Budget Overview

The huge surge of tax in recent years has allowed for some really big budgets and we now have another. The €14 billon Budget 2024 package involves another big spending package that offers payouts to households not far off those of last year and in the case of some mortgage holders, a good deal more. Such is the current strength of the public finances that the two budget Ministers have been able to face both ways at once, spending lavishly while also playing the prudence card by announcing the establishment of two new funds to support future investment and general spending. How long the health of the public finances will allow budgets on this scale, meeting perceived political needs while also salting cash away, very much remains to be seen. The minister said inflation and interest rate increases have had a major bearing on the budget measures

Pensions & Social Welfare

• Welfare and pension payments increase by €12p.w. across the board
• Fuel allowance recipients to receive lump sum of €300
• Living alone recipients to receive lump sum of €200
• Child benefit double payment of €280 per childbefore Christmas
• Home carer and single person child carer creditsto rise by €100
• Foster carers weekly rate increase by €75 for children up to 12 years of age, and €73 for children over 12.
• Jobseekers pay related benefit which links therate of benefit to a person’s previous earnings from December 2024
• Carers Support Grant, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension and Domiciliary Care Allowance once-off payment of €400 before Christmas
• Parents’ benefit will be increased to nine weeks from August next year

Cost of Living Package

• Extension of 9% VAT on gas and electricity
• Mortgage interest relief on loans between €80kand €500k capped at €1,250
• Energy tax credits of €150 in 3 installments

Taxation

• Standard Rate tax band of 20%, to increase by€2,000 from €40,000 to €42,000.
• Personal tax credit, Employee tax credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit will rise by €100 to€1,875
• USC 2% rate increases by €2,840 on earnings up to €25,760
• USC on earnings between €25,760 to €70,044 decreases by .5% to 4%

Housing

• Rental tax credit to increase from €500 to€750, incl parents who pay for child’s student accomodation
• Landlords tax break on rental income worth between €600 and €1,000, rising every year they stay in the market up to 2027
• The Help-to-buy scheme has been extended until 2025
• Vacant property tax increase from 3 to 5 times the LPT rate

Childcare & Education

• Hot School Meals Programme will be extended to an additional 900 primary schools in April 2024
• Free School Books Scheme extended to all junior cycle pupils in post-primary schools within the Free Education Scheme
• Childcare costs decrease further by 25% from September 2024

Long-term Investment

• Future Ireland Fund established to grow to €100billion by the middle of the 2030s funded by contributions of 0.8 per cent of GDP
• €14 billion infrastructure, climate and nature fund

Health

• €800 million in core funding smallest increase for some time
• A new health resilience fund is being established to meet the pressures caused by rising demand and inflation
• Free contraception is being made available to women aged 31 next year

Transport & Climate

• The rate per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted for petrol and diesel increasing from €48.50 to €56 from 12 October
• Young Adult Card eligibility for 24/25 year oldswhich allows for half-price fares
• Reduction of VAT rate on supply and installation of solar panels for private dwellings to zero will be extended to schools
• VRT relief for battery electric vehicles has been extended for a further two years to the end of 2025up to value of €50k
• A new low interest loan scheme for energy efficient homes in conjunction with SEAI
• €380m to residential and community energy schemes
• The planned increase in fuel excise charges at the end of this month have been pushed back to two equal instalments on April 1st and August 1st, 2024.

Agriculture

• Lifetime threshold for young farmer reliefs under the EU Agricultural Block Exemption increase from €75,000 to €100,000
• Increasing land leasing tax reliefs to a minimum ofseven years up from five years
• Increasing stock relief from €15,000 to €20,000 inline with EU Regulations
• Extending the upper age limit of Retirement Relief from 65 to 70 to support the intergenerational transfer of businesses and farms.

Business

• Business to avail of once off grant up to 50% of their rates
• Section 481 tax credit for qualifying expenditure increase from €70 million to €125 million
• The Employment Investment Incentive scheme(EII) will be enhanced
• Retirement relief will be extended from 65 until the age of 70.
• R&D tax credit increase from 25% to 30%
• VAT Registration threshold to increase for services from €37,500 to €40,000 and for goods from€75,000 to €80,000
• Corporation tax rate introduction of 15% minimum effective tax rate for large companies
• Angel investors tax break allowing a reduced rate of Capital Gains Tax

Garda & Justice

• Between 800 and 1,000 new Gardaí next year
• €25 million increase in the Garda budget to meet overtime demands
• Garda recruits increase in training allowance from€184 to €305.
• €12m more to tackle domestic, sexual and gender based violence

Others

• Audio books zero rated for VAT form 1st of Jan 2024
• Minimum wage increase to €12.70 per hour
• Cigarettes will cost an extra 75c from tonight, but there will be no increase in price of alcohol
• Student grants will increase by €300 from January

Please note that this Budget Briefing is merely a general guide and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial advice. Decision making should be based on sound professional advice, taking into account your individual circumstances. While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this Budget Briefing, we do not take any responsibility or liability for any omissions or errors, losses or injuries cause.