Translating words into pounds, shillings and pence

PAYE taxpayers can see the immediate impact of the 2000 Budget measures on their take-home pay from these tables.

PAYE taxpayers can see the immediate impact of the 2000 Budget measures on their take-home pay from these tables.

Choose the table which covers your marital status. Then take the gross annual income closest to your own income in the first column and track across the table to see how your take-home pay will change in the 2000/2001 tax year.

The impact of the Budget measures on single taxpayers, on married couples with one spouse earning and on married couples with both spouses working is shown for different income levels in the tables.

The figures given are for private sector employees and will differ slightly for public sector workers who pay PRSI contributions at a lower rate.

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The table takes account of the increases in personal allowances by £500 for single people and £1,000 for married couples. It also factors in the widening of the standard rate tax band for single earners and married couples where both spouses work and the reduction in the standard and top rates of tax to 22 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.

The combination of the changes means a significant improvement in take-home pay for top rate taxpayers in particular.

The impact of the decision to increase the amount which can be earned by a married couple where both partners work, before they pay the higher rate of tax, to £34,000 while leaving the standard rate band unchanged at £28,000 for couples where only one spouse works is clearly evident.

A dual income married couple earning £40,000 will benefit to the tune of £2,132 from the tax changes, taking home an extra 5 per cent of their gross income each year.

By contrast, a couple where only one spouse earns a similar sum will be only £789 better off a year, securing just an extra 2 per cent of their income.

Single persons earning more than the industrial wage also do well from Budget 2000. A single earner on £20,000 will be £1,066 better off after the tax changes which take effect from April 6th.