Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 September 2014
72. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the cost of raising the threshold for the universal social charge to €12,500, €15,000 and €16,500 respectively; the number of persons who would be taken out of the USC net and average saving in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36380/14]
View answer85. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of income earners exempt from the universal social charge; the number who pay a maximum rate of 4%; the number who pay the 7% rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36400/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 85 together.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the cost of raising the Universal Social Charge (USC) threshold to €12,500, €15,000 and €16,500 respectively is set out in the following table.
|
Proposed threshold |
Cost €m |
Numbers Benefitting |
Maximum Annual Saving to Taxpayer € |
|
€12,500 |
34 |
99,300 |
299 |
|
€15,000 |
77 |
192,300 |
399 |
|
€16,500 |
110 |
249,400 |
473 |
It should be noted that the cost for each threshold was produced by the Revenue Commissioners Tax Modeller, which does not estimate the numbers affected by changes to USC. The estimate for the numbers affected is obtained from an analysis of the income ranges of the same base which the proposals were executed against (to identify how many additional cases would be exempt at each threshold level). However, it is not possible to accurately infer an "average" saving from the findings of these two different processes. Instead the actual maximum annual saving to a taxpayer earning up to new proposed thresholds has been included in the table for illustrative purposes. All these figures are estimated on the basis of no change to the rest of the structure of the USC.
In relation to Question 36400/14 the following table provides a breakdown by rate of the number of individuals who paid USC in 2012 (the most recent tax year for which complete data are available).
|
USC Rate |
Numbers |
|
Exempt |
523,000 |
|
4% |
267,000 |
|
7% |
1,444,000 |
These figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000. There is a 2% USC rate, applicable to the first €10,036. However, where an individual's total income for a year does not exceed €10,036, they are exempt from USC, thus there are effectively no cases on the 2% rate.
