented (not "will be implemented over a period of time"). ALso when all possible has been done to invest in transport/education and health.In a fair way, not in a "fund the salaries of our top people" kind of way. I got nothing from the celtic tiger, having been in secondary school during most of it, and never voted for FF and yes I do resent having to pay for the mess that my generation is essentially inheriting and will be paying for for most of our working lives.Younger members of my family, currently in college will probably have to emigrate to find jobs.
When the above suggestions have been fully implemented, then and only then, should they start looking to the ordinary taxpayer.
Of course, pigs might fly and hell might freeze over when that happens.

Driseog

I think the vast majority of luxury items should have a tax increase and a slight decrease on essentials.
Texts without doubt.
I wouldn't be in favour of it as I drive a van but I think they should tax diesel to equate it with petrol and leave the petrol alone.
Ciggies to a tenner, people near the border will pop across but no one is going to travel from Cork to Newry for fags.
Tax the bejaysus out of spirits, leave beer and stout or the pubs will surely be killed.
Any tax on wages has to be equitable and no way should low earners have to bear that burden.
I'm not a fan of the man but I think back in the 30's Dev slashed TD wages by 40% or something and I know in the scheme of things their wages are only a drop in the ocean but it sends out a symbolic message to the country that those who messed up are ready to make sacrifices.
Leadership from the top.

djpbarry

dan_d wrote: »

When the above suggestions have been fully implemented…

What suggestions? You haven’t made any?

Driseog wrote: »

Any tax on wages has to be equitable and no way should low earners have to bear that burden.

What burden? Tax? Speaking as a “low earner”, I think it’s ludicrous that so many people in this country are paying so little tax. A small tax on the 40% of the workforce currently outside the tax net could generate a significant amount of revenue.

Capt'n Midnight

In previous generations the tax take from the working man was much higher.
And like now the rich didn't have to suffer anywhere near as much.
It's a pity we can't tax disposable income accurately.

https://www.indymedia.ie/article/67158

. In March 1979 an estimated 200,000 workers marched through the centre of Dublin in protest against a tax system where penal rates were levied on average earnings while wealthy people paid little or no tax. In 1978 PAYE had accounted for 87% of all tax

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1978/en/si/0377.html
Emergency tax, until you got your PRSI details sorted out you got a tax free allowance of £17 per week and then paid tax on all the rest at an increasing rate per month up to 60% :eek:

jimmmy

Driseog wrote: »

I'm not a fan of the man but I think back in the 30's Dev slashed TD wages by 40% or something and I know in the scheme of things their wages are only a drop in the ocean but it sends out a symbolic message to the country that those who messed up are ready to make sacrifices.
Leadership from the top.

+1

Naz_st

Driseog wrote: »

Any tax on wages has to be equitable and no way should low earners have to bear that burden.

In what way then would it qualify as "equitable"?

It can't be "equitable" if you're excluding a large portion of the workforce (the "low" earners) from having to pay anything.

So what you really meant to say was
"Any tax on wages shouldn't be equitable, in this way the 'high' earners, who are already paying the majority of all the income tax, should pay more income tax and all of the 38% of the workforce currently not paying any income tax should be able to continue to pay nothing"

Everyone should contribute something. Less if you have less, more if you have more, but at least something.

Sleepy

Well, after this week my wages have been cut to the same level as they were in 2005 (which was 2 promotions ago) and I'm working a 4 day week for the forseeable future. So, like I said in a post above, I've no choice in making the sacrifice of 20% of my salary before whatever shafting I get in the emergency budget.

What can I do? Enjoy getting to spend more time with my daughter during her first year, look at options for further upskilling if the 4 day week continues (or worsens) at it's three month review and vote as stategically as possible to get Fianna Fail out of power at the next election. As a PAYE worker there's nothing else I can do other than join the black market and try for some "nixers".

Driseog

Naz_st wrote: »

In what way then would it qualify as "equitable"?

It can't be "equitable" if you're excluding a large portion of the workforce (the "low" earners) from having to pay anything.

So what you really meant to say was
"Any tax on wages shouldn't be equitable, in this way the 'high' earners, who are already paying the majority of all the income tax, should pay more income tax and all of the 38% of the workforce currently not paying any income tax should be able to continue to pay nothing"

Everyone should contribute something. Less if you have less, more if you have more, but at least something.

I don't think if your on minimum wage you should have to pay tax. Higher earners are able to absorb tax increases better than those on the minimum wage. Higher earners have more disposable income than those on the bottom rung. Also those on minimum wage are extremely vulnerable if they have their hours cut.

djpbarry

Driseog wrote: »

I don't think if your on minimum wage you should have to pay tax. Higher earners are able to absorb tax increases better than those on the minimum wage.

Nobody’s saying that minimum-wage workers should make contributions of 40% of their income or whatever, but there’s no reason why a small contribution cannot be made. Consider that there is a labour force of approximately 2.2 million people in this country (I think), of which about 11% are currently unemployed. Approximately 40% of those in employment are not paying any tax (I think). Even if that contribution was raised from 0% to just 1% of their annual income (which works out at about €3.24 per week for a minimum-wage worker), that would result in additional revenue of at least €130 million (I think – been a long day).

Driseog wrote: »

Higher earners have more disposable income than those on the bottom rung.

So “higher earners” should be taxed until their disposable income falls in line with those on the minimum wage?

faceman

Driseog wrote: »

I don't think if your on minimum wage you should have to pay tax. Higher earners are able to absorb tax increases better than those on the minimum wage. .

That depends. Higher earners have mortgages and loans to pay too. although it depends on what we define as high earners.

A 1% tax increase doesnt affect everyone the same. Afterall 1% of 30k a year is alot from a monetary perspective less than 1% of 60K per year.

You cant just blanket tax people based on their income without taking into consideration other factors. Which is why its important to have a balanced tax credits system.

funky.monkey

I'm on a fairly low wage (less than 13 euros a hour) and I'd be much happier paying a lot more in income tax / levies etc, than I would paying a property tax. At least on an income based tax if your wages / hours go down then your tax also goes down, whereas on a property based tax (which I think they said could be 1000 a year) even if you have to take a wage cut or lose your job the tax is the same. 1000 a year means a lot more to someone on 25,000 a year than it does to someone earning 100,000 a year.