We are experts in Public Sector finance and that’s why we have put together this Guide to Budget 2022 which focuses on what it means for you as a Public Sector employee.

Budget 2022 is focused on dealing with the impact of the rising cost of living in Ireland by giving a little bit to everyone.

The key points are:

Budget Summary

Taxation & Workers

  • Increase of €50 for personal tax credit, employee tax credit & earned income credits from €1,650 to €1,700. There hasn’t been a change to these tax credits since 2011.
  • Increase of standard rate tax bands of €1,500 for individual’s annual income taxed at 20% from €35,300 to €36,800 for single individuals & €44,300 to €45,800 for married couples / civil partners with one earner.
  • Universal Social Charge second rate band ceiling will increase by €681 from €20,687 to €21,295. No changes to other bands.
  • Income tax relief for 30% of vouched expenditure for heating, electricity & broadband for days spent working from home.
  • The minimum wage increases from €10.20 per hour to €10.50 per hour.
  • Reduced VAT rate of 9% in hospitality sector will remain in place until August 2022.

Climate & Environmental

  • Carbon Tax will rise by €7.50 per tonne. This will be effective from midnight tonight on petrol & diesel. There will be an impact of 2 cents per litre for petrol & 2.5 cents per litre for diesel. This increase will be applied to all other fuels from May 2022.
  • Increase in Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) charge based on Nitrogen Oxide emissions over 110g /km.
  • Extension of Benefit in Kind (BIK) relief to 2025 on company electric vehicles, however tapered relief to be introduced.
  • €5,000 Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) Relief until end of 2023 for Battery Electric Vehicles.
  • Additional €202 million fund for people to improve energy efficiency in their homes.

Social Welfare

  • €5 increase in main weekly welfare payments and State pensions.
  • Living Alone Allowance to increase by €3 per week.
  • Christmas 2021 bonus-100% payment for social welfare recipients announced.
  • €5 weekly increase in fuel allowance from midnight tonight.
  • Qualified Child Allowance to increase by €2 per week for under 12’s and €3 per week for those 12 & over.
  • Increase in Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) for hospital stays from 13 weeks to 26 weeks.
  • Parents Benefit to increase from 5 weeks to 7 weeks from July 2022.
  • Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) to remain in place until end of February 2022.

Economy & Jobs

Public Service Employment:

  • 800 new trainee Gardaí and 400 civilian staff to be recruited.
  • 350 extra mainstream teaching posts.
  • 980 additional special education teachers and 1,165 new special needs assistants to be recruited.

Employment & Training:

  • Unemployment rates to drop from 9% to 6.5% by the end of 2022.
  • 7,600 places for Further Education & Training courses in key skills areas.
  • 7,000 off-the-job training places for craft apprentices.

Housing

  • Extension of the Help-to-Buy scheme to the end of 2022 with a full review to be completed in 2022.
  • There will be an extension of the rental properties relief for pre-letting expenditure for an additional 3 years to encourage letting of vacant properties.

Medical

  • The threshold for the drugs payment scheme will reduce from €114 to €100 per month.
  • Free GP care extended to 6 & 7 year olds.
  • Extension of dental benefits for medical card holders.
  • Introduction of free contraception for women aged 17-25 from August 2022.

Corporation Tax

  • Agreement to sign up for OECD Agreement on future of taxation where minimum tax rate to be 15% for companies with turnover in excess of €750m.
  • Corporation tax rate to remain at 12.5% for all other companies.

Other

  • Cigarettes excise duty increased by 50 cents per packet of 20.
  • No increase in alcohol excise duty.
  • Youth travel card will be introduced for 19-23 year olds to enable 50% discount on fares.
  • Increase of Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant by €200, changes to income thresholds expanded by €1,000 and qualifying distance provisions reduced from 45Km to 30km.

For additional advice on your finances following Budget 2022, you can make an appointment with an expert Cornmarket Consultant here or or call us on (01) 420 6757.

 

Please note: there may be further changes to the above information following the Finance Bill. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided here is accurate and up-to-date (as at 12th October 2021). The information provided is of a general nature and may not address the specific circumstances of a particular individual. Cornmarket does not accept any liability arising from any errors or omissions.