Lunch
Chicken fillet roll
The humble deli counter benchmark.
Assumes a prepared deli item charged at the 13.5% hospitality rate.
Where your earnings go
Total earnings
€8.03
16 min
Item
€5.29
10 min
Purchase tax
€0.71
1 min
Income tax
€2.03
4 min
What could the state buy with this tax?
Very rough scale comparisons, not earmarked spending.
Public service
Nurse time
3 minutes
Welfare
Jobseeker payment
0.1 days of Jobseeker payment
Mega project
Children's hospital
0.00000012% of Children's hospital
Additional detail
Show the tax line items and model assumptions.
Additional detail
Show the tax line items and model assumptions.
State-equivalent assumptions
These are order-of-magnitude comparisons used for the state-scale cards.
Nurse time
Public service
Using a rough EUR55/hour fully-loaded cost.
Teacher time
Public service
Using a rough EUR50/hour fully-loaded cost.
GP subsidy equivalent
Public service
Treats a subsidised GP visit as roughly EUR60.
State Pension
Welfare
Based on the 2026 weekly contributory rate.
Jobseeker payment
Welfare
Based on the 2026 weekly adult rate.
City bus route
Transport
Uses a broad EUR125/hour operating-cost placeholder.
Urban cycle lane
Transport
Based on a rough EUR2m/km urban scheme.
Luas-style track
Transport
Uses a round EUR100m/km light-rail estimate.
M50-style works
Transport
Uses a rough EUR30m/km motorway-works estimate.
Traffic light crossing
Civic oddity
Compared with a rough EUR125k signalised crossing.
White road paint
Civic oddity
Very rough EUR3/metre line-paint placeholder.
Children's hospital
Mega project
Compared with the roughly EUR2.24bn approved budget.
Purchase tax detail
Estimated VAT included in the displayed purchase price.
Income tax detail
PAYE income tax allocated across the gross earnings needed for this purchase.
USC allocated across the gross earnings needed for this purchase.
Employee PRSI allocated across the gross earnings needed for this purchase.
What this model leaves out
These are illustrative direct taxes only. The model does not estimate supplier VAT, corporate tax, employer PRSI, import duties, local charges, discounts, deductions, pension contributions, or product-specific reliefs. It is meant to make the time trade-off legible, not to produce a tax bill.
Income: single PAYE employee, 2026 illustrative PAYE, USC, and employee PRSI.
Time: 37.5 paid hours per week for 52 weeks, before holidays or unpaid time.
Purchases: direct transaction taxes are simplified and displayed beside each item.