PAYE system punishing people, says Fine Gael TD

Fine Gael TD Damien English has called for the upcoming Budget to “put money back into people’s pockets.”

The Meath West TD said that half of all full-time PAYE workers are paying tax at the highest rate, but are “being punished by the taxation system through no fault of their own.”

English dismissed claims from Opposition parties that the majority of workers don’t hit the 40% income tax rate, stating that “Revenue has clearly recognised that 1,077,500 taxpayer units will pay at the 40% income tax rate in 2024.”

Citing figures from the CSO labour force survey, English said that just over half of the 2.08 million full-time workers are in the top bracket for PAYE.

“People are working hard, getting pay rises, doing overtime, getting promoted and ultimately being punished by the taxation system through no fault of their own,” said English, who has served in various Junior minister roles since 2014 and currently serves as Fine Gael’s Dáil’s spokesperson on finance.

“Fine Gael want to ease their burden and reward work. We aren’t talking about millionaires here; we’re talking about people who earn anything over €40,000 a year,” he said.

Furthermore, English said that “rewarding work and innovation, supporting enterprise, and backing business are a key part of Fine Gael’s identity,” and has expressed desire that the upcoming Budget matches this

“We hear it regularly from people across the country, whether it is at the ploughing in Laois or in the shops this week. They need a package that rewards work and allows people to keep more of their hard-earned money, because people pay too much income tax and USC.”

“Opposition parties such as Sinn Féin are totally against the Programme for Government commitment that with rising incomes and a healthy economy, ‘credits and tax bands will be index linked to earnings’,” he claimed.

“Why are they against proposals such as allowing people benefit from an increase in personal tax credits or increasing the figure at which the top 40% band rate kicks into hard-earned wages?

“Why are some parties in the Dáil so intent on penalising a nurse who works an extra shift, a mechanic who services an extra car or someone who gets a promotion? It baffles me.”