News & Publications

Irish Budget 2018

Announced 10 October 2017

The Irish Minister for Finance announced a few changes in his budget today which affect retirees.

Weekly social welfare payments, including the State Pension, will rise by €5 per week from late March 2018. There will also be an increase of €2.50 in the telephone allowance for those already entitled to the fuel/living alone allowance.

Income tax rates remained unchanged. However the 2.5% USC tax charge rate will fall to 2% and the ceiling will rise from €18772 to €19372.

Two budget measures will help health costs fall. The charge for prescription medicines will fall from €2.50 to €2 per item for medical card holders under 70. Also the threshold for the monthly Drug Payments Scheme will decrease from €144 to €134.

Irish Budget 2019

Announced 9th October 2018

The State Contributory Pension, will rise by €5 per week from March 2019, which means €12,911 p.a. for the Full Pension. This is higher than the €12,700 threshold allowed to hold an AMRF pension fund. In these cases where the limit is exceeded the AMRF will disappear and the €63,500 (plus gains) of the AMRF funds are added to the ARF pension fund. This means that the extra €5 per week may ended up with the pensioner losing out as they may have to pay extra tax on the mandatory annual distribution from the ARF. No distribution is required for an AMRF.

The Capital Acquisitions Tax Group 1 threshold rises from €310,000 to €320,000 from 10th October 2018. The CAT rate of 33% remains unchanged.

For insurance related savings and investments the government duty stays at 1% and the exit tax stays at a very high 41%. DIRT on bank savings though falls to 35% with promises of further decreases in future budgets.

Income tax rates remained unchanged. However the 4.75% USC charge falls to 4.5% and the 2.0% USC tax charge rate, although unchanged, will see its ceiling rise from €19,372 to €19,874.