Richest Irish reduce tax bill by claiming €290m in reliefs

OVER 400 of the country’s richest people reduced their tax bills significantly in 2007 by availing of almost €290m in tax reliefs, new figures have shown.

Labour said the scale of tax foregone for those involved was “absolutely staggering”, with some making savings of more than €1m each.

Of the total of 439 individuals involved, 214 earned €500,000 or more in the year in question while the other 225 earned up to €500,000.