Putting a burden on earned incomes can have serious negative impacts on the economy as it leaves no room for growth as it has a significant negative impact on consumer confidence and taxpayers are therefore spending less in the domestic economy. From 2007 to 2011 the level of employment fell from 2.14 million to 1.84 million in Ireland which is a massive decrease, the effect of this is that the income tax take is sought from fewer people, which in turn, has increased the tax burden on those individuals. As the percentage of those in the 'wealthiest' category has decreased in recent years, increased taxation on the wealthiest would not result in a significant increase in tax revenues. Taxing across the board would be more effective as these 'top-earners' are usually employed as senior management and executives in business who provide significant number of jobs in the country. If we tax them too highly we risk providing a disincentive for business employers who may choose to relocate their business elsewhere where the tax burden is less. In addition, business want to attract highly skilled employees and the location must be attractive from a personal taxation viewpoint to achieve this. As part of the austerity measures to the Irish taxation system, all workers earning over €12,000 per annum, pay the USC tax. The implementation of the USC tax in 2010 has meant that essentially every single worker in Ireland is making some contribution to USC, however small. It brings in around €4.5 Billion each year. The public greatly dislike the catch-all premise of this tax. Even earning as little €12,012- €17,576 per annum are paying 3.5% (which is actually a reduction from the previous 4%). It can be argued that this is over taxation. People earning enough to barely get by are still made to pay this tax. (Debunking the Irish Tax System, 2014).
Under-Taxed.
Corporations pay very little tax on profits in Ireland.