Mortgage relief better for lower income homeowners

Mortgage relief in Ireland bucks international trends with those on lower incomes benefiting more than those with higher incomes, new research has shown.

The Economic and Social Research Institute looked at income tax, the universal social charge, and mortgage relief as it examined their impact on the exchequer.

Edgar Morgenroth, an associate research professor at the ESRI, said mortgage interest relief, one of the most common income tax reliefs in the past, was notably progressive with those at lower income levels benefiting proportionally more than those at higher income levels. This is despite those at higher income levels benefiting more in absolute terms.