Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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120. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of persons and the percentage of the workforce that pay income tax at the higher rate; and the number of full-time workers who would benefit from a 30% income tax rate. [46361/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 120 together.

I am advised by Revenue that their estimates are based on taxpayer units, where taxpayers who are married or in a civil partnership who elect to be jointly assessed are counted as one taxpayer unit. These estimates encompass all taxpayer types, such as those in employment, self-employed, or in receipt of taxable income from other sources. Due to the nature of taxable income, which arises from multiple sources, it is not possible to allocate taxpayers to tax bands based solely on earned income. It is also not possible to estimate changes for full-time workers only, as Revenue does not hold information on hours worked.

An estimated allocation of taxpayer units into tax bands for 2023 is set out on page 2 of Revenue’s Ready Reckoner, which is published on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/ready-reckoner.pdf.

All taxpayer units who are currently liable to income tax at the higher rate would benefit from a reduction in the higher rate, such as the introduction of an intermediate 3rd rate of tax. On the assumption that the standard rate income bands remain unchanged, the number of taxpayer units who would benefit from a 30% income tax rate is estimated to be 1.07 million (33% of taxpayer units) in 2023.