Middle income tax reliefs ‘must be accelerated'

Pressure is mounting on the Government to accelerate tax cuts for middle-income earners after a report showed they bore the brunt of the tax hikes in recent years.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has already said that he will begin the process of reducing the top rate of income tax for the squeezed middle in October’s budget, although he has also cautioned any initial drop will be modest.

However, an ESRI report showed the price for maintaining most social welfare payments at pre-recession levels, despite the increase in the number of welfare recipients in the last seven years, has been paid mainly by middle-income earners through tax rises.