Ireland the land of taxes and endless "fees"

To take further an example of my relative. She's in her early 40s with 2 children in their teens. Both have special needs. The father was convicted of abusing the children shortly after the second arrived. Therefore the dont have them option doesnt exist, as when you had them the situation was different.

She wants to work, but it doesnt pay her to do so. She gets carers payment, lone parent alllowance, hap, medical card, fuel allowance etc. Like I said above, you'd need to be earning at or above 40k to even consider it. With two special needs kids - one autistic and one physically disabled - you'd also need to think about a carer while she would be at work unless she could work the hours around school.

That's a wrong situation, it should always pay to get a job. It should never be better to be on benefits. Of course she's not going to give up the money and take a large pay cut, that wouldnt be prudent, but on the whole that system needs to change. Especially for folks not on carers, pension, sick/disabled,- folks on normal JSA should be time barred.

Well, someone has to pay Leo and Michael's wages and whoever's in power at the moment.

You keep voting for center-right parties, that's why. And then you moan that "X isn't a centre-right party!". Yeah, in the same way Bertie Ahearn was a socialist.

It's not the taxes and fees y'all should be worred about it's where the money is going that's the real crime. The poor level/complete lack of them, but oh yeah - "X is a centre-left party" so they're investing all the money in public services, then, yeah?

The USA, fact check it if you want. I earn far more here than ever in Ireland. I pay myself as a contractor and also do my business returns. Everything is above board. Yet I have more in my pocket personally and in business than I ever had in Ireland.

i think you should really explore any statement that Ireland isn’t a high tax country, a little more.

Completely agree toll bridges anyone. the stats here for Irelands tax is with regard to our GDP and our GDP is swayed by our MNCs we should be looking at our GNP as the correct measure. If you live in Ireland and try and do things the right way you get bent over and raped for money, while those on the dole keep on doling and the lads in the public sector continue the watching of the clock, the people in power for the last 2/3 decades have made an absolute b0ll0x of our finances.

I think there's another aspect to this. It's not about deserving, or undeserving, immigrants at all: it's the model of country we want.

This really goes back to Mary Harney 20 years ago, when she told us that "the economy" needed 40k (or was it 50k) immigrants per annum for five years.

I don't want to live in an "economy" but in a country. However some politicians, bought and paid for or just foolish, think Ireland should be a tax-free platform for MNCs to use willy-nilly.

That might have been fine when all we had was enormous emigration - but times have changed, and today we should be looking at each MNC from the point of view that they make a positive contribution to our society, or not. And if not, then we don't want to encourage them, unless they pay enough tax to make it worth our while.

But if they don't make a positive contribution, and they don't pay lots of tax either, then let them look elsewhere.

Who is boasting? Only one with an issue is you.

Now VAT @23% on anything outside of food and kids clothes? VRT? Anything else your FG buddies are screwing people on? 😀

Taxing your salary at 50% over a pittance of an income, to fund people living a higher living standard than many working people is insane! That rate should be dropped 2% a year for the next 5 years...

What will we actually get ? Increased fuel allowances for people in their free luxury apartments, more e600 allowances for them too... free gp visits etc... more bonus welfare payments... they should give them free merc at Christmas too. Sure doesn't the worker down the road busting his ass, have one...

We also have no military expenditure and a relatively very small elderly population versus other countries. I'd laugh if the corporation tax golden goose ever shat itself. The endless money tree that they shake down, to fund the insane waste here...

They would have to make hard decisions, like cutting a fiver from the worlds most OTT welfare payments...

I don't really know if it is worse here or not.

A bit like this thread people claim we are the most taxed in Europe when we are not, others claim that we have the worst housing crises in Europe when we may not.

But housing was not a big factor in the Galway Intel decision.

Simple. It's a welfare state so the working man has to pay for it. The level of handouts here is unreal, tell someone from another country what you can get here for not working they'll be dumbfounded.

There are toll bridges the world over.

