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16th Apr 2015

Irish families have it good in terms of tax, claims OECD

Married couples can take home 99.8 per cent of their gross wages

Katie Mythen-Lynch

An average married couple with two children in Ireland pay almost no tax, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

While single workers in Ireland take home up to 80 per cent of their salary after tax, married couples with one partner making an average wage can take home 99.8 per cent of their gross wages.

According to the tax trends report: “Taking into account child-related benefits and tax provisions, the employee net tax burden for an average married worker with two children in Ireland was reduced to 0.2pc in 2014, which is the lowest in the OECD, and compares with a reduction to 14.8pc for the OECD average.

“This means that an average married worker with two children in Ireland had a take-home pay, after tax and family benefits, of 99.8pc of their gross wage compared to 85.2pc for the OECD average.”

Property tax and water charges were not taken into account in the OECD report.