Half would pay more tax for better public services, opinion poll shows

Half of people surveyed would pay more tax if the money was guaranteed to be spent on better public services, a new opinion poll has revealed.

The findings come as the Coalition is divided on whether to use improving economic conditions to reduce the top rate of tax as Fine Gael favours, or cut the universal social charge, as Labour prefers.

More than eight in 10 people, 83%, also believe income is unfairly distributed, according to the Behaviour and Attitudes survey which was commissioned by the Think-tank for Action on Social Change.

That figure rises to 88% when people are reminded that the incomes of the top 10% are 7.5 times greater than those on lowest incomes, according to the think-tank.

Despite Ireland having one of the highest minimum wage rates in the EU, 84% of respondents said it should be increased, with 55% saying a maximum wage should be imposed to curb lavish incomes.

The concern about salary rates comes as Small Business Minister Ged Nash today begins the process of setting up a low-pay commission to examine the issue.

The imposition of a 60% top tax rate, combining income tax, USC and social insurance, on those earning above €100,000 is supported by nearly two thirds of people, 63%, according to the survey.

The think-tank said the number of people backing paying more for guaranteed public service investment had increased markedly from a 35% score, on a slightly differently-worded question, in 2010. “The majority of people in Ireland would be materially better off from maintaining public spending rather than cutting taxes,” a spokesperson for the think-tank said.

“It should also be noted that willingness to pay more taxes was highest among people in the ABC1 occupational categories, 54%, and among people aged 25 to 34, 57%, who represent those most likely to pay more in direct taxes.

“There was a high level of support for measures to cap high incomes. More than half of adults, 55%, were in favour of a ‘maximum wage’. In reality, this might be easiest to achieve through taxation, as was done in the past in the USA, UK and across Europe.”

Behaviour and Attitudes asked a sample of 1,000 people aged over 16.