It was not the 10p on a packet of fags or the tax relief on charities that grabbed the headlines in Charlie McCreevy's Budget, it was the £517 million tax "giveaway".
But amid the mind-boggling, million pound figures, working out how much extra any individual puts in his or her back pocket - and how the system works - can be a taxing exercise.
In reality, the system comprises a few key elements. Our year of assessment, or tax year as it is known, begins on April 6th and ends on the following April 5th. The next tax year, for example, begins on April 6th 1998 and ends on April 5th 1999.
The tax year is the same as in the UK but in other countries the tax year is based on the calendar year.
Our income tax code is based on what is called a schedular system. It means that different types of income are taxed in different ways, and under different rules. We have two income tax rates, the standard rate and the upper rate, both of which were reduced by 2 percentage points in the recent Budget. The standard rate from 26 per cent to 24 per cent and the upper rate from 48 to 46 per cent. Another chunk of every workers salary goes towards PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance). This money goes to fund assistance such as the old age pension, unemployment assistance, child benefit and the carers' allowance.
In order to help fund all the above benefits, everyone between the age of 16 and 66 (pensionable age) must make social insurance contributions. For most employees the rate of contribution is 4.5 per cent, with employers contributing around 12 per cent to this fund.
When working out how much income tax and PRSI people must pay, their personal tax-free allowance and PRSI allowance are taken into account. This is the amount of a person's salary which is not subject to tax. Under the Budget, this amount was increased by £250 to £3,150, for a single person, and by £500 to 6,300 for a married couple.
While the tax cuts were welcomed, there was a feeling from some quarters that more could have been done to improve the lot of those on lower incomes. Many of the tax cuts were aimed at middle and upper-income groups, some said, and served to increase the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Whatever about missed opportunities, almost everybody is somewhat better off under the current Budget. Including, in differing degrees, two young people called Mary and Frank.
Mary (19) was thrilled in September when she received the letter that told her she had been successful in her interview for the Allied Irish Bank. She had left school in June, travelled for a while in the summer, and had applied for four different jobs when she came home. "A Bank official, imagine it," she told her mother. "A salary of £10,008 per year." Mary got out the calculator and divided this sum by 12. She worked out that she would receive a salary of £834 per month, an enormous sum to Mary. Only the words of her mother threatened to rain on her parade: "What with income tax and PRSI you'll be getting a bit less than that," she said.
Once she thought about it, and consulted her accountant aunt, Mary knew her mother was right. In September, after paying 26 per cent income tax and PRSI contributions she would be coming out with £623.44 a month. After Wednesday's Budget, Mary, now settled in her new job and enjoying a romantic liaison with a boy in Foreign Exchange, felt marginally better-off. When the tax reductions come into effect in January she will take home £641.36 a month.
The only downer was that her second-hand car did not have a catalytic convertor and so she had to pay the 4p extra per litre of leaded petrol introduced by the Budget. But that was OK, Mr Foreign Exchange was the proud owner of a brand new Ford.
Frank (21) had been unemployed since leaving school three years ago. Before he found his job as an assistant in a Dublin warehouse (£6,000 per annum) he was on Long-term Unemployment Assistance of £67.50 per week. He also received £37 rent allowance for his bedsit and a £5 a week allowance for fuel. Had he stayed on the dole, Frank would have seen his assistance rise by £3 under the Budget.
However, because he was on the dole for longer than 12 months, he was entitled to the Back to Work Scheme and so took the relatively low paid job.
Before the Budget there were 22,000 places on this scheme, a number which will be increased by 5,000 under the terms of the Budget.
It means that Frank keeps 75 per cent of his LTUA for the first year of employment, 50 per cent for the second and 25 per cent for third.
If he decided to set up his own business, the Budget allowed for him to stay on the scheme for four years. Before the 2 per cent reduction in income tax he would have taken home around £103 of his £6,000 yearly salary a week. When the tax cuts are introduced in April he will take home £2 more a week.
Frank likes a few pints and so is delighted the Government did not increase tax on alcohol. He thinks he will give up his 20-a-day cigarette habit, now that they have gone up by 10p. This will save him £20.51 a week.
