More than half of Irish taxpayers would benefit from a cut in the marginal rate of income tax, employers group Ibec has claimed.

In a riposte to what it says is misinformation in the budget debate, Ibec says Ireland is not a low income tax country and suggestions that only 17 per cent of income taxpayers fall into the higher income tax rate – and that the average tax rate is just 14.1 per cent – are factually incorrect.

According to Ibec, the Irish income tax regime is “one of the most punitive” in the EU. Since 2010, it says, income tax as a percentage of national income has risen from 8.7 per cent to 11.6 per cent, well above the EU average of 9.5 per cent.