Full list of measures and how Ireland reacted to Budget 2024

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REACTIONS have been pouring out, both online and in the Dáil, following the Budget 2024 announcement this Tuesday.

The measures announced regarding housing and renting in particular have provoked strong reactions, with Labour Party Leader Ivana Bacik as describing the housing package as “nothing short of pathetic”, when relationships between tenants and landlords are volatile.

National housing agency Threshold welcomed the increase and expansion of the rent tax credit, adding that it hopes the measure can “form part of a wider cohesive approach to end the housing supply crisis”, while the move was marked as a “positive step in the right direction” by the Irish Property Owners Association, who represent landlords in Ireland.

Another measure drawing strong reactions is the €12 increase in disability and carers allowance, labelled by Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with intellectual disabilities, as  “a disturbing blow to human rights” for those with a disability and a "tokenistic once-off payment".

In other words “We have NO intention of reaching our Climate Targets” #Budget2024 pic.twitter.com/32D1d2UZ5F

— Brid Smith TD (@bridsmithTD) October 10, 2023

Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty, the first to address the Dáil following the presentation of the Budget by the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, sharply criticised the Budget for addressing “next to nothing” for healthcare, saying there was "very little in this Budget that will give any comfort to patients or parents who are struggling to get access to basic health and basic care services."

Here is the full list of measures in Budget 2024:

One-off cost of living supports

A once-off double week of all weekly social welfare payments (including pensions) will be paid in January 2024.

A number of once-of payments will be given out in Winter 2023; including €200 to people getting the Living Alone Allowance, €300 to people getting Fuel Allowance, double payment of Child Benefit for each child and for Foster Care Allowance, €100 to people who get an increase for a qualified child, and €400 to people getting the Working Family Payment, Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension, Carer’s Support Grant and Domiciliary Care Allowance.

People who qualify for more than one of these payments or are caring for more than one person will only receive one payment.

A Christmas bonus of 100% will be paid in early December 2023 to people getting a qualifying social welfare payment.

A once-off double payment of child benefit will be paid in December 2023, and child benefit will be extended to children aged 18 who are in full-time education, along with an increase in Working Family Payment thresholds by €54 across all family sizes. The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will increase by €100 in 2024.

Fees for university students are to be cut by €1000 in a once off reduction of the student contribution fee.

Energy costs

To help with energy costs, all domestic electricity customers will get a €450 credit off their electricity bills, to be paid in 3 instalments of €150 between the end of 2023 and April 2024.

The reduced 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity has been extended for another 12 months to October 31 2024, and the temporary excise rate reductions on auto diesel, petrol and marked gas oil which were due to expire on October 31 this year are extended until March 31 2024.

Tax

Income tax rates will stay the same (at 20% and 40%), but there will be increases to tax credits and changes to the income tax bands in 2024.

The standard rate tax band will be increased by €2,000 to €42,000 for a single person, with proportionate increases for married couples and civil partners.

The Personal Tax Credit, Employee Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit will each increase by €100 to €1,875, while the Home Carer Tax Credit will increase by €100 to €1,800 and the Single Person Child Carer Credit will increase by €100 to €1,750.The Incapacitated Child Tax Credit will increase by €200 to €3,500.

The ceiling for the 2% Universal Social Charge (USC) band will increase by €2,840 from €22,920 to €25,760 from January 1 2024. The 4.5% USC rate that currently applies to income between €22,900 and €70,044 will be reduced to 4% from January 1 2024. The 4% rate will apply to income between €25,761 and €70,044.

The USC concession for medical card holders is being extended unti December 31, 2025. Reduced rates of USC apply to individuals who have a full medical card and whose income is €60,000 or less per annum.

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief will be introduced in 2024 for home owners with an outstanding mortgage balance of between €80,000 and €500,000 at the end of 2022. Relief will be available on the increased interest in 2023 as compared with the amount paid in 2022, at the standard rate of 20% income tax. The relief will be capped at €1,250.

