Labour tax plan to aid lower earners

THE LABOUR Party's tax proposals will be published on Tuesday and will focus on significantly reducing the tax take from low …

THE LABOUR Party's tax proposals will be published on Tuesday and will focus on significantly reducing the tax take from low and middle income earners, according to the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn.

The manifesto will contain details of a "social guarantee" to be given to young people aged 18 to 21, people who are elderly and people who have a disability, according to the Tanaiste, Mr Spring. He was speaking at the formal launch of the Labour Party campaign in Dublin yesterday.

Mr Quinn said there might be some differences in detail between the taxation proposals of the three Government parties but Labour's plan "will be very close to what was announced in the Government's `21 points' document on Thursday".

The Government's "21 points" document proposed cutting the tax take from the average earner to 22p in the pound (from about 27p now) for a single person and 14p (from about 20p now) for a married person.

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Mr Quinn said yesterday this would be done through a combination of increasing personal allowances, broadening the tax bands, reducing the health and employment levies paid by individuals and some reductions in the actual tax rates.

"We are focusing consciously on reducing the tax take from low and middle earners, thus easing the movement of people from the live register into employment."