Another mini budget was announced here in Ireland on Tuesday April 7th.
These are some of the main changes introduced.
Income Levy Increases from May 1st 2009
The income levy rates will be doubled to 2% on incomes over €15,028
4% on income in excess of €75,036 and 6% on income in excess of €174,980
Health Levy Increased – from 1 May
The health levy rates will double to 4% and 5% on incomes over €75,036.
PRSI Changes – from 1 May
The PRSI ceiling will be increased from €52,000 to €75,036.
Deposit Interest Retention Tax
DIRT is going up to 25% from 23% at from midnight on 7 April 2009 tonight
Capital gains tax s being increased from 22% to 25% in respect of disposals made from midnight on 7 April 2009.
Tobacco – Duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes will be increased by 25 cent (including VAT) with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products, with effect from midnight on 7 April 2009.
Diesel The tax on auto-diesel will be increased by 5 cent per litre (including VAT) with effect from midnight on 7 April 2009.
Social Welfare
The personal rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance and basic Supplementary Allowance will be reduced for new claimants under 20 years of age to €100 per week from the first week of May 2009. Full Details Here
The Christmas bonus payment for all Social Welfare payments is being removed in 2009.
Early Childcare
Early Childcare Supplement monthly payment to be halved to €41.50 per child with effect from 1st May 2009 and abolished at end-2009
Mortgage Interest Relief
Mortgage interest relief for private residences will only be available for the first 7 years of the mortgage. Anyone who has been receiving interest relief for the past 7 years will no longer be eligible after 1 May 2009. However interest relief will be allowed on a pro-rata basis for the first 4 months of 2009. This means a maximum relief amount for 2009 of €1,000 for single people /€2,000 for married couples for people who have over 7 years on their mortgage (1 May 2009).
Some good news for Irish residents yesterday was that Amazon are now going to deliver electronics , video games, cameras and most of their products to Ireland. For the past 5 years they have only delivered books, cds and DVds to Ireland – but now we can take advantage of their low prices. ( And the VAT comes back to Ireland) So if you want bargains on camcorders , dvd players, cameras, ipods, xbox 360 , Nintendo WII – don’t bother with the hassle of driving over the border – just go online and see what you can get here at Amazon.