Taxation and Savings in Ireland

This paper quantifies the effects of the differential tax treatment of various savings media in Ireland during the period 1980 - 1995. It is shown that there is substantial variation in effective tax rates (ETRs) across a variety of assets and that these variations impact upon vertical equity. This paper also untangles the effects of inflation and tax legislation on the evolution of effective tax rates in Ireland. This decomposition highlights the distortionary effects of inflation on the savings market, particularly when the effects of double taxation are incorporated into the analysis.