In budgets of times past – both the hard times and those times when the living was easy – calculators and complex tax tables were needed to work out how much better or worse off we would be once the changes kicked in.
But there has been no need for calculators this time around, and the impact of Budget 2026 on the pockets of many, if not most, Irish consumers can best be described as minimal.
That is not to say there will be no impact, and some people will find themselves marginally better off as a result of the changes announced by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers on Tuesday.
However, most if not all of the gains will be wiped out by the enduring cost-of-living crisis.
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As had been widely flagged in advance, there was no change to the personal taxation system. However, the increase in the minimum wage from €13.50 an hour to €14.15 necessitated a tweaking of the 2 per cent rate band for the Universal Social Charge. It climbs by €1,318 to €28,700.
Although the Minister for Finance said all taxpayers will benefit from this change, the benefit will amount to little more than €1 a month or enough for a quarter of one cup of coffee in many cafes around Ireland every 30 days or so.
Of more substance is the €10 across-the-board increase to core weekly welfare payments including the old-age pension with a Christmas bonus double payment once again included.
The children’s allowance is increasing by €8 per month for children under the age of 12 and €16 per month for those over that age.
Parents with children in third-level education are being told they are benefiting from a €500 cut in student registration fees. Many have pointed out that the €500 cut amounts to a €500 hike when compared with the €1,000 cuts included in the last two budgets.
The Government’s response has been to say those cuts were temporary, while this one is permanent. That distinction will be lost on many parents who paid about €2,000 last year and will pay more than €2,500 this year.
There is better news for the 400,000 or so renters across Ireland with confirmation that a rent tax credit worth €1,000 a year for a single person and twice that for a couple is being extended for three years.
There is good news too for tens of thousands of mortgage holders with the interest tax credit, worth as much as €1,250 a year, extended for two years, although it is being cut in half for the second year.
Smokers will pay the price for their habit with a packet of 20 cigarettes climbing by a now traditional 50 cent. This hike will cost a pack-a-day smoker just under €200 a year.
There was no change to the excise duty applied to alcohol and, although the direct taxes on petrol and diesel were also left untouched, an increase in carbon taxes will see the price of a litre of fuel climb by 2 cent, which will cost the average motorist about €20 a year.
[ From childcare to welfare: five takeaways from Budget 2026Opens in new window ]
And, as has been widely flagged, the VAT rate on restaurants will fall from 13.5 per cent to 9 per cent from next July which could, technically, see the cost of eating out fall marginally.
It is, however, widely anticipated that the cut will be used by the hospitality sector to offset higher costs and to protect themselves from future uncertainty, with the money unlikely to be passed on to consumers.
And that certainly seems to chime with the Government’s approach to Budget 2026.
