Budget 2022

The key Budget points are outlined here …

Taxation

• Income tax reductions include increasing the standard rate band by €1,500 and increasing each of the personal tax credit, employee tax credit and earned income credit by €50
• Reduced VAT rate of 9% for the hospitality sector will remain in place to the end of August 2022
• Universal Social Charge - ceiling of second rate band increases from €20,687 to €21,295

Workers

• Minimum wage rises 30 cent to €10.50 per hour
• Income tax deduction amounting to 30% of vouched expenses for heat, electricity and broadband incurred while working from home

Social welfare

• €5 increase in main weekly welfare payments and State pension confirmed, including young jobseeker's allowance
• Weekly fuel allowance rises by €5 from midnight tonight
• Thousands more carers will be in line to receive Carer's Allowance with a single person allowed to earn €350 and a couple €750 per week and still qualify for the payment
• An increase of €3 in the living alone allowance
• Double payment of welfare allowances at Christmas agreed - the Christmas Bonus

Housing/rent

• New 3% Zoned Land Tax (based on market price of land) to encourage the use of land for building homes, it will apply to land which is zoned suitable for residential development and is serviced, but has not been developed for housing
• Help-to-buy scheme will continue throughout 2022
• Support for the direct delivery of over 4,000 affordable homes next year
• Commitment to an additional 14,000 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) tenancies and a further 800 Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) tenancies

Climate measures

• Carbon tax will rise by €7.50 per tonne to €41
• Petrol and diesel costs will increase from midnight tonight, with a 60 litre tank of petrol costing approx €1.28 extra while the same amount of diesel will be €1.48 more - all other fuels will have the increase applied from 1 May 2022
• €5,000 relief for Battery Electric Vehicles until 2023
• Changes to Vehicle Registration Tax ranging from 1% increase for vehicles that fall between bands 9-12 to 4% for those in bands 16-20
• Accelerated Capital Allowance scheme for gas and hydrogen powered vehicles and refuelling equipment extended for three years
• €202 million fund for people to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in 2022

Public services and Infrastructure

• Additional 800 Gardaí and 400 civilian staff to be recruited
• 20% increase in the Garda Mountain Bike unit
• Funding for the establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority
• €100 million to be made available for disability services
• €2 million fund to assist community safety projects will also be established
• €30 million for protection and renewal of roads
• Over €1.4 billion to further develop public transport networks

Healthcare

• Free GP care to be extended to children aged six and seven years of age
• Free contraception for women aged 17-25 from next August
• The maximum amount someone will pay for approved prescribed medicine under the Drugs Repayment Scheme will be cut from €114 a month to €100

Covid supports

• Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme will remain in place, in a graduated format, until 30 April, 2022 - the scheme will close to new employers from 1 January, 2022

Farming

• General stock relief will continue to the end of 2024
• Stock relief for Young Trained Farmers and Farm Partnerships, and the Young Trained Farmer stamp duty relief will continue to the end of next year

Travel & Tourism, Arts & Culture

• New Youth Travel Card will offer a 50% discount to those aged between 19 and 23 across the transport network
• €360 million allocated to boost Active Travel and Greenways
• €40 million to market Ireland overseas as a tourist destination
• €25 million for live entertainment supports
• Pilot basic income guarantee scheme for artists
• Over €60 million to extend the commercial rates waiver for quarter four targeted at the hospitality, arts and certain tourism related sectors
• €90 million for an aviation package to help Ireland rebuild connectivity

Cigarettes

• Excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes rises by 50 cent, with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products

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