Budget 2014 - Overview (due to take effect from 1st Jan 2014 unless otherwise stated)

PAYE, USC & PRSI

• No change
• The reduced rate of 4.25% employer PRSI is due to revert back to 8.5% in January 2014

Maternity Benefit

• Maternity & Adoptive Benefit standardised at  €230 for new claimants from January 2014, existing claimants will not be affected

Illness Benefit

• Waiting days for entitlement to Illness Benefit increased from 3 days to 6 days

Medical Insurance

• Tax relief on medical insurance premiums restricted to  €1,000 per adult insured and  €500 per child insured from 16^th October 2013

Pension Contributions

• Tax relief on pension contributions limited to pensions of €60,000 or less

Top Slicing Relief

• Top slicing relief on ex-gratia termination & severance payments abolished

VAT

•  Reduced rate of 9% for the tourism sector to be retained

• All other VAT rates remain untouched

• VAT on cash receipts basis threshold increased to €2m with effect from 1^st  May 2014

GP Care

• Free GP care for all children under 5

Bereavement Grant

• One-off payment of €850 to the families of the deceased discontinued

DIRT Tax

• Increased from 33% to 41%

Prescription Charges

• Prescription charge increased from €1.50 per item to  €2.50 per item

Start Your Own Business Scheme

• 2 year income tax exemption for long term unemployed who start their own business subject to terms and conditions

SME’s Training & Mentoring Programme

• Subsidised financial training programme for small businesses consisting of 2 days dedicated offsite training

Corporation Tax

• Corporation Tax will remain at 12.5%

Medical Cards for the over 70s

• Income threshold for medical cards for over 70s lowered to  €900 per week for a couple and €500 per week for a single person, medical card in these cases would be replaced with GP only medical card

Telephone Allowance

• Pensioners telephone allowance worth €114 a year is being abolished

Air Travel Tax

• Reduced to 0% from 1^st April

Home Renovation Incentive

• An income tax credit to homeowners carrying out work on their home in the next 2 years, the credit will be calculated at 13.5% of the spending cost up to a maximum €4,050

Jobseekers Allowance

• Claimants aged 18-24 will receive a reduced rate of  €100 per week, claimants turning 25 from January will receive €144

Cigarettes

• Cigarette packets will be taxed 10 cent more from midnight 15^th October 2013

Wine

•  A 70cl bottle of wine will be taxed 50 cent more from midnight 15^th October 2013

Beer, Cider & Spirits

• Will rise in price by 10 cent from midnight 15^th October 2013

Motoring

• No increase in excise duty on petrol or diesel

No increase in motor tax

Posted byAudrey MooneyinPayroll Software