Irish higher incomes 'pay more tax than counterparts elsewhere'

People on higher incomes in Ireland pay more tax than their counterparts in Sweden, Spain, the UK and the US, according to the Irish Tax Institute.

Publishing a tax guide for the Budget today, it has been comparing the regime here with key competitor countries, and is warning about its potential impact on attracting talented workers from abroad.

Brian Keegan, director of taxation at Chartered Accountants Ireland, said that the situation has arisen as a result of decisions in recent years.

"Since the collapse, we've become more and more reliant on income tax and indeed value added tax," he said.

"And what we're seeing now is one of the consequences of the downturn - that we changed our taxation policy to be more heavily reliant on individuals, and particularly more heavily reliant on higher earning individuals.

"And that's one of the issues that's arising for Budget 2016."