Arthur Spring
Question:202. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Finance the exact definition of the word "universal" his Department has applied to the universal social charge. [36778/13]
View answerThursday, 18 July 2013
Questions (202)
Written answers
The position is that the Universal Social Charge (USC) was introduced in Budget 2011 to replace the Income Levy and Health Levy. It was a necessary measure to widen the tax base, remove poverty traps and raise revenue to reduce the budget deficit.
There are certain exemptions and reliefs from the USC. For example, persons in receipt of a payment from the Department of Social Protection such as the contributory and non-contributory state pension are exempt from the charge. There are also concessions for medical card holders and persons aged 70 or over who are not liable to the top rate of charge if their income does not exceed €60,000 per annum. In addition, payments from the Department of Social Protection will not be taken into account in determining if an individual has exceeded the €60,000 threshold.
As the Deputy will be aware, delivering on a commitment in the Programme for Government, the USC was reviewed by the Department of Finance in the lead up to Budget 2012. The report is available at www.finance.gov.ie. As a result of the review of the USC, the Government decided in Budget 2012 to increase the entry point to the Universal Social Charge from €4,004 to €10,036 per annum. It is estimated that this removed almost 330,000 individuals from the charge.
Finally, I would point the Deputy to the Revenue Commissioners published document entitled “Universal Social Charge FAQs” which gives a comprehensive list of the incomes streams which are exempt from the USC and is available at http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/usc/universal-social-charge-faqs.pdf.