Sir, - As the "regular contributor to a Sunday newspaper" referred to by your correspondent Des Peelo in a letter to your paper, I must refute any suggestion that the figures for self-employed income quoted by me were inaccurate or selective.
It is Mr Peelo who is selective and wrong in suggesting that there is no validity in the claim that the Revenue Commissioners' Statistical Report for 1999 shows that only some 17,000 self-employed declared annual incomes in excess of £35,000.
Using a definition of income close to what a PAYE worker would describe as income, the report shows 28,300 self-employed declaring income in excess of £35,000, but 11,314 of those were two-income married couples treated as a single tax unit. Hence the figure of just short of 17,000 quoted by Mr Peelo.
I didn't actually use that figure in my article but it is certainly valid.
Mr Peelo says that the Revenue report shows 34,855 self-employed with incomes in ex cess of £35,000. But that refers to "gross income" before deductions for such things as capital allowances and allowable interest on business loans etc - a rather wide definition of income. All of that was explained in some detail in my article but ignored by Mr Peelo.
As I pointed out in that original article, "self-employed" in this context is broadly defined to include owner-directors of firms. That there are so few declaring incomes of over £35,000 is surprising when it is considered that in the country there are over 12,000 accountants (not all self-employed, of course), 5,000 doctors, 1,300 vets, 1,000 dentists, 10,000 publicans and about 20,000 farmers with farms in excess of 100 acres.
Then there are barristers, estate agents, solicitors, retailers, insurance brokers and all types of other self-employed professionals. - Le meas,
Colm Rapple Malahide Co Dublin