The Rent Tax Credit introduced in 2023 will increase from €500 to €750 a year for 2024. This tax credit applies to each tenant rather than each tenancy. Parents who pay for tenancies for their student children in Rent-a-Room or digs-type accommodation will be able to claim the Rent Tax Credit. This relief will be backdated for the 2022 and 2023 tax years.

Tobacco Products Tax on a packet of cigarettes will increase by €0.75 from 11 October 2023, with pro-rata increases on other tobacco products. A tax on e-cigarettes and vaping products will be introduced in Budget 2025. The 9% VAT rate on ebooks and audio books will be reduced to zero on January 1, 2024.

Income

The national minimum wage will increase by €1.40 to €12.70 per hour from January 2024. 

Parent’s leave and Parent’s Benefit will be extended by 2 weeks to 9 weeks from August 2024. 

All PRSI rates will increase by 0.1% on 1 October 2024.

The Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit will increase from 25% to 30% on qualifying expenditure on R&D from 1 January 2024. The first-year payment threshold will increase from €25,000 to €50,000, and a new reduced rate of CGT entrepreneur relief for angel investors in innovative start-up SMEs when they dispose of a qualifying investment, for gains up to twice the value of their investment.

Housing

The Rent Tax Credit for people renting will be increased from €500 to €750 per year from 2024.

The Rent Tax Credit will also be extended to parents who pay for rented accommodation for their student children under the Rent-a-room Scheme and for ‘digs’. This will be backdated for both the 2022 and 2023 tax years.

Tax supports for landlords

A temporary tax relief is being introduced to support landlords. A certain amount of rental income will be disregarded each year, as long as the landlord keeps their rental property in the rental market for the next four years. The disregards will be 3,000 for 2024, €4,000 for 2025, €5,000 for 2026 and thestandard rate of tax for 2027. The relief will be clawed back if the landlord leaves the rental market during this time.

Housing

Mortgage Interest Tax Relief will be introduced for 12 months. Homeowners with an outstanding mortgage balance on their primary dwelling house of between €80,000 and €500,000 on 31 December 2022 will qualify.

Relief will be available on increased interest paid on mortgages this year compared with the amount paid in 2022, at the standard income tax rate of 20%. The relief will be capped at €1,250 per property.

The Help to Buy (HTB) Scheme is extended to 2025. People buying homes under the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme will now be able to access HTB, and the Vacant Homes Tax rate will be increased to 5 times the basic Local Property Tax (LPT) rate.

 
Environment and transport
The tax disregard for personal income received by households who sell residual electricity from micro-generation back to the national grid is being doubled from €200 to €400. From January 1, 2024, an income disregard of up to €400 per year will apply to profits to a qualifying person from the micro-generation of electricity.

Also from January 1 2024, the VAT rate for the supply and installation of solar panels in schools is being reduced to zero.

VRT relief for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is extended to the end of 2025 and the rate per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted for petrol and diesel will go up by €7.50 from €48.50 to €56 from October 11, 2023. The VRT relief for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with a value of up to €50,000 is extended to 2025.

Carbon tax will increase by the same amount in every budget until 2029. The increase will be applied to petrol and auto diesel from midnight on Budget night (from 11 October 2023). This increase will be applied to all other fuels from 1 May 2024.

Reduced fares of 20% on public transport will continue in 2024 and the Young Adult Leap Card will be extended to people aged 19 - 25.

A 1% reduction to the Motor Insurers Insolvency Compensation Fund levy will apply from  January 1, 2024.

Justice
Funding will be made available to recruit 1,000 new gardai, 250 garda staff in civilian roles, and 400 additional military personnel in 2024.

The garda overtime budget will be increased by €25 million.

Other announcements

The Future Ireland Fund will have 0.8% of GDP paid annually to the fund from 2024 to 2035. This fund could be €100 billion by 2035.

The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will grow by €2 billion a year annually for the next 7 years (until 2030). The €14 billion fund will allow for investment in infrastructure in the event of economic downturns and to support climate and nature-related projects (€3 billion).

Supports for refugees from Ukraine

€2.5 billion will be provided for humanitarian support to refugees from Ukraine including accommodation, social welfare payments and education.