In Reply to: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: if you really find it bad posted by flynnboy on January 26, 2008 at 00:13:58:

Difficult to say. No local government tax but a LOT of stealth taxes.

Income tax depends on your earnings:
Tax free allowances are (IIRC) somewhat higher in Ireland than the UK but the middle band is far narrower which means you dont have to be particularly well paid before youre on the top rate (42% last time I checked).

VAT on most things is 21% (as opposed to 17.5% in UK and 15-25 % in rest of EU) but unlike France there is no VAT on food.

Petrol and (especially) Diesel are cheaper in Ireland than the UK but But VRT makes buying/importing a car very expensive. Insurance is more expensive than most parts of the UK.