Budget 2020 October 8th 2019.
This is what was announced in Budget 2020
Social Welfare and Pensions :
- Jobseeker’s Allowance for people aged 25 will increase by €45.20 a
week from - Jobseeker’s Allowance for people aged under 25 will increase by €90.30 from €112.70 to €203, if they are living independently and getting a state housing support such as Rent Supplement, RAS or HAP (from January 2020).
- Supplementary Welfare Allowance for people aged 25 will increase by €45.20 a week from €157.80 to €203 (from January 2020).
- Supplementary Welfare Allowance for people aged under 25 will increase by €90.30 a week from €112.70 to €203, if living independently and getting a state housing support such as Rent Supplement, RAS or HAP (from January 2020).
- The income disregard for the One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker Transition will increase by €15 (confirmed)
- Income thresholds for the Working Family Payment will rise by €10 for families of up to three children. (confirmed) .
- A €2 a week rise
in the “Qualified Child Increase” for under 12s and a €3 increase for children over 12. (confirmed from 6th January 2020). - There will also be a €5 increase in the living alone allowance from January 2020 (confirmed)
- The Fuel Allowance is increasing by €2 a week to €24.50 a week. (from January 2020)
- The Christmas Bonus – will be paid out again at 100% in 2019 – the same as last year. (confirmed) More details of the Bonus Here
Carers :- The number of hours that a carer can work or study every week outside the home and still get Carer’s Benefit or Carer’s Allowance will increase from 15 hours to 18.5 hours. (No date given yet)
Budget 2020 also announced the extension of free GP care to under-eights and free dental care for under-sixes. (From Sept 2020)
Prescription charges for all are to be reduced by 50c per item (July 2020)
The monthly threshold for the Drug Payment Scheme is being reduced by €10 per month .( In Sept 2020)
The threshold for medical cards for the over-70s will increase by €50 for a single person and €150 for a couple. (In Sept 2020)
Household Benefits Package
Qualifying criteria for the Household Benefits Package will be broadened for people aged under 70 to allow another adult to live in the home.
There were no other increases to the weekly amounts of state pensions or welfare benefits – except for those listed above.
Taxes
No USC changes , but the reduced rate for medical card holders extended for another year.
No changes to the main Income tax thresholds or rates .
An increase to the Earned Income Credit for self-employed workers to €1500 as it moves towards €1650 to match the PAYE credit. (Jan 2020)
Home carer tax credit is to increase by €100 to €1600 from Jan 1st 2020
Inheritance Tax (capital acquisitions tax
The current rate of
DIRT – the tax on savings interest will be cut by another 2% this year as promised. This will bring DIRT down to 33% – the level it was at in 2013.
In 2018, the rate was 37% and in 2017, the rate was 39%. From 2014 to 2016, the DIRT rate was 41
Corporation tax unchanged .
A new nitrogen oxide charge (NOx) on new and imported petrol and diesel cars is to be introduced. This will replace the 1% cent diesel surcharge introduced last year. The new NOx surcharge will apply to all passenger cars registering for the first time in the State from January 1st, 2020. The rate is yet to be confirmed – but we have seen that a figure of €5 per mg/km NOx might apply.
On that basis the driver of an average new diesel car with a NOx level of 43 mg/km would pay €215 . The driver of the average new petrol car with a NOx level of 23 mg/km would pay €115.
Stamp
The Help to Buy Initiative was due to end
Tobacco – an increase of 50c on 20 cigarettes is confirmed from midnight 8th Oct.
Alcohol – no change (confirmed)
The Benefit In Kind zero rate on electric vehicles is extended to 2022.
The Minimum Wage increase in 2020 was not mentioned – but we expect it to be increased in January 2020
As a senior citizen receiving widows pension do i have to pay property tax? A reply would be most appreciated.
There are no property tax reductions or exemptions for people on low income.
