Workers in the Republic now enjoy one of the lowest taxation regimes in the developed world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
A married worker on the average wage - with two children and a non-working spouse - paid only 5 per cent of his or her income in tax in 2000, according to the latest figures from the Paris-based economic research body.
The average wage figure used by the OECD for Ireland is $23,423 per annum or €26,620.
Of the 30 members of the OECD, only comparable couples in the Czech Republic, Iceland, Luxembourg, Mexico and the Slovak Republic paid less tax as a proportion of their wages. In the UK the comparable rate was 14.1 per cent and in the United States 15.3 per cent.
The OECD calculations are based on 2000 figures and do not take into account the substantial income tax cuts announced in Budget 2001.
The effective tax rates for single workers in the Republic are not as favourable as those for married workers, according to the OECD. A single person with no children would have paid 20.3 per cent of their income - including any State benefit - in income tax and other employee contributions.
This is higher than three other EU states: Greece, Portugal and Spain. It is also ahead of the Slovak Republic.
Single people earning well in excess of the average wage - 167 per cent - pay an effective tax rate of 32 per cent, which is towards the upper end of the range for OECD members. The comparable rate in the UK is 26 per cent and in the US is31.7 per cent.
Tax rates for high-earning single workers in Ireland are still lower than in seven of the other EU states including Germany which has the second-highest effective tax rate of 48.6 per cent. In Denmark the rate is 51.5 per cent.
A married couple with two children, both spouses working and earning 167 per cent of the average wage pay an effective tax rate of 13.5 per cent in the Republic. In the UK they pay 17.7 per cent and in the United States 21.1 per cent. The highest rate in the EU is in Denmark, 38.7 per cent, and the lowest in Luxembourg at 8.7 per cent.
