False hopes on taxation

MANY farmers were given false hope by the Budget announcement that all on the minimum wage will remain outside the tax net completely in 2006.

But it was quickly made clear that this applies to employees only - not to the many cattle farmers, for example, earning much less than the €7.65 per hour minimum wage.

Minimum wage earners benefit from a €220 increase in the employee tax credit to almost €1,500 per PAYE worker. But this embeds unnecessary discrimination in the income tax code, and should be extended to all taxpayers, said IFA president John Dillon.