Budget 2013 Income: No income tax hike but wealthy feel pain

Budget policies in pensions and property tax and proposed increases in capital gains, capital acquisitions and the Dirt tax are all aimed at targeting the wealthy.

Leaks prior to the budget had signalled the Government’s intentions not to alter the headline welfare and income tax bands.

It is believed that Labour wanted a higher rate of income tax for higher earners, with Fine Gael implacably opposed to such a move.