Budget 2023

I love a good moan about FF/FG, but this conversation shows what a thankless job it really is. When you simultaneously have some of those on a lower income complaining that the budget doesn't do enough for them and some of those on a higher income complaining it does too much for those on lower incomes it shows the impossible task that is making a budget that everyone is happy with.

My household has come out of this budget better than in any previous ones I can recall with the tax band shift and electricity credit. Though I would've preferred to see more support for the likes of families trying to get by on minimum wage incomes, I understand that it's pretty hard to reduce an already very low tax contribution.

I nearly threw up in my mouth typing this, but I think Paschal has done a great job threading the needle with it. No matter the budget, you'll always have some complaining that it should've done more (but only for people of their specific demographic).

Sorry that's a typo. It should have said you should be worried.

Free school books details remain to be seen. I assume it'll be a cost per child given in a grant form to the school but who knows if the grant will cover it all.

Guess we all have different opinions. I'm not complaining as we will (hopefully) be fine and the extra will be welcome but there are lots who still will be disappointed.

People in that bracket may actually have a reason to do overtime or additional work rather than handing over 40+% to the government for every euro earned over 40k. I know so many people who just take time off in lieu rather than get paid for overtime because of this exact reason.

I understand the basic idea; I take every second of overtime as time in lieu. By the time everything is taken into consideration, over 50% of any overtime would end up in the government coffers. I'm not sure that making it 40% instead of 50% would be the game changer you think it would; I'd continue to take time in lieu.

It also doesn't address how this actually does anything to widen our tax base? You're talking about changes for the existing tax base, it still doesn't put a single extra body into that tax base, but rather reduces the taxation of a huge amount of that tax base, like I said pushing pressure upwards onto an even smaller tax base of very high earners.

The overtime argument is always a bit ludicrous, its like not taking a promotion because you don't like the higher rate of tax.

I laughed out loud at the spoofer Kwasi Kwarteng, quoted on Sky News online this morning. When speaking to panicked Tory MPs he's reported to have said 'I removed the 45p tax rate for higher earners, because we were out of kilter with Ireland'.!!

In what way you lying sod and why should that matter to 'global ambition* Britain?!

I wouldn't have increased the threshold for USC for a start. That's narrowing the tax base.

In a way you are correct but I suppose what I meant to say was widening the over tax take across a wider section by giving people an incentive to take home more pay at the end of each month while also adding additional money to the tax take. The current model discourages people working more hours because they lose so much of it in tax.

How is adjusting a threshold for USC narrowing the tax base?

People will still pay USC just at a lowered rate. Tax base is not affected.

It’s not though, your not doing extra hours(in most cases) for no reason when you get promoted.

This is confirmed

The shinners were calling for a price cap on unit prices, paid for by a windfall tax on energy companies profits... I think that's the one area where the civil war parties could have hoovered up the leftie votes instead of giving us money to pay the energy companies

I agree about the national debt that it’s going to come back and really bite us so we should be paying it down more.

Regards minimum wage workers they are a mixed bag. Some are young and it’s only a job for a bit of pocket money, some are women who are working in roles that they can fit around their children, some are women going back to work after raising their children, some are carers for elderly parents and just do part time hours, then there are those in very low paid industries. Everyone working is gaining skills and experience and therefore many will get opportunities to enter higher paid jobs. Sometimes people lack confidence to ask for pay rises, change roles or even careers, but the hardest jobs I ever had were those minimum wages jobs. Tax cuts don’t help the very lowest paid, that is where the welfare system hopefully comes in with things like HAP, medical cards etc. Realistically most people are better off working especially if they take a long term view.

Many of us go through tough times in our lives and I definitely questioned working back when I had my eldest was in an entry level job, paying childcare, rent and had nothing left over at end of month. Thankfully I kept going moved roles, companies and industries along the way. It’s not possible for everyone on low wages but life will get better for many. It can be very hard to see light at end of tunnel when your in the thick of it.