Fantasy Finance Minister spreadsheet

namenotavailablE

With the Budget coming up at the start of next month, here's a link to a spreadsheet which I've created to allow you to play around with common tax credits, the standard rate band threshold (including the option to add a middle rate band) and USC rates and thresholds. You can see the impact on take-home pay as you make whatever changes to the existing values of these items.

The spreadsheet uses macros so you'll need to permit these to run - see here (basically right-click the downloaded file, choose 'Properties' and tick the 'Unblock' checkbox. Depending on your Excel security settings, you will probably also need to click the 'Enable content' button displayed under the ribbon when the workbook is opened).

Constructive criticism/ suggestions for improvement welcome!

Link: Fantasy Finance Minister.xlsm

flyer_query

first I’d caution anyone opening a subplots link like yours.

Secondly why would they, nothing confirmed yet until budget day so until then it’s guess work.

Thirdly once changes are confirmed surely people will use a more trusted and reliable link from one of the accountancy firms / broadsheets rather than a stranger on the internet

Confused

namenotavailablE

To clarify- the basic idea of the spreadsheet is to allow you to see the 'what if' of possible changes to various tax elements, such as credits and thresholds. Obviously, it's all guesswork until the actual Budget is announced- hence the 'Fantasy finance minister' name!

I accept that downloading things from the internet carries risk, so obviously don't download it if you don't want to/ have concerns about it being malware or a security risk. The given link is to a Box cloud file.

I'm adding 4 screenshots taken from the workbook to give the basic idea of the possible input a user can make- once these inputs are saved, you are presented with another worksheet which allows you to enter an income value and see how the modified changes as inputted would impact on take-home pay.

Jim_Hodge

What's the point of playing with possibilities? I'll also not be opening a link to a third party spreadsheet.

namenotavailablE

Fair enough Jim re not intending to download it.

Re the point of playing with possibilities- I'd have guessed the point would be to see how possible Budget changes might impact your own circumstances. You could answer the question how much better off/ worse off will I be if X, Y and Z are announced in the Budget.

lau1247

Fair play to putting something together.

Being able to play with figures is all fine and well. But at the end of the day, until the final outcome is set in stone on budget day. I just can't see why anyone would worry about it because there is nothing you can do to change what is decided for the budget.

It is somewhat like simulating Saturday's lotto number and then comparing it to the actual result on the day.

SureYWouldntYa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122595611#Comment_122595611

It's more like looking at what you'd spend the €8m lotto win on before the lotto draw than looking at the lotto numbers

Jim_Hodge

It'll tell me that if the tax credits were doubled and the tax rates halved I'd be quids in. I would never have imagined that.

namenotavailablE

The idea behind the spreadsheet was in part from the Tax Institute's 'Fantasy Budget' competition, an annual event where students advise the Minister about possible angles for the Budget focus. There was also the angle that various speculations are reported in the media in the build up to the Budget- a user could tweak specific tax elements and see how it might impact either personally or across a range of income levels.

I thought that it might be helpful to create a tool which allows the user to create various tweaks to elements of income tax and prepare a schedule similar to one of the Annexes of the Budget summary (I think it's called 'income impact') which is produced following each budget showing the impact of changes to a range of income levels and marital statuses. It might also allow a relatively non-technical user to get some idea of how things might fare if certain reported amendments are made.

Clearly if you make a bunch of income boosting amendments you'd be 'quids in' but that's hardly worthy of comment.

Ciaran

Huh. If tax credits are increased by €100, I'll be €100 better off.

namenotavailablE

If that is all that happens (and that you're earning enough to benefit from the increased tax credit) then that's clearly true, but that's an extremely simplified scenario and very unlikely to represent the extent of the Budget changes. The calculator allows for a mix of changes to be evaluated.

So, for example, what if tax credits change, the 20% band increases by some value (imagine a middle rate of tax of say 30% is introduced for some amount of income), the USC lower percentage rate changes, the second income band of USC is increased and you become subject to pension auto-enrolment (if it's implemented in January, which granted looks doubtful, but would result in a mandatory deduction from pay if it applies to your situation). How would the combination of these changes impact? Don't forget also that PRSI for pretty much everyone goes up by a small amount in October 2025 too, so even if absolutely nothing changes in the budget, you'd see a reduction in income from October 2025.