Seventy five per cent of Irish people are unaware the Government ‘tops-up’  pension contributions by up to 40% for higher rate taxpayers.
 
This is according to a recent survey of 1,000 respondents carried out by Standard Life. There are almost half a million higher rate taxpayers according to the Revenue Commissioners. A single person, (no children) earning €33,800 p.a. or more is a higher rate taxpayer. 
 
This compares with a flat rate 25% top-up that was given to all (Special Savings and Investment Accounts) SSIA savers for every euro saved (to a monthly limit of €250 over five years). 
 
Furthermore, the Standard Life survey revealed that 64% of Irish people are not aware that pensions are tax efficient. 
 
Senior technical consultant with Standard Life, John McInerney says, "There are probably at least one hundred thousand people missing out on arguably the most generous tax break left to the middle classes. If people knew just how generous the government top up on pension contributions is, we wouldn’t need to sell them."   
 
He added, "It’s very concerning to learn that potentially up to almost a million people don’t know that pensions are a tax efficient way for all taxpayers to save for their retirement. It’s particularly worrying that most people coming up to retirement with the biggest opportunity to make large contributions and claim generous tax relief don’t know. Also, a 20% tax break is still valuable and not to be sniffed at."

Source: www.businessworld.ie