The key points from Budget 2021
- Total budget package will be €17.75 billion.
- €17bn in expenditure and €270 million in taxation.
- €8.5bn on public services including €2.1 billion on contingency funding.
- Capital spending to increase by €1.6 billion.
- €3.4 billion recovery fund
- There will be a new COVID restrictions support scheme to provide targeted support for businesses that have temporarily closed because of the pandemicThis scheme will operate when level three or higher is in place
The payments will be based on their 2019 weekly turnover
The scheme will be effective from today until March 31st. First payments mid-November
- VAT for hospitality will be reduced to 9% from November 1st until December 2021
- The Knowledge Development Box relief on intellectual property being extended until end Dec 2022
- Section 481 scheme for film will now run until Dec 31st 2023 at its highest rate of 5%
- Work to begin on a tax credit for the digital gaming sector from Jan 2022
- Self employed can also benefit from tax warehousing
- Extension of the accelerated capital allowances scheme for energy efficient equipment for further three years
- No broad changes to income tax credits or bandsThe ceiling for the second USC rate adjusted up to 20,687
Weekly threshold for higher rate of employers PRSI will go from 394 to 398
Self employed income tax credit to rise by 150 to 1650
Increase in the Dependent Relative Tax Credit by 70€ to 245
- Help to buy scheme extended until end of 2021 at the higher max €30,000 rate
- Stamp Duty scheme which refunds a portion of stamp duty paid on acquisition of non-residential land where it is then developed will be extended until end Dec 2022
- Carbon tax increases by 7.50 a tonne from midnight
- The carbon tax will increase by €7.50 every year out to 2029 and then by €6.50 in 2030 to achieve €100 per tonne
- Changes to VRT based on emissions which is aimed at incentivising people to buy low emission carsWeaker emissions tests on imports will also be changed to bring them up
- Current VRT reliefs for hybrids will be allowed to expire in light of the new rates system
- Changes to the motor tax regime. Rates unchanged for those before 2008. Most polutant cars impacted
- Pack of 20 cigarettes increase by 50cPro-rata increase on other tobacco products.
€14 now for most popular pack of cigarettes
- Extension of stamp duty relief for the transfer of agricultural land to family members until Dec 2023
- People who work from home will be able to claim some of their broadband costs in income tax.
- No change to the 12.5% rate of Corporation tax
- Amending legislation to provide that intangible assets acquired after today will be within the scope of balancing charge rules
- Change to Capital Gains Tax Entrepreneur Relief so that anyone who has owned at least 5% of the shares for continuous three years will qualify for relief
- Capital investment of €10.1 billion in 2021
- €500m in additional expenditure for businesses in addition to tax measures
- Commercial rates waiver extended for final quarter of this year at cost of €300m
- An additional €44million for Irish Water for infrastructure
- €80 million extra for school building programme, ICT and minor works scheme for Dept of Education
- An extra €20 million for disability services through transforming lives programme
- €10 million in this year funding for voluntary hospices
- €8.5billion for COVID supports
- €2.1 billion of COVID funds will be held in contingency
- €340 million of voted expenditure will be spent on Brexit supports in 2021That includes money for ports and airports and 500 staff for customs
- Capital spending to get another €600mTotal capital expenditure will rise over €10 billion for the first time ever
- Ireland has signed up to EU advance purchase agreements for potential COVID vaccines
- An extra €4billion for the health service
- An extra 1,146 acute bedsIncrease in critical care beds to 321 by end of year from 255 pre-COVID
1,250 community beds in 2021 including 600 new rehabilitation beds
- 5 million extra homecare hours
- €5 million for development of community based dementia supports
- Funding for cancer screening services
- €50m for new drugs and €25 million for Healthy Ireland and National Drugs Strategy
- €100million for disability new services
- All these measures will have up to 16,000 health sector posts
- Road projects and electric rail carriages announced by Minister Michael McGrathConstruction on N56 in Donegal, N4 in Sligo, N5 in Mayo, N22 and Dunkettle interchange in Cork
- Purchase 41 additional InterCity railcar carriages and sign contract with potential for up to 600 electric carriages as part as DART+
- €270m for Higher Education for 20 building projects
- €132 million for National Broadband Plan
- €131 million for Defence Forces capital expenditure
- €10m for Cork and Shannon airports
- New multi-annual capital funding of 500m over 5 years for a Shared Island Initiative
- €5.2 billion for Dept of Housing - increase of €773 million on 2020
- €500m for capital expenditure on housing for 9,500 new social housing units in 2021
- €65m for deep retrofitting of existing social housing
- Expansion of HAP tenancies. 800 more rental accommodation scheme tenancies85,000 tenancies supported through next year
- €22m for homelessness programmes including additional beds
- €110m for affordable housing package for affordable and cost rental
- The Land Development Agency will have €1.2 billion of funding available when it's set upWill deliver nearly 9,000 affordable housing and cost rental over next few years
- €210m under Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme
- €29 million for heritage sites
- 10,000 upskilling opportunities and 4,000 new apprentices
- €1.1 billion to department of enterpriseCredit guarantee scheme, LEO supports and developing R&D
- €55 million for a tourism business support scheme and 5 million for tourism product development
- €50 million for live entertainment supports and arts council funding to increase it to €130 million
- €14 million extra for the Gaeltacht and Irish language to €78 million total.
- €50m for live entertainment supports and arts council funding to increase it to €130 million
- Increase of €36 million for Sport Ireland.€7 million for large scale sports infrastructure
€2 million for major sporting events
- An additional €100 million of carbon tax revenue will be put towards energy efficiency of our homes
- Increase in home retrofit scheme budget
- An additional €1 billion for public transport in 2021
- There will be increased deployment of electric cars across the public service
- €55 million has been set aside for a tourism business support scheme and €5 million for tourism product development
- Dept of Education will have an € 8.9bn budget.
€2 billion of that will be put towards children with special education needs.
900 additional SNAs and 403 additional teachers - Reduction in the pupil teacher ration by 1 to 25:1 in primary schools by providing more than 300 posts
- €14 million extra for the Gaeltacht and Irish language to €78 million total.
- €3.3 billion budget for Higher Education DepartmentAbout 5,000 places for demographic changes arising from calculated grades
- SUSI grant for postgraduates will rise by 1,500 to 3,500 and income eligibility threshold has been changed.
- €50 million fund to give all third level full time students €250
- Social welfare rates to be maintained in 2021
- Increase in the Living Alone allowance of €5 to €19
- Fuel allowance up by €3.50 a week to €28
- Children's Benefit up by €5 for over 12s and €2 for under 12s
- Increase in carers support grant by €150 to €1850 a year
- Parents Benefit to be extended by a further three weeks
- Self employed on PUP can take up some freelance work and not lose their benefit
- Planned pension age increase in Jan 2021 WON'T proceed
- Christmas bonus to be paid to those on PUP and other welfare if they've been on that for 4 months instead of usual 15
- €179 million extra for Dept of Agriculture
- Funding to include controls on agri-food exports and imports to/from the UK post Brexit
- 7% increase in budget for rural affairs including town and village renewal scheme. €5million for new digital hubs in rural Ireland
- 620 new garda recruits, 500 new civilian staff
- Fuel allowance up by €3.50 a week to €28
- Funding for the inquest into the Stardust tragedy
- Further ICT for the Gardaí and courts services under €258m for them.Forensic Science Lab and redevelopment of Limerick Prison funded
- €120m increase for Dept of Children - Includes €61m for Tusla
- €638m investment in further years education and childcare in 2021
- €30m extra for Foreign Affairs
