Sir, - Your article (December 8th) concerning the tax burden of the Irish taxpayer relative to his (her) Eurozone counterparts is factually inaccurate and highly misleading. "Irish workers are less heavily taxed than most counterparts in euro zones" states the headline, which is supposedly based on a Europeanwide comparison of the tax and social security deductions presented by accountants Deloitte & Touche (in the case of Ireland the pre-budget deduction is given as 24 per cent of gross income). The statement is untrue. A false conclusion has been reached by generalising the case of one specific type of taxpayer to all taxpayers.
The following points are relevant:
1. Once and once only in the article (towards the end) is it mentioned that the data pertains only to the specific case of a married PAYE earner of gross income £31,000 with no children whose spouse does not work. So in fact the only conclusion that can be drawn from the data is that "Irish persons of gross income £31,000 with no children whose spouse does not work are less heavily taxed than most counterparts in euro zones" - a highly topical observation, but not that surprising as the first £28,000 is taxed at 26 per cent for such a worker!
2. The case of the single PAYE worker is not mentioned: in this case PAYE and PRSI deductions account for approximately 33 per cent of a gross income of £31,000, not 24 per cent - one of the highest rates in Europe in fact. This was also true of double-income households until recent developments.
3. The case of the low-paid worker is also not mentioned; no data is presented for the taxation of the worker who earns £12,000 relative to his Eurozone counterparts.
Any meaningful comparison of the taxation rates across Europe should include workers married and single, and at different wage levels. - Is mise, Dr Cormac Rafferty, WIT, Cork Road, Waterford.