Sir, – Brian Flanagan (October 6th) has offered a reasonable assessment of who constitutes the "true middle" income earners in Ireland, though he may have overlooked the "squeezed" aspect.
Revenue’s 2018 “Ready Reckoner” cites 2.6 million taxpayer units in 2018. However, almost a million of these do not pay income tax, with almost 800,000 of these also exempt from USC. Are those who pay no income tax being “squeezed”?
Excluding this non-taxpaying segment shifts the earnings “true middle” from Mr Flanagan’s suggested €25,700 to well over the standard rate cut-off point of €33,800, meaning the “squeezed middle” will in fact benefit, modestly, from an increase in this threshold.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that those earning above this threshold contribute 94 per cent of the income tax and USC collected.
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A definition of “squeezed” that excludes this cohort does not appear credible. – Yours, etc,
BARRY FLANAGAN,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.