Dr. Donal de Buitléir:

No; they pay eight times more, that is, 800%. I acknowledge that they are pretty low numbers and part of the reason is the PAYE credit of €1,650 which was introduced in the budget for 1980, primarily because at the time self-employed persons paid tax based on their income in the previous year, while employees paid on a current-year income basis. Inflation was running at 18%; therefore, as a result, one's income in the previous year was a good deal lower. That anomaly was dealt with and self-employed persons now pay tax based on their income in the current year, but the compensation introduced through the PAYE credit was not amended. One thing of which one can be sure in respect of taxation is that persons on the same income should pay the same in tax, but that does not happen right across the system. Incidentally, were one to impose religiously the principle that those on the same income pay the same in tax, it would impose radical changes in income distribution. However, self-employed persons on low incomes, in particular, are treated extremely badly.