FROM THE ARCHIVES:Income tax was the big issue in the run-up to the budget in 1985 with some 40 per cent of all PAYE earners being taxed at more than the basic rate of 35 per cent. John Stanley spoke to some people considering emigration because of the high taxes. –
JOE JOYCE
QUITE LARGE numbers of senior personnel have decided that because of the high tax levels here they can enjoy a far higher standard of living by emigrating.
It is seldom a decision taken lightly, and for many it is one which, when reduced to such a basic interpretation, proves embarrassing. In preparing this article I spoke to a number of emigrants and people preparing to emigrate.
Of those who admitted that escape from high tax levels was a key factor, none wanted their identity disclosed. The underlying fear, it would appear, is that others might perceive them to be selfish, deserting their country for financial gain.
That is not necessarily a true picture, however. One leading insolvency expert, who has achieved considerable status in Ireland, is currently weighting up the pros and cons of leaving.
Tax, he openly admits, is one major reason for such consideration. But there is another. “My wife has heard talk about the US from time to time, saying that their economy appears to have considerably more underlying strength and vibrancy, and has very reasonably pointed out that we have two young children. If I do not have any great optimism about what the future holds for Ireland, she argues, don’t I owe to my children to move to a country which does offer them greater potential?”
The main point here is not that this accountant holds out no hope for Ireland, but that he believes that the chance of the underlying potential being realised are greater in the US than here. “Ireland has a lot of things going for it,” he says, “and the potential is tremendous. But I am not certain just how quickly, or indeed whether this potential will be fully realised. From a personal point of view it may well be better for me to opt for the location which has less ‘downside risk’.”
A survey of tax levels in 19 countries, produced by accountants Price Waterhouse last October, demonstrates why Irish employees may well believe the grass is greener elsewhere. On a salary of US $25,000 (or local equivalent) the US employee will take home after all taxes and social welfare deductions $20,650, or 44 per cent more than the $13,300 he would be left with in Ireland. At $50,000 gross salary the difference is even more marked, with the US employee taking home 67 per cent more of his salary than the Irish employee.
One young man, an engineer, has done his best to work out whether it is worth his while to go abroad and is clear in his own mind that he would be better off virtually anywhere else. At age 28 he was, until recently, employed in a medium-sized firm. “It was not a question that I had no future there,” he says. “ But as a single person I was being screwed for tax.”
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