A list of all the main Budget 2015 announcements from Oct 14th 2014
USC: The 2% USC rate is being cut to 1.5%
The 4% USC is being cut to 3.5%
A new USC rate of 8% is being introduced on earnings over €70,000
The top rate of 11% USC will apply to self employed earnings over €100,00
Full USC Details Here
Home Renovation Incentive Scheme to be extended to rented properties
DIRT – Refunds of DIRT on savings used for first time house purchase – limited to 20% of purchase price. Full details of DIRT Refunds here
Income Tax : Top rate of 41% cut to 40%. Top band level raised by €1000 to €33800
Water Charges : Income Tax relief of up to €100 a year can be claimed from 2015 onwards.
Plus a €100 for people in receipt of Fuel Allowance payments. (A €100 top up to the Household Benefits package was announced previously).
Tobacco Duty : Cigarettes up by 40c a pack of 20
Confirmed NO changes to alcohol , petrol , diesel ,motor tax or V.R.T
Student Registration Fees – planned increase to €3000 to go ahead in 2015
Christmas Bonus for Social Welfare Recipients of 25% of their weekly payment. Full details here
Child Benefit: Increased by €5 per child per month from Jan 2015 .
Living alone allowance to be increased by €1.30, from €7.70 to €9.00 per week, benefiting almost 180,000 elderly people from January 2015.
Back to Work Family Dividend – . This will allow families to retain the full Qualified Child increase of €29.80 per week per child for 12 months after their return to work and 50% of the payment in the second year. More details Here
Pension Levy : The 0.6% Pension levy will cease at the end of 2014
Corporation Tax : The rate remains at 12.5% (as expected)
An additional €6 million a year for 3 years to the fund for horse and greyhound racing
Micro Breweries – an increase in the annual excise relief production ceiling from 20,000 hectolitres to 30,000 hectolitres.
9% VAT on Tourism related services is to be retained.
Budget 2016 will be in October 2015