The only option is deferral – see ,: http://www.moneyguideireland.com/deferral-of-the-property-tax.html
Is right that all people with disability that live on there own get the 5euro living alone allowance or just pensions
why is there noting for working people, or did I miss anything? seems the working class is ignored – they need childcare while at work but creche fees are expensive and no scheme supports them, they still have tax to pay and bills to handle.. I feel the system forces people to stay at home rather than work… there are more benefits to staying at home than working- u get medical cards and all… and what about the families? a complete family gets nothing too, why can’t there be a flat benefit for all citizens and additional to special purposes like lone parents and all, plus why can’t there be a universal creche fee for everyone and get schemes according to circumstances. creche has changed fees for me more than once which is so confusing…do they get different care per fees paid? one flat creche rate please and schemes accordingly.
Seems to me everyone wants/deserves something except those who work.
I second that… seems working-class are punished and not thought of at all… I mean we need childcare while at work but for the working-class, we have to pay more for the creche and still pay tax and have bills on top of that…
I’m a working lone parent with 2kids age 15 and 12 and I do get fis so is there anything for me on this budget please
Hi just wondering did the minimum wage go up from 9.80 to 10.10
It wasn’t mentioned as part of the Budget – it will be going up though.
somebody can explains please what is home care tax credit?Thanks
Is carers allowance reciving anything
No
I’m on disability allowance. The Allowance should have gone up at least a few euro. I’m married and renting as well as paying bills plus other things. Our rent is 100.00 per week. We also have to buy food, vet bill plus Gas and Electric. I would have liked to have seen a bit more money. Although to be fair the Christmas bonus is staying as it is.
Fecking nothing for people earning around average industry wage…no USC reduction, no threshold increase, no VAT reduction or tax cuts of any sorts.
Instead carbon tax increase (why on earth Ireland should worry about the carbon emission when at the same time China plan to add in coming years more coal power stations than currently operates in whole Europe). What is the fecking point apart of robbing working people of their money?
F…n true.
Carbon Tax is supposed to be a revenue neutral measure however VAT is charged on all Carbon Tax as a rate of 23%. Why do the Government not ring fence the VAT collected on this to go towards the Carbon Tax bill rather then using it in the general coffers. Either that or make Carbon Tax VAT exempt. It is a hidden tax which the state benefits from.
I am working full time, my wife is full time carer for special needs son, as well as 4 other children. We will never be able to afford a 10% deposit on a house. Because disability and carers allowance is seen as income, we cannot get on the council list as together we exceed the threshold by a minute amout. My family is in the middle. 99% of my monthly wage is gone on trying to survive. and we cannot guarantee our children a safe home as we rent at an extortionate rate! Debt to death is the way forward!
I’m on longterm illness benefit.its unfair that I wont be getting Christmas bonus.
Hi sinead here the 5 euro increased to living alone allowance is that just for elder or other that live on there on like me thanks
Are you 66+, living alone and receiving the state pension?
Yeah I live on my own and it say that was for people who get disability as well in less miss heard it for the 5 euro increased
Does Ireland still not have a tax free saving account like the ISA in UK? Taxing DIRT at 30% is so mean. Wouldn’t it make sense to promote savings outside of property to avoid house price inflation.
Both myself and husband work
We are trying to go for a mortgage.
Give families like us help with being able to use the help to buy scheme on a second hand home and not only allowing it to be used on a new build were people are forced to pay 300k + .
My self and my partner are on disability allowance and its really great to think that we will get a full bonus at xmas and the other rises we are getting no matter how small they are they all count
Is the disability allowance getting a weekly rise
No – only child-related welfare benefits are rising.
You won’t get anything else besides the Xmas bonus if on disability allowance.
Ireland is a low tax economy, fact:
https://data.oecd.org/tax/tax-revenue.htm#indicator-chart
We can either have decent services or low overall tax, our choice. It just doesn’t feel like a low tax country as personal income is taxed quite a bit. The charts at the above link are pretty clear.
The small increase given to pensions in 2019 Just pushed us above the tax exemption threshold of €36000. So the state clawed back 40% of the increase at marginal relief rates. The minister described it as an unintended consequence. The exemption threshold needs to be moved in line with any pension increase to provide the advertised benefit otherwise it might be construed as false advertising.