This argument needs to move to what you take home in your pocket after paying out all taxes, all stealth charges and paying for services that should be covered in what a working person pays out in income tax. We pay income tax at a very very low level (40k when the higher rate kicks in) and at a very high rate and that is under any comparison world wide. The fact is our welfare competes with low paid jobs and our low paid jobs with handouts from the government and the low level of tax they pay compete with average paying jobs and the high rates of income tax and cost of actually going to work cuts the legs off from anyone earning more or working more in OT due to the very punitive % of tax you pay on your days work. This is a fact in this county and there is no getting around it.

So what do you come home with after paying out

PAYE, PRSI, USC, VAT, Carbon tax, rent/mortgage, oil/gas for heating, Plastic bag levies, toll bridge, Property tax, stamp duty, electricity standing charges, Health insurance, Home insurance, Life insurance, bin charges, DIRT, CGT, CAT,VRT, doctor/dental/hospital bills.

A lot of people with all of the above that we are made pay and a lot we pay twice for such as medical insurance and then a visit to the doctor and we pay 4 times for the use of our roads as in we pay income tax, then motor tax, then VAT and carbon tax on petrol/diesel and then we pay toll bridges, like how much more are people expected to give.

Personally after all of the above is paid and before a scrap of food or a thread of clothing is put on my families back I am down 85% of what I make. So when shopping for either its Aldi and Pennies all the way, my wallet goes into cardiac arrest if I step anywhere near the likes of Brown Thomas or Marks and Spenser's for Clothes or food.

Anyone arguing we don't pay enough in this country has an agenda or are too rich to care.

Look no one is arguing we are a low tax country. I think the opposite is true when you include all taxation, not just income tax. As you rightly point out we have to pay again for stuff that is included in the general taxation take in other countries like refuse. However we don't pay for water, and other stuff like plastic bag levy is optional It's there to change behavior. I never pay it as I have my own bags. VAT and Carbon tax on fuel, the whole EU does that, have you tried buying fuel in Germany or holland recently? Not to mention in the nordics.

Our total gross household income is approaching 150k and we have to budget. We shop in aldi and lidl, with one shop in iceland every month or two. I installed solar PV and have a lot of electric heating so we get away with 1 or 2 max tanks of oil a year. most normal people don't pay CGT, CAT etc, and only pay VRT every now and again. We bought a new car in september and only paid 7% VRT as we chose an electric car. Health/Home/Life insurance are pretty normal in most countries.

So that really leaves us with what, GP and healthcare bills, and refuse charges that should be paid for from the general tax take - but we get free water that most people have to pay for (I have a well so am neutral on the irish water issue).

I have paid 9% income tax on a very good salary and 5% sales tax for years, 0% capital gains and 2% for my universal health insurance for which I get a medical card and awesome health service. 3% labour insurance premium. Key - none European country. High VAT rates just ramp up cost of living and who benefits ?

Almost everything from tolls to renting to insurance to pharma drugs to vehicles to public transport to hotels are far cheaper. The only thing more expensive are groceries, fresh meat and milk. Even Irish whiskey is 30% cheaper lol.

Yet there is very little poverty here compared to much of Europe. Partly its related to strict immigration controls. PARTLY work ethic . Partly conservative government spending. NOT much dole here. Lots of folks doing small businesses instead.

Interestingly lots of subsidised housing available for lower income workers and those who can't work with same rights to apply. Lack of immigration and refugees means low pressure on housing and rental prices.

A LOT OF IT IS MINDSET. Anytime the government wants to increase fees or taxes there is uproar, and the oil company and electricity and water companies are state owned and runs at bare bones margins, still almost no problems at all. Carbon taxes....minimal.

Don't get nickel and dimed to death like in Ireland , land of over regulation through taxes and fees .

Saw the crazy 10% toll fee increase cos of inflation in Ireland. Max allowable and they even rounded up! YET ANY toll increase just increases inflation. No newspaper mentioned this fact. Saw the ESB 67% increase for electric car charging. Sickening.

33% capital gains tax is insane and so very stupid. It's why so many just invest in houses with so many bad side effects.

Kids activities atrociously high priced in Ireland, I noticed they have parents over a barrel there. Business people.are quite greedy. Pay a significant entry fee to an event then pay loads more for each activity inside.

I bank savings without even sweating every month. Makes it very very hard to move back to Ireland.