BUDGET 2015 WAS announced back in October, but it will take a while for some of the effects to be felt.

It’s worth nothing that IBEC said that most workers will be about 1% better off in their take-home pay as a result of Budget 2015 measures.

On 1 January, a number of the changes kicked in. Just in case you forgot what they were, here’s a reminder:

• The ‘Double Irish’ tax loophole abolished for new companies (and phased out for those already there)
• Changes to the USC rates
• Changes to the income tax rates
• Child Benefit went up to €135 per child a month
• The Living Alone allowance went up to €9
• Removal of the 80% windfall tax applying to chargeable gains on the disposal or development of land which are attributable to planning decisions made since October 2009.

As for the rest of the year, we can expect:

• Tax breaks for farmers and assistance for farmers who receive income from another job to supplement income
• €55.5m to be spent on tackling homelessness.
• New back to work family dividend introduced to allow families to hold on to qualified child increases for 12 months after getting back to work (reduced by 50% in the second year).
• From September 2015, there will be more than 1,700 new teachers.
• The new Irish film tax credit scheme will commence
• The Living City initiative will be rolled out in full in early 2015.
• The Home Renovation Scheme has been extended to include those in the rental market, applying to work done by the end of 2015.

Originally published: 21.47

BUDGET 2015: As it happened (and what it did to and for you)>