The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has published its assessment of the potential impact of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare proposals. The report attempts to provide estimates of what the measures may yield in terms of their impact on overall taxation. While the total tax changes measured would raise revenues by almost €15 billion, the report notes a lack of specifics around key elements of each recommendation and, in many cases, there were no ready-made costings available.
In terms of what could be quantified, the tax measures seem to have a big emphasis on property and land. Proposals relating to VAT, capital and wealth, income and environmental taxes contribute broadly similar amounts.
The report finds that if Ireland were to align with EU norms in terms of the net effect of raising both income tax and PRSI combined, it would increase revenues by approx. 3.3 percent of GNI, with potential to raise much more if it were to move to the higher end of what other EU countries raise.