Tax avoidance: let’s call their bluff

THE recently published Revenue Commissioner’s analysis for 2002 shows that the top 400 earners in the State, who each earned in excess of €1m, paid an average tax rate of 24.4% and that 43 of these paid less than 5% in tax.

This will not come as any great surprise to ordinary PAYE taxpayers and the data merely confirms the need to cap the use of tax avoidance schemes as proposed in the last budget.

However, the extended phasing in of this change means it will be several years before the target of a minimum 20% tax take from these high-rollers is actually achieved.