We are experts in Public Sector finance and that’s why we have put together this Guide to Budget 2020 which focuses on what it means for you as a Public Sector employee.

Budget Summary

Budget 2020, primarily focused on Brexit and providing a €1.2 billion budget to cover all scenarios, this Budget was not the normal give away budget associated with an upcoming election year.

The beneficiaries in 2020 will be non-smoking self-employed individuals with a stay at home spouse driving electric cars, provided by their company. Otherwise the impact will be very small for the majority of people.

Extensions to schemes to benefit the purchase of homes and environmental schemes are the order of the day.

No announcements were made for Tax rates, Tax Rate bands or the Universal Social Charge (USC) as has been the norm in recent years.

  • Funding for Brexit – €1.2 billion of borrowed funds to be made available for Brexit related initiatives
  • Income Tax – No changes to Tax Rates or Rate Bands
  • Universal Social Charge – No changes
  • Housing – Extension of Help to Buy (HTB) scheme to Dec 2021, Living City Initiative (LCI) to Dec 2022.

Climate and Environmental

  • Carbon Tax increased by €6 per tonne, effective tonight on auto fuels, effective May 2020 on all other fuels
  • Extension of Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) reliefs for conventional hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles to 2020
  • Extension of Benefit in Kind (BIK) relief on company electric vehicles to 2022
  • Introduction of VRT Environmental Health surcharge based on Nitrogen Oxide emissions for cars first registered in Ireland after 01/01/2020.

For financial advice that is specific to your circumstances, call (01) 420 6757 to speak to one of our expert financial consultants.

Home Carer Tax Credit – to increase from €1,500 to €1,600

Self-employed – an increase in the Earned Income Credit from €1,350 to €1,500

Social Welfare

  • Living Alone Allowance to increase by €5 per week
  • Christmas bonus 100% payment for Social Welfare recipients announced
  • Qualified Child Allowance to increase by €2 per week for under 12’s and €3 per week for those 12 and over

Medical

  • Thresholds for incomes for medical cards for over 70's to increase, benefiting 56,000 people
  • Threshold for the Drugs Payment Scheme reduced from €124 to €114
  • Funding to be provided for 1 million extra home support hours

Inheritance Tax – The Group A threshold (parent to child) to be increased from €320,000 to €335,000

Other

  • Cigarettes – increased by 50 cents per packet
  • Dividend Withholding Tax system to be amended with a view to increasing compliance. Rate to change from 20% to 25%.

Economy & jobs

Public Service Employment:

  • 700 additional Gardaí
  • 150 extra mainstream teaching posts
  • 400 additional teaching posts to support those with Special Needs and 1,000 new Special Needs Assistants posts
  • Recruitment of up to 1,000 therapists, nurses and other healthcare professionals

For additional advice on your finances following Budget 2020, you can make an appointment with an expert Cornmarket Consultant here or or call us on (01) 420 6757.

 

Please note: there may be further changes to the above information following the Finance Bill. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided here is accurate and up-to-date (as at 8th October 2019). The information provided is of a general nature and may not address the specific circumstances of a particular individual. Cornmarket does not accept any liability arising from any errors or omissions.