Written answers
Tuesday, 8 November 2022
Department of Finance
Tax Data
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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255. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of persons, expressed as a percentage of the total workforce, who were in the highest income tax bracket in Ireland in each of the years 2012 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54337/22]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that the numbers of taxpayers units in each tax band, including those who are exempt from paying income tax, for the years 2005 to 2018 inclusive are published on Revenue’s website at the following link:
www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/income-distributors/income-earners-tax.pdf
It should be noted that 2018 is the latest year for which this tax data has been compiled based on tax returns filed for that year.It is expected that data for 2019 and 2020 will be available at the same online location before year-end.Furthermore, as tax returns for 2021 are not due to be filed until quarter 4 of this year, a breakdown of taxpayer units by tax band will not be available until mid-2023, after the data has been processed and compiled. Also, it should be noted that tax returns for 2022 are not due to be filed until quarter 4 2023.
For the Deputy’s convenience the tables below set out the distribution of taxpayer units in nominal and percentage terms across the various tax bands for the years to 2012 to 2018 inclusive.
Table 1 - Nominal distribution of taxpayer units
| Tax Year | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exempt | 887,072 | 882,745 | 875,436 | 893,665 | 857,394 | 838,164 | 843,053 |
| Marginal Relief | 28,447 | 28,390 | 27,854 | 20,688 | 24,796 | 24,110 | 38,208 |
| Standard Rate | 1,106,568 | 1,063,048 | 1,038,837 | 983,057 | 937,419 | 901,314 | 853,755 |
| Higher Rate | 516,744 | 487,873 | 462,646 | 404,388 | 404,439 | 383,260 | 372,192 |
| Total | 2,538,831 | 2,462,056 | 2,404,773 | 2,301,798 | 2,224,048 | 2,146,848 | 2,107,208 |
Table 2 - Percentage distribution of taxpayer units
| Tax Year | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exempt | 34.9% | 35.9% | 36.4% | 38.8% | 38.6% | 39.0% | 40.0% |
| Marginal Relief | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.8% |
| Standard Rate | 43.6% | 43.2% | 43.2% | 42.7% | 42.1% | 42.0% | 40.5% |
| Higher Rate | 20.4% | 19.8% | 19.2% | 17.6% | 18.2% | 17.9% | 17.7% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
It is important to point out that the allocation of taxpayer units into tax bands is based on the highest rate of income tax paid by the taxpayer unit, following the offset of their tax credits against their tax liability in priority of their highest rate of income tax. Therefore, the figures at the higher rate of income tax includes those taxpayer units whose higher rate liability is not fully offset by their credits.
Finally, it should be noted that the figures contained in the tables above represent the total number of income earners, which is the information available to Revenue, rather than the total workforce.
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