Sir, – As usual, Bill Prasifka (February 9th) puts his finger right on the heart of the problem. Giving tax breaks to foreign executives in the hope of stimulating the Irish economy, while well intentioned, is merely applying a sticking plaster to the gaping wound that is the Irish fiscal deficit. This economy will remain in the doldrums until the ordinary man or woman in the street can be persuaded to go out and spend. Adding 2 per cent to the VAT rate in the last budget will hardly do that.
I have paid income tax in this country every day of my life since I was 19, and my first pension cheque, which arrived last week,suffered a 66 per cent clawback between PAYE, public service pension levy and the universal social charge. Hardly an incentive to go on a spending spree! Yours etc,
Sir, – If the Minister for Finance,through the Special Assignee Relief Programme provision in the Finance Bill, is admitting that the tax burden here is so heavy as to repel the overseas workers that have the capacity to earn high salaries and create jobs, he must then realise that people of a similar type that already live in this State might be just as likely to leave the country for the same reasons.
If not, he may instead believe that a large number of high earners in this country would be unlikely to do nearly as well anywhere else, regardless of the tax burden in their destination country.
If that is his thinking, given the premium that we continue to pay to a large number of public servants and semi-State workers, I would say he is almost certainly correct. – Yours, etc,