Michael McGrath
Question:89. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance his plans to merge the universal social charge with PRSI; the projected cost of such a move; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30688/17]
View answerThursday, 29 June 2017
Questions (89)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the universal social charge is a tax charge on income, for which no social welfare benefits accrue. The PRSI charge, both employee and employer, generally confers rights to certain social welfare benefits when the necessary number of contributions have been made.
These charges have significantly different bases and any merging of them would require a considerable re-working of the underpinning systems. The design of any such merging would need to consider any potential cost to the Exchequer, as such a potential cost, or indeed a potential yield, would obviously be dependent on the design.
Any announcement in relation to changes to the USC, Income Tax or PRSI systems, would normally be made as part of the Budget and I am not inclined to diverge from this